The status and extent of women's participation in agriculture
Due to inconsistencies and poor methods in data collection and reporting, and because of narrow definitions of work and employment in national statistics, data often fails to capture the real contributions of women's work in the Near East region. As a result, there has been a widespread erroneous notion that women in the region have a marginal role in all sectors of the economy, including that of agriculture. However, more recent efforts to include disaggregated data by gender at the national level, as well as information gathered in micro-studies and special surveys, have shown that women's contribution to agricultural labour has been severely underestimated, and that in fact, women's participation rates are indeed quite significant, especially when unpaid labour is taken into account.
Table 1 provides data on women's participation in the labour force, and in agriculture in particular. The data indicates wide variations among countries in the region. For example, in Somalia, Cyprus and Turkey, women constituted 39 %, 38 % and 31 %, respectively, of the total number of persons employed in the labour force in the 1990-92 period. In Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania and Pakistan, women constituted between 21 % and 29% of total persons actively employed, whereas in the Gulf Region, the percentages for Oman and the United Arab Emirates were as low as 8% and 6%, respectively, in 1990-92.
A significant proportion of employed women work in the agricultural sector. For example, in Mauritania, Turkey and Sudan, the percentage of employed women working in agriculture in the 1990-92 period was 84%, 83%, and 82% respectively. In Iraq, Syria, Morocco, Tunisia, Cyprus, Iran and Pakistan, the proportion ranged from 24% to 45%.
Additional data from the country papers indicates that women, as paid and unpaid labour, represent an important source of total agricultural labour in the region. In Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Iraq and Mauritania, women were estimated to constitute 55.3%, 53.2%, 50.7%, 40.7%, 34.7%, 30.7% and 28% of total paid and unpaid agricultural workers respectively. In Syria, women constituted 44.4% of wage labourers and 60% of unpaid farm labour, and in Tunisia, 34.7% of the total temporary paid labour were women. In Somalia, 66% of the labour in subsistence farming was provided by women. In Cyprus, women constituted 44% of the total paid labour, while in Pakistan, women comprised 42% of the total family labour.
Data provided on rural unemployment indicates considerable variation among countries in the region, and reflects the seasonality in the demand for labour in agriculture. In cereal growing areas for example, most of the agricultural labour is needed in the fall and early winter months for cereal sowing, and again during harvesting, usually in June. This leaves approximately 5-6 months for farmers to seek employment elsewhere. However, work opportunities outside agriculture in the rural areas are limited in most countries, which contributes to increasing unemployment and underemployment of men and women alike, and to temporary and permanent migration of men to the urban areas. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the percentage of unemployed rural women increased from 21.1% to 30.9% in the 1980-1993 period. In Iraq and Tunisia, women's unemployment appears to have increased considerably in the past decade. In Tunisia, it is estimated that 40% of women were underemployed in 1989. In contrast, unemployment for rural women in Egypt relatively declined during the 1980's, and in Morocco, rural women's unemployment was 1.5% compared to 8.4% for men. The unemployment rate for women in Turkey was less than that of men, and decreased by more than half in the 1985-1992 period, from 5.9% to 2.5%. However, caution should be exercised in interpreting the data on rural female unemployment and underemployment in the Near East. More detailed studies should be carried out in order to examine the variables influencing the decrease or increase in rural female unemployment (e.g., migration, lower wages for women, climatic and agronomic factors affecting crop yields, etc.). In addition, differences in the definitions of "employed," "underemployed," and "unemployed" must be clearly understood in cross-national studies.
