Caste-gender intersectionalities in wheat-growing communities in Madhya Pradesh, India

Farnworth, Cathy Rozel; Bharati, Preeti; Krishna, Vijesh V.; Roeven, Lara; Badstue, L.B.

doi:10.1080/09718524.2022.2034096

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…None of the GENNOVATE focus group discussants fell in the random sample of households. For details of the sampling procedure, one may refer to the papers developed from the 2018-dataset [ 58 , 59 ].…”

Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender, caste, and heterogeneous farmer preferences for wheat varietal traits in rural India

Krishna

Veettil²

2022

PLoS ONE

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The research on crop genetic enhancement has created a continuous flow of new, improved germplasm for the benefit of farmers and consumers of the Global South during and after the Green Revolution. Understanding farmers’ heterogeneous preferences for varietal traits in different market segments and incorporating the prominent ones in crop breeding programs are expected to facilitate a faster diffusion of these new varieties. Albeit knowing little about farmers’ trait preferences in South Asia, public-sector breeding programs prioritize yield enhancement and risk reduction over other varietal traits. Against this backdrop, we examined wheat farmers’ preferences for varietal traits in Central India, where the prevailing varietal turnover rate has been meager. We conducted a ranking exercise among 120 individuals, followed by a sex-disaggregated survey with a choice experiment among 420 farm-households in 2019. The lowest varietal turnover rate was observed for the socially marginalized castes. Most women respondents were not actively involved in making decisions related to wheat cultivation, including varietal selection. However, the results indicate that marginalized caste and women farmers are open to experimentation with new varieties, as shown by their positive willingness to pay for improved varietal traits. Across the gender and caste groups, grain quality attributes (especially chapati quality) were ranked high, above the yield-enhancing and risk-ameliorating traits. From the observed patterns, one could deduce that developing and disseminating improved varieties with better grain quality and targeting women and marginalized social groups in varietal dissemination programs could enhance farmer adoption of new, improved germplasm and wheat productivity in Central India.

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Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender, caste, and heterogeneous farmer preferences for wheat varietal traits in rural India

Krishna

Veettil²

2022

PLoS ONE

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“…The importance of cultural context and intersectional identities in research on feminization of agriculture is echoed in the second study from theme 1. The study adopts a more actor-oriented action research approach to exploring changes in women’s and men’s participation in agricultural labour and decision-making in their households (Chant, 2008; Farnworth et al, 2022; Gustavsson, 2020). Research in Jamari (a pseudonym), a wheat-growing community in Madhya Pradesh, India, aimed to facilitate empowering, open-ended discussion processes during which research questions were explored with respondents.…”

Section: Methodologies For Researching Feminization Of Agriculture: I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodologies for Researching Feminization of Agriculture: What Do They Tell Us?

Farnworth,

Lecoutere,

Galiè

et al. 2023

Progress in Development Studies

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An increasing body of literature suggests that agriculture is ‘feminizing’ in many low- and middle-income countries. Definitions of the feminization of agriculture vary, as do interpretations of what drives the expansion of women’s roles in agriculture over time. Understanding whether, how, and why the feminization of agriculture is occurring requires effective research methodologies capable of producing nuanced data. This article builds on six research projects that set out to deepen narratives of feminization of agriculture by empirically exploring the dynamics and impacts of diverse processes of feminization of agriculture. The researchers working on these projects reflect on how their methodological innovations enabled them to obtain new, or more nuanced, insights into the processes of feminization of agriculture. A first insight is that the way ‘feminization of agriculture’ is defined and operationalized plays a decisive role in the evidence we produce on the process. Second, bias in data on feminization can arise unless researchers examine well-recognized gender norms that mediate whether women are acknowledged by wider society as legitimate farmers. Third, the feminization of agriculture should be understood as a non-linear continuum. Research methodologies need to be capable of capturing dynamics, complexity, as well as multiple and diverse context- and time-specific drivers. Researchers need to exercise critical awareness of such biases when they are constructing data to measure or proxy aspects of feminization to avoid significantly underestimating women’s roles in agriculture.

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“…Male wages rose, and female wages fell, combining to raise the male wage premium by 17%. A different picture is provided by a small case study in a wheatgrowing community in Madhya Pradesh (Farnworth et al, 2022).…”

Section: What Are Women Doing?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are wheat-based farming systems in South Asia feminizing?

Farnworth,

Gartaula,

Badstue

et al. 2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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This article pulls together the state of knowledge on the degree to which wheat-based systems in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, are feminizing. It is not yet possible to make definitive statements. However, it is clear that wheat-based systems are undergoing far-reaching changes in relation to “who does what” and “who decides.” There are some commonalities across all four countries. Intersectionalities shape women’s identities and abilities to exert their agency. Purdah is a cultural norm in many locations. Nevertheless, each country displays different meta-trends. In Nepal managerial feminization is increasing unlike in Pakistan. Women in Bangladesh spend the least time in field work whereas in other countries they are often strongly engaged. There are strong local variations within countries as well which we explore. Establishing the extent of feminization is challenging because studies ask different questions, operate at different levels, and are rarely longitudinal. Researchers often construct men as primary farmers, leading to a failure to find out what men and women really do and decide. This diminishes the value of many studies. Cultural perceptions of honor can make men respondents reluctant to report on women’s agency and women can be reluctant to claim agency openly. We provide suggestions for better research, and urge support to women as workers and decision-makers.

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Caste-gender intersectionalities in wheat-growing communities in Madhya Pradesh, India

Cited by 11 publications

References 35 publications

Gender, caste, and heterogeneous farmer preferences for wheat varietal traits in rural India

Gender, caste, and heterogeneous farmer preferences for wheat varietal traits in rural India

Methodologies for Researching Feminization of Agriculture: What Do They Tell Us?

Are wheat-based farming systems in South Asia feminizing?

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