Global forum on food security and nutrition

Nigel Poole, facilitator of the discussion, University of London and LANSA, United Kingdom

I was excited to read Abdul Mazid’s contribution on OFSP and other bio-fortified crops. These have real potential to improve nutrition, and can be implemented through working with women. I know of other work done in Africa on OFSP, and of the BRAC efforts to promote OFSP in Bangladesh.

Abdul Mazid seems to point to the difficulties of promotion of novel crops, creating nutritional awareness, and gaining consumer acceptance. Are there any short-cuts to accelerate this process and ensure success? What is required?

Nigel Poole, facilitator of the discussion, University of London and LANSA, United Kingdom

My friend Sirajul from BRAC Agriculture Programme has highlighted the nutri-garden model for year-round production of fruits and vegetables cultivation. It is an exciting opportunity.

I am working in Afghanistan, where seasonality is a major challenge: there are parts of Afghanistan where little or nothing grows for 3, 4, 5 or even 6 months of the year due to cold and snow.

Actually I am writing from Edinburgh in Scotland, which is 400 miles north of where I live in the south-east of England, and the differences of seasonality were something I was talking about this morning with research colleagues: the growing season up here is much shorter than in England, and the range of crops that can be cultivated is much smaller. Seasonality affects agriculture and limits what can be tried.

So my question in relation to this forum is: in what ways does seasonality affect women in agriculture in other parts of the world?

Haris Gazdar, Collective for Social Science Research and LANSA, Pakistan

In many parts of South Asia women's work in agriculture is an extension of unpaid or low paid drudgery associated with domestic work - in fact it is more exhausting and taxing on their health and the health of their children.

What Joan P Mencher notes about changes in the gendered division of labour once implements are introduced has some resonance in our observations in Pakistan.  I believe that at the core of this gendered division of work lies the deeply structural social segmentation of labour - with women being paid lower wages than men. I believe that in many parts of South Asia gender wage discrimination in agriculture is probably more severe than it is in other sectors. The problem with labour markets is that they need to appear to be fair. So work that is particularly drudgerous (is that a word?) is often seen by social norm as women's work.  Men's work, by contrast, tends to be less of a drudgery and somewhat better paid. I believe that Nitya's observations about the gendered division of work can also be interpreted in this way. The observation of men having almost exclusive access to digital technology (Joanna Kane-Potaka) might be a manifestation of the same tendency.

Here is a blog I wrote on this subject on cotton harvesting based on LANSA research:

http://researchcollective.blogspot.com/2015/08/womens-work-and-wages.html

The backdrop, of course, is that agricultural work in general is drudgerous and low paid - for women AND men. So, in a way what Akmal Nazir says has an element of truth - that we should focus on the welfare of the household. But nevertheless, there is a strong reason in many parts of South Asia to focus on women agricultural workers. As economies get diversified those who are left in agriculture - men and women - are the ones who command low wages and poor working conditions due to their weak socio-economic positions. Within this group women are at a particular disadvantage. So, by focussing attention on women agricultural workers might be a very efficient way of reaching some of the most disadvantaged segments of society.

Haris Gazdar, Collective for Social Science Research and LANSA, Pakistan

It is good to read about Dr Nangraj's work on women agricultural extension workers in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is important agricultural policies and programmes acknowledge the contribution of women to agriculture.

This is also an opportunity for noting the link between women's work and nutrition. According to DHS data from Pakistan, children of mothers who work in agriculture tend to be far more likely to be stunted than those whose mothers do not work. This, I believe, is because agricultural work is undertaken out of sheer necessity and want, and is not because it is a positive economic opportunity. Women agricultural workers must make very cruel choices between earning an income and taking care of their own and their children's health.

Md. Sirajul Islam, BRAC, Bangladesh (fourth contribution)

In response to my friend Nigel from UK I need to mention that yes seasonality does affect not only the nutrition but also the overall agricultural productivity and thus the food security as a whole. In Bangladesh, the agricultural productivity of an unfavourable rain fed ecosystem (monsoon season) is much lower than the irrigated ecosystem (winter season). The available option of growing vegetables and fruits is much higher in winter than in monsoon season. To tackle this seasonality we may take few indigenous and as well as modern technological approaches.  Like using low cost greenhouse techniques to grow vegetables and fruits in hot summer as well as in cold winter season. Likewise, in flooded conditions indigenous techniques of growing vegetables in floating gardens may be a unique example. I would like to copy below a case study on floating gardens published in recent BRAC Annual Report of 2015. 

Floating farms that fight climate change

Flooding and water logging are common occurrences in Gopalganj district in central Bangladesh. Parts of the region stay submerged for months on end during the monsoon season, resulting in reduced crop production. People have adopted a new method of cultivation called floating agriculture to overcome this. Plants are grown in the water and derive nutrients from the water instead of soil. Floating agriculture is not only climate-adaptive, but can also lead to sustainable, large-scale crops. Monika Kirtoniya is one of many who started a floating farm on her 33 decimals of land upon after receiving training on floating vegetable cultivation. Aquatic plants like water hyacinth are grown on soil-less rafts on water, providing a platform to sow seedlings in. Plants get nutrition from either composted organics or from the water. Field crops often perish during water logging, but floating farms survive. Monika used to follow traditional rice cultivation methods. The land she cultivated on would stay waterlogged for up to six months every year, leading to an unstable income. Managing three meals a day for her family was often impossible during those months. When waters around her home began to rise again last year, she turned to floating farms. Both Monika and her husband work in her floating farm. She cultivates red amaranth, water spinach, Indian spinach and okra, producing 3,900 kg of crop per acre. She makes a net profit of USD 865 (BDT 67,500) per acre. Floating farms have meant not only securing three meals a day, but the freedom of having vegetables all year round.