This document discusses the role of women in Pakistan's agriculture sector. It begins with an abstract that notes agriculture is important to Pakistan's economy and most of the population is engaged in it. While women play a significant role, their contributions often go unrecognized. The document then provides background on women's large role in agriculture despite facing numerous constraints. Women comprise over half the agricultural workforce but lack access to resources and opportunities afforded to men. They work long hours but their labor is frequently unpaid or undervalued. Finally, the document outlines the main objectives of the study, which are to identify women's roles in different agricultural sectors, analyze obstacles facing women and gender differences, and assess the government's role in supporting women in

1. 1 | P a g e R o l e o f W o m e n i n a g r i c u l t u r e S e c t o r

2. 2 | P a g e R o l e o f W o m e n i n a g r i c u l t u r e S e c t o r
Table of Contents
Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………………………….02
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………………………..03
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………….04
Role of Women labour in agriculture………………………………………………………….......08
Main Objectives of the study……………………………………………………………………..…….09
Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………………………....10

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ABSTRACT
Most of the Less Developed Countries (LDC’s) rely on agriculture as
an important component of theeconomy and a vigorous driver of
growth. Pakistan is not an exception in this case as it is also an agro-
based economy which largely depends on agriculture for national
income and employment generation. The biggest portion of
population is actively engaged either directly or indirectly in
agriculture sector. Females overshadow men in many spheres of
agricultural tasks in terms of their productive participation but
usually their efforts go unrecognized at national level. The due
recognition of their role is constraint by many factors but gender is
on the top where she is subdued not by talent but by cultural basis
of gender. This scenario is further aggravated by negligence on the
part of the policy makers who did not attempted any gender
segregated moves to recognize and promote women’s participation
in agriculture, resultantly the country is deprived to fully benefit
from the productive talents and efforts of women. This research
attempts to highlight the pronounced but invisible hand of women
in agriculture, and come up with the findings that deprive women to
get access to productiveresources and considerable livelihood
earning. The research also suggest that to overcome this trend
Pakistan has to develop women in agriculture on preferred basis in
order to fulfil the increasing population fooddemands, and at the
same time remain competitive globally in the present milieu.

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INTRODUCTION
Today, there is a growing realization and commitment of the global
community to achieve more sustainable and broad-based agricultural growth
by addressing gender related issues in agriculture through national, regional
and global initiatives and partnerships. There is need for reorientation of the
agricultural research agenda to overcome the existing gaps and to face the
emerging challenges of sustainable development and livelihood of resource
poor smallholders, especially women farmers. We are quite aware of the
problems which women face at home and at farm. However, at this juncture,
we require in-depth analysis of the problems followed by the appropriate
actions for their solutions. Suitable technologies have to be delivered to the
farm women for raising farm productivity and empowerment. Other
practical steps should also be taken-up to help and support farm women.
This paper mainly emphasize on the role of women in different sectors of
agriculture along with drudgery activities carried out by women in
agricultural activities. Introduction Agriculture is underperforming in many
developing countries for a number of reasons. Among these is the fact that
women lack the resources and opportunities they need to make the most
productive use of their time. Women are farmers, workers and
entrepreneurs, but almost everywhere they face more severe constraints
than men in accessing productive resources, markets and services. This
"gender gap" hinders their productivity and reduces their contributions to
the agriculture sector and to the achievement of broader economic and
social development goals. Closing the gender gap in agriculture would
produce significant gains for society by increasing agricultural productivity,
reducing poverty and hunger and promoting economic growth. Women, like
men, can be considered "productive resources", but they are also citizens
who have an equal claim with men on the protections, opportunities and
services provided by their governments and the international community.

5. 5 | P a g e R o l e o f W o m e n i n a g r i c u l t u r e S e c t o r
Gender equality is a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in its own right,
and it is directly related to the achievement of the MDG targets on reducing
extreme poverty and hunger. Agricultural policy-makers and development
practitioners have an obligation to ensure that women are able to
participate fully in, and benefit from, the process of agricultural
development. At the same time, promoting gender equality in agriculture
can help reduce extreme poverty and hunger. Equality for women would be
good for agricultural development, and agricultural development. The roles
and status of women in agriculture and rural areas vary widely by region,
age, ethnicity and social class and are changing rapidly in some parts of the
world. Policy-makers, donors and development practitioners need
information and analysis that reflect the diversity of the contributions
women make and the specific challenges they are confronted with in order
to make gender-aware decisions about the sector.Population is growing at a
high speed in Pakistan, and a majority of the population is involved directly
or indirectly with agriculture to generate their income (Butt et al., 2010). This
sector is playing a key role in reducing poverty and acts as a source of growth
in the countries where it is a main source of livelihood for the poor (Food
and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2011a; Cervantes-Godoy & Dewbre,
2010). It provides raw materials to industries and also serves as a market of
its product thereby it contributes a lot to the national income (Begum &
Yasmeen, 2011). It has several linkages with other non-farm rural activities
and hence results in employment generation and income earning
opportunities (Fatima, 2012). Both men and women play an important role
in this sector. But in rural areas the role of women in agriculture is more
pronounced and the most of the agricultural activities revolve around them
(Begum & Yasmeen, 2011).In a previous research study by Luqman et al.
(2006), it has been reported that women account 36.7% labour force of
agriculture in the developed countries, while 43.6% labour force in
underdeveloped countries. It has been estimated that more than fifty

