How Will Mechanizing Mung Bean Harvesting Affect Women Hired Laborers in Myanmar and Bangladesh?

Abstract

Farm mechanization can promote the economic sustainability of small farms and in the context of cereal-legume systems strengthen plant protein-based diets, which support human health and environmental sustainability. However, mechanization inevitably displaces hired laborers who depend on manual farm work for their income. Few studies have systematically analyzed the differential effects on women and men hired labor. Here, we use primarily qualitative data from Myanmar and Bangladesh to test the hypothesis that the effects of mechanizing mung bean harvesting—which is now commencing in both countries—are likely to weaken women hired workers’ economic and personal empowerment. We focus on rural landless women laborers as an important part of the agricultural labor force. The results broadly confirm the hypothesis, although there is variation between the research sites. Harvesting mung beans is the only fieldwork task available to many landless women, particularly married women with children, in both countries. Gendered restrictions on women’s mobility and their role as family caregivers, as well as norms about appropriate work for women and men, restrict women’s options regarding alternative work both locally and further away. The effects are likely to be particularly negative in locations with minimal off-farm economic diversity and more restrictive gender norms. Overall, men across all sites will be less affected since their participation rates in harvesting and post-harvest processing are low. They are less restricted by gender norms and can travel freely to find work elsewhere. However, women and men in low asset households will find it problematic to find alternative income sources. Less restrictive gender norms would help to mitigate the adverse effects of farm mechanization. It is important to invest in gender transformative approaches to stimulate change in norms and associated behaviors to make a wider range of choices possible.

Socio Economic Determinant and Profitability of Bari Mungbean Variety in Some Selected Areas of Bangladesh

“…About sixty four percent pod was harvest by women and thirty one percent by children Table 3. Harvesting mungbean was done by landless women, particularly married women with children (Farnworth et al, 2020). Participation rates in harvesting and post harvest processing men involved were less than women.…”

Mung bean production as a source of livelihood among farmers in a municipality in the Philippines: Challenges and opportunities

“…The legume is a good source of protein for humans (Pataczek et al, 2018) and has antihypertensive, anticancer, hypolipidemic, antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-inflammatory properties (Amaral et al, 2017). Legumes, such as mung bean, are increasingly recognized as important components of healthy diets, especially as a source of plantbased proteins that contribute to human health and environmental sustainability (Farnworth et al, 2020). Mung bean also enhances soil fertility (Rakhimov, Shodiev, & Rakhimov, 2022) and reduces the demand for increasingly costly synthetic nitrogen fertilizers because of its symbiotic nitrogen fixation (Mohammadzadeh et al, 2022).…”

When Machines Take the Beans: Ex-Ante Socioeconomic Impact Evaluation of Mechanized Harvesting of Mungbean in Bangladesh and Myanmar

“…In Myanmar, young women also out-migrate, but married women often remain behind to care for children and elderly relatives [16]. Hiring out their labor can be particularly important as a livelihood strategy for women remaining in the village since they often have less access to, and control over, other assets which could be mobilized for income generation, and gender norms can mean that local off-farm opportunities for women may be limited [17,18]. An important consideration is whether farming systems built around a gender division of labor that foresees women undertaking some tasks, and men undertaking others, are able to adapt to changed demographics in the pool of potential hired labor.…”