Skills development for women farmers in India

Did you know that 70 percent of agricultural activities in India are carried out by women?

With mass migration of farming families to cities, drought, inconsistent monsoons, shrinking agricultural land banks, next generation food supply chains and processes, new farming techniques, etc., it should be obvious that engaging women farmers and equipping them with skills to cope with a changing agricultural landscape is an imperative.

In practice, that isn’t quite the case, according to an international research project conducted in by the London-based City and Guilds Centre for Skills Development. The report from the project finds that it is the men folk who receive better and most of the training. Women, on the other hand, continue to remain at the bottom of the training pyramid, confined to toiling in the fields. The report highlights the need for appropriate training for women to ensure that their productivity is not lowered.

The state of training women farmers in India is quite disconcerting. Research shows that giving women farmers the same inputs and education as men could increase yields by; despite this women continue to receive only a small proportion of the appropriate training compared to men.

Here is a very good documentary on the state of small scale farmers in India (29 mins)