Gender Issues in Agriculture Statistics

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Gender Issues in Agriculture Statistics

• Tashkent, 11-15 July 2005

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Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

• Global mandate to be source for agricultural
  statistics
• UN mandate as a focal point for rural women
• World Census on Agriculture Framework
• Assist countries by providing definitions,
  concepts, standards and guidelines
• Advice on conducting agricultural censuses
• Collect and disseminate statistics (FAOSTAT)

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FAO Agricultural Census Items

• Total number and area of agricultural holdings
• Number and area of holdings classified by size of
  area of holding
• Fragmentation of holdings into separate parcels
• Legal status of the holder
• Land tenure of holdings
• Area of holdings by tenure of land operated

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FAO Agricultural Census Items

• Members of holder's household, including holder,
  by sex
• Employment in agriculture
• Land use
• Temporary crops (on arable land)
• Permanent crops
• Livestock

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Analysing Gender Relations

• Ask basic questions to arrive at an understanding
  of the structure and dynamics of the rural farm
  household or agricultural holding

• Who does what?
• Who owns what?
• Who has access to/controls what (i.e., which
  productive assets)?
• Who knows what?
• Who benefits?
• Who should be included in development programmes
  (and how)?

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• Table 1. FAO Proposed Core Set of
  Gender-Sensitive Indicators from Agricultural
  Census Data

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Main Sources of Agricultural Statistics

• Agricultural censuses
• Linked surveys
• Population and housing censuses
• Administrative records
• Other general surveys

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Gender-related agricultural statistics problems

• Cash crop production determines the minimum size
  for measured agricultural holdings
• In population surveys and censuses, the
  participation of women in agriculture is largely
  underreported
• Concept of land holder
• Biases in collection

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Common Biases

• Typical causes of error include.

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Inadequate Definitions and Concepts

• Fail to reflect gender differentiations
  accurately
• Definitions include
• Head of agricultural holding
• Economic activity

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FAO Definition of Holder

• Holder a civil or juridical person who makes
  major decisions regarding resource use and
  exercises management control over the
  agricultural holding operation.
• The holder has technical and economic
  responsibility for the holding and may undertake
  all responsibilities directly, or delegate
  responsibilities related to day-to-day work
  management to a hired manager.

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Erroneous Wording of Questions

• Many women not recorded due to badly worded
  question
• Example work construed only as remunerated
  activity gt women not listed as workers of
  agricultural holding

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ILO Definition of Paid and Unpaid Work
Paid
Unpaid
Production of goods Inside SNA
Production of services Outside SNA
Economically active
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Selecting the Wrong Respondent

• Example
• male respondents may report women who are
  actually working on a agricultural holding as
  being economically inactive

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Using the Wrong Interviewer

• Interviewers can introduce biases and personal
  values in the way they formulate questions
• Can be the result of
• Own prejudices
• Insufficient training
• Simple carelessness

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Communication Problems

• Respondents might fail to understand
  content/language of questionnaire
• Interviewers may establish poor rapport through
  verbal (inappropriate language) or non-verbal
  (body language) channels

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Obscuring the Truth

• Respondents deliberately give the wrong answer
• To meet social norm
• Fearful of consequences of response
• Example (African) man deliberately denies that
  wife works with oxen due to social taboo

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FAO suggested actions

• Collect data about individuals rather than
  entities (farm or holding)
• Use ILO definition of economic activity
• Make subsistence agriculture more visible
• Promote the measurement of secondary activities

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FAO suggested actions

• Ensure that agricultural holdings are identified
  through the households concerned
• Improve linkages between the population census
  and the agricultural census
• Develop standard criteria to determine the
  minimum size of holdings covered
• Ensure that multiple holdings are not amalgamated
  into one holding and that joint holders are
  identified

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Further Information

• www.fao.org
• Mr John Curry Gender and Development ServiceFAO
  Gender and Population Division John.Curry_at_fao.or
  g