Women Farmers: Unheard Being Heard

This edited volume celebrates the positive stories and small changes happening with respect to gender equality in the field of agriculture. This book identify crisis which a woman faces in the field of agriculture as a farmer. The book shares unsung stories of women farmers who are bringing change at the grassroots. It puts together the positive developments experienced by the experts, researchers, professional while working for and with women farmers, to highlight the challenges to bring equity in agriculture.

Women in agriculture often lack identity where either they are recognized as farmer’s wife or a farm labourer. Women farmers who contribute 60 percent in to farm practices like sowing, transplanting, fertilizer application, weeding, harvesting, winnowing are merely recognised and provided an equal level playing field. Women are also found participating in the various forms of processing and marketing of agriculture produce, along with the cultivation but system has failed to protect their rights and offer them a platform to voice their concerns.  This book shares the process, challenges, experience, strategy from the narrative of progressive women farmers so as to highlight and understand what it takes to bring changes for achieving the goals of an equitable farming ecosystems. The book is a relevant reading material for students, researchers, professionals and policy advocates in agriculture and gender research.

Sugandha Munshi, Senior Specialist and has an intensive experience of more than a decade (12 years) working in the field of gender mainstreaming including research. She has had extensive experience in providing strategic and technical leadership to government programs and projects, ensuring partnership between various key stakeholders in education and agriculture towards gender mainstreaming. She has had received various national and international recognitions and awards related to her work in the field of gender and women empowerment like National Women Achievers Award India 2014, Young achievers Award 2018, Helrevo Women Achievers Award, IWD 2020, Inspiring Change Award, Planet 50-50 by 2020, Bihar India. From 2014 to 2018 she has held the position of Global Shaper in World Economic Forum representing India and she is also South Asia Ambassador for World Youth Social Enterprise, United Kingdom. Working in IRRI as a senior specialist, she has had various international as well as national publications on the work related to women farmers. With a system thinking approach she is working to mobilize science and knowledge by designing innovations to mainstream women in Agriculture and developmental outcome for farmers. She has had incepted the “Kisan Sakhi Model” for women in agriculture in Bihar, India focusing on Self Help Group as the conduit. Her PHD entitled “Role of Self-Help Groups in Empowering women in Agriculture in Muzaffarpur Bihar India is due in 2022.

Madhulika Singh, Scientist and as an agricultural professional she has been working with CIMMYT for last 9 years with an essence of agriculture research, extension and applying for all. Her experience as a research fellow has been with Indian Institute of Maize Research, Pusa Delhi where she did her PhD research work in affiliation with Banasthali University. She completed her Masters from Banasthali and Graduation from Gargi College, University of Delhi. Her inclination towardsworking at the ground level and for gender equality motivated her to be associated with the project for a long time. Her 10 years in the field of research has been versatile. She specialises in Maize Physiology and has done work on agriculture extension, tissue culture and molecular markers. The extension activities that she has been associated in CIMMYT includes sustainable agriculture, resource conservation, food security, farmers and extension workers training and have been coordinating with the National Agriculture Research and Extension Systems (NAREs). Her focus has been research, extension activities related to balancing gender and this involves a lot of interaction with female and male farmers, understanding their requirements and then to provide technical inputs around those.