Supporting Women Farmers Why and How

Abstract

Women and men together make families and communities. There is very little, other than biologically ordained functions, that cannot be done with equal efficiency by both the sexes. Yet when it comes to agriculture, there is invariably the practice that women do the tasks with more drudgery or less recognition of the cost of labour. In addition childcare and care of domestic animals is commonly in the feminine domain as is cooking or processing of food. When we buy food items from stores that are commercially prepared and packaged, there is little differentiation that is possible to support women-led enterprises. Discussions and seminars around women empowerment are going to be just words till we put our money where the mouth is, that is to buy directly from women farmers and processing units run by women.