Food Security, Productivity, and Gender Inequality - The Oxford Topic of Food, Politics, and Society - page 276

developing countries, if we aggregate the time spent on food production, processing
and preparation.
Indeed, not only is dependence on women's work in agriculture high, but it is grow-
ing, since men have been moving to nonfarm jobs to a much greater extent than
women. Over the past four decades, in all parts of the world except Europe, women
workers have been rising as a proportion of the total agricultural work force—in some
cases gradually, as in Asia, and in other cases substantially, as in Oceania and South
America (figure 11.5). In other words, we are seeing a move toward the feminization of
agriculture (defined here as a rise in the proportion of women in the total agricultural
work force, even if the absolute proportion remains half or below). Clearly, the agrarian
transition—the shift of workers from agriculture to industry and services, and from
rural to urban areas—that is expected with development, has been notably gendered.
To revive and sustain agricultural growth, as well as adapt to or mitigate climate
change, the role of women farmers will thus be central. How effectively they can con-
tribute, however, will depend crucially on their having secure rights in the land they
cultivate, as well as access to credit; inputs such as fertilizers, irrigation, technology;
information on new agricultural practices; and marketing infrastructure.

Gendered Production Constraints

Women farmers face a wide range of gender-specific constraints that affect their pro-
ductive potential as agricultural workers. First, like the majority of male farmers in

60

50 Oceania

Africa

Asia

40

Europe
N. America
S. America

30

20

10

0

1971 1981 1991 2001 2005 2008

Figure 11.5 Percent females in total agricultural labor force: world's regions.
Source: Based on FAO Statistics ( http:/faostat.fao.org) .