Table 1: Women's Participation in the Agricultural Labour Force
Country |
% total labour force in agriculture (1990-92) |
women in labour force, as % of total(1990-92) |
female labour in agri. as % of female labour force (1988) |
female labour in agri. as % of total labour (various years)* |
Cyprus |
15.0 |
38.0 |
30.0 |
44.0 of total paid labour (1992) |
Egypt |
42.0 |
29.0 |
15.0 |
50.7 (1988)a paid and unpaid |
Iran |
30.0 |
10.0 |
40.0 |
- |
Iraq |
14.0 |
6.0 |
45 0 |
30.7 (1990) |
Jordan . |
10.0 |
10.0 |
1.0 |
- |
Lebanon |
14.0 |
27.0 |
14.0 |
40.7 (1990)b |
Mauritania |
69.0 |
22 0 |
84.0 |
28.0 (1988) |
Morocco |
46.0 |
26.0 |
32.0 |
53.2 (86-87)c |
Oman |
49.0 |
8.0 |
16.0 |
- |
Pakistan |
47.0 |
28.0 |
36.0 |
42.0 of total family workers (1980) |
Somalia |
76.0 |
39.0 |
86.0 |
66.0 of labour in subsistence farming |
Sudan |
72.0 |
29.0 |
82.0 |
34.7 (1983) |
Syria |
23.0 |
18.0 |
44.0 |
44.4 wage, 60.0 unpaid (1991) |
Tunisia |
26.0 |
21.0 |
24.0 |
34.7 of total temporary paid labourers (1990) |
Turkey |
47.0 |
31.0 |
83.0 |
55.3 total (1990) 10.1 forestry 1.7 fisheries |
UAE |
5.0 |
6.0 |
- |
4.4 of total paid labour (1992) |
Source: Compiled from Jazairy et al. 1992 and Country Papers.
*Data for this column was compiled from the country papers.
aAccording to a Labour Force Sample Survey (1988) where a more flexibile definition of work was used to capture unpaid labour.
bEstimate.
cAccording to a special survey which included women's unremunerated labour.
In all countries of the region, the overwhelming majority of urban and rural households are headed by men, although women-headed households constitute a considerable percentage of total rural households, and are increasing in some countries as a result of temporary and permanent rural-to-urban male migration as well as immigration abroad. In addition to male migration, widowhood and divorce also contribute to an increase in the number of households headed by women. As shown in Table 2, the percentage of female headed households is highest in Pakistan and Sudan, 25% and 23.8% respectively, followed by Egypt (16%), Morocco (16%), Cyprus (13%), Lebanon (11%), Tunisia (11.3%), Turkey (7.1 %), Syria (6.1 %) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (5.6%).
In general, data from the country papers indicates that while female-headed households are smaller in size than those headed by men, they are also significantly poorer. For example, household expenditures for rural female-headed households in 1991 were 10% more than for male-headed households in Morocco. Female-headed households were the worst to be hit by drought in the Sudan. In Turkey, in 1987, income earned by female headed households was less than male-headed households, and they also saved less. The average monthly income of a male-headed household in Turkey was estimated to be 1.5 times more than that of a female-headed household, consumption was 1.43 times greater, and savings were 2.2 times higher. PRA studies in Iraq showed that female-headed households consumed, produced, saved and invested less, and in Syria, 75.3% of rural women were unable to save any portion of their earnings.
Table 2: Female Headed-Households (FHH) in Selected Countries
Country |
FHH as % of Urban Households |
FHH as % of Rural Households |
FHH as % of Total Households |
Cyprus |
12.0 (1982) |
13.3 (1982) |
- |
Egypt |
- |
5.6 (1982) |
18.0 (1988) |
Iran |
6.1 (1991) |
5.6 (1991) |
5.9 (1991) |
Jordan |
- |
5.6 (1982) |
6.4 (1991) |
Lebanon |
- |
10.9 (1987) |
- |
Mauritania |
- |
- |
36.5 |
Morocco |
22.5 (1991) |
16.1 (1991) |
- |
Oman |
- |
13.5 (1993) |
- |
Pakistan |
- |
25.0 (1993) |
- |
Sudan |
- |
23.8 (1983)a |
- |
Syria |
- |
6.1 (92-94) |
- |
Tunisia |
- |
14.0 (1980) |
11.9 (1980) |
Turkey |
- |
7.1 (1990) |
- |
Source: Compiled from Country Papers.
"The percentage of female-headed households varies widely by region within Sudan. Figures for 1983 show that in the west, for example, the average percentage of female-headed households was 35%, while in the south it was approximately 40%.
