IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS OF FACTORS HAMPERING WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN AGRICULTURAL DECISION MAKING AND EXTENSION WORK IN THE PUNJAB, PAKISTAN: A CASE STUDY OF DISTRICT OKARA

Abstract

Women in Pakistan comprised almost half of total population and their participation rate in agricultural sector is about 70 percent. Pakistani women actively participate in agriculture and contribute in all areas including production of crops, livestock management etc., along with normal domestic chores. Despite expanding role of women in agricultural sector, extension services in Pakistan are limited to men than women. The investigation was designed to measure the position and contribution of rural women, their constraints in decision making regarding agricultural activities and mainly how the rural women can be empowered for sustainable agricultural development in the district Okara, Punjab, Pakistan. It was envisioned that women participation in extension activities has rarely been investigated. A multistage random sampling technique was used to collect the data from 480 respondents from three Tehsils of the district. From each Tehsil, eight villages were taken by using simple random sampling technique. Twenty farm families were selected from each selected village at random and one woman was further selected randomly from each selected household. So, 480 farm families made a total of 480 respondents for the study. The results show that a vast majority of women were illiterate, having monthly family income less than one lac, having small land farms, and living in joint family system. A large proportion of the respondents reported that they had to face problems and constraints in accessing agricultural extension services in the context of social, economic, cultural, and political issues. Bivariate analysis indicated that education level of women, income of household, family type were significantly associated with the selected variables of constraints women faced in decision making process and their participation conditions in that process. Some variables showed strong association e.g. education of women. Ownership of land by women depicted strong significant with majority of the selected variables. However, addressing theses constraints effectively the situation of women empowerment can be improved in rural areas. If they would be empowered financially and economically they would become independent in their decisions, which can play a vital role to empower women.