Scale and Drivers of Female Agricultural Labor: Evidence from Pakistan

Iqra Mohiuddin, Muhammad Asif Kamran, Shokhrukh-Mirzo Jalilov, Mobin-ud-Din Ahmad, Sultan Ali Adil, Raza Ullah and Tasneem Khaliq
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Iqra Mohiuddin: Institute of Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Muhammad Asif Kamran: Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Mobin-ud-Din Ahmad: CSIRO Land and Water, Black Mountain Science and Innovation Park, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
Sultan Ali Adil: Institute of Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Raza Ullah: Institute of Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Tasneem Khaliq: Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: Agricultural labor is largely informal, particularly for female agricultural labor in developing countries. Despite significant participation in the agricultural labor force in Pakistan, women’s contribution is not properly acknowledged and rewarded. The issue is further aggravated by the dearth of literature on gender–labor relations in cropping and livestock activities. Considering this gap in the literature, the current study was conducted with the specific objective of exploring the labor composition of different agricultural activities in different farm size categories in general and, particularly, female agricultural labor (family and hired labor) participation and its determinants in the rice–wheat cropping system of the Punjab province, Pakistan. The data were collected from 300 households across four districts of the province. Labor participation was calculated on an official farm size classification basis, i.e., small (<12.5 acres), medium (12.6–25 acres) and large (>25 acres) farms. The findings show that female labor is predominantly demanded in the manual harvesting of wheat, rice nursery transplantation and harvesting, and the majority of the livestock-related activities. The regression model results showed that family female labor and hired female labor participation significantly depend on the landholding status of farmers, household size, family type and level of education. The interviews also illustrated that labor relations are rapidly changing—ongoing mechanization threatens conventional female labor activities due to the lack of machinery operation skills among females, caused by informal state policies and cultural barriers. The findings of the study have important policy implications for mainstreaming gender status in agricultural policy and rural development and contribute directly to the Sustainable Development Goals on Gender Equality (SDG#5) and Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG#8), and indirectly to No Poverty (SDG#1), Zero Hunger (SDG#2), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG#12) and Climate Action (SDG#13).

Keywords: female labor; rice-wheat system; farm size; agricultural labor; Pakistan; gender bias (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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