Indranil De Mukul Kumar Institute of Rural Management Anand

1. Woman Farm Employment, Decision-making and Sources of Irrigation: A Study on Upper and Lower Canal Areas of Uttar Pradesh, India Indranil De Mukul Kumar Institute of Rural Management Anand

2. Background • Exclusion of woman from rights on natural resources including land and water is ubiquitous across the globe, including developing countries, with a very little change over time (Crowley, 1999; Sachs, 1996; Seager, 1997; Van Koppen, 1998) • Irrigated land increased employment almost everywhere in the world (Shively& Martinez, 2001; Mangisoni, 2008; Hussain, &Hanjra, 2004) • A few studies have looked into the relation between irrigation and employment generation of women by comparing large geographical or agro-ecological regions (Agarwal, 1984; Chen. 1989) • Not much has been studied on impact of different irrigation systems on women, after controlling for agro-ecological changes

3. Dasthagir (2009) illustrates the process of exclusion of women in the management of medium irrigation system in Tamil Nadu state of India. • In Uzbekistan, the ability of women for decision making in water user associations (WUAs) are curtailed and women are not provided land rights in irrigated land (Gunchinmaa et al, 2011). • World-wide women are either not at all represented or not adequately represented in WUAs (Mehra&Esim, 1997). • Women are not assigned formal or legal water rights (Van Koppen, 1997; Zwarteveen, 1995) • Zwarteveen (2008) attributes the asymmetric benefits of men and women to the hegemonic masculinity in irrigation water control and management in almost all countries and cultures and also at different level

4. Decision making by women are related to women’s empowerment, which according to Kabeer’s (2001) is the ability to make strategic life choices which comprises three inter-related components: “resources, which form the conditions under which choices are made; agency, which is at the heart of the process through which choices are made, and achievements, which are the outcomes of choices.” • Hierarchy of decision-making responsibility recognized by family and community with the key decisions are only taken by men as household heads while others are relegated to women in their capacity as mother, sister, daughter and so on (Kabeer, 2000)

5. This study attempts to fill this gap by comparing impact of irrigation systems on women across two regions of similar agro-ecological structure but differentiated by predominant and supplementary sources of irrigation • The regions compared are upper and lower canal areas of Uttar Pradesh(UP) state of India • Upper canal area (UCA) is dominated by canal irrigation with groundwater as supplementary source • Lower canal area (LCA) is just the reverse in terms of dominance of irrigation systems • Upper canal area is more conservative and patriarchal as compared to lower canal area Irrigation systems Social

6. Objective of Study • To compare and contrast between UCA and LCA • Irrigation • Women’s access to resource and education • Women’s employment and income • Women’s decision-making abilities • To assess impact of canal and groundwater on woman’s employment and decision-making abilities • To assess impact of primary and supplementary irrigation on woman’s employment and decision-making abilities

7. Data and methodology • Two set of surveys in UCA and LCA during 2016 • Survey on women • Survey on farmers • Survey on women • Total number of households randomly selected was 522 • 253 from UCA • 269 from LCA. • Numbers of woman selected • 507 in UCA • 420 in LCA • Survey on farmers • farmers selected are 257 in the UCA and 259 in the LCA

8. Household Description • LCA appears to be relatively backward as compared to UCA • Higher backward caste (SC) in LCA at 18% as compared to UCA at 9% • Lower upper caste in LCA at 22% as compared to UCA at 31% • percentage of OBC respondents is almost same in LCA and UCA • While 38% women and 15% men are illiterate in LCA, the gap with regard to literacy in much wider in UCA where 32% women and only 8% men are illiterate • Around 35% of the female respondents are illiterate • Illiterate female respondents is marginally higher in LCA at 38% as compared to UCA at 32% • Amongst the farmers, 99% of the respondents are male in both UCA and LCA • Farmer respondents belong to different castes: 14% Scheduled Caste (SC), 59% other backward caste (OBC) and the remaining 27% belong to upper (general) caste

9. Land Ownership, Family Leadership, Workforce Participation, Wage Rate, Labour Contribution and Farm Income of Woman Wage rate = Average Prevailing Agricultural Wage rate (Rs./Day) Labour = Average yearly labour contribution to Agriculture (in Women days)

10. Irrigation Facilities Used by Farmers and Canal Irrigation Availability • Kharif is between May and July, Rabi is between October and January and Zaid is between March and June • Numbers in the parenthesis are Standard Deviations

11. Land Ownership by Irrigation Availability and Education • Land ownership is highest for illiterate and tapers off gradually with higher levels of education • 14% of illiterate women own land as compared to 9% and 6% primary and more than primary educated women own land respectively • More women own land in villages where canal irrigation is not available and ownership declines as number of months of irrigation availability increases. • Women land ownership declines, especially in LCA, if number of months of more irrigation water availability increases • Decline in land ownership with the increase in number of months of canal irrigation is starkly evident for women with more than primary education

12. Percentage of Woman Taken or Influenced Family Decision

13. Determinants of Women Work Participation as Farm Labour

14. Determinants of Land Leasing by Women

15. Determinants of Women’s Overall Decision Making Abilities

16. Determinants of Women’s Decision Making Abilities Over Credit and Agricultural Inputs

17. Conclusions Employment • Wage rate of female labour is higher in LCA as compared to UCA • Predominant source of irrigation negatively impacts female workforce participation (FWP) • FWP falls as average number of months of canal irrigation increases in UCA • FWP falls as higher percentage of farmers avail groundwater irrigation in LCA • Supplementary Source of Irrigation positively impacts female workforce participation • FWP rises as percentage of farmers availing groundwater irrigation increases in UCA • FWP rises as average number of months of canal irrigation increase in LCA • Additional Resource benefit female workforce participation • FWP rises average as number of months of more canal irrigation increases in UCA • FWP rises as percentage of farmers purchasing water increases

18. Decision making • Women head of household takes more decisions • Women take all types of decisions more in LCA barring decision on informal credit • In general, canal irrigation does not benefit women with respect to decision making • Groundwater irrigation has positive impact on decision – making in UCA • Additional resource benefits women’s decision-making abilities • Canal irrigation during summer season has positive implications for opportunities to take all types of decisions barring informal credit • More canal water has positive impact on overall decision making opportunities

19. Employment and Decision making • Higher the agriculture is driven by market forces such as input market of water, the more the women stand benefitted with respect to • employment • wage rate • land leasing • decision making ability and wage rate • Education has negative implications for workforce participation and leasing but has positive implications for decision making

20. Policy Implications • Improve the supplementary sources: canal irrigation where groundwater is predominant and groundwater irrigation where canal irrigation is predominant • More irrigation during offseason • Market orientation of agricultural practice

21. Thank You for your attention