Rainfed rice - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

RAINFED RICE A SOURCEBOOK OF BEST PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES IN EASTERN INDIA
34
Do you know that?
On average, women spend half a day walking
long distances to collect green fodder and
gather weeds when working in others’ fields.
Thus, they are the worst affected when drought
occurs because this means that they have to
walk farther to collect animal fodder. There have
been cases where poor, landless women have
been paid lower wages because they have been
given the weeds after weeding by the owners of
the farms for use as fodder.
The more animals raised, the more farmyard
manure and dry cow dung cakes are made
available for fuel. Dry cow dung cakes not only
provide fuel but are also a cash-generating
source for daily expenditure. A decline in the
animal population will result in increasing
demands on women’s schedules as they will
have to travel farther into the forests in search
of fuel.
Future scenario
Economic development will lead
to a general withdrawal of labour
from the agricultural sector to the
industrial and urban sectors.
Increasing population pressure
and opportunity costs of male
family labour will result in men’s
withdrawal from labour-intensive
activities with low returns.
This, in turn, will lead to women
being forced to spend more time
working in the fields and with
animals in addition to their
household chores. Even female
members from the upper caste
families might be forced to break
social norms and work in their
own fields.