Women Farmers and Technologies in Agriculture: A Review of Current Practices

Abstract

Women play an important role in the agriculture sector and development of rural economies. Their work is diversified as farmers, laborers, and entrepreneurs. Gender mainstreaming and empowerment of the women farmers is a key concern for which various policies and solutions are being explored. It is widely observed that rural women are getting more and more marginalized due to several reasons such as less investment in agriculture, lack of decision-making authority, inability in accessing the economic opportunities and technologies. There are several systemic challenges that lead to gender disparities in agriculture; however, the role of technologies is well recognized in overcoming the constraints of low productivity, access to information, and drudgery. Most of the agri-technologies can create new employment opportunities and better access to organized markets and cooperatives for rural women and can significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness in rural women enterprises. However, there are large gender disparities in the adoption of such technologies. Constraints such as sociocultural norms about gender roles, lack of information, prevailing digital-divide, limitations in decision-making power, lack of finances, lack of agency for hand-holding, and lack of resources to implement policies are prominently noted in several studies. Technologies supported by appropriate institutional arrangements and models of linkages can empower women farmers to address major socio-economic, gender, and environmental issues. Therefore, it is imperative to design strategies that promote gender-equitable outcomes and can be used to mainstream gender in agricultural technology adoption.