in her name? gender differences in agricultural land ownership
TRANSCRIPT
The Gender Asset Gap Project
In Her Name? Gender Differences in Agricultural Land Ownership
Suchitra J. Y. and Hema Swaminathan
Centre for Public Policy
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Presented at MAKAAM , Bapatala, March 17, 2016
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Women’s Land Ownership
• Almost impossible to get a clear picture of women’s land ownership
– Sex-disaggregated data not collected
– Largely anecdotal evidence
– Household level data limits analysis to male headed vs. female headed
– Hides discrepancies within households; is not illuminative of the situation of the majority of women
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Distribution of Operational Holdings by Sex of Head of Household (% holdings)
Source: Agricultural Census, 2010-11
81 75
88 82 81
75 80 81
87
19 25
12 18 19
25 20 19
13
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Male-headed Female-headed
The Gender Asset Gap Project
• Gender differences in agricultural land ownership using individual data
• Modes of agricultural land acquisition by men and women
• Karnataka and India
Broad Framework
The Gender Asset Gap Project
• Karnataka Household Asset Survey (KHAS), 2010-11
• India Human Development Survey (IHDS), 2011-12
Data Sources
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Agricultural Workforce, KHAS
Rural Urban Total
Men Women Men Women Men Women
% in agriculture (principal occupation) 69 80 8 17 54 70
Of those in agriculture
Self-employed 41 6 24 1 41 7
Casual 45 57 72 88 46 58
Contributing family workers 13 36 4 11 13 35
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Incidence of Ag. Land Ownership by Sex, Karnataka, KHAS
37
8 6
1
24
4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Men Women Men Women Men Women
Rural Urban Total
% adults owning land
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Land Ownership and Occupational Sector (Rural), KHAS
Men
Women
Ownership status
Occupational sector
Total Agriculture Non-agriculture
Land owner 11 7 10
Non land owner 89 93 90
Total 100 100 100
Ownership status
Occupational sector
Total Agriculture Non-agriculture
Land owner 44 19 36
Non land owner 56 81 64
Total 100 100 100
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Incidence of Ag. Land Ownership by Sex, Karnataka Districts (%),
KHAS
17
38 39
32
26
33
27
3
24
12 8 7 6 6 6 5
0 4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Men Women
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Incidence of Agricultural Land Ownership
by Sex, Rural India (%), IHDS 2011-12
26
29
20
34
23
19
24
5 5 5 4 3 2
4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
North West South Central East North East India
Men Women
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Incidence of Agricultural Land Ownership by
Sex, Rural India (%), IHDS 2011-12
41 42
37
33
23
17
31
16
34
19
38
22
13
24
29
18
25
19 20
22
13
3 4
29
24
12
8 6 6 6
5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
3 2 2 2 2 2 2
1 1 0
4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Men Women
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Area Owned by Sex (%), KHAS
• 82.91% of total area owned by households is owned by adult males
– 3.7 acres owned by the average adult male owner
– 1.02 acres owned by the average adult male
• 17.09% is owned by adult females
– 2.98 acres owned by the average adult female owner
– 0.19 acres owned by the average adult female
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Ag. Land Wealth Shares by Sex, Karnataka (%), KHAS
85
15
Rural
Male Female
83
17
Urban
Male Female
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Women’s Participation in Agricultural Decision-making, Karnataka (%), KHAS
40 38
22
39
23
38 37
60
3 2
36
62
2
20
78
2
38
60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Alone Joint Do notdecide
Alone Joint Do notdecide
Alone Joint Do notdecide
What to plant Sale of produce Use of revenue
Owner Non-owner
The Gender Asset Gap Project
• Inheritance
• Asset markets
• Marriage
• Gifts and transfers
• Government programmes
How Do Men and Women Acquire Assets?
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Modes of Acquisition, Karnataka, KHAS (% owners)
Modes of acquisition Agricultural Land
Men Women
Purchased 9.42 14.63
Natal inheritance of self 82.36 21.14
Natal inheritance of spouse 2.71 31.17
Inheritance upon death of spouse 0.15 21.14
Government Programmes 2.01 3.25
Other 3.36 8.67
Total number of owners 1,995 369
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Inheritance Patterns, Karnataka, KHAS (% owners who inherited)
29 30
96 95
70
22
3 2 0
47
0 1 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Married women Single women Married men Single men
Natal inheritance of self Natal inheritance of spouse
Inheritance upon death of spouse Other
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Modes of Acquisition of Ag. Land, Rural India (%), IHDS 2011-12
88
85
67
33
70
83
2 1 4 1
9
2 3 7
3
50
13 8
4 6
25
13
3 4 2 1 0 0 3 2 0 0 2 3 2 1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Karnataka Maharashtra Kerala Tamil Nadu North East India
Inherited / Gifted to male Inherited / Gifted to female
Undivided family land Purchased
Received from government/panchayat Other
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Summary of Modes
• Natal inheritance favours men
• Marriage important means for women, but separation of property marital regime
– Property purchased prior to marriage, and
inherited remains individual, as also property purchased after marriage
– No concept of joint marital assets
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Issues for Advocacy
• Promote women’s property rights (ownership, access, control) – Increase awareness of Hindu Succession Amendment Act (2005) – Change perceptions/norms regarding women’s property rights – Limit ability to will away self-acquired property – Amend laws to ensure women get property share if marriage
breaks down – Address rights to property for women among other religions
• Recognise women as farmers – Sensitise extension workers on gender issues – Build capacity on land management – Encourage participation in agricultural produce & land markets
• Develop women’s land-related indicators, track progress – Count individuals, not households – Update inheritance records to include women – Identify single women, widows; get their access to land
recorded
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Distribution of Ag. Plot Owners by Sex, Karnataka (% owners)
District % men % women
Source: Authors’ calculations: Bhoomi Database, Accessed in 2012
District % men % women Udupi 53 47 Dakshina Kannada 66 34 Chikkaballapur 70 30 Uttara Kannada 73 27 Bagalkote 78 22 Dharwad 79 21 Chitradurga 79 21 Shimoga 81 19 Bengaluru Urban 81 19 Bellary 81 19 Chamarajanagar 81 19 Davangere 81 19 Mandya 82 18 Hassan 82 18 Mysore 82 18 Koppal 83 17
Chikkamagalur 83 17
Bengaluru Rural 83 17
Bijapur 83 17
Tumkur 83 17
Ramanagara 84 16
Raichur 84 16
Gulbarga 84 16
Gadag 85 15
Bidar 86 14
Kolar 86 14
Kodagu 87 13
Haveri 88 12
Yadgir 91 9
Belgaum 93 7
KARNATAKA 80 20
The Gender Asset Gap Project The Gender Asset Gap Project
Thank You
Project website: www.genderassetgap.org
Contact: [email protected]; [email protected]
9180-2699-3458; 9180-2699-3393
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Incidence of Asset Ownership by Sex, Karnataka Rural (%), KHAS
45
11
37
63
87
18
8
35
48
21 15
3 8
57
82
15
4
20
29
53
0
20
40
60
80
100
Male Female
The Gender Asset Gap Project
Incidence of Asset Ownership by Sex, Karnataka Urban (%), KHAS
21
5 6 7
17
3
16
41
70
23
9
2 1 6
17
2 5
21
49 46
0
20
40
60
80
Male Female