How Will Mechanizing Mung Bean Harvesting Affect Women Hired Laborers in Myanmar and Bangladesh?

Cathy Rozel Farnworth, Aye Moe San, Nanda Dulal Kundu, Md Monjurul Islam, Rownok Jahan, Lutz Depenbusch, Ramakrishnan Madhavan Nair, Theingi Myint and Pepijn Schreinemachers
Additional contact information
Cathy Rozel Farnworth: Independent Gender Consultant, Pandia Consulting, 48145 Münster, Nordrheinwestfalen, Germany
Aye Moe San: Department of Agricultural Economics, Yezin Agricultural University, Nay Pyi Taw 15013, Myanmar
Nanda Dulal Kundu: Agricultural Economics Division, Regional Pulses Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Madaripur 7901, Bangladesh
Md Monjurul Islam: Department of Rural Development, Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh
Rownok Jahan: Independent Gender Consultant, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh
Lutz Depenbusch: World Vegetable Center, P.O. Box 1010, Bangkok 10903, Thailand
Ramakrishnan Madhavan Nair: World Vegetable Center, South Asia, ICRISAT Campus, Hyderabad 502324, India
Theingi Myint: Department of Agricultural Economics, Yezin Agricultural University, Nay Pyi Taw 15013, Myanmar
Pepijn Schreinemachers: World Vegetable Center, P.O. Box 1010, Bangkok 10903, Thailand

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 19, 1-22

Abstract: Farm mechanization can promote the economic sustainability of small farms and in the context of cereal-legume systems strengthen plant protein-based diets, which support human health and environmental sustainability. However, mechanization inevitably displaces hired laborers who depend on manual farm work for their income. Few studies have systematically analyzed the differential effects on women and men hired labor. Here, we use primarily qualitative data from Myanmar and Bangladesh to test the hypothesis that the effects of mechanizing mung bean harvesting—which is now commencing in both countries—are likely to weaken women hired workers’ economic and personal empowerment. We focus on rural landless women laborers as an important part of the agricultural labor force. The results broadly confirm the hypothesis, although there is variation between the research sites. Harvesting mung beans is the only fieldwork task available to many landless women, particularly married women with children, in both countries. Gendered restrictions on women’s mobility and their role as family caregivers, as well as norms about appropriate work for women and men, restrict women’s options regarding alternative work both locally and further away. The effects are likely to be particularly negative in locations with minimal off-farm economic diversity and more restrictive gender norms. Overall, men across all sites will be less affected since their participation rates in harvesting and post-harvest processing are low. They are less restricted by gender norms and can travel freely to find work elsewhere. However, women and men in low asset households will find it problematic to find alternative income sources. Less restrictive gender norms would help to mitigate the adverse effects of farm mechanization. It is important to invest in gender transformative approaches to stimulate change in norms and associated behaviors to make a wider range of choices possible.

Keywords: Myanmar; Bangladesh; empowerment; gender; agricultural mechanization; economic sustainability; social sustainability (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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