Women’s farming collectives- an inquiry into the resource sharing patterns across 3 districts of Maharashtra
Student name: Ms Roshan Rathod
Guide: Dr Smriti Das
Year of completion: 2016
Host Organisation: Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM), Pune
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Ms Seema Kulkarni
Abstract: India, being an agrarian country, 80% of its agricultural labour is performed by women. Yet, the identity of ‘women as farmer’ is missing as being a farmer is synonymous to owning agricultural land. And owning land for women in India accounts for only 12% of the operational land holding and 15% in the state of Maharashtra. This study through its in depth understanding of women’s farming collectives in the 3 districts of Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Bid in the state of Maharashtra provides insights in the functioning, resource sharing patterns with respect to land, labour, seeds and water, puts forward a case for collective action and its benefits in terms of accessing resources. The study in the larger context highlights the interesting experiments that women themselves are engaging in and growing organic produce while creating a collective space which is an economic as well as a social space. Ecological sustainability, economic democracy, social well-being are manifested in the nature of these collectives itself. The main aim of this work is to ensure recognition of women as farmers and provide a platform for them to access land rights collectively.
Keywords: Collective action, gender, natural resource management, organic agriculture and democracy.
