Bending Gender Norms: Women’s Engagement in Agriculture

Feb 11, 2022 | Manisha Shrestha
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Researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have studied and witnessed that women, particularly in South Asia, have strongly ingrained and culturally determined gender roles.

While women play a critical part in agriculture, their contributions are oftentimes neglected and underappreciated. Is there any way to stop this?

On International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we spoke to Pragya Timsina about how women’s participation in agriculture is evolving across the Eastern Gangetic Plains and her findings which will be included in a paper coming out later this year: ‘Necessity as a driver of bending agricultural gender norms in South Asia’. Pragya is a Social Researcher at CIMMYT, based in New Delhi, India. She has worked extensively across different regions in India and is currently involved in various projects in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

What is the current scenario in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia on gender disparities and women’s involvement in agriculture? Is it the same in all locations that your research covered?