Among the 11 million rural and nomadic women in the population of Iran, women make up more than 46% of the agricultural workforce. This article examines the status and challenges of women in agriculture, their contribution to the agricultural sector, the resources and support available or unavailable to them, and proposed solutions for their problems within the government’s responsibility, by reviewing existing sources and conducting brief interviews with two knowledgeable sources familiar with the culture and local conditions.

In different provinces of the country, the percentage of women in agriculture changes depending on the activity of workers in the agricultural sector. Agriculture is the main focus of the economy in some provinces, and for this reason, as well as cultural issues, women in these provinces work alongside men in farming. In some villages, especially in northern provinces, the number of women in agriculture is higher than men. For various reasons, including early entry of girls into the workforce to help the family economy, the presence of rural women in economic sectors has almost doubled in the past two decades.

Women farmers work on their own land or family land (women landowners), or work as wage laborers, which make up a much larger number of women farmers. The activities of women (and men) who work as wage laborers are usually based on informal, verbal or written agreements with the employer, and as a result, they lack a contractual, legal or statutory structure that would provide them with benefits and rights such as job security, health or accident insurance, medical leave, family leave, maternity or childbirth benefits, training and protection from harassment in the workplace.

Types of agricultural and production work for women in agriculture.

In the northern regions of Iran, 70% of rice cultivation is carried out by women, and their main activities include disinfecting seeds, sowing seeds in the fields, transplanting seedlings, caring for and irrigating the fields, weeding, fertilizing, spraying pesticides, harvesting, and transporting the crops to storage. Additionally, women contribute to 60% of tea production and 80% of cotton harvesting in these regions.

It can be said that generally, types of agricultural work that require high physical strength or the use of heavy tools, such as plowing or harvesting, are done by men, while women’s work is mostly in areas and types that require more physical and mental endurance or greater precision, such as weeding, pruning, tree trimming, or picking which require frequent and continuous bending and straightening, or tea picking and harvesting saffron which must be done with more delicacy and precision.

In general, in rural and tribal areas where women engage in agriculture, in addition to farming and household chores and caring for children, side jobs such as taking care of domestic animals and livestock at home, producing vegetables and fruits at home, processing agricultural products, and producing dairy products and handicrafts for sale are also considered part of their traditional duties. While it cannot be accurately judged whether the workload or time spent working on farms is greater for women or men, it is evident that men are exempt from a significant portion of these duties and side jobs, and have more ownership, productivity, and decision-making power compared to women. In addition, women’s work is often more time-consuming (such as caring for products or producing handicrafts) and causes specific physical harm to them.

Age range of work, side jobs, and impact on education

Women farmers usually start working from a young age or early adulthood, and retirement is not a concept for them. Despite employers’ preference for hiring younger women under the age of fifty, female farmers continue to work as wage laborers or landowners as long as their physical abilities allow them to do so. Despite the physical strength of rural and nomadic women, which allows them to continue working in agriculture at an older age, the health problems caused by this physically demanding work, exacerbated by household chores, side jobs, and multiple childbirths, ultimately lead to their inability to continue working in agriculture. However, this does not mean retirement, as they are still expected to perform household and side jobs until they become unable to work, depending on the family’s needs and resources or the presence or absence of other, younger women in the family. The family’s need for female labor on their own land or their income as wage laborers, along with social and cultural beliefs about the education and marriage of girls,

Salary

In general, the amount of wages for female farmers is significantly lower compared to men. According to the head of the agricultural trade union in Golestan province, on average, female farmers only receive 60% of the wages paid to men. While male farmers are not willing to work for lower wages, female farmers are forced to work for lower wages due to various reasons, including limited access to work. There is no information available about the income of female landowners or women who work on their family’s land, but it can be said that firstly, these women have less access to resources (inherited agricultural land, bank loans requiring a guarantor or collateral) compared to men, and secondly, many women who work on their family’s land do not have a share or a fair share in earning income, dividing it, or making financial decisions related to it.

