The Determinants Of Women Participation

Despite having little rights, hardworking women and children were often the key to success for independent farms. For these small, family-run farms, the children were often the ones who helped work and manage the land. Women were often the backbone of a household, doing the housework, weaving, cooking, and raising large amounts of children. Women were practically required to bear many children over a lifetime in order to staff the farm to maintain the family’s livelihood.

o Development transforms women in very different way (e.g., in labor). Development programs often fail to notice local discourses (85). Women need a voice and “some control over their lives and communities” (Amen!).

The most prevalent ongoing dynamic that encourages the self-exploitation of farmers in the Central Valley is the CSA movement. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is when, “Members support a farm by paying in advance, and in return they receive a share of the farm's produce; members also share in production risks, such as a low crop harvest following unfavorable weather.” While 54% of these farms in California make a profit, 32% and 15% either break even or lose profit. They tend to be more successful than traditional farms in California because they be closer to and cater to wealthy urban areas like the Bay Area who are willing to pay more in support of CSA endeavors, organic products, and local businesses. Also the farms tend to have more white owners and workers and come into their venture with more capital, which enable them to proceed to have successful business plans, a strong voice of advocacy, and higher average gross sales per acre. CSA businesses though

They looked forward being independent farmers who worked for themselves and got paid. However, this took a left turn. In the diagram, “The Sharecroppers Cycle of Poverty”, a cycle of debt that sharecroppers would find themselves in was depicted. It also showed that the owners controlled a majority of the sharecropper's life, and ended up taking a lot of the sharecroppers money. (Slides, 11).

In 2003, Producers Cooperative Association attended 9,591 cooperative members within their one hundred miles radius sales territory of Bryan, Texas. Producers had lead their peers in patrons’ capital where their member’s equity as at 2003 was 48.12% of total assets compared to the group average of only 30.55% and the revolving cycle of five-year was the shortest compared to the group average of 17.6 years. This cooperative diverse economy of feed, fertilizer fuel and agricultural supplies had manifested excellent performance than their peers as indicated by Producers’ higher gross margin of 18.69% of sales versus the group average of 16.55%.

Most people when they hear the term “co-op farms” automatically think it's just like a factory farm. The definition of factory farms is it is a system of rearing livestock using intensive methods, by which poultry, pigs, or cattle are confined indoors under stricted controlled conditions. Co-Op farms, also known as a farmers’ co-op is a cooperative where farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity. Usually the co-op farms are multiple farmers that work together by growing or raising animals and crops on the shared land. They all work accordingly to where everyone get their fair share of the income received. These co-op farms are family farms that have combined their efforts because they could not afford the farm cost on their own individually. When these Farmers work together they then can afford to make a profit. With the use of co-op farms, farmers then can make a profit, with the help other farmers in the same boat. That bad new for farmers is they do not get paid what they should for the crops they grow and animals they raise. The farmer gets pennies to the dollar, as well as their annual income varies from animals to

The grassroots organization was formed in 1996 by both men and women in order to better the lives of women, in an area stricken with poverty. The organization began as a farming initiative group that centered on joint farming. Joint farming meant that women would help each other with planting, weeding, and harvesting. By assisting one another, it helped to keep costs down, making farming more accessible and affordable for the women. As the organization grew, it branched further then farming into encouraging women to fulfill their civic duties. Traditionally, men were the only ones that held council positions within the village but the Ntankah Village Women Common Initiative Group helped changed this. The association effectively helped women to become a member of the council and to be able to participate politically. Another area that the organization provides women access to medicine and medical help relating to pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. In rural communities, it is very difficult for women to obtain the help that they need and sometimes, they even lack education surrounding the issues, especially with HIV/AIDS. Lastly, the association expanded to education. By educating young girls and women to become literate, it provides them with the necessary skills, it gives them a way into the job market, helping them to rise out of poverty. The history of the Ntankah Village Women Common Initiative Group sheds light on the critical needs that they are providing to not only the women but also the community.

Secondly, the next principle of intersectionality looks at homes as private sanctuaries where family members can feel at ease. The romanticization of this private place suggest that homes can provide a family member with a safe environment. Yet at the same time, this perspective of “home” is also being used to embody ideas of gender roles and stereotypes. While public life began to be seen as a place for masculinity (to work and provide food for the family) and private life in the household became feminine and women became to take on roles of care takers. Therefore to avoid the dangers of the public life, women were usually expected to remain at home. “Prejudice against [women's] participation in public life mounted, and [they] were excluded

The first formal farmer cooperative to form in the United States occurred in 1810. However, agricultural cooperatives were not really perceived as a viable business organizational structure until after the Civil War (Cobia). Several farm organizations helped to promote

During the communist regime, Romanian farmers lost their rights over their lands. The collectivization of Romanian agricultural lands led to a huge loss for the rural community and to the nation’s agricultural traditions. Large numbers of peasants were moved from the countryside to cities never to work the land again, never to pass on the knowledge and skills to their children. To these days the word ‘cooperative’ has a negative connotation for the rural society within Romania.

Furthermore, there appears to be a lack of women in leadership and decision making roles which is demonstrated by a study conducted by Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC). They discovered that during 2006 to 2007, no women in rural organisations held Chief Executive Officer positions, and under 16 per cent of the members were women (Sheridan & McKenzie 2009, p. 13).

This essay aims to deal with a social institution that is often described as the realm outside the state, market and family- the civil society, and if it advances women empowerment. The idea of civil society as presented is this essay refers to units that are often associated with advancement of democracy, non-violence, participation, inclusiveness and equality. Loosely, civil society is also framed in this essay as a sector of voluntary organizations and non-government organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations and other alternative social development agencies which operates at the local level. I take on cases from Zimbabwe and India as manifestations that even though a local

Baserup (1970) suggested that women needed to reduce the work loads they had so that they take part in education, projects which will also extend their power in the economy. In addition, Baserup pointed out that women have to receive credit facilities for greater economic projects. For example, Baserup echoed the mechanization of “female farming’ in African women farmers and revolutionarize traditional forms of agriculture for productive efficiency extracted from Schech and Haggis (2000). Rogers (1980) also suggested for a complete overhand of male attitudes against women. Rogers explicitly challenged this in her survey of the FAO institutional arrangement. She concluded that no women were found in field officers in technical division. Rogers (1980) therefore, concluded that women were not only excluded from planning and decision making but were being ignored and overlooked. Furthermore, households were assumed to be male headed which also generalized women as housewives (Rogers 1980:66 in Schech and Haggis, 2000). This shows that women’s work was regarded as non- work due to male bias. However, the WID approach agitated for equity, empowerment, efficiency and equal participation of women in existing structures.

Using Nigeria Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank small holder direct loan scheme to increase agricultural production in rural Oyo State, Nigeria

The seeds of this unusual saga were sown more than 65 years back in Anand, a small town in the state of Gujarat in western India. The exploitative trade practices followed by the local trade cartel triggered off the cooperative movement. Angered by unfair and manipulative practices followed by the trade, the farmers of the district approached the great Indian patriot Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for a solution. He advised them to get rid of middlemen and form their own co-operative, which would have procurement, processing and marketing under their control.