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With a little help: Young women farmer experiences in India

Author

Listed:
  • Sharada Srinivasan

    (University of Guelph)

  • Sudha Narayanan

    (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

Abstract

Despite the substantial body of work focused on women farmers in India, the generational aspects of women farmers are often under-researched. Young women farmers (YWF) often get lost in discussions of youth in agriculture or women farmers more generally. In this paper, we present four case studies of young women farmers and discuss qualitative material from interviews with 22 women farmers from the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. Through detailed qualitative interviews, we map the trajectories of these women into farming and map the challenges they face in becoming and being farmers. The four case studies highlight several similarities and differences. While young women farmers in this study demonstrate that they take farming seriously, are knowledgeable and passionate about farming, they also face formidable constraints in accessing land and other resources, training, markets and so on and often lack agency and autonomy as farmers. Their experiences highlight the crucial role of family, social networks, community and state support in their efforts to become successful farmers.

Suggested Citation

  • Sharada Srinivasan & Sudha Narayanan, 2020. "With a little help: Young women farmer experiences in India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2020-042, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    • Handle: RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2020-042
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    File URL: http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2020-042.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bina Agarwal & Ankush Agrawal, 2017. "Do farmers really like farming? Indian farmers in transition," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 460-478, October.
    2. Sudha Narayanan & Sharada Srinivasan, 2020. "No country for young women farmers: A situation analysis for India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2020-041, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    young women farmers; youth; agriculture; farming; gender; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q19 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Other
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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