Gender, Food Security and Rural Livelihoods

About the Book
Agriculture in India is in crisis with the out-migration of man from farming to towns, cities or other rural areas in search of works, living the running of farms two women. The resulting ‘feminization has ominous implications for food security & rural livelihoods. Women seem to be in a no-win situation where work burdens and responsibilities has increased without enhancement of productivity or earnings. While the economic importance of land has declined (its contribution to the gross national product has been reduced), it still employees the great majority of the population who are unskilled, overburdened and malnourished. Women lack rights to land. Meanwhile technological change means that women lose their jobs like threshing rice or making rice products at home. They may get jobs in rice mills, but at low wages. They end up having less to eat when they never got enough anyway. The book is divided into two parts: Part I, Perspectives, examines conceptual and macro-issues; Part II, Regional Insights, presents field studies, discussing the day-to-day implications of the crisis. Offering an engaged and lively debate, these contributions raise important questions that affect the well-being of countless women who work in agriculture.

About the Author
Maithreyi Krishnaraj is a pioneering scholar in gender studies. She was formerly Professor and Director and presently Senior Honarary Fellow, Research Center for Women’s Studies, SNDT Women’s University.