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Women’s Employment in Bangladesh Agriculture: Composition, Determinants and Scope♦

Sanzidur Rahman
Visiting Fellow Department of Agricultural and Food Economics University of Reading, Reading, England

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Gender composition of labour use and factors determining demand and supply of female labour in crop production is examined using survey data from 14 villages in two agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh. The share of women in labour use ranges between 11 – 18 percent in food grain (rice and wheat) and 14 – 48 percent in non-cereal (highest for vegetables) production. Incidence of female labour hire is very low and varies directly with land size classes while supply from family varies inversely. Cultivation of diverse crops (local and modern varieties of rice, jute, oilseeds and vegetables), education as well as women’s ownership of land increases demand for hired female labour. On the other hand, membership in non-governmental organisation and women’s ownership of land decreases supply of female labour from the family. Also, sharp regional variation exists in hiring female labour. A decentralised crop diversification policy, gender sensitive educational program as well as institutional arrangement to increase women’s access to land would promote women’s gainful employment.

Keywords: Women's employment, Bangladesh, Agriculture:

Location: Jamalpur Sadar Thana of Jamalpur region and six villages from Manirampur Thana of Jessore region

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Non-commodity: Employement

Objectives:

Attempts to contribute to the existing body of literature by explicitly examining the factors determining supply and demand for female labour in crop production in Bangladesh and knowledge of this is essential for appropriate policy prescriptions.

Methodology:

Types and Sources of Data Primary data for the study pertains to an intensive farm-survey in two agro-ecological regions1conducted during the crop year 1989. A complete household census of eight villages from Jamalpur Sadar Thana (central sub-district) of Jamalpur region representing wet agroecology and six villages from Manirampur Thana (sub-district) of Jessore region representing dry agroecology were conducted. The survey initially covered a total of 1,755 households. However, detailed information relevant for the present study is available with 1,567 households (753 in Jamalpur and 814 in Jessore, respectively), which was taken as the final sample size. Details of labour input data for each of the 13 broad crop groups2, classified by gender, is collected. Gender Based Labour Use in Crop Production Labour input used for all types of crop produced3, classified by gender and sources of supply are presented in Table 1. It is clear from Table 1 that women’s labour input varies substantially across crops. The share of women in labour use ranges between 11 – 18 percent in food grain (rice and wheat) and 14 – 48 percent in non-cereal (highest for vegetables) production, and, therefore, refutes the prevailing claim that women’s labour use in Bangladesh is confined only to post-harvest processing sector. However, the incidence of hiring female labour is strikingly low. Except for cotton (grown only in pockets of Jessore region), the incidence of hiring female labour is less than two percent of total labour use. This indicates that though modern agricultural technology increased the demand for hired labour employment, the benefit remained skewed in favour of men as only they are largely hired. For a further insight into the incidence of women’s labour use in crop production, an estimate of overall labour use for producing crops at the household level classified by land size classes4and sources of supply is presented in Table 2. It is clear from Table 2 that women’s labour input varies substantially across land size classes as well as regions with an inverse relationship between family labour use and land size categories. Proportions of family female labour and male labour use steadily decline as one move upward from marginal to large land size class. On the other hand, the proportion of hired labour use is positively related with land size classes. However, the overall use of hired female labour is negligible though family female labour contributes to about 11 percent (14 percent in Jamalpur and 9 percent in Jessore) of total labour use. The estimate for women’s labour input in crop production seems to be in line with Boserup’s (1989) estimate of less than 20 percent women being involved in agricultural production systems in Asia (Bangladesh not included). The incidence of hiring female labour improves substantially when only households that hired female labour in addition to male labour are examined. About 12 percent (182 households) of the total sampled households hired female labour in addition to male labour. The level of hired labour use in these 182 households increases from 2.1 person-days per household to 11.2 person-days. The increase in hiring female labour largely substituted the increased workload of family supplied female labour in these households as the difference in total labour use is not large as compared to all sampled households.

Source of Information: Journal of Rural Studies

Article Link (Online Journal): 10.1016/S0743-0167(00)00006-1

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Rural women in Bangladesh, as elsewhere in Asia, also play an important role in agriculture. Results of the present study confirm that the claim that women are actively involved only in post harvest processing of crops is an underestimation of women’s contribution to agricultural production. However, the employment gain owing to ‘Green Revolution’ remains skewed in favour of men as they are mostly hired to meet the increased demand although the women also seem to benefit to some extent as about 12 percent of households hired female labour in addition to male labour. While modern agricultural technology (modern rice variety cultivation) significantly increases female labour demand, the incremental effect is even higher for jute and is substantial for oilseeds, local rice and vegetables. This has profound implications for agricultural diversification strategies since widespread controversies related to adverse socio-economic and environmental impacts of modern agricultural technology are gaining importance (Rahman and Thapa, 1999; Mahmud et al., 1994; Shiva, 1991). Promotion of non-cereal crops, such as jute, oilseeds and vegetables, therefore, seems to have high potential in increasing women’s gainful employment in agriculture. The increase in women’s participation in cash crop (jute, spices, oilseeds, pulses and vegetables) production by the family might result in increased workloads only if the intra-household income distribution is not commensurate with participation. However, such analysis is beyond the scope of the present study and needs further investigation. The observation of a strong association between land ownership by women, and hired female labour use seems to render support to Agarwal’s (1994) claim of increasing bargaining power of women in the labour market through ownership and access to land. However, measures to promote women’s access to land would call for substantial changes in all spheres of policies and institutions related to agricultural development. Agarwal (1998) emphasised ‘collective action’ by women that can be accomplished through appropriate institutional arrangements. For example, BRAC in Bangladesh provides support to organised groups of women (called Village Organisations) to lease in land as group to undertake a number of activities, such as establishment of plant nurseries, vegetables gardening, poultry farming, as well as pond aquaculture (Rahman, 1997). The deprivation of women is largely due to cultural constructs in farming societies in Bangladesh and needs to be changed. One of the major vehicles for creating awareness of gender discrimination is the building up of human capital through gender sensitive literacy programs. Observation of the significant positive influence of education on hired labour demand, both male and female, renders support to the notion that promoting gender sensitive education would increase women’s gainful employment in crop production. The basic notion of balanced development requires that both men and women must be provided with equal opportunities in all spheres of life. The dominance of the agricultural sector in the Bangladesh economy indicates that attempts to bridge the gap in employment opportunities between men and women has to be sought in the agricultural sector itself, as it engages the majority of the rural population, half of which are women. The present study clearly indicates that policies for promoting agricultural diversification will lead to increased absorption of hired women labourers in all stages of the production process. However, this would require concomitant improvement in soil fertility and the development of rural infrastructure in order to link remote regions with the urban markets. The sharp regional variation in labour use patterns, particularly the composition of male and female labour, calls for decentralised region-specific planning of agricultural development programs as opposed to the present day top down development activities.

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