Women farmers yet to get institutional recognition

Although Bangladesh's agriculture sector is becoming increasingly dependent on women's participation, women do not get institutional recognition as farmers, let alone own farmlands, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.

Due to patriarchal and discriminatory social structure, women have little or no control over the harvest, they said.

The discussion on women's rights on land was organised by Nijera Kori, the Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD), and Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) in the capital's Cirdap auditorium.

Citing the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data, Bela Chief Executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan said women own only 18 percent land in the country while 81 percent is owned by men.

"Village women spend 53 percent time of the day in farming earning 61 percent of the GDP from agriculture," she said.

She also pointed out that one in three women in Bangladesh suffer from malnutrition.

A landless farmer from Faridpur Hazera Begum said, "We work in the fields more than men do, but we do not get any incentive from the government or banks as farmers."

Nijera Kori coordinator Khushi Kabir said women farmers are deprived of all government initiatives for farmers' welfare.

Prof Sadeka Halim pointed out that indigenous women of the Chittagong Hill Tracts do not have any legal protection on land as there is no law protecting their rights. She also demanded having women farmers on women's reserved seats in the parliament.

Botanist and ecology researcher Pavel Partha said rural women should be saved from becoming a tool for other people's earning.