Status of women in agriculture in the coastal districts of Odisha

Abstract

Socio-economic profile of women in agriculture in the seven coastal districts of Odisha was studied, and the livelihood avenues available for them were analyzed. The socio-economic status were analyzed for the coastal districts as a whole and in rural areas separately and compared with the state average using a set of parameters. The coastal districts of Odisha have 16% of the geographical area and 33% of the human population (2011) of the state. In the coastal districts, the overall work participation ratio (WPR) was lower than the state average (37.9% vs 43.2%). In the coastal districts, 25.8% of the population were engaged in agriculture for employment which is lesser than the state average (31.5%). Female Agricultural WPR (FAWPR) was lower in the coastal districts by 9.2% (13.4 vs 22.6%) when compared with the state average. In the coastal districts, the female literacy was above 60% being as high as 80.6% in Jagatsinghpur. The gender gap in literacy in the coastal districts was 14.5% against the state average of 17.6%. Nutritional status of children in the coastal districts was better than the state average in all the three indicators (stunting, wasting and underweight) as compared to the state average. The household ownership of different livestock species was lower than the average for the state. A vast majority (82.3%) of the households in coastal areas drew a monthly income of less than ` 5,000 followed by 11.5% in 5,000-10,000 category and 6.1% of the households drew more than 10,000 as monthly income. This calls for concerted efforts for gender mainstreaming through better livelihood options. A better understanding of the present status of women can help in identifying the points of intervention and devising methodologies for better outcome of the projects.