In the Near East region, a significantly large proportion of the population is rural (Table 3). In Egypt, Yemen, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, Oman, Pakistan and Turkey, over 50% or more of the population lives in rural areas. With the exception of a few countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Oman, Cyprus and Turkey, a quarter or more of the rural population lives below the poverty line (Jazairy et al. 1992). In many countries with a large rural population such as Sudan, Egypt, Morocco and Pakistan, the absolute numbers of rural people living in poverty can be quite significant.
Table 3: Rural Population Characteristics
Country |
Rural Pop. as % of Total Pop. |
Rural Pop. Below Poverty Line, as % of Rural Pop. |
Cyprus |
49.0 |
9.0 |
Egypt |
52.0 |
25.0 |
Iran |
46.0 |
30.0 |
Iraq |
27.0 |
30.0 |
Jordan |
33.0 |
17.0 |
Lebanon |
17.0 |
15.0 |
Mauritania |
61.0 |
80.0 |
Morocco |
53.0 |
45.0 |
Oman |
90.0 |
6.0 |
Pakistan |
69.0 |
29.0 |
Somalia |
65.0 |
70.0 |
Sudan |
79.0 |
85.0 |
Syria |
49.0 |
54.0 |
Tunisia |
46.0 |
15.0 |
Turkey |
53.0 |
14.0 |
Source: Compiled from Jazairy et al.. 1992.
Additional data on poverty provided by the country papers indicates that rural household expenditures on food are quite high. In Mauritania and Morocco, 63% and 55% of total expenditures in rural households are spent on food, while in Syria, 70% of rural household income is spent on food, medicine and health care.
As in the rest of the world, women's life expectancy is slightly higher than men's in the Near East region. However, figures remain considerably lower than those in the developed countries, and there appears to be differences in life expectancy figures between urban and rural women. For example, life expectancy at birth for women in Mauritania, Yemen, Somalia and the Sudan are as low as 47, 48, 48 and 52.4 years respectively. In Tunisia and the UAE, where figures for the same year were available to make urban-rural comparisons, rural women had a life expectancy of 68.5 and 73 years respectively, compared to 72.3 and 73.5 years respectively for their urban counterparts.
Although notable progress has been made in providing modern health care services to rural areas, maternal mortality rates remain quite high, especially in the poor rural areas where maternal health care is severely limited. For example, in 1992, maternal mortality rates per 100,000 live births were 184 and 120 in Egypt and Iraq, respectively. In Mauritania and Yemen, rates as high as 500 and 1000 per 100,000 live births were recorded.
In spite of the differences in the level of maternal-child health care in the region, there remains an urgent need to provide rural women with better access to contraceptives, medication, pre and post-natal care, supervised deliveries, and effective health and hygiene education. In Tunisia, Morocco, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey, 31.2%, 31.6%, 44% and 56% of rural women used some type of contraceptive, while only 13.8% and 37% of births were supervised in rural Morocco and Tunisia. In Mauritania, only 30.8% of women who had given birth received any post-natal follow-up, while in Turkey, in 1993, 27% of rural women received some level of pre-natal supervision and 40% delivered at a health-care centre.
Another indicator of poverty is child malnutrition. Although it is difficult from the available data to make any conclusive statements regarding the extent of rural child malnutrition, the data provided shows that a significant number of children in rural areas are undernourished, and that rural children are more likely to suffer from malnutrition than their urban counterparts. However, there appears to be no clear-cut trends regarding nutritional differences between boys and girls in the rural areas of these countries. A study conducted in Egypt in 1988 showed that 35% of rural children were stunted compared to 26% of urban children. In Jordan, a 1990 Population and Family Health Survey using height-for-age measures indicated that 8.9% of rural children were malnourished, compared to 7.5% living in other areas, and that boys were more likely to be malnourished than girls. A 1987 study in Morocco showed that 36.7% of rural children under five years of age suffered from malnutrition, compared to 21.4% for urban children. Furthermore, the study shows that compared to girls, boys were more likely to be malnourished (9.6% vs. 8.4%). Data from Tunisia indicates only slight differences in malnutrition between urban and rural children of the same sex. In 1984, the infant mortality rate in rural Tunisia was 72.1 per 1,000 live births for boys, and 59.8 per 1,000 live births for girls, whereas in urban areas infant mortality rates were considerably lower (44.6/1,000 for boys and 36.9/1,000 for girls). In the Islamic Republic of Iran, rural children were more likely to suffer from malnutrition than urban children, and girls were more likely to be malnourished than boys. Thus, the extent of malnutrition for boys in urban and rural areas in the Islamic Republic of Iran was 10% and 15% respectively, while for girls in these categories it was 15% and 23% respectively.
