Women’s land access disparity affects livelihoods and children’s education of the tribal people

Abstract

The ability of women to enhance their well-being is determined by their access to land. The study analysis focuses on the findings of a pilot survey on how women's land access disparities affect livelihoods and children's education of tribal people in the Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam, India. It targeted 384 households from three tribal groups: Bodo, Rabha, and Garo. The landholdings in the area are 71.86 percent marginal and 11.46 percent of the tribal people are landless. Women are rarely able to own land. Men possessed 64.32 percent of the land, compared to women's 4.68 percent. Women are typically de facto heads of households in the Bodoland region. The denial of equal land access to women obstructs the benefit of society as a whole in livelihoods, children are particularly suffered. Agriculture is the main source of earnings in rural areas, provides a livelihood of the tribal population. Enhancing women's access to land can considerably impact poverty reduction, not least by contributing to enhanced household food security.