Farmer Producer Organization: Enhancing the Identity of Women as Farmers

Bringing about change in the mindsets of women is best achieved by first organizing them in collectives, so that they see themselves as farmers and as major contributors to agriculture. The focus is on enhancing the agency of women and having a clear understanding of FPO systems, operations and resource utilization with a sense of ownership.

A griculture, once the backbone of the Indian economy, contributes just about 14 per cent to the overall GDP even though about 70 per cent of the population is, directly or indirectly, dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Today, agriculture in India is plagued by many problems such as small land holdings, non-availability of timely inputs, vulnerability in the market and lack of awareness about the potential improvisation in agriculture, thereby, affecting the yield and productivity of the crops, which, in turn, affects the income and interests of farmers

Women’s participation in agriculture is an important aspect because almost 79 per cent participate in agricultural activity, which is higher than the 63 per cent participation of male members (Source: ILO workforce data). This participation is not only limited to the field but also extends to post-harvest operations. Despite this, however, women are not free to take basic and crucial decisions such as crop selection, which is the sole authority of male members in the family in most cases. This lack of participation of women in decision-making is evident from the fact that they have little access to the market and other institutions, limiting them from getting credit support. All these subjugations lead to the lack of recognition of women as farmers and under-rate their contribution in the family as income earners.

The PRADAN team in Bhoura is envisioning the empowerment of the community in social, political and economic arenas against such a backdrop. For economic empowerment and enhancing the agency of women, PRADAN has promoted the Farmer Producer Organization (FPO). The first step in the process was to identify the issues that women farmers face. The team found that women contribute to the major activities of agriculture but have no say in the choice of crops sown. Women were also not able to identify themselves as economic contributors in the family. They say, “In the farming activity, we women do not do anything. The men in our family are the main and major contributors in farming and our contribution is very little.”