6. 6 | P a g e R o l e o f W o m e n i n a g r i c u l t u r e S e c t o r
percent of the world food production has been done by women. Due to their
vital role in the huge world food production, women are considered as the
sources of knowledge for cultivating, processing as well as preserving of
locally adapted nutritious crop varieties. Due to having such type of
knowledge, women may be recognized as the innovation leaders for
sustainable development in agriculture (Chung, 2012).
The role of women in agricultural sector cannot be denied. They
actively participate in the major field crops production and their
intensity of participation is directly linked with their age, social class as
well as the type of crop to be cultivated. The rural women work almost
12 to 15 hours a day. During sowing and
harvesting of farming system, they look too busy to perform their
duties honestly. For the production of wheat, cotton and vegetables,
their participation is higher than that of other crops cultivation. A
tremendous labour is required to perform various activities of cotton
production and this type of labour is provided by the feminization in
agriculture sector.The women farmers work very hard. They perform a
number of tasks, and remain busy from dawn to dusk. Their activities
typically include the production of agricultural crops, earning wages
through agriculture and other rural business, participating in
agricultural marketing as well as maintaining
their homes. In economic point of view, most of these activities are not
considered as active employment in national records but in actual
figure, they are crucial for the welfare of rural households. An NGO
conducted a research study on the participatory role of women in dairy
farm operations for smallholder system in Punjab-Pakistan and
reported that women also take part in animal husbandry especially
grazing, fodder cutting, feeding, transportation, milking, butter
preparation and preservation, as well as cleanliness of livestock sheds.
Besides these activities, women also play a crucial role in general

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health care, preparation of milk products and the marketing of these
products.
Rural women contribute a lot to agriculture but their contribution in
agriculture is not appreciated.Unfortunately, despite their wealth of
knowledge and capability, they are ignored by policy makers, often not
being acknowledged as “productive” farmers. Their farm work is often
unpaid or under-valued and they tend to be debarred from decision-
making. They are negatively affected by traditional pattern and
economic policies. They face more constraints than that of men. They
have neither ownership nor control over resources. They are expected
to give up their rights in favour of brothers or husbands (Pesticide
Action Network UK,). They are denied of their basic rights such as
owning property, access to the health cares, getting education,
securing bank credits and becoming a part of technology transfer. They
are underprivileged to avail the opportunities of socio-economic
development. They have lesser access to extension services,
technology as well as trainings relative to their male counterparts.
The present study has been designed to highlight the enormous roles
of the rural women in agriculture,determine the causes for women
participation in agricultural activities, investigate different constraints
faced and explore different factors which determine their
empowerment. The study would help to bring hidden talents of rural
women and would be valuable for the policy makers to formulate
future policy guidelines for rural as well as agricultural development.
We believe that no such type of study has been conducted in rural
Lahore, Pakistan. So the findings of this study would constitute a
significant addition to the existing literature.

