ANNEX B - Gender Issues for Project Planning Teams – Wheat & Rice Production
in the Punjab, Pakistan
Probing the local gender roles in wheat and rice production (see charts below) makes visible what
men/boys compared to women/girls do and how much time they invest. Although this basic gender
analysis is informal and was only piloted in two communities in Punjab by the FAO team in FAO-WFP
project communities, it clearly helps capture local crop production realities.
The value of this analysis:
- Identifies who should participate and why in project activities.
1
-
Clearly shows that both wheat, and more so rice, are produced by partnerships of husband and
wife, at intervals including other family members1. These are not exclusively ‘men’s crops’. In fact,
women invest two to three times more labour in rice production than men.
-
Demonstrates that best yields are not possible without the effort and skills of both men and
women. Single-sex focus groups with male farmers and with female farmers are essential to
identify their respective skills, time, coping skills as well as what they can and want to do and
learn. (In some parts of Punjab, both men and women will actively express opinions in mixed
groups but single-sex consultations are essential to maximize input into project formulation.)
Women and men have an equal right to participate in creative problem-solving and next steps
that will affect their food security.
-
Shows that decision-making does not reflect productive effort. Work is shared between men and
women. Decision-making is not: it remains the domain of men. This signals how vital men’s
consultation and acceptance will be for any activity involving their wives’ farm and non-farm
activities, especially involving new technologies or efficiencies. Equally important, activities that
focus on male farmers will impact their wives and family, so women should be consulted and their
response respected.
-
Triggers careful consideration of the gender division of labour in smallholder cropping when new
crops are introduced, acreage expanded, or new methods introduced. One key question: what
will the impact be on men’s and women’s time, energy and health? Both women and men have
other productive and social roles, and women have significant domestic and reproductive roles.
How will manageable balance and sharing of workload between farming couples and ageappropriate activity for their teenage children be achieved?
-
Demonstrates the vulnerability of single-headed households who have no teenage or adult
members of the opposite sex to complement their own production expertise.
-
Identifies the need to improve and expand the curriculum of agriculture training especially for
women farmers (i.e. through farmer field schools run by NGOs; Women Open Schools, which
focus primarily on home-based vegetable gardening and food production, featured in some FAO
projects; and in government agricultural extension opportunities).
-
Gives a useful baseline so project interventions can aim to equally assist men and women to be
more efficient and effective.
-
Exposes the gender gap in farm mechanization: increasingly mechanization saves men time and
effort. Although some mechanization has resulted in men with machines replacing women’s
manual work, efficiency measures have yet to relieve much of the arduous time-consuming field
work of women.
The two discussions were held in communities active in FAO/WFP ongoing projects where there is high awareness and
sensitivity to child labour. The real participation levels of boys and girls under age 18 may therefore not be fully reflected.
-
Raises the need for a gender lens to be applied when designing crop interventions, selecting
inputs and farm equipment for distribution.
-
Exposes related gender and non-gender issues. During this analysis it became clear that
agriculture day labour is increasingly being done by women. Men can earn more in other jobs.
Who Does What in Local Rice Production – Gender Lens on Activity
Source: mixed group discussion (10 men/7 women) Bootaywala Community-Punjab 13-05-2011
Facilitators: Jam Khaled-Provincial Coordinator EUFF (Punjab)
and Abida Begum-Gender Specialist
Basis: one acre
Activity
Men
Boys
Time
invested
by males
Women
Girls
Time
invested
by
females
Who makes
decisions?
Men, women
or both?
Preparing nursery
seedbed
Planting in nursery
Weeding in nursery
Input purchase

3-4 hr
men



men
men
men
Land/soil preparation –
with tractor
Fertilizing
Transplanting
Weeding
Pest control
Hand harvesting (cutting)
Combine harvesting
Threshing (by hand)

.5 hr
.5 hr
10 min-2
days
8 hr

4 hr
Selecting healthy seeds
for next planting
De-husking at mill
Putting grain into storage
Storage construction
Storage repair
Routine cleaning and
fumigating of storage
Use of rice straw
Selling/bartering of rice
Grinding (flour)/cleaning
(rice) for home use
Baking/food preparation




