Talk:Feminization of agriculture

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This article was the subject of an educational assignment at University of Utah supported by the Wikipedia Ambassador Program&#32;during the 2012 Q1 term. Further details are available on the course page.

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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Cathycoeur.

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Initial comments
I will be monitoring this talk page for any comments and suggestions, please message with any ideas/improvements. I will be updating more copy edited versions over time. Thekappen (talk) 23:04, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

This article needs more sources. An obvious integration with the literature is to situate the problem in historical context by going back to the pioneering work of Boserup (1970)--her discussion of two farming systems (two distinct gender divisions of labor)and how with development (technological change, gender biases in training farmers) the female farming systems are being replaced by male farming systems in Africa, in effect a masculinization of farming. Whereas now it seems in many parts of the world the trend is reversing and--notwithstanding the measurement difficulties as to whether or not there is feminization-- the question is what changed? what are the forces driving this reversal? A systematic comparison with Boserup could be a nice addition (i.e. put earlier a discussion of Boserup on this question and then come back to it in a comparative discussion later. In addition, more discussion of the current literature is necessary.BerikG (talk) 15:40, 19 April 2012 (UTC)BerikG

Another issue that might be integrated in the article is the global feminization of labor thesis of Guy Standing. His article is mostly focused on non-agricultural labor force but you can add a brief discussion in your introduction as to how Standing does not consider feminization of agricultural labor force in his discussion. BerikG (talk) 04:32, 24 April 2012 (UTC)BerikG

Peer Review
Hi Morgan, I think you have done a nice job. I think there need source for second paragraph of “Description”. Could do with expansion of women’s low literacy rates. The first sentence of “Food-insecurity” needs to have proper citing. In “Liberalization” you discuss conservative crops but don’t really say what that means. I think it would be beneficial to give a more in-depth description of what “conservative crops” really are.

“Liberalization”: The second paragraph is a little confusing. You use the word removal twice in the first sentence and it doesn’t really make sense. Then, in the next sentence “this required them to increase ‘in’ their income is also confusing. You could also benefit from giving examples of the feminization of agriculture in both Africa and Latin America. You could create two new sections, one for each place and give more information.

I would also suggest adding more information to the “Policies” section. Give examples of advocacy and the results they have had.

This is an interesting topic and very closely related to my own so it was interesting to read and see what sort of information you found. I think it is well written so far and could just benefit from some more sources and a little more information here and there. Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading the completed article. Alainas (talk) 17:40, 24 April 2012 (UTC)Alainas

Provide more depth, specificity, and citations
In the first paragraph, "liberalization" should be preceded by "policies of economic" and followed by an explanation of what these policies entail (something like, "according to which government budgets that supported small farmers were slashed, credit has become less accessible, and export farming has been favored over subsistence or smallholder agriculture.") A link to Washington Consensus could be introduced here as well. At the moment, this link is under "changed" further down in the article (and would in any case have to be identified as WC there). Related, structural adjustment has to be also introduced here, as in "Much of these economic liberalization policies have been introduced in the context of structural adjustment programs in the 1980s and 1990s.") Also the subsection "Liberalization" should also be renamed either "Economic Liberalization" or "Washington Consensus Policies."

Avoid the tendency to generalize. Always specify time period and region or country that underlies the statements.

Acknowledge author names such as: "According to Deere (2009) who evaluated the phenomenon for Latin America...." The important discussion of Boserup is in a cryptic sentence where she is referred to as "other major studies" as if these refer to the same period of time. I suggest that her work be identified as "pioneering" instead, and something like "the pioneering study of Boserup (1970), who studied the changes in gender division of labor in agriculture in Africa in the 1940s, 1950s [need to confirm based on her tables in Ch 1 and 3], identified a shift from female to male farming systems, in effect a "masculinization" of African agriculture." (as pointed out earlier, there is room to elaborate (in the "Theoretical Perspectives" section)as to what drove the decline of female farming system in Africa vs. what is driving its rise in late 20th early 21st century).

When you say "after structural adjustments" (make singular) specify where.

Explain "taxation and underproduction during import substitution." When