The number of illiterate women in the region is very high (Table 4). An analysis of the data indicates that female illiteracy is significantly higher than that of males. More women are illiterate in rural areas compared to urban areas, and a larger number of older women are illiterate compared to younger women. The majority of countries in the region are committed to combatting female illiteracy, and many regularly conduct wide-scale campaigns and other concerted efforts to address this serious problem. Many of these initiatives have been successful in reducing rural female illiteracy in the past two decades.
Table 4: Female Illiteracy in Selected Countries
Country |
% Illiterate |
Year |
Cyprus |
6.0% total 17.6% rural |
|
Egypt |
76.1 % rural |
(1986) |
Iran |
54.0% rural |
(1993) |
Jordan |
24.9% total 93.6% rural women above 45 years |
(1992) (1993) |
Lebanon |
27.0% total 35.4% in North and 21.0% in Greater Beirut |
(1990) |
Mauritania |
71.0% total 68.0% sedentary 87.4% nomadic |
(1988) |
Morocco |
87.0% rural |
(1991) |
Pakistan |
90.4% rural 60.8 % urban |
(1987-88) |
Sudan |
82.2% rural |
(1985) |
Tunisia |
66.1% rural |
(1990) |
Turkey |
28.0% total |
(1990) |
UAE |
22.7% total 25.0% rural |
(1990) |
Yemen |
In the more rural provinces, female illiteracy can be as high as 96-97% | |
Source: Compiled From Country Papers.
Primary school education for both boys and girls is compulsory by law in many countries of the region. Education provided by governmental primary and secondary schools is often free of charge. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the enrollment of girls in primary and secondary school, and in some countries, there are more girls than boys enrolled at both levels. However, data from most countries indicates that tradition still dictates that girls do not go to school, but rather, remain at home to marry early and undertake household and agricultural tasks. Thus, girls are less likely to enroll in schools than boys, and the drop-out rate for girls is visibly higher, especially at the primary level.
In the rural areas, the gap between boys and girls in primary and secondary school enrollment is larger than in urban regions (Table 5). This is mainly attributed to economic necessity and stronger conservative traditions, as well as the limited number of schools at the village level, which strengthens the reluctance of parents to send their girls to distant educational facilities.
Table 5: Primary and Secondary School Enrollment (Females as Percentage
of Males, 1990) and Urban-Rural Gaps
Country |
Primary |
Secondary |
Urban-Rural Gaps |
Enrollment |
Enrollment |
(% girls in primary enrollment) | |
Cyprus |
100 |
102 |
- |
Egypt |
- |
82 |
- |
Iran |
92 |
70 |
- |
Iraq |
88 |
63 |
- |
Jordan |
102 |
97 |
urban: 64.1, rural: 35.9 (1992) |
Lebanon |
- |
103 |
- |
Mauritania |
- |
45 |
Nouakchott: 55.6 |
Morocco |
68 |
70 |
urban: 78.7, rural: 7.4 (1990-91) |
Oman |
95 |
87 |
- |
Pakistan |
- |
45 |
- |
Sudan |
- |
83 |
- |
Syria |
90 |
73 |
- |
Tunisia |
92 |
84 |
rural: 68.0 (1990) |
Turkey |
- |
66 |
urban: 101, rural :84 (1990-1991) |
UAE |
100 |
103 |
- |
Yemen |
- |
29 |
- |
Source: Adapted from Human Development Report, UNDP (1994) and Country Papers.