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Role of Women labour in agriculture
Published statistics indicate that in developing countries about 43.6%, and in developed
countries 36.7%, of women are working in the women labour force in agriculture.
Pakistan has the 9th
th
largest labour force in the world with an estimated population of
211.17 million and a population density of 265/km
2
(GOP, 2020). In Pakistan, almost
65.3% of the labour force is employed in the agricultural sector (GOP, 2019). Labour is a
vital component of agriculture that belongs to Pakistan’s poorest rural section. In rural
Pakistan, about 50% of the female labour force participates in agricultural activities
directly. Womens perform their duties by participating in the rearing of animals and
harvesting crops along with their household activities.
Women play their role as a backbone in their household economies just as
agriculture is a backbone of Pakistan’s economy. Other studies also have similar
statistics i.e., almost 79% of females and 61% of males are directly or indirectly involved
in agriculture in Pakistan (FAO, 2017). Gender disparities are commonplace in Asia and
Africa (Patil and Babus, 2018). In the presence of men and under the sphere of their
cultural norms, land ownership and decisions of crops are taken by men. Females assist
them at each stage without considering their reward.
Women farmers in rural Sindh are a significant part of the agricultural workforce.
Recent study of FAO, in Pakistan reported that women’s role in agriculture increased
during the last two decades, as many men migrated from Sindh’s rural areas to urban
centres to improve their income possibilities and to avoid exploitation from local
landlords. The situation of the unpaid women labour force in rural areas of Pakistan is
very alarming as about 60% of their work is being utilized as unpaid (Kaleem, 2018).
In southern Punjab, the involvement of women in agricultural activities is higher
compared to other parts of the province, in part because South Punjab is less developed
and poorer compared with other parts of Punjab. The majority of farmers use manual
labour for sowing, weeding, harvesting, and cleaning mung beans and only a small
proportion of farmers use mechanization in these activities. However, mechanization
is replacing female as well as hired male labour force. On average it may be assumed
that females are half of the population of any country, therefore, without women’s
labour force participation in any activity, it is not possible to meet the food demand of
the increasing population and to survive being competitive worldwide. It is also needed
to acknowledge, value, recognise, and formalize women's work in fields (paid or unpaid)
to avoid any type of discrimination and labour laws violations.

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Main Objectives of the study
1.To identify the role of women in different
agriculture sectors..
2.To identify various types of obstacles in the growth
of women in agriculture sector and its related
sector..
3.To analyze the gender differences in roles and
activitives in agriculture sector..
4.The role of Pakistan government in the agriculture
sector….

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Literature Review
Ms Wajiha Ishaq and Mr Shafiq Qadir Memon
Role of rural women in agricultural activities Women are dynamic worker not only in
farms and fields but they also accomplish such activities as enhancements of
agricultural productivity e.g. seed bed preparation, weeding, harvesting threshing, grain
cleaning, food storage, cottage industry etc. Jamali (2009) reported that Pakistani rural
women are not only involved in household accomplishments but also involved in rural
socio-economic activities by adapting services of crop production, cotton industry and
livestock management. Table 3 describes the role of women in two different agricultural
activities such as crop production and livestock management. However, out of all the
pre-harvesting activities 94.2% positive responses were recorded against seed bed
preparation and 47.82% against weeding. While all other activities were related to post-
harvesting wherein all the 100% respondents showed positive responses for harvesting,
74.39% for picking of fruits, 74.39% for winnowing, 74.39% for drying and 100% for
cleaning to transfer the agricultural produce to the market. Similarly, 85.02% women
said that they were employing in making bundles and storing the harvested crops,
respectively (Fig. 1). But all of the women said that threshing activities were performed
by men. The data presented in table 3 also shows the role of women in livestock
management. It is clear from the table that the women did not perform the livestock
activities such as grazing and bathing. A majority of rural women (85.02, 88.88 and
95.65%) were involved in shed cleaning, dung collection and fodder cutting,
respectively. More than two-third (84.05%) of them were found to be involved in
milking, yogurt preparation, and milk and yogurt storage, respectively. 79.71% women
were seen to be involved in shed building. Regarding the ghee making activities of
livestock management, 76.32% women were involved to prepare ghee. More than half
women (52.65 and 67.63%) were performing the activities of dung cake making and
providing the food and water to livestock, respectively (Fig. 1). Hence, the role of
women in both crops and livestock activities was found to be higher than that of men in
the study area. Problems faced by rural women Women contribution is measured to be
lower in a country not because of their least possible involvement than that of men but
because their involvement goes unacknowledged, unrecorded and unrecognized. In
fact, they are mainly accountable for pre-cultivating and post-harvesting operations of
food crops compulsory for household livelihood and their struggle goes unrecognized
and unpaid (Government of Pakistan [GOP], 2014). Table 4 reports the problems faced

