Global forum on food security and nutrition

Abdul Mazid, Advisor, Agriculture | BRAC International, Bangladesh

We have been working on bio-fortified crops especially provitamin A rich orange flesh sweet potato (OFSP), iron rich beans (IRB) in Uganda and yellow cassava in Liberia successfully where the beneficiaries are mostly women, under five children (girls & boys), pregnant women, lactating mothers and youth (adolescent girls). We have established a tissue culture lab (TCL) in Nakaseke seed farm in Uganda for production of disease free vines of HYV of OFSP (Naspot10 O, Naspot12 O, Naspot13 O) successfully and supplied to 40 vine producers and reached >16000 HH beneficiaries of 4 western districts targeting women led agriculture farming for food & nutrition security of small holders in Uganda. We have developed & trained community promoters such as Community Agriculture Promoter (CAP), Community health promoter (CHP) and adolescent health promoter (AHP) where 100 % are youth girls. We have developed new extension model and ensured technical guidance & effective extension services to HH beneficiaries (mostly women) through CAP. These were integrated with health & WASH practices through CHP partnership with Govt. local health and Agriculture services and peer to peer learning through AHP in Uganda. This model can be replicated to Asia particularly in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan etc. and others African counties.

There are huge potential for large scale promotion of high zinc rice & wheat to reduce stunting problems, iron rich lentil (IRL) & IRB for reducing anaemia (iron deficiency), provitamin A rice maize OFSP, yellow cassava and red maize for reducing vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in Bangladesh and others in Asia especially in Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan etc. and also in Africa too. We need to work very closely for production, consumption, value addition with multiple uses and marketing link of bio fortified nutrient rich crops to small holders particularly women, youth in agriculture.

Our keen interest to introduce and scale up of such crops with supply of quality seeds/vines, ensure effective extension services through local service producers (for example CAP, CHP, AHP etc.), integration with health services & WASH practices, ensuring consumption of nutrient rich crops by U2-5 Childs, pregnant women, lactating mothers, adolescent youth (both girl & boys) and women. So it require awareness build-up of Agriculture nutrition based bio-fortified crops, advocacy to Govt. policy for production, consumption, e-marketing and income of small holders especially women in agriculture in Asia and Africa. We need to develop quality training modules, skill training using pictorial flipchart and manuals with both local & English language, ensure quality seeds/vines to youth especially 'Empowering women in agriculture for better nutrition'

New funding opportunity, resource mobilization and partnership with Govt. –INGO- local NGO & private sectors with LSP could be the priority for 'Empowering women in agriculture for better nutrition'.

Md. Abdul Mazid, PhD

Advisor, Agriculture | BRAC International, Bangladesh

Barnali Chakraborty, facilitator of the discussion, Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC and LANSA, Bangladesh

I would like to explore if there is any experience of male sensitization program that was found to be effective in empowering women and improving nutrition?

Mahesh Maske, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, India

Promoting Agricultural technology for Drudgery reduction in Farm Women

Women are the backbone of agricultural workforce and a vital part of Indian economy. Studies have shown that Indian women work up to 14 hours a day to carry out the most arduous activities on farm and at home. Rural women perform field operations like preparatory work for sowing, transplanting, weeding, inter-culture, harvesting and threshing and primary processing of agro produce. All these tasks are time consuming and drudgery ridden.

Cotton picking is one of the laborious tasks performed by farm women in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Cotton picking is a tedious job and it is done manually and women’s deft hands are required for quick collection. On an average, a woman spends approximately 6-8 hours daily collecting 30-35 Kg of cotton in a ‘Jholi’, a traditional ‘conventional bag’ made out of their own garments and soft clothing which is tied in the form of a bag across their shoulders and back. The whole process is very time consuming and back breaking.

After observing the problems of farm workers while picking cotton in the fields, a cotton picking bag was designed for farm women by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) Nagpur, keeping ergonomics’ in mind. Ergonomics is a discipline that aims at improving efficiency at work and minimizes health hazards. The cotton picking bag was then tested in the field and found to be user friendly and better than existing method of cotton picking. The cotton picking bag is designed as per anthropometric measurements of female farm workers. Shaped pockets are provided in front and below waist level to hold things. The straps on the shoulders make it comfortable to carry the weight of cotton. This innovation promotes workers’ comfort and safety and helps improve efficiency.

These cotton picking bags were introduced on pilot basis in all villages under the Farming System for Nutrition (FSN) study of LANSA in Wardha district of Vidarbha in 2015-16 following field demonstration and discussions with the women farmers. Feedback from women farmers who tried them out was positive: reduction in pain in wrist, upper back and shoulders; the bags are more amenable for tying, picking, emptying, load carrying and more efficient compared to other back and front loaded traditional bags; they were able to harvest more cotton per day and cover more area/hour than under the traditional system. The bag is more efficient in cotton picking with higher output of cotton harvested and cotton harvest area covered among all cotton pickings.

There is now demand from more women for these bags. More innovations of this type that can help reduce the burden and drudgery of women farmers are urgently required.