“If women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20–30 percent”, says FAO. Inspite of access to resources, women are still the major force for farming to continue. Women are the defacto custodians of local culture and bio diversity. They are the ones pioneering family farming which is primarily responsive to household needs – be it food, nutrition and income.
Empowering women by building capacities and confidence, utilizing existing skills and providing support where necessary and integrating all the farm based activities through recycling, are some of the factors which can bring the poor women out of poverty. The experiences in this issue show that when women farmers are meaningfully included in agricultural development opportunities, not only do farms become more productive but overall family health improves too. It is repeatedly proven that what they rightfully need is an ‘opportunity’, enabling conditions, a little bit of encouragement and guidance, where necessary.
Gaining identity as farmers – A case of women collectives in Kerala
Geethakutty P S
Birbhum’s tribal women show the way
Saroj Kumar Pattnaik
Leading from front – Case of Allu Narayanamma
Ranchitha Kumaran and Siva Krishna Babu
Beating malnutrition through vegetable production
Nirmala Adhikari
Usha S, Deepak R and Manju Nair
Shaikh Tanveer Hossain
SRI: A practice that transforms the lives of women
Sabarmatee Tiki
Gaining from collective efforts
Pradeep Kumar Panda
Anithakumari P and V Krishnakumar
Organic vegetable farming by women
Hirdesh Kumar Chunera
Ganga Ankad
Sustainable and resilient farming – Women Collective’s efforts
Sheelu Francis and Sara Calmius
Farmers Diary: Agro ecology – key to prosperity
K Revathi
Challenging food insecurity through community action
T K Omana
