Women's Farming Collectives: an Inquiry Into the Resource Sharing

Sociology and Anthropology 6(3): 283-296, 2018 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/sa.2018.060302 Women’s Farming Collectives: An Inquiry into the Resource Sharing Patterns across 3 Districts of Maharashtra to Provide Evidence for Sustainable i Environmental Collective Action Roshan Rathodii Society for Promoting Participatory Ecosystem Management (SOPPPECOM), India Copyright©2018 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Abstract India is an agrarian country where, 80% of as against only 63% of men (Dand et al, 2015)[1].It is its agricultural labour is performed by women. Yet, she is significant to notice that women even though barely own a not recognized as a farmer as being a farmer is national average of only 12% of operational land holding synonymous to owning agricultural land. The land have over the years been extensively involved in different ownership statistics are obscure for women with only 12% kinds of farming operations such as the production of of the operational land holding in India and 15% in the state major grains and millers, land preparation, seed selection, of Maharashtra in particular. This study through its in depth sowing, applying manure, fertilizer and pesticide, weeding, understanding of women’s farming collectives in the 3 transplanting, threshing, winnowing and harvesting. But districts of Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Beed in the state of despite this increased involvement in the farming activities, Maharashtra provides insights in the functioning, resource women are as close to ignored in the decision making sharing patterns with respect to land, labour, seeds and process of farming. Land ownership is the link to achieving water, and puts forward a case for collective action and its economic as well as social standing in society. Land acts as benefits in terms of accessing resources where absence of a metaphor she says, for power, wealth and status and in the land holding for women farmers exists. The study in the context of farmers a necessity to even access various other larger context highlights the interesting experiments that extension services (Velayudhan, 2012) [2]. But women themselves are engaging in and growing organic unfortunately women, economically and socially, aren’t produce while creating a collective space which is an considered as equals to access this ownership over economic as well as a social space. Ecological resources. It is in this context, where deteriorating sustainability, economic democracy and social well-being agricultural conditions and an agrarian crisis of sorts, the are manifested in the nature of these collectives themselves. initiatives which women farmers are taking collectively, The main aim of this work is to ensure recognition of need to be studied and understood. Collective institutions women as farmers and provide a platform for them to act as strongholds for the purpose of natural resource access land rights collectively. management. Although it is gendered in itself to believe that women are inherently more conservationist than men, Keywords Collective Action, Gender, Natural the distinctness of women’s social networks symbolizing Resource Management, Organic Farming and Democracy prior experience of successful cooperation, their higher dependence on these networks (as also on the commons such as water, forests etc. in general), and their potentially greater group homogeneity relative to men, could provide an important (and largely ignored) basis for organising 1 . Introduction sustainable environmental collective action. In order to Women represent more than 40% of the global labour discuss, theorize and make evident sustainable collective force and 43% of the global agricultural labour force. The action for the purpose of natural resource management, it is NSSO (2009-10) shows that in India, 79% of women of great significance to understand why the role of ‘gender’ continue to be engaged in agriculture and allied activities is important. 284 Women’s Farming Collectives: An Inquiry into the Resource Sharing Patterns across 3 Districts of Maharashtra to Provide Evidence for Sustainable Environmental Collective Action 2. Background and Rationale was developed collaboratively by The United States Agency for International Development, International Food Policy Research Institute, and Oxford Poverty and Human 2.1. Theoretical Literature Development Initiative, is a tool which aims to measure the Literature on collective action and its relation to natural empowerment, the agency and the inclusion of women in resources in the environment has evolved over the years the agriculture sector [11]. Women play a crucial part in the and follows a trajectory. The dictionary of Sociology field of agriculture across the world. This is where the defines collective action as the action taken by a group WEAI comes in as a useful tool. It measures the roles and (either directly or on its behalf through an organization) in extent of women’s engagement in the agriculture sector in pursuit of members’ perceived shared interests’ (Gordon five domains namely decisions about agricultural and Scott, 2009) [3]. Over the years more and more production, access to and decision making power over attributes have been added to the definition of collective productive resources, control over use of income, action and collectives that emerge out of collective action. leadership in the community, and time use. This tool Ostrom very appropriately contributes to the theory of enables the researcher to understand the extent to which a collective action by expanding its domain to informal woman farmer owns her resources, accesses resources, her groups as well where short term or long term collective decision making power in the production of agriculture as associations are established by local networks and local well as her overall situation with respect to agriculture. The groups of people (Vanni, 2014) [4]. While talking about most interesting aspect of this index is that it highlights and collective action and collectives, Ostrom and others stress brings to the forefront an array of domains that do exist to on the institutional support (government, NGO or any showcase women’s empowerment in agriculture. But other external agency) that has provided the necessary although it looks at all these aspects, it does fail to push to the collective to emerge as outcomes, especially in recognize the relationship that women share with the agriculture (Uetake, 2013) [5]. Vanni also highlights how environment around them and take into consideration the collective action in relation to natural resources and in the feminist perspective while understanding the ‘why’ of the scope of this study of agriculture especially, through indicators. And hence other frameworks have also been works of Baland (1996) [6], Wade (1987) [7] and Ostrom used for this study and have contributed to learning other (1990) [8], certain specific factors are necessary to be aspects of this relationship. Though the approach is narrow taken into account. Arun Agarwal (2001) [9] categorizes in terms of quantifying empowerment which is not always them as follows: possible, it does provide a guiding point in order to collect 1. Resource system characteristics qualitative information. 2. Group characteristics When one talks about women in agriculture and women 3. Institutional arrangements as farmers, it is of significance that women are not regarded 4. External environment as an isolated category attributed with homogeneity but placed within a framework where gender roles with respect These characteristics enable the collectives to be to ecological, political and social relations are studied. studied and understood in a more in-depth way as they Feminist Political Ecology, within a single framework incorporate key issues to be looked at. Bina Agarwal brings in the feminist perspective with respect to the above (2010)[10] in one of her articles on contextualizing mentioned relations (Vanni, 2014) [4]. According to collectives in the agricultural production space, while Rocheleau (1996) [12] and others, feminist political looking at similar categories, arguing for a group ecology provides valuable framework in analyzing stories approach to alleviating poverty through investing in and experiences of women in relation to ecology across the agriculture by forming agriculture collectives of the poor, world. It identifies various concepts, such as gender-based and in this case, poor women farmers. She emphasizes on asymmetrical entitlements where gendered rights over the need to revisit collectives which are now bottom up, resources are looked upon, the value of local (read voluntary, socio-economically homogenous, participatory traditional knowledge) not only because of its intrinsic in decision making and small sized with a human rights worth but because of its contribution to sustaining approach. She puts forward a case stating that collective environments, and notions of gendered spaces, especially action as opposed to individual approach can work better in improving the well-being of the poor. She stresses on market spaces and collective struggles. This framework bottom up collectives where women are more subjects which gives a holistic understanding of women and their than objects of the course of action that they take. relationship with the environment isn’t a simplistic approach to merely adding

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