1. Lecture 10 Enhancing womenagency to promote social transformation and agricultural development
It isrelevanttoconsidersome aspectsof the marginalizationof the statusof women inthe worldby
havinga lookat the figureswhichare basedonthe documentsof the UnitedNations.Some of the
findingsare:
1. UnemploymentRate:Male unemployment rate decreasedby11% from1999 to 2010 while thatof
women,unemploymentrate increasedby0.5% duringthe same period; - Womeninthe Informal Sector:
Withoutlegal protectionorsecurity,womendependon informal trade fortheirsurvival.InThirdWorld
countries,ahighpercentage of food vendorswere women:inNigeria94%,Thailand80%, 63% in the
Philippines;
2. InequalityinPay: All overthe worldwomenearnonlytwo-thirdsof men’spayand earnlessthan
three-quartersof the wagesof mendoingsimilarjobs.Womenforma thirdof the world’sofficiallabour
force, but are concentratedinthe lowest-paidjobsandare more vulnerable tounemploymentthan
men;
3. DomesticWork: Womendo almostall the world’sdomesticworkandcoupledwith theiradditional
workin the productive spheres - thismeansmostwomenworka double day.Unpaiddomesticworkis
regardedas women’swork.Thoughitisvital work, itisinvisible work,unpaid,undervaluedand
unrecognised.Yet,the women’s contributiontosocietyinthisregardisenormous;
4. Agriculture:Womengrowabout half of the world’sfood,butownhardlyany land, have difficultyin
obtainingcreditandare overlookedbyagricultural advisorsand projects.InAfrica,three-quartersof the
agricultural workisdone bywomenwhile in Asia,LatinAmericaandthe Middle-East,womencomprise
half of the agricultural labourforce;
5. Health:Womenprovide more healthcare thanall healthservicescombinedandhave beenmajor
beneficiariesof anewglobal shiftinprioritiestowardspreventionof disease andpromotionof good
health;
6.Education: Womencontinue tooutnumbermenamongthe world’silliteratesbyabout3:2 ratio, but
school enrollmentboomisclosingthe educationgapbetweenboysand girls;
7. Political Affairs:Due to poorereducation,lackof confidence andgreaterworkload, womenare still
under-representedinthe decision-makingbodiesof theircountries.