Articles
WOMEN’S ROLE IN THE VEGETABLE FARMING SYSTEMS IN ANTALYA, TURKEY: A GENDER ANALYSIS OF LABOUR PARTICIPATION AND DECISION-MAKING IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
The aim of this study is to identify and specify the tasks and roles of women farmers in vegetable farming systems with the ultimate goal of better targeting the resources in the agricultural sector.
Seventy-five vegetable farms that mainly produce vegetables under cover were surveyed in 1998; villages in the study sampling area were selected on criteria jointly decided by the research team and by local extension staff.
Selection of the households within the research area was by random sampling from a list provided by extension staff.
The results of the research provide insight into the roles and activities of Turkish women farmers in key areas of their operations.
It was found that women proviide most of the farm labour and make some key decisions in vegetable production.
Women farmers provide the majority of labour input in planting, hoeing and harvesting activities.
Women participate less in other production activities such as spraying, fertilisation and irrigation.
Although women play an important role in the production process, their role in the decision making process regarding buying inputs, schooling of children, planting crops or planning the budget is relatively small.
Women farmers are faced with serious constraints in carrying out vegetable production activities.
They have less access to information, technology, inputs and credit than men.
The research identifies major characteristics of women farmers, such as age, educational level etc.
The study also provided the opportunity for women farmers to highlight their concerns and expectations from government.
It is concluded that women farmers need a more effective and better targeted agricultural extension service.
The paper concludes that there is a need to integrate women farmers into the extension service system and proposes that one approach could be the recruitment of women extension agents to help reach women farmers.