{"id":97,"date":"2019-07-10T05:55:03","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T05:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hsp14.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&p=97"},"modified":"2019-07-10T06:04:18","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T06:04:18","slug":"women-and-livelihood","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp14\/chapter\/women-and-livelihood\/","title":{"rendered":"WOMEN AND LIVELIHOOD"},"content":{"raw":"
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\r\n\r\n1.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Introduction<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

Livelihoods for women is not a new issue, it is about issues women have been mobilising around for decades for land, water, forests, indigenous peoples\u2019 rights, climate change and displacement. However, there is a pressing need to focus on livelihoods as a right in the context of the deepening crisis of capitalism and its impact on livelihood related rights for women around the world. Viewing the different aspects as part of a greater issue and addressing them in a more holistic way has tremendous power. Women contribute to 65-70% of the labour in agriculture. Most of them are illiterate and unable to attend formal training courses leaving their domestic responsibilities, rural women trail in adopting new technologies and in taking advantage of modern scientific and information technologies. Furthermore, introduction of any new programme for promoting livelihood will further add to their burden, as they are already suffering from drudgery, ill-health, suppression and deprivation of their basic rights and status in the society. Therefore, women empowerment should be an important and integral component of the sustainable livelihood<\/p>\r\n \r\n

2.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Definition \u2013 Livelihood<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

A person's livelihood refers to their \"means of securing the basic necessities -food, water, shelter and clothing- of life\". Livelihood is defined as a set of activities, involving securing water, food, fodder, medicine, shelter, clothing and the capacity to acquire above necessities working either individually or as a group by using endowments (both human and material) for meeting the requirements of the self and his\/her household on a sustainable basis with dignity. The activities are usually carried out repeatedly. For instance, a fisherman's livelihood depends on the availability and accessibility of fish.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sustainable Livelihood<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The concept of Sustainable Livelihood (SL) is an attempt to go beyond the conventional definitions and approaches to poverty eradication. These had been found to be too narrow because they focused only on certain aspects or manifestations of poverty, such as low income, or did not consider other vital aspects of poverty such as vulnerability and social exclusion. It is now recognized that more attention must be paid to the various factors and\u00a0processes which either constrain or enhance poor people\u2019s ability to make a living in an economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable manner.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The Sustainable Livelihood concept offers a more coherent and integrated approach to poverty. The sustainable livelihoods idea was first introduced on Environment and Development, and during the year 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development expanded the concept, advocating for the attainment of sustainable livelihoods as a broad goal for poverty eradication.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Routine task of a rural Woman<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

In case of rural women, the day starts in the early morning with the various responsibilities such as fetching water, fodder, fuel and cooking food. She has to take care of the children and members of the family, their health, orientation and education and attends to various income generation activities. She has to manage all the household matters and look after her family assets and livestock, she has to handles the purchases and finance, works for almost 14-16 hours and is the last to sleep at night. But still, if you ask her children what do their mother does? Most of them instantly reply \u201cnothing\u201d. There is no credit or appreciation for their hard work, because her work is not evaluated in terms of money. When she falls sick, she does not complain and this goes unnoticed by others in the family as they continue to work as usual for the sake of the family. She manages the family very efficiently but is still treated as illiterate. Women are ignored in various matters, which are of concern to them as well. As a result, today women are the worst fatalities in the society due to drudgery, ill health, illiteracy, dispossession and humiliation. Backwardness of women is a sign of poverty and women are the worst sufferers during the period of scarcity and calamity. No wonder, India hosts over one-third of the poor in the world, as lack of empowerment of women is a significant cause of poverty.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

With this background, BAIF has a directive to ensure women empowerment in the development programmes and thereby strive to create a favourable atmosphere for their successful participation. This approach for women empowerment programme is addressed through drudgery reduction, gender sensitization among other sections of the community,\u00a0<\/span>capacity building to enhance their competence and contribute to economic development and ensure equal opportunity and status in the society.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

5.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>BAIF- Institute for sustainable livelihood and development<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Promotion of <\/span>Wavli<\/em> was the doorway for Women Empowerment in Vansda. conventionally, women have occupied themselves in vegetable cultivation in their backyards and men have never staked their claim over these earnings. This tradition known as <\/span>Wavli<\/em> ensured exclusive right of women over their earnings. Realizing that <\/span>Wavli<\/em> could be an tremendous chance to empower women, several new activities such as nurseries of fruit and forestry plants, mushroom production, large scale vegetable production and shared cropping by women groups were introduced. <\/span>Wavli<\/em> fascinated a large number of women and the men also extended their assistance. The income from <\/span>Wavli<\/em> were used by the women for food, clothing and procurement of utensils and ornaments, which were their precedence. Hence, <\/span>Wavli <\/em>turned out to be a golden opportunity to put into practice the orchard development programme successfully, while enlightening the men about the role of women in economic development. This occurrence motivated BAIF to ensure equal opportunity for women in all the development programmes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

5.1 Drudgery Reduction<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The extent of burden and sufferings of the rural women in India vary widely with the social and economic status, local customs, size of family and many other factors. Hence, an exhaustive study with close interaction with women may help to identify suitable solutions for their problems. Based on the needs, the drudgery reduction measures introduced for women include:<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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