Drudgery can be reduced by providing gender-friendly farm tools and equipment which increase the productivity of worker with safety and comfort to her. Time scheduling is also needed for achieving such task. The study should include the gender-perspective such as wearing, long hair, purda system, anthropometry, muscular strength, aerobic capacity etc.
In agriculture field operations, women should be trained and they should be allowed to share their difficulties and ideas. Change of work/ promotions in work-stages must be allowed that avoids gender-bias fear among women and they should be assured that they are par with men in work and payment.
In fact, drudgery is termed for hard work, monotony, time consuming, use of traditional tools with inappropriate working posture in field. So one way of reduction of drudgery can be through quantifying the particular field operation. For example, if work is being performed by a farm women with traditional tools in bending/ squatting posture, which was reduced by providing women friendly farm equipment (equipment assessed/developed considering gender-perspective). So the physiological workload of same work by both the methods will b evaluated and assessed based on output. To further add the work, a subjective scale can also be used for performance as well as their feedback. In combination to these, drudgery can be assessed in quantifiable term.
In addition to efficient gender friendly tools and timing of operations, change of attitude is key. The cultural backgrounds of most of our fisherfolk, farmers and pastoralists prohibited women from from doing certain activities or playing certain roles. Some of these roles need to change.. After all work that is considered as drudgery may not necessary be so but only requires change of attitude.
The role of public policy in increasing accessibility and affordability of women friendly drudgery reducing technologies is inevitable. Most of these drudgery reducing equipments like tractors and milling machines are too expensive for women farmers, especially those in Africa.
I totally agree with Drs Arjun Pangannavar and Lawrence O Mose for change of attitude, equality and training of womenfolks. Further, appropriate hand tools can be used and work should not be monotonous by having weekly schedules and division of labour.
I agree with the views above, that gender friendly farm equipments are most important in reducing drudgery for farm women, particularly the hand held small equipments and tools must be developed, popularized and made available at reasonable cost to the women so that it can help reduce their drudgery.
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