A Study of Women's Role in Irrigated Agriculture in the Lower Vaksh River Basin, Tajikistan

• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9789292625917
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This study is conducted under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) project for Strengthening Gender-Inclusive Growth in Central and West Asia. It aims to establish a better understanding of women's roles in irrigated agriculture and water management in Tajikistan. The findings will inform the ADB grant-financed project to modernize irrigation and drainage systems in the Lower Vaksh River Basin. The study examined women's roles and gender gaps in land operation and farming, labor arrangements in agriculture and water management, and feminization of agriculture. It reinforces the need for gender inclusiveness in planning and designing irrigation and drainage projects, ensuring benefits for all.

Chapter III

GENDER ANALYSIS OF SURVEY AND INTERVIEW RESULTS

A. Overview of Gender Issues in Rural Tajikistan and Khatlon Province

The official minimum salary in Tajikistan was TJS400 (equivalent to $40) per month in 2019. Low salaries and the scarcity of jobs in rural Tajikistan drive over 800,000 people, mostly men, to migrate out of the country in search of employment. Over 95% of such migration is to the Russian Federation.²⁹ Khatlon province has a higher rate of male migration (38.9%) than the national average (35.7%).³⁰ Such high levels of male outmigration have led to a substantial increase in women’s responsibilities in agriculture in addition to managing household tasks.

Women’s participation in the labor markets of formal and informal jobs is mainly due to multiple demands on their time and energy where no family, community, or state-run support services exist.³¹ Informal jobs are those not registered or properly accounted and do not provide an official working status or social protection (pensions and social support for children); they do however, provide some flexibility and additional income, which is at times the main source of household income.³² This flexible and informal labor supply seems to suit many production businesses that need low-paid workers, such as agriculture.³³

The outmigration of males in the agriculture sector has led to increased involvement of female labor. The result is, as in other transition countries, feminization of agriculture “an increase in women’s participation rates in the agriculture sector, either as self-employed or as agricultural wage workers; in other words, an increase in the percentage of women who are economically active in rural areas.”³⁴ In this study, the definition of feminization is extended to include unregistered informal jobs and unpaid labor.

Tajikistan ranks 123rd of 148 countries on the global gender gap index, scoring lowest on women’s economic participation and political empowerment.³⁵ The jobs women hold have little protection, security, or earnings. Higher female participation is a sign of a wider spectrum of labor opportunities as well as greater sensitivities to economic, social, and political events and the growth of women’s power as decision makers.

1. Women’s Roles and Issues in Agricultural Production

Poverty is severe in rural areas since there are limited employment and income opportunities outside the agriculture sector. The burden on women increases as they try to feed their families while engaging in agricultural activities, managing the home, and childcare. Low education and lack of access to extension advice and inputs prevent women from improving crop productivity.³⁶ Females are occupied in tedious and difficult work, often during very hot or extremely cold weather, but receive two-fold lower wages than men in the agriculture sector. Changes in gender composition of the agricultural workforce justify the need for gender-inclusive and gender-targeted agriculture and water management programs.

Water institutions do not have sex-disaggregated statistics on their members and users other than land ownership. Khatlon province gender-disaggregated data show that of the total cropping area (281,424 ha) used by dehkan farms, 8% was used by female-led dehkan farms (footnote 36).

Production volumes in the study canals follow similar cropping patterns: 45% of all produce was grain and wheat, followed by vegetables (18%), cotton (13%), and fruit trees (12%) (footnote 36). Productivity data for the main crop categories indicate that female farmers show productivity results equal to or higher than their male colleagues.

The productivity of female-headed farms is almost triple that of males for fruit trees, which require little tending; almost equal in wheat and maize; and less in other grains and cotton production. Women are less productive in high-value crops such as vegetables and cucurbits. This may be connected with access to finance for additional labor and inputs. While these results might be dampened by the quality of seed, fertilizers, water availability, or small farms versus large farms, feminization consists not only of increased female workers in agriculture, but also their capacity to produce higher yields and develop better managerial skills than male farmers.

2. Labor Participation

In 2018, about 69% of women were officially employed in the agriculture sector, compared to 41% of men (footnote 9). Tajikistan has a relatively unique situation in that women are heavily engaged throughout the entire crop production process. Women’s involvement (owners, users, or workers) in agriculture formally counts only when they are registered as legal entities or farm workers. Women are also heavily involved in unpaid family labor—they take care of a multigenerational family and are responsible for the home garden and securing water and food. Although the agriculture output of kitchen gardens significantly contributes to production and food security, it is presented without sex attribution in statistics and national reports.

