An Empirical Investigation of Men’s Views of Women’s Contribution to Farming in Northwest Bangladesh

Hasneen Jahan,Md Salauddin Palash,Shokhrukh-Mirzo Jalilov,Md Wakilur Rahman,Mohammed Mainuddin

doi:10.3390/su12093521

Hasneen Jahan, Md Salauddin Palash + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093521

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Abstract

This paper verifies the statement that “women contribute greatly to growing crops year-round, but their work is not recognized” through in-depth empirical investigation of their participation in rice and vegetable production and farm decision-making processes in Northwest Bangladesh. Interviews were held with 240 randomly selected couples (husband and wife interviewed separately) to document their views of the female’s participation in crop farming activities and farm and household decision-making. The findings reveal that women play a substantial role in farming and are increasingly involved in farm management, but they are generally overlooked or under-valued by their male counterparts. Looking at crop-specific participation, among 18 different activities of the rice production cycle, men recognized that their spouse had “high” participation in three activities, “strong” in one, “moderate” in five, and “weak” in nine. A similar result was found for activities in vegetable production. In both cases, men’s recognition differed from that reported by their spouses. Logistic regression modeling against eleven variables (selected from the intersectionality and patriarchy literature) revealed six statistically significant variables that influence men to consult with their wives regarding farm decisions. The dominant variables were spouse education (years of schooling), spouse Non-governmental organization (NGO) membership, and the number of hours per day that the spouse spent working on the farm. The article provides a new insight into family dynamics in household and farm decision-making processes. The collection and analysis of both counterparts’ (husband and wife) views provides empirical evidence that not only is women’s participation in agricultural activities and decision-making under-recognized, but that higher education and being involved in NGO activities have a positive influence on male perceptions of women’s contributions. While these findings may not be universally applicable, the framework (using intersectionality and patriarchy indicators together with logistic regression modeling) is highly adaptable. Application in other parts of Bangladesh would reveal perceptions in those regions, and would support a more comprehensive approach to future policy intervention towards gender integration into crop farming in line with promoting women’s education and NGO participation.

Highlights

Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in its agriculture sector despite decreasing arable land, population growth, and adverse climatic effects [1]
This paper aims to address two research questions: (i) Do men in Bangladesh recognize the contributions of women and men in farm activities ? (ii) What are the factors that influence men to consult with their spouses/partners in farm decisions?
In response to the stereotypical assumption that “men farm” and “women only help”, this study found that the male respondents held diverse opinions about the involvement of women in agriculture, though they generally perceived that they do most of the farming activities

Summary

Introduction

Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in its agriculture sector despite decreasing arable land, population growth, and adverse climatic effects [1]. There is huge pressure on the land to produce more crops to ensure self-sufficiency in food To attain this self-sufficiency, the government has designed and implemented various agricultural policies for expansion of irrigation facilities, production and distribution of high-yielding-variety seeds, and other inputs [1,5,6]. The northwest region is one of the major crop production areas, and supplies about 35% of the irrigated Boro rice and about 60% of the wheat of the whole country [8,13]. Labour Force Survey [2] estimated that, by 2016–2017, female-headed households in rural Bangladesh had increased by 13.8%, implying that women are taking more responsibility in farming and household activities. In the absence of male members, the women’s role is changing from unpaid family worker to farm manager, a phenomenon termed as the “feminization of agriculture” [14]

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