1 hr
4 days
1 hr
men


40 hr
1 hr

6 days

10 days (2
x 5 days)
15-20 min


6 hr
men
men
men
men
men
men
men
men
men
14 hr
men

Not currently being practiced in this area: when earthen storages were built, it
would take a woman circa 50 hr spread over about 10 days and women
traditionally spend circa 4 hr per year in storage repair.
5 min per
men

year
 Millers usually keep rice straw but in the Food Facility Project, rice
mills/de-hullers were provided so farmers retain the value of being
able to add their rice straw into commercial animal feed. (male
decision-making)
10 min-2
men

days
5-10 min
women

per day
30
women

min/day
Gender Insights – specific to rice production





Men make decisions in all aspects of rice production: women only make decisions related to food
preparation.
Men and women are partners in rice production: each has specific skills and expertise (e.g.
women have the expertise in transplanting and seed storage while men have expertise in
nurseries, pest management and marketing). In some production activities, expertise and work is
shared i.e. weeding and hand harvesting.
Women spend two or three hours for every hour men spend in rice production: the difference
reflects whether or not harvesting is by hand or by combine.
Traditionally, the most labour intensive activities for men in rice production were land preparation,
which is now mechanized, and harvesting (a role shared with women) which has also been
mechanized to varying degrees in this area. The two remaining labour intensive activities of
women are transplanting and threshing: transplanting has not been mechanized in Pakistan.
Threshing has been mechanized to a limited degree.
All mechanized roles are performed by men: machines with engines are designed to be used by
men and demand a man’s strength. There is a distinct gender gap in mechanization in rice
production that increasingly brings men into time-efficient machine-supported roles while much
less has been achieved in reducing the long hours of hand work done by women.
Additional Information (arising during farmer discussion) 10 men/6 women




When asked what are the most labour-intensive tasks that men and women do in local
agriculture, both referenced the cotton crop. Cotton needs to be hand weeded three or four times
during the growing period. Weeding is exclusively women’s work and it takes five women two
days to weed one acre of cotton. Total: 30-40 workdays. They know of no labour-saving
alternative. Men’s most labour intensive role is leveling cotton land so irrigation water efficiently
reaches all plants. Land leveling with a tractor blade is not sufficient, so additional hand leveling is
needed especially for the first two or three irrigations. The men estimated that laser-levelling
equipment would save them about 14 hours during the five-month cotton crop.
Many of the landless and share-cropping small holders also do agricultural day labour. Men and
women are locally paid the same day rate of 150 rupees for fieldwork. As men also have
occasional opportunities for day work in construction and factories which pays up to 400 rupees
per day, and also are paid higher wages if they join the army or out-migrate for work, low-paid
farm labour is increasingly being performed by women who have far fewer income-generating
opportunities.
Although women are active in plant and tree nurseries in most other aspects of Pakistani
agriculture, men in this discussion said that rice seed is expensive, too expensive to trust women
to raise the seedlings.
Women are allowed to sell very small amounts or rice to their neighbors but social restrictions
permit them from going to the market or beyond their village.
Who Does What in Local Wheat Production – Gender Lens on Activity
Source: men’s focus group – Ali Pur Community, Punjab 12-05-2011
Facilitator: Jamil Amir, FAO Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist
Basis: one acre
Activity
Wheat seed
preservation
and storage
Fertilizer
purchase
Soil preparation
Broadcasting or
applying
fertilizer
Planting
Weeding
Men
Boys
Time
invested
by
males
Women

Girls

Time
Invested
by
females
4 hr
Who makes
decisions?
Men, women
or both?
men

5 hr
men


8 hr
1 hr
men
men


Pest control
Harvesting


Machine
threshing
Grain cleaning
for storage
Storage
construction
Storage repair
Selling or
bartering wheat
Feeding straw
to animals-in
pasture
Weed cutting &
feeding straw to
animals –in
stalls
Transporting to
grinding mill
Baking/food
preparation



Age 14+
1 hr
25 hr (5
days @ 5
hr
3 hr
48 hr (2 x
8 hr x 3
days)
3 hr




Age 14+
25 hr (5
days @ 5
hr)
48 hr (2 x
8 hr x 3
days)
men
men
men
men
men

3 hr
men
N/A

N/A
6-8 hr
men
N/A

2 hr

2 hr

2 hr
both
men


5 hr/day
women
Gender Insights – specific to wheat production
Note that this was information resulted from a male focus group discussion and time did not permit a
female focus group. Given the opportunity, women may have added to, or nuanced, the information.
 Men make decisions in all aspects of wheat production: women only make decisions related to
food preparation and share decisions on animal feeding.



Although this is a quick and casual community analysis, it suggests that men work 10 hours for
every 8 hours women work in wheat production. (This does not count the five hours of daily
baking and food preparation that the community identified.)
Men and women are partners in wheat production but men perform all roles featuring
mechanization and mobility within and beyond the community. All of women’s input is physical
labour (seed preservation, weeding and hand-harvesting).
Mechanization has relieved men of arduous time-consuming land preparation and reduced the
long hours of hand-threshing shared by women and men. Hand weeding and harvesting place
heavy demands on both men and women (and other family members).