The feminization of agriculture differs in various regional, village, and family contexts and may have both positive and negative elements. The involvement of women in collecting fees and their direct participation in irrigation activities showed how feminization also led women into support service jobs. Female dehkan farmers who handle farming on their own are called “strong” and “warriors” by local populations,³⁷ as if they are aberrations in a male domain. Women’s involvement in previously male-only occupations illustrates how they have become empowered as decision makers and participants in a wide range of management activities. Yet, the feminization process, especially for women in daily agricultural jobs, is accompanied by low wages and an informal job status that excludes them from public social security benefits (footnote 3).

3. Water Users Associations Access and Participation

Water services are beleaguered by deteriorating infrastructure, weak management, limited staff, high nonrevenue, unaccounted water losses, and poor communication with members and other water users. Half the female respondents in the study recognized that there are issues in water service delivery related mainly to lack of water, bad conditions of canals, and environmental conditions.

Feminization can be observed here too, with women assuming traditionally male-dominated occupations. The long, seasonal male outmigrations led women to take over their roles and such activities as cleaning irrigation canals and collecting water service fees, thus replacing WUA mirob workers. Cotton growing, tilling, and harvesting of vegetables and fruits, which in Soviet Union times and Tajikistan’s early independence were performed equally by men and women, are now done mainly by women. Although men do not oppose women taking male-dominated jobs, such positions, in the opinion of study respondents, are “not a woman’s job,” and should be in the male domain.

4. Household Decision-Making

Conventionally, males conduct all the decision-making within Tajik households. However, due to male outmigration, women have become de facto heads of the household and decision makers. Land plots may be left to be operated by female heads, given for use of close relatives or rented out. In some cases, males formalize the land rights in the name of their wives to prevent additional problems during their absence. Male respondents assume that authorities may treat female farmers better, especially if the actual land rights owner is a seasonal labor outmigrant. This arrangement may be considered beneficial to women, but men or other family members may still keep control and decision-making power. In practice, female dehkan farmers make most of the production decisions alone or with the support of male family members, especially on buying quality seeds and fertilizers. At the same time, intra-household hierarchies among female members exist. Elder women are best positioned to make decisions that are accepted by other household members.

B. Productive Roles and Contribution to Household Economy

1. Characteristics of Survey Respondents

The socioeconomic baseline survey covered 323 households with 110 female and 213 male respondents. Membership of households averaged 7 persons in both I&D systems. In one household are multigenerational or several families, often consisting of women, children (approximately three per household), and elderly due to the high rate of male outmigration.³⁸ The average age of respondents was 50, ranging between 25 and 91 years.

Fewer females (65%) than males (88%) indicated finishing at least secondary³⁹ grades. Male respondents have better access to special or technical and university education. Only 53 respondents, almost equal numbers of males and females, had specialized agriculture background, meaning they either finished a vocational school or university.

The majority of both male (88%) and female respondents (78%) identified themselves as dehkan farmers and kitchen gardeners. Around 20% of female respondents, but only 2% of males, were paid farm workers, including hired seasonal workers. Some men (5%) and women (1%) were farm managers. The results were similar for both I&D systems.

Around 50% of households in the sample have at least one person who has left to work outside of Tajikistan (149 migrated members). Qualitative interview results⁴⁰ suggest that around 80% of men left the country for wage work. Women also outmigrate, mainly to the Russian Federation, for various job opportunities. Outmigration of male labor forces other family members, especially women, to look for additional income opportunities because remittances are low or not used for daily family needs, or considered to be unstable by the households. For example, because of a recession in the Russian Federation in 2014 to 2015, remittance inflows to Tajikistan dropped from 36% of the GDP in 2014 to 28% in 2015. A similar downturn due to the 2020 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is taking place. The economies of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan have been hit hard by the plunge in oil prices, which triggered the start of a recession in these countries. The numbers of returning migrant laborers rose sharply in February and March 2020, including from Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, accounting for more than 90% of migrants.⁴¹ The pensions of older members are usually not enough to sustain families with several children, and any decline in remittances challenges a family’s food security.⁴²

The rural populations in both I&D systems identify remittances and agricultural production as their main inc...