Health challenges

According to one of the research studies conducted on the health of female farmers, these women make up 33% of all work-related injuries. In addition to accidents and incidents that can occur for workers during or on their way to work, female (and male) farmers are generally exposed to serious physical illnesses and injuries caused by heavy and prolonged physical labor on the farm, as well as chemical fertilizers or tools that are not necessarily up-to-date or standard. These include diseases such as “rice fever,” poisoning and infectious diseases caused by working with fertilizers and chemical toxins, contaminated water, chronic injuries to the back, neck, knees, and joints, heart diseases caused by heavy labor, arthritis (joint wear and tear), especially neck arthritis, painful inflammation around the nails, fungal skin injuries and infections on hands and feet, stomach and digestive discomfort, and even stomach cancer due to prolonged bending during farming and returning to food, as well as vaginal diseases and infections. Female farmers, especially suffer from joint

The more concerning issue is that farmers, especially female laborers, generally do not have the opportunity, time off, sufficient money, insurance, or access to proper medical services to treat these diseases. As a result, they turn to traditional and chemical remedies, such as Triac, strong painkillers, and cortisone medications, which are prescribed by the patient themselves for quick treatment by a doctor. This is so that the sick farmers can immediately return to work and not lose their daily or annual income.

Women farmers, especially wage workers, are often forced to continue working during pregnancy, up until childbirth and even immediately after, in order to not lose their job opportunities or income. Many of these women do not have enough time or support to take care of their children and are forced to leave them at home without proper care or under the care of other children, which in some cases has led to harm to the children.

Another danger that these women are exposed to is sexual harassment in the workplace and on farms, especially for women who work as day laborers without legal supervision and protection. If a woman who has been harassed shares her experience with her female colleagues or superiors, they usually have a good sense of solidarity and by bringing the issue to the attention of their superiors, the most that happens is that the harasser is publicly shamed among the workers and superiors, and the workers may refuse to work for that employer or the superiors may refrain from hiring day laborers for them. However, there is no legal follow-up or responsible authority or oversight in this matter, and it goes without saying that due to the cultural, social, and traditional background, many women who experience harassment in this environment do not have the courage to speak up, and even if they do, unless they personally file a complaint and pursue it – which in Iran comes with various social problems and lack of sufficient legal protection – the

Informal and social mechanisms of management and support.

Workers in the northern farms of Iran are usually managed and supervised by a “head” or the head worker, who is also employed by the employer (landowner). In most cases, these heads are men, which not only limits women’s ability to participate in managing the work, but can also lead to the abuse of relative power by the head in discriminating, using force, or harassing female subordinates who often do not have the ability or opportunity to object, defend themselves, or leave their job.

Women farmers who own land or women who work on their family’s land, especially in order to reduce their need for daily wage laborers and save on production costs, benefit from the collective support method of “yavari”. This means taking turns helping each other with farm work, or as a group, becoming a “yavar” for one person’s farm each day. This cost-saving method of planting comes at the expense of longer working hours for women.

Factors and obstacles to the productivity, progress, and development of women in agriculture.

According to the director of the Women and Family Affairs Office of the Governorate of Golestan, many women who are working in the agricultural sector or other handicraft industries do not have work permits and their job information is not registered anywhere. A work permit is a document that can provide a comprehensive and documented database of the number of female workers and entrepreneurs. This can be a key factor in policymaking in the field of female workers and farmers. Even population censuses are not accurate in this regard, as many women in agriculture who work on family land or are engaged in side activities and processing agricultural products are not considered part of the employed population due to lack of “independent income” and they do not even introduce themselves as employed to census officials.

One of the most important factors related to the development and progress of rural and tribal women and their ability to participate in family management and decision-making, production work, and their own social issues, is their access to production factors. These factors include bank credits, land, promotional services, and suitable technology to reduce women’s workload.

Banking and Financial Considerations: Studies conducted around the world, in regional countries, and in Iran show that rural women have fewer opportunities to receive loans from banks for productive activities. Most female farmers do not have collateral such as land, so they do not have much chance of using bank credits and facilities. In many cases, female farmers rely on their husbands, relatives, acquaintances, or lenders to access credit, often demanding high interest rates from them. On the other hand, banks underestimate the interest and repayment capacity of female farmers, while in many developing countries that have experience in launching small credit projects, loan repayment has been over 90%.

