"I am the first woman farmer in my block who started cultivation 15 years back," said 45 years old Aisha Begum Khatoon of Hridaypur village in Ambedkarnagar district. When she picked up the hoe for the first time, all the villagers rebuked her for treading on a man's domain. However, she decided to move forward, despite all odds, in order to look after her three daughters and one son.
Her husband lives in the city and takes no interest in agricultural activities. She owns a mere half acre land, but by resorting to organic farming, she is able to provide bread and better to her family of five members. She is now able to produce more than 20 varieties of crops, thanks to organic farming, and has become a role model for other women farmers of her area. Aisha Begum is grateful to the Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group (GEAG), for teaching her multi-layer cropping patterns, as well as time and space management.
Organic farming has provided her with a sustainable and economically viable model of agriculture production. She is also involved with Ekta Self Help Group and is the President of NARI Manch (this forum provides agriculture related information to women farmers). She has also been successful in creating more than 250 self help groups. Now her husband and her other family members take pride in her work. The Uttar Pradesh state agriculture Minister, Mr Chaudhari Laxmi Narayan, awarded her recently, during the Kisaan Sansad (Farmers' Parliament), in recognition of her excellent work in agriculture production.
Women farmers, despite being one of the biggest labor forces in India, are still fighting for their rights and identity. In India more than 84 per cent of women are involved in agricultural and/or allied activities. The agricultural sector provides employment to nearly 4/5 of the total women work force in India. One third of the agricultural laborers are women and 48 per cent of the women farmers are considered self employed in the agriculture sector.
According to a study conducted by GEAG, in Uttar Pradesh, 70 per cent of the state's population is involved in agricultural activities, making it a food surplus state. Women family members of about 80% of small and marginal farmers are involved in agricultural activities.Yet land holding rights of women farmers are a mere 6.5 per cent out of which a majority of them (81 per cent) got their land after the death of their husband, while only 19 per cent got it from their mother's side.
Neelam Prabhat, State Coordinator, Aaroh Abhiyaan, (a campaign for the empowerment of women farmers and their rights) working in GEAG, Uttar Pradesh said, "despite the tremendous contribution of women farmers in agricultural sector ,they have always been marginalized and denied their rights, not only by their family and society ,but by the policy makers as well. In general, they are treated as the assistants of male farmers."
She further said, " According to a recent report published by The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 40 million people have been pushed into hunger this year mostly due to soaring food prices, and the number of undernourished people worldwide is approaching the 1-billion mark. We can reduce this number if we empower women farmers and give them land holdings rights and joint bank accounts with their husbands."
The total number of hungry people has risen to 963 million this year, up from 923 million last year. FAO has cautioned, in the latest edition of its global hunger report, that this number could rise further as a result of the ongoing financial and economic crisis. In view of this we should strengthen production in a comprehensive way and should give the rights, long over due, to women farmers. In this way they will become an asset, not only to their families but also to society and the entire country.
PermalinkSubmitted by rakib ahmad on Sun, 28/03/2010 - 15:14
Thanks Amit, for the inspiring story of a marginalised woman farmer in UP. I am working at grassroots level in Assam. Separation of land patta in favour of daughters sh be completed by fathers in their lifetime. 2ndly' Issuing landholding certificates by circle officers/ tehsildars in favour of woman sh be legally made mandatory, within say, 100 days of application. Due to lack of land papers, woman farmers find it difficult to form acceptable groups for subsidy.
It’s a tragic accident which left two people dead in Borgang area under Biswanath polic station in Darrang district last night while a bus hit them after losing its control. According to information, a Guwahati bound night super from Lakhimpur bearing No AS01 Y9561 suddenly lost its control in Borgang and hit both the people leaving them spot dead. They were identified as Bikash Mech and Manabjyoti Bora, local residents of Jorabari area. Later an irate mob attacked and damaged several buses. Investigation is going on.
