Thumbnail Image

Empowering women farmers

A mechanization catalogue for practitioners

Year of publication 2022

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 60 p.

Author ​Justice, S., Flores Rojas, M., Basnyat, M.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (stand-alone)

ISBN 978-92-5-135791-0

Synopsis (short abstract) Rural women across the world work along agri-food value chains performing numerous agricultural operations. Their work is increasingly affected by land degradation, climate change impacts, and out-migration. It is often unrecognized, unqualified, and unpaid. Moreover, the traditional division of labor often relegates women to manual, time-consuming operations with high degrees of drudgery. The combination of family responsibilities and insufficient access to critical services, information, and technologies, affects women’s work burden and their potential for income generation. For example, fewer rights over land make it more difficult for women to access subsidies, finance, or mechanization. There are three ways in which sustainable mechanization can empower women and respond to their needs:

  • as customers of mechanization service providers - reducing their drudgery, and freeing up time for resting or opting for other social or economic activities;
  • as operators of machinery and equipment or staff of a mechanization hiring services business - offering their service to others to earn an income;
  • as entrepreneurs managing their own mechanization hiring services agribusiness - providing a service for other farmers and generating revenue.
The goal of this catalogue is to promote and support women’s access to sustainable agricultural mechanization as operators and/or managers. It lists and provides information on market-tested machinery and equipment for crop production and post-harvest operations. This catalogue highlights the potential for smallholder farmers, including women, to earn an income via mechanization hire service. The information for each machine or equipment includes:
  • its function
  • its main features
  • what it is suitable for
  • its technical specifications (key features only)
  • where to buy
  • its pictures.
The target audience includes extensionists, gender experts, agricultural engineers, government officials, donors, micro-finance institutions, and implementing partners seeking to:
  • promote inclusive agricultural mechanization interventions;
  • reduce women’s drudgery and improve the efficiency of tasks they perform;
  • address gender issues in agriculture;
  • support economic opportunities for women as entrepreneurs.

Last updated 14/03/2022

Cite this content as:

Justice, S., Flores Rojas, M. & Basnyat, M. 2022. Empowering women farmers -  A mechanization catalogue for practitioners. Rome, FAO.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cb8681en

Read on Google Books and buy online

Language English

Also available in:

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Thumbnail Image
    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Women leading mechanization hire services: An inspiring story from Chiti village, Nepal 2023
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    Nepal, a landlocked country known for its mountain peaks including Mount Everest — the world’s tallest peak, is home to Chiti village. Most households of Chiti village rely on agriculture and wage labour for their livelihoods. Rice, maize and wheat are the main staple crops. Farmers from the village would walk for more than two hours several times during the harvest seasons to process their grains at the nearest mill centre. To address this problem, 27 women formed the so-called mother’s group in 2015, with a simple yet powerful objective: to establish a mill and provide hire mechanization services to their community. Seven years later, the mill is still running and providing mechanization services to the community with an average net annual profit of about USD 1000. The group recovered the initial investment only three years after its creation. “The purpose behind establishing the mill was to provide services to the community rather than for business purposes” explained Ms Tiwari. The group either saves the profit from the mill or uses it for social development activities within the community. As an example, the group donated a portion of the profit to the community’s public school. This story of determined women in rural communities hopes to inspire others to collaborate, work together to solve their problems and be empowered.
  • No Thumbnail Available
  • Thumbnail Image
    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Sustainable mechanization as a means to empower women processors in Benin 2023
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    This flyer presents the gender responsive approach to mechanization piloted in Benin. In 2020, the government of Benin developed the National Strategy for Agricultural Mechanization (SNMA) – with FAO’s financial and technical assistance – presenting a clear vision and priorities for agricultural mechanization. As a first step towards operationalizing the strategy, FAO implemented this project, focused on women’s empowerment and income generation through mechanization (benefiting 15 rice, cassava and soja processing cooperatives in Glazoué, Savalou and Tchaourou), with the support of GIZ (ProCIVA project). The project was formulated as part of the collaboration between FAO and the GIZ Green Innovation Centres of Africa and Asia. Its implementation benefited from the experience and tools of key partners, such as the scaling scan by CIMMYT and the post-harvest approaches of GIZ.
Show more

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.