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Topic 12

The document discusses the significant yet varied roles of women in agriculture globally, emphasizing their contributions to both subsistence and commercial farming. In subsistence agriculture, women are primarily responsible for food production, but often face legal and cultural barriers, such as land ownership restrictions. In contrast, while women in commercial agriculture hold fewer positions, there is a growing trend of women taking on leadership roles in agricultural production.

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1 views4 pages

Topic 12

The document discusses the significant yet varied roles of women in agriculture globally, emphasizing their contributions to both subsistence and commercial farming. In subsistence agriculture, women are primarily responsible for food production, but often face legal and cultural barriers, such as land ownership restrictions. In contrast, while women in commercial agriculture hold fewer positions, there is a growing trend of women taking on leadership roles in agricultural production.

Uploaded by

spacedude9760
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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UNIT 5 TOPIC 12

Women in Agriculture
ENDURING UNDERSTANDING : Impacts and Interactions
LEARNING OBJECTIVE : Explain geographic variations in female roles in food production and consumption.

It’s about time we talk about women and their various roles in agriculture across the world .

WHY WOMEN MATTER


Of all the things we’ve considered with respect to agriculture , why in the world are we devoting
an entire section to women’s roles ? Are we going to have a whole topic on men's roles in
agriculture too? No, men are doing just fine, and compared to women, they have a pretty uncomplicated
relationship with agriculture worldwide. But women, it’s not as simple for them.

Women have always played significant roles in farming since the first Agricultural Revolution ,
but over time these roles have changed and evolved . The reason why geographers are interested in
the roles of women in agriculture is because the elevation of women’s roles is often tightly connected to
increasing agricultural productivity and increasing food security. Check the research and it’ll tell you that
elevating women and acknowledging their equality always means that more people will be fed
and cared for. So it’s really important that you understand this. However, here’s where I tell you that the
role of women in agriculture varies from place to place depending on the type of production
involved, which is to say, either subsistence or commercial agriculture.

SUMMARIZE the previous section in your own words. (2-4 sentences)

© Heimler’s History Please do not share or post online. Authorized use for school year 2024-2025.
TM

*Advanced Placement® and AP® are trademarks registered and/or owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. page 1 of 4
UNIT 5 TOPIC 12

Women in Agriculture

WOMEN IN SUBSISTENCE FARMING


Let’s begin by considering women’s roles in places characterized by subsistence agriculture . Everything
I’m about to tell you is a generalization , and these facts can vary from place to place depending on
the culture and a dozen other factors. In subsistence economies which are typically found in
periphery countries, women tend to take responsibility for all the plant-based food grown and eaten in the
community . If a community is going to eat a sweet potato , women are out in the fields planting
and harvesting and preparing it for consumption.

To further confuse you, among women participating in subsistence agriculture, their roles also vary
by the kind of subsistence agriculture in which they engage . For example, women who participate
in mixed crop/livestock farming tend to focus on cultivating crops and animals close to the
homestead . And that’s really important work, so that means that where this kind of farming
occurs, women play a big role. But compare that to places in which pastoral nomadism is common and
you’ll see that because many of those societies hold to more traditional gender roles, men play a much
larger role while women are marginalized. For example, the Maasai people who live in sub-
Saharan Africa fit this description. They’re all about the cow herding , and while women are permitted to
participate in lower order tasks like milking the cows, only men can own cattle.

Additionally, yet another inequality women face in many subsistence economies is that they lack the
legal right to own land. For example, in the Republic of the Congo , women cannot own land by
law, and yet they are responsible for three-quarters of the Congo’s agricultural output.

SUMMARIZE the previous section in your own words. (2-4 sentences)

© Heimler’s History Please do not share or post online. Authorized use for school year 2024-2025.
TM

*Advanced Placement® and AP® are trademarks registered and/or owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. page 2 of 4
UNIT 5 TOPIC 12

Women in Agriculture

WOMEN IN COMMERCIAL FARMING


Let’s briefly consider the role of women in places where commercial agriculture is the norm, which is to
say, core countries. There is still a decent amount of variation in women’s roles between various
commercial economies, but the variation is not nearly as pronounced as it was in subsistence economies.
But one comparison that’s pretty clear is that way more women practice subsistence agriculture
than commercial agriculture. In subsistence economies, something like half of the division of labor
in agriculture is made up of women. In commercial economies, women only hold about a third of
agricultural jobs, many of whom hold executive or managerial positions.

A major reason for this is that old development I’ve mentioned many times in this unit, namely, the
Industrial Revolution . Because a lot of the agricultural tasks women did became mechanized ,
their manual labor was no longer needed in that environment . And that contributed to the larger
trend in those areas of defining the sphere of a woman as the keeper of the home and the rearer
of children. Even so, women still participate in vital ways in commercial agriculture. And to be fair,
a growing trend indicates that more and more women are taking on leadership roles in
agricultural production, not only in developed countries, but in developing countries as well.

SUMMARIZE the previous section in your own words. (2-4 sentences)

© Heimler’s History Please do not share or post online. Authorized use for school year 2024-2025.
TM

*Advanced Placement® and AP® are trademarks registered and/or owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. page 3 of 4
UNIT 5 TOPIC 12

Women in Agriculture

RESPOND to the learning objective with an evidence-based, argumentative thesis.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE : Explain geographic variations in female roles in food production and consumption.

© Heimler’s History Please do not share or post online. Authorized use for school year 2024-2025.
TM

*Advanced Placement® and AP® are trademarks registered and/or owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. page 4 of 4

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