Comments on: India: Women farmers stand against climate change

By: Haixia-Liu

Haixia-Liu — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:49:27 +0000

Indian women are great! They do not just sit back, they fight with the changed climate. It is a good example that we can take action when we are in front of difficulties.

By: Ida Jeng

Ida Jeng — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:47:10 +0000

Thank you for sharing, Belen

By: Risto Harma

Risto Harma — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:56:07 +0000

There is a clear link between types of belief systems, women’s deprivation and the effects of cliamte change. The impression I have so far for India, without having done in depth reading on the climate issue for India, is that climate change will be interacting with the reported overuse of water resources in some of the literature on India. So even if temperatures have been flat as observed in a comment above, there may be a negative feedback and interaction due to this additional factor of agricultural mismangment that result in cumulative impacts from climate change. Drawing an inference from Sub-Saharan Africa from my own research on widows’ livelihood options globally, the small holder farmers are typically unable to improve their land, meaning they do not have money for chemical fertilisers, and they can not get enough organic matter to maintain let alone improve the crop yields and water retention capacity of their land. This is because they do not have enough working finance, irrigation systems do not exist and in many countries the government agriculture services that once existed, and that helped make small holder farming viable, have been stopped as a result of the wrong sort of liberalisation under structural adjustment programmes. Under such circumstance, the land is progressively degraded and the crop yields fall continuously. One of many references that talks about this is the book Poverty, AIDS and Hunger: Breaking the Poverty Trap in Malawi, by Anne Conror, Malcolm Blackie, Alan Whiteside, Justin Malewezi and Jeffrey Sachs (2006). This research, as well as other such research, highlights that it is often women who are left to farm while husbands have migrated in search of cash income. Among the worst affected women farmers are widows and other single women who are discriminated against purely on the basis of gender, such discrimination being justified locally has sanctioned by tradition and/or religion. Widow farmers have bneen an increasing phenomenon in Sub-Saharan Africa as a result of HIV/AIDS. In northern India in particular, there is a strong bias against women of almost any income or social category working outside the home in a non-family household role. Women who do say are routinely subjected to accusations or suspicion of sexual promiscuity. This can then put them at risk of actual sexual attack. On top of this is the widely socially held concept of family honour, so that such accusations or the perception of immoral behaviours is enough to damage family honour, resulting in severe sanctions against accused women. This belief system acts as a strong disincentive for women to act and to be able to deal with cimate change and poverty effectively. The absence of a husband results in these women not receiving a range of required agricultural inputs inputs, and it often results in their land being seized by relatives or other individuals, referred to in Sub-Saharan Africa as “grabbing”. The exception has been in parts of Rajasthan, where the climatic and land conditions are so severe, that communities realise that thee is no other option but to allow women to take up paid employment. It is clear that discrimination and unsubstantiated beliefs are now a block to dealing with climate change, as has already been noted by observers with respect to improving women’s well-being and living standards. It is clear there is more to the impact of climate change than just Co2 emissions.

A footnote: In north India, girls from the age of puberty are often removed from school due to the same beliefs on the perception of females moving freely in public places and its association with sexual immorality, see for example Elemetary Education for the Poorest and Other Deprived Groups, by Jyotsna Jha and Dhir Jhingran (2005), among other reports. Naila Kabeer often covers these sorts of issues.

By: candice novak

candice novak — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:17:05 +0000

Great article. it’s always important to give voice to those with little or none. And the increasing problems surrounding global warming and agricultural change will only exacerbate that need to hear from normal people — not just political meetings, G20, etc… Women are often left out of the “mainstream” coverage of issues including agriculture. Thanks for covering this.

By: Tweets that mention India: Women farmers stand against climate change – Conversations for a Better World -- Topsy.com

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:57:13 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by sexgenderbody, Erica Domiducas. Erica Domiducas said: RT @sexgenderbody India: Women farmers stand against climate change http://ff.im/-boDZn [...]

By: maria

maria — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:52:34 +0000

La actitud de esas mujeres me parece un ejemplo digno de imitar, no simplemente se estan lamentando por su situacion de pobreza y desamparo, sino que miran para adelante y son proactivas. Si en Paraguay las imitaramos aunque sea un poco, sin duda algo ayudariamos a mejorar.

By: J Beckwith

J Beckwith — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:52:33 +0000

As Global Temperatures have been static for the past 12 years and have been trending down since 1998, you need to look for another scapegoat. Co2 is not the culprit as it has increased while temperatures have declined. Unfortunately in these times, the “Climate Change hysteria” has trumped the facts to such an extent that they have become irrelevant. The truly sad result of decimating miss-information perpetuates a feeling of helplessness in some of these women. Kudos to the women taking proactive steps, albeit for the ulterior motives of those who don‘t have their best interests at heart.