Roles of women in agriculture: A case study of rural Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

In rural areas of Pakistan, the role of women in agriculture is more pronounced because they contribute a lot to agriculture, but their contribution in agriculture is not acknowledged. The present study was designed in rural union councils of three towns of Lahore, Pakistan namely Nishatar Town, Iqbal Town and Wahga Town. A questionnaire was designed to collect the data from rural women (n=207). Results reveals that a majority of women (42.02%) started the work at 29 to 39 years of age and mostly (86.95%) they were illiterate. A majority of the respondents (81.64%) were getting agricultural information from their own family members, and 56.52% rural women worked 8-10 hours per day. During this study, it was also found that wheat and rice were the major crops sown by all the respondents (100%). Out of all the pre-harvesting activities, 94.2% positive responses were recorded against seed bed preparation. A majority of rural women (85.02, 88.88 and 95.65%) were involved in shed cleaning, dung collection and fodder cutting, respectively. Thirty-one percent of rural women reported that limited agricultural product was the main cause for not being involved in agricultural marketing. Among the problems of household activities, 43.5% rural women reported that husband wife conflicts were the major problem in their life. Need assessment analysis reveals that rural women presented the highest need of trainings (85.5%) to improve their role in agricultural activities. This study suggests that concerted efforts of government and non-government agencies are required to uplift these rural women.