Understanding differences in gender and farming

1. population differences (e.g., density, land scarcity)
2. technology differences (e.g., plow)
3. cultural differences (e.g., polygamy)
4. economic differences (e.g., commercialization)

Agricultural systems

• Shifting cultivation (e.g., land-extensive, many places in Africa)
• Intensive cropping (labor-intensive, Asia)

Tasks to complete:

• preparation--tasks: clearing, tree felling, burning, tilling; technology: usually iron axe;
• cultivation--tasks: planting, weeding, fertilizing, pest control; technology: digging sticks, hoes, draft animals;
• harvest--tasks: harvesting (grain, corn, cotton, peanuts, tubers, etc.--the task varies by crop), threshing, gathering, hauling; technology: low-energy, manual
• processing--tasks: de-hulling (pounding), winnowing, shelling, grinding, cooking (fuelwood, water fetching, smokey kitchens, etc.); technology: mortar and pestle for pounding grain, simple fire under iron pot to cook, mostly manual technologies

Population density, labor supply--differences in different parts of the world? Differences in property rights (e.g., more vs less private)?

Polygyny

• Pros and cons
• different farming systems?
• brideweath and dowry
• 'productive' versus 'reproductive' roles for women
• gender imbalance?

Land tenure, property rights

• Different regimes
  • Private
  • Public
  • Common property
  • Open acces
• Land tenure as 'bundle' of rights
  • to use resources ('land tenure' is more broad than 'resource tenure')
  • to manage resources
  • to evict other users (tenure security)--'rights' versus 'privileges'
  • to rent, lease, etc.
  • to dispose (e.g., harvest, inherit)
  • to 'alienate' (e.g., to sell)
  • to adjudicate (who settles disputes?)
• Key issues
• Inheritance--patrilineal/matrilineal
• Residence--patri/matrilocal
• Authority/decision making--patriarchy, matriarchy

Do women relate to the environment in different ways than men?

• They produce (farm, cultivate)
• They use (other natural resources)
• They reproduce (the next generation--think use of resources, population issues, fertility rates)
• They consume (consumption alters the environment. Women usually keep more wealth in household than men do)

Issues

• biodiversity
• local knowledge
• stewardship
• sustainability (two strategies--maximizing income vs minimizing risk)
• technology
• tenure/property rights
  • 'individualization' or 'privatization' (what's driving it?)
  • Movements (Chipko, Greenbelt)
  • Control (markets, governments, locals and custom)