11. 11 | P a g e R o l e o f W o m e n i n a g r i c u l t u r e S e c t o r
by the rural women regarding agriculture marketing. There were four main causes
recognized by rural women for problems in agricultural marketing (Table 4). Thirty-one
percent of rural women reported that limited agricultural product is the main cause for
not being involved in agricultural marketing. Thirty percent of rural women described
that family opposition is the primary cause of limited role of women in agricultural
marketing. Twenty-four percent of rural women reported that due to lack of
transportation, they didn’t participate in agricultural marketing. The remaining 13.3% of
rural women mentioned that limited business and negotiation skills created problems
that obstructed their participation in agricultural marketing. The problems faced by
rural women in their household activities have also beenreported in table 4. From the
table, it is clear that 43.5% rural women reported that husband wife conflicts is the
major problem in their life, while 36.6% mentioned the conflicts with in-laws. It was
followed by the rural women (14.8%) who described that domestic violence is the major
problem of households. The remaining 4.9% revealed that parents-children conflicts are
the major problems in their life. Need assessment of rural women The need assessment
highlights the suggestions of working women in order to improve their working and
living conditions. The respondents were asked to select from a pre-prepared list of
suggestions for their empowerment in agricultural activities to boost up their living
standard. The suggestions were then graded according to the responses of the
participants, and are presented in table 5. The table shows the needs of respondents in
the form of percentages and the highest rankings are considered the most important
need of the rural women. Analysis of need assessment reveals that rural women
presented the highest need of trainings (85.5%) to improve their role in agricultural
activities. While rural women play an essential role in agricultural production, thereby
awareness should be created among rural women about the modern agricultural
technologies which mean to educate them about these innovations. More or less 167
respondents (80%) expressed a need for awareness about modern agricultural
technologies. This indicates that they have more space to increase the agricultural
production by availing innovative information about agriculture. The main problem that
rural women face in performing the agricultural activities is the lack of credit facilities.
The microcredit programs should be arranged to promote the access of rural women to
the micro credit and other financial services with subsidized loans or interest-free loans
so that they actively participate in agricultural activities and may enhance the
agricultural productivity.

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Ms Razia Begam and Ms Ghazala Yasmeen
Major Constraints faced by Women in Agriculture Globally female face certain
constraints in agriculture, but Pakistani women presents a more grey picture because of
unique circumstances created by social, cultural, legal, political, financial factors applied
to gender discrimination. Some of the most pressing problems are:
Poor Health and Malnutrition
In rural areas where women’s status is grossly neglected, health is on the top. She often
does not receive proper nutritive diet in her life span which causes her low health status
and prone to diseases. When she becomes economic worker in agriculture, it negatively
affects her productivity that is automatically low. Romero-Paris (2000) reported that
chronic malnutrition coupled with workload adversely affects women health, also
results the poor health of infants and young children.
Lack or Complete Absence of Education
Rural female in Pakistan are mostly illiterate because of lack of access to educational
facilities, conservative cultural codes and early marriages which deprives them to attain
basic education. Therefore they relies mainly upon their informal learning, traditional
knowledge most of which is outdated and their own experience from agricultural
activities.
Ignorance for Using Latest Means of Agriculture
Agency for International Development (1982) criticized the fact that, whatsoever has
been taught by extension workers upon the use of latest technology and other means
of productivity enhancement. They mainly access to men farmers resultantly women
are neglected or they get secondary knowledge of it.

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Lack of Land Ownership and Access to Credit Facilities
Literature revealed that in most of the underdeveloped countries land ownership are
strictly held by the male members of the society which deprives women from land
ownership. She works on the land owned by her father, husband or son. This triggers
the problem of access to credit facilities offered to those only who hold ownership
rights to lands. As Pakistan is no exception to this, this problem is also faced by Pakistani
women. Although women grow about half of the world’s food, but her land ownership
is hardly known so far. Consequently she faces hurdles in obtaining credit and is grossly
neglected by agricultural development projects.
Lack of Segregated Economic Policy & Reforms
Developing countries in general and Pakistani traditional society in particular define
gender role that has been historically specified in lack of access to productive resources
because of which women and men are not proportionately reflected in various
agricultural sectors. As different aspects of agriculture are variably affected by trade
liberalization, hence, consequences for women and men are not the same. Moreover
men and women have different set of knowledge, skills and working capacity therefore
they are differently affected by any change in policy.
Natural Environment
As natural environment is unpredictable and women farmers coupled with illiteracy are
unable to foresee weather trends so any unexpected change badly affect their work.
Climate changes bring unexpected situations in the form of floods, disturb cropping
season, and temperature fluctuation. These things create hardships for farming
activities especially where women are engaged.
Migration
Recently women has been put into more complex and demanding life style influenced
by the accelerated rated of males migration to urban areas in search of jobs and other
earning opportunities. This trend affected rural families in terms of increased out-
migration by men and by leaving behind all the family responsibilities upon women,
particularly the farm work.

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Replacement of Female by Technology
The introduction of latest technology to agriculture for productivity and efficiency is
indispensable nowadays but somehow it produces hurdles for female farmers rather
than facilitating them. Because technology needs education for getting know how of
using it but in Pakistan rural female literacy rate is extremely low.
Low Skill and Low Paid Activities
Women participation is considered to be low in a country development not because of
its minimum participation than men but because their contribution goes unrecognized
and unrecorded mostly. In fact she is primarily responsible for cultivating and harvesting
food crops needed by household livelihood but her efforts goes unpaid and
unrecognized.