1. Lecture 8 Rural employment:pattern& trends.
Trends in rural employment and wages are important in a number of ways. For example, a
steady growth of job opportunities is a precondition for productive employment of labour
force under rapid growth of population. Rising real wages of the working class would be
essential for incessant improvements in the standard of living of the masses. Lack of
sufficient employment opportunities in rural areas together with the consequent stagnating
(even declining) wages may be a potential cause of mass movement of rural labour to
urban areas and attendant formidable economy-wide problems. Similarly, aggregate growth
rates of employment and wages in contrast with those in productive sectors have an
important bearing on trends in income distribution and poverty. Rapid growth of population,
predominance of rural sector and a general lack of studies on rural labour market conditions
in less developed countries, including Pakistan, call for a study such as the present one,
which explores the trends of rural employment and wages in Pakistan.
Pathways out of poverty vary for rural women and men depending on socio-economic structures
and institutional settings.A differentpolicymix isrequiredineachsettingto generate decentjobsand
facilitate women’sandmen’sequal accesstothem.Some broad policiesare neededacrossthe board,
but theirdesignandimplementationwillhave tobe context-specific.
The World Bank’srecentWorldDevelopmentReportonagriculture (WorldBank,2007a) and the FAO
report on Feeding the World in 2050 (FAO, 2009a) suggest that different groups of countries
may follow different poverty reduction strategies. For instance, increasingthe productivityof staple
foodproductionandenablingintegrationof landless labourers into dynamic agricultural export
sectors are strategies most relevant foragriculture-basedcountries.A policyapproachfocusedon
encouragingworkers’shiftout of the agricultural sectorintooff-farmactivities,possiblythrough
secondaryeducation andtraining,maybe more appropriate fortransformingandurbanizedcountries.
In all circumstances, countries and settings, there is an urgent need to better acknowledge the
importanteconomicfunctionsof unpaidactivitiesandtoimplementmeasuresforreducingand
redistributingthe burdenof housework.Thiswouldbe anessential stepforpromotinggender-equitable
povertyreductioninrural areas,since the burdenof thisworkfallsdisproportionatelyonwomen.
Unpaidwork limitswomen’saccess to all forms of paid rural employment. A combined approach
that addressesweaknessesinphysical andsocial infrastructure andthatstrengthenswomen’sability to
make claimsovertheircontributionsisrequired.Publicworksprogrammescanbe effectivelyusedto
supportgenderequalityinrural employment, especially if genuine efforts are made to involve
beneficiaries in the designof programmesfrom the outset.A trulygender-aware employment
guarantee scheme (EGS) isone thatfulfilsthe twoobjectivesof:
(1) makingiteasierforwomento participate on equal terms as men (e.g. by providing child care
on-site); and
(2) creatinguseful assetsthatreduce aspectsof women’sdomesticworkloads(e.g.piped

2. water).
subordinate positioninthe rural labourmarket.Findingwaystostrengthenthe skills-training
component of these programmes and linkages with other segments of the labourmarketshould
therefore be apolicypriority.Promotingfemale educationinrural areasandtrying to reduce gender
educational gaps at primary and secondary levels is obviously important for a number of reasons
in addition to the objective of improving access to decent employment.Greaterattentionshould
be paidto the type andqualityof education,ratherthanto educationperse.Formal educationappears
to be a more significantpathwayoutof povertyintransformingand urbanizedcountries(suchassome
Latin AmericanandSoutheast Asian countries), and in relation to non-agricultural work.
Appropriatelydesignedgender-awareextensionservicesare more importantdeterminantsof labour
productivity in agriculture-based contexts, especially in Africa. In both formal and non-formal
education,rural girlsandboysare treateddifferentlyandoftenchannelledinto different subject areas,
reinforcing gender labour-market segregation. This isanother important bias that needs to be
challenged through innovative teachingmethods,trainingof teachersandsimilarinitiatives. Rural
non-agricultural employmentisapotential income source andapossible pathway outof rural poverty,
but itis importanttounderstandbetterunderwhatcircumstancesitcanleadto greatergender
equality.Rural non-agriculturalemploymentonaverage paysbetterthanagriculture.Ittendstobe
dominatedbysmall-scale manufacturing(suchasprocessingof foodandotheragricultural products),
commerce andvariousformsof services(Haggbladeetal.,2007). In the urbanizedcountriesof Latin
America,rural non-agricultural employmentappearstobe more prevalentamongwomenthanmen,
but women tend to be in the lowest-paid and most vulnerable forms of work,suchas domestic
services(domesticservicesinBrazil,forexample,usuallypaybelow the agricultural wage rate). When
this is the case, non-agricultural employment isevidently not a route out of rural poverty but
rather can contribute to reinforcinggenderinequalitiesandstereotypes.Policiesmustavoidsimply
shiftinglow-productiveagriculturalemploymentintolow-productive non-agricultural employment.
Educationis a keydeterminantof accessto high-productivityrural non-agricultural employment,
especially for female workers. Promotion of rural non-agricultural employment isa more viable
option in countries with well-developed markets for non-agriculturalgoodsandservices.Constraints
in access to land, credit and technology are mutually interdependent. Lackof access to landisan
importantobstacle butnotnecessarilythe mostbindingconstraint for women’s agricultural
productivity, especially in land-abundantcountries. In land-scarce countries, such as Pakistan ,
innovative approaches involvingsmall integrated programmes that support landless women’s
collective purchase of land,togetherwithcreditmobilizationandenvironmentallyfriendlyfarming
practices,appearespeciallypromisingbutimplementationisstill limitedtoa few cases .
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