The United Nations has been observing International Day of Rural Women on 15 October since 2008. This day was recognises “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”
The UN states that achieving gender equality and empowering women is a critical ingredient in the fight against extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition as statistics have showed that agricultural production could increase by 2.5 to 4 per cent and the number of malnourished people could be reduced by 12 to 17 percent if women are given the same opportunities as men.
“According to the latest UN Women report, the current disruption to the food and energy markets has only intensified gender disparities, causing rates of food insecurity, malnutrition, and energy poverty.” Therefore, governments must put more effort into improving women’s livelihoods, health, and well-being.
Today India, with the rest of the world, celebrated ‘Mahila Kisan Diwas’ or ‘International Rural Women Day’ where the role of rural women in agriculture was highlighted. ‘Millets: Empowering Women and Providing Nutritional Security’ was chosen as this year’s theme as the year 2023 has been declared as the ‘International Year of Millets’ by United Nations (UN).
The virtual event was organised by the National Gender Resource Centre in Agriculture (NGRCA), Directorate of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare in collaboration of National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), an autonomous organization under Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW).
Speaking at the event, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the Government of India is committed to give priority to women for bringing them in the mainstream of agriculture development. He expressed that women are the primary producers of the food grains, among them millets, and custodians of biodiversity.
He added that Centre has taken several initiatives focusing on empowerment of women keeping them in the center stage of development process.
These initiatives include constitution of Self Help Groups, Farmer Producer Organizations producer companies and capacity building of women through training in various institutions like Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Tomar stated.
The minister also released a book on the occasion titled Evidences based Gender Inequality in Agriculture and Food Systems in India, which will be helpful for the policy makers, academicians and researchers to focus on areas where the gender analysis is needed.
Women Members, DDS Zaheerabad showcased the Millet Song in Telugu Language at Mahila Kisan Diwas 2022 on 15 October 2022. (Photo credit: @ManageHyd/Twitter)
Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Kailash Choudhary in his address expressed his views on the important contribution of women farmers in agriculture and allied sectors and Indian economy and highlighted the importance of women in self-reliant India.
Today, agricultural women farmers and entrepreneurs are making important contribution in various aspects of production, value addition, processing and nutritional security of millets and coarse cereals, Choudhary added.
The technical session of the programme is being organized at MANAGE, Hyderabad with the technical support provided by Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), Hyderabad.