ULFA was planning serial bombings in the city from March 10. This startling revelation was made by ULFA leader Champak Sarma who was arrested on Tuesday in front of the Cotton College. Champak was on his way to collect cash from the proprietor of the Wintdrop Hospital Dr Tridip Baruah showing a letter on the pad of ULFA’s 29th battalion commander Bosa Singh. Champak is an inhabitant of Baruahbari gaon under Kamalpur police station in Kamrup district. The police further conducted a raid at Champak’s rented room and recovered a huge cache of explosive materials. Police have claimed that these explosive materials were kept for the March 10 serial bombings in the city.
Altogether 12 businessmen on Tuesday deposed before the Manisana panel which is probing the violence that rocked Beltola on 24th of November. These people came to the commission office housed at the Circuit House in response to the panel’s appeal it made during the recent visit to the spot. The commission, however, asked the Dispur police to lift the people of Beltola willing to depose before it.
Yet again it’s deforestation which has almost denuded the Delhi Reserve Forest of Charaideo. The deforestation is evident from a number of illegal saw mills along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. The cause behind it is the sheer apathy from the part of the forest department. Vvaluable woods of this forest are supplied to different saw mills of Arunachal Pradesh. The state forest department has been failing to protect this forest.
The hydro functioning technology of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has been behind the pollution at Galekey which causes more concern among the people of the area: The people in the area have blamed it all on the oil giant for pollution in different oil field areas since last several years. Recently in January, the ONGC causes huge pollution in Galekey Modinagar Tea Estate. The new Hydro functioning Job Technology has been causing chemical mix water leakage incident from the earth and cracked down the floor of the Galekey M.V. School and residence of a few citizens, it also create soil-air and water pollution there.
The mobile phone service provider Aircel has been expanding its business in different places of Assam continuously. But without any security ring. For its mobile networks the Aircel established ultra-modern mobile towers in different areas of Sivasagar District. The Aircel company has not been with provide 24hour security to these towers, whish is consist of different electronic materials, Generator set etc. There is no adequate security to protect its towers. There is no security personal in the sector one number tower of Nazira, which is situated in front of the Nazira HS & MP School. Deforestation causes concern
Several tea garden people including Moran's Assam Chah Mazdoor general secretary Lakheswar Tati, have been injured in police lathicharge made to quell the situation while these people were attaking the Assam Chah Mazdoor office in Moran. Hundreds of tea garden labourers at the Doomar dalang Tea Estate attacked the Assam Chah Mazdoor office in Moran in protest against the lock out of the garden from January 28. Moranhat police pounded on these striking people with lathicharge. It left several people injured. A seriously injured Tati has been shifted to the Assam Medical College Hospital. The entire incident took place following a clash over distribution of Congres ticket for the recent...
Police have arrested a peace broker, a lawyer and a journalist charging with involving in the ULFA’s recent bid to hijack an Indian Airlines plane. According to information, peoples; consultative group member Lachit Bordoloi was arrested by Moran police on Monday morning after a Gauhati High Court advocate Nekibur Zaman was arrested on Sunday evening. On the other hand, the Tinsukia police also arrested Pradip Gogoi, correspondent of North East Television on Sunday. The police have claimed that their alleged role in the plane hijack bid came to light during the interrogation of an ULFA top leader. Bordoloi was selected by ULFA as one of the members to broker the peace process with...
It’s a big setback for ULFA as three top ranked cadres of the dreaded 709th battalion have surrendered on Monday before Army in upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district. According to information, commander Keshav Hazarika, his lieutenant Biraj Phukan, sergeant Major Kumud Bordoloi, all ofthem belong to the crack unit, along with 28 other have laid down their arms before General Officer Commanding B S Jaswal at a function organised at the Army’s Dinjan camp.
Nalbari police have arrested former Asam Assembly Speaker Pulakesh Baruah from his Guwahati based residence on Friday evening. The aitting Trinamul Asom Gana Parishad president was arrested in connection with the the teacher recruitment scam that rocked Nalbari district during 1999-2000. According to information, the Nalbari police led by Deputy superintendent of police, Suren Mushahary, a team arrived in Baruah’s t residence in Guwahati and arrested after quizzing for more than one hour. Baruah failed to turn up and the police took him to Nalbari with his Indica car. Police managed to get all these revelations while they were interrogating an ex -Education officer Amulya Choudhury...
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