Gender Dimensions of Poverty and Food Security: A Case Study of Palamu District of Jharkhand

Abstract

A wide regional and inter-district disparity exists in the state of Jharkhand. The rankings of its districts on indicators of development reveal that those located in the northwestern parts of Jharkhand including Palamu and its northeastern parts are less developed compared to the ones falling in the central and western parts of the state (Planning-cum-Finance Department, 2017, Jharkhand Economic Survey 2016-17, Ranchi: Government of Jharkhand). Jharkhand is one of the most poverty-stricken states of India with a sharp contrast between rural and urban poverty. Studies often show that the process of liberalisation and economic reforms in India has a mixed impact on a mineral rich state like Jharkhand. The well-known phenomenon of 'resource curse' is particularly observed in the case of Jharkhand where manufacturing sector growth is increasing but the state is lagging behind in terms of human development indicators. The political instability and unplanned exploitation of its mineral wealth without benefiting the tribal population clearly indicate that the state suffers from the deficit of governance and development. It is in this context that this article analyses the patterns of poverty and food security among tribals and other social groups in seven villages of Manatu block under Palamu district of Jharkhand from a gender perspective. The article also explores the factors influencing the dynamics of household food security in Palamu district through empirical findings. It examines how the poor rural/tribal communities cope with food insecurity through case studies. Finally, the article critically analyses the implementation of social policies in addressing food security problem of Jharkhand.

Gender and Poverty: Its Influence on Household Food Security in Africa

“…The multidimensional relationship between poverty and food security is well established in the literature (Sharma 2019). Poverty as identified is a major determinant of food insecurity (Li and Yu 2010).…”

“…Women because of their sex and socioeconomic limitations form a greater proportion of the world poor, experiencing poverty at various levels and dimensions; suffering marginalization and exclusions in education, jobs, opportunities, asset owning, etc. (Bhat 2011;Sharma 2019). Yet, women are solely responsible for household food preparation, processing, and preservation.…”

“…Gender and Poverty Linkage Sharma (2019) opined there is a correlation between gender and poverty. Gender influences poverty which affects men and women in different ways (FAO 2010).…”

“…Globally, women are seemingly more affected by poverty in many fronts (e. g., income, assets, and energy poverty) and there is a greater proportion of poor women than poor men (Misturelli and Heffernan 2010; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2013; Teka et al 2019) Apparently, the feminization of poverty began in the late 1970s with intense focus on the pervasiveness of poverty among women and the identification of poverty indicators that were peculiar to women and which predisposes them to severe poverty than men (UN 2004). Women face the problem of poverty more acutely because their access to employment, health, education, and social networks, as well as to participation in decision-making on political, economic, and social issues have often been met with constraints (Sharma 2019). Consequently, rising number of female-headed households, coupled with observed and perceived gender inequalities in access to resources and decisionmaking is leading to rising poverty among the female-headed households.…”

“…This is an indication that poverty has a strong correlation with income even though the use of income to measure poverty is sometimes strongly disputed (Bak and Larsen 2015). Poverty is a major cause of food insecurity in households despite the heterogeneity of households (Sharma 2019).…”