What agricultural transition means for women in man-headed households in South Asia: An in-depth exploration of intrahousehold evaluation processes

Abstract

Women’s participation in agriculture is increasing in the Eastern Gangetic Plains due to various external drivers, but they continue to play a limited role in agricultural decision-making. Yet there is limited understanding of the perspectives of spouses in a men-headed household post-technology adoption. To understand spouses’ experiences after technology adoption, we conduct qualitative research with household heads and their spouses in 47 households to understand how they perceive recent adoption of conservation agriculture to have affected their socioeconomic status and roles in agricultural production. Both household heads and their spouses tended to prioritize technological benefits, status change, changing roles and responsibilities at a household level as important contributions/ aspects of new conservation agriculture practices. However, upon deeper inspection, women had limited mechanistic understanding compared to men and their use of freed time was situation-dependent and with location-specific opportunities for women to upskill. Efforts to reduce the information gap and incorporating their technological preferences and needs in future promotional activities are necessary to improve women’s participation in decision-making. Similarly, opportunities to upskill can provide potential opportunities to women to realize their personal aspirations and have a positive influence on their household and community.