According to the laws and regulations of Iran, there are no specific restrictions on rural women’s access to financial and credit services, and all beneficiaries of the agricultural sector, whether male or female, can request credit from official sources based on their level of activity and having technical, financial, and economic justifications. However, in reality, women farmers are often lacking in collateral and due to cultural and social issues, they are unable to repeatedly visit banks. The fact that banks do not have branches in all villages and their branches in small towns do not have female agents, makes it more difficult for women to access these services. On the other hand, even if women have the ability to form groups such as cooperatives, in most cases, due to lack of management training, they do not have the ability to develop suitable plans with necessary economic justifications and defend them. The implementation of the plan for female heads of households in the Agricultural Bank was a start to solving these problems. However, with limited financial

Land: Women farmers who are independent landowners usually inherit their land from their families, as according to Iranian inheritance laws, their share is usually 50-70% less than that of men. Even if women legally own the land, in many cases, control over the land is in the hands of male family members and rural women farmers usually do not have a say in renting, productivity, or even selling their own property.

Promotional Services: Promotional services refer to the necessary training programs for rural women that are provided by active organizations in the village. By receiving these services, rural women enhance their abilities to increase production and participate in the management of the village. Despite the proven necessity of providing promotional services to rural women in all countries, especially in developing countries, the number of female experts and promoters is significantly lower than male experts and promoters. However, in developing countries such as Iran, there are many cultural and social barriers that prevent rural women from attending training courses, often imposed by men. The training courses offered to women in most countries mainly focus on household economics, health, and childcare, and rarely on strengthening women’s technical skills in activities that are their responsibility. In Iran, the number of female promoters is very low, and naturally, this small number cannot provide the necessary training for millions of rural women who need it. In order to find a mechanism to compensate for the shortage of female promoters, the Ministry of

Tools and Technology: Rural Women in Iran have been using traditional tools in their agricultural activities for a long time. These tools have rarely been the subject of research and investigation by mechanization experts, and as a result, they have remained traditional for many years. Technology, as one of the production tools in rural society, plays a crucial role in various dimensions of production and having access to suitable technology has a significant impact on empowering women and their role in management and decision-making. Rural women have been less likely to own production tools, including technology, for various reasons. On the other hand, with the mechanization of lands and various agricultural activities, women have been pushed aside and mostly engaged in activities that are less likely to be mechanized. In their main agricultural activities such as weeding, rice planting, and processing agricultural products, women still use traditional tools that have been used for hundreds of years. Despite the introduction and production of various large agricultural machines and complex technologies, no action has been taken to

Insurance

The problem of insurance for farmers, both men and women, is a widespread issue and there is no satisfactory situation in this regard for male farmers either. The Social Security Organization and the Agricultural Insurance Fund, which are responsible for providing personal insurance and agricultural accident insurance for farmers, seem to be making efforts, but the results are disappointing. Approximately 80% of the rural population and a similar percentage of farmers do not have insurance. In practice, due to the inadequacy of government assistance in the form of approved credits, the performance of these organizations, and the reduction or lack of allocation of approved credits, these institutions have become ineffective. The increase in the cost of insurance services, especially private insurance, the conditions and coverage of which, not only puts farmers at risk of losing part of their income every year due to unforeseen natural disasters, but also do not have reliable health insurance. This is while farmers, especially female farmers, are particularly vulnerable to specific and serious physical injuries and illnesses that arise

The impact of economic activity on power equations in the family and society.

The general assumption and belief is that women in agriculture, especially in northern Iran and the Gilan region, due to their pivotal role in the family economy, have relatively more equality, freedom, decision-making power, and participation in the family and society. In attempting to prove or refute this hypothesis, comprehensive and reliable academic and field research was not found in the searches conducted for writing this article, acknowledging that these searches may have been incomplete or the researcher may not have had access to these studies. Logically, with women’s participation in the economy and providing for the family, their presence in public spaces increases, and depending on the type of society (urban, rural, tribal) and social class, their gender may be somewhat diminished in public spaces, as seen in rural or tribal areas where there is less of a distinction between “inside and outside” in traditional architecture, or women’s clothing is the same at home and in public. It may be possible to see the presence of women in agriculture in

Solutions and responsibilities of the government and supporting institutions.

Based on research conducted on the problems of women farmers, the following solutions have been proposed in this regard:

• Raising awareness among women about their legal and social rights.

• Policy-making and cultural promotion for reducing the wage and working hour gap between women and men in agriculture.

• Addressing cultural issues and barriers in rural communities in order to promote education, active participation, and equal employment opportunities for women.

• Special attention to the development of educational and health facilities for female farmers.

• “Elimination of discrimination in inheritance law and supportive policies to increase the power of women farmers in owning land and production resources.”

• Creating adequate and suitable insurance coverage at a minimum cost and within the reach of female farmers.

• Awareness and sensitization of the process of granting credit to female farmers in order to prevent discrimination against them.

• Allocation of a percentage of special agricultural credits to female farmers.

• Organizing and training women in agriculture towards production and processing based on market demands.

• Policy-making and more serious and organized actions to increase the capacity and knowledge of women in agriculture in general, and specifically in terms of productivity and development of their activities.

• Formation and Empowerment of Cooperatives and Trade and Educational and Supportive Organizations for Women Farmers

• A detailed examination of the tools used by female farmers to improve and increase the level of mechanization of these tools in order to empower women.

• Creating new and diverse job opportunities for educated rural women to prevent them from being forced into agriculture as their only option.

• Increase in government support for agricultural institutions to empower large-scale farmers to provide fair wages and conditions for daily wage workers and prevent harm to female land-owning farmers.

With a general look, it is clear that the responsibility and main action power in this regard is primarily in the hands of policymakers, the government, executive authorities, and government institutions (supportive, educational, medical), and secondarily with organizations and civil society groups. A detailed examination of the government’s performance in this regard is beyond the scope of this article, but it can be said that for the development of civil society organizations and groups, if there is no need for support, policymaking, and education, at the very least there is a need for a safe and conducive environment for carrying out and expanding civic activities in society without the threat of these activities becoming “security” issues and individuals and organizations being questioned or endangered for engaging in them. The intimidating atmosphere that the Iranian government has created in general regarding civic activities and the arbitrary arrests and closures of trade unions, civil and charitable institutions, and non-governmental organizations certainly does not help the entry and expansion of non-governmental organizations and women’s

One of the problems of rural people is privatization. Although this provides favorable conditions for employment and increasing the capabilities of rural people, some of its consequences have a negative impact on the agricultural process. Traditional systems are gradually giving way to modern methods in developing countries, just like in developed countries, and the high costs of this agricultural method provide a strong incentive for the development of the private sector and its replacement with the government’s agricultural sector. The process of privatization through land and water ownership has strengthened powerful groups and their control over these resources, ultimately creating conditions that harm small farmers and severely deprive rural women of their rights to access these resources.

Until the approval of the Sixth Development Plan in 2015, rural and tribal communities were not mentioned as a specific group in any laws or programs, and as a result, their share in utilizing educational, promotional, and financial resources was not specified. In the Ministry of Agriculture, due to the existence of separate organizations called the Office of Rural and Tribal Women’s Affairs, a portion of financial, educational, and promotional services is allocated to rural and tribal women. However, in other executive bodies, due to the uncertainty of women’s share, the provision of services in rural areas is generally weak, and in the field of women’s issues, it is particularly weak. Since the approval of the Sixth Development Plan, efforts have been made in theory to address this issue, but we could not find a detailed report or research on the results of these efforts. However, it can be said that in the legal sections of the Sixth Development Plan, there is no direct mention or allocation of resources for women in

Sources and references:

A look at the situation of women silk weavers in Gilan province – Women’s Awakening

“Women of Gilan, struggling in the whirlpool of pain and multiplied suffering – workers of Iran.”

Iranian female farmers only receive 60% of men’s wages – Radio Zamaneh

The conversation of the Director General of Women and Family Affairs of Golestan Province with the IANA News Agency.

Report of the meeting of the Women’s Affairs Consultants of the Agricultural Jihad Organization of the Provinces – World of Economy

Equal work for unequal pay – ILNA

The problems of women in Shalikar, Gilan – Slogan of the year.

Gender relations in Gilan – Wikipedia

Women and Family in the Sixth Development Program – Office of Women and Family Affairs

Educational, research and promotional monthly magazine “Dehiari” issue 33.

An analysis of the role of rural women in economic activities and the factors affecting it – Research

“Effective Factors on the Social Status of Rural Women in Agricultural Households – Article”

“Gender and Space Relationship in Private and Public Spheres during the Qajar Era – Article”

The traditional spaces in Iran are organized based on gender structure and spatial organization. This means that there are specific areas designated for men and women, and the layout of these spaces is carefully planned to accommodate the different needs and roles of each gender. This traditional approach to spatial organization reflects the cultural values and beliefs surrounding gender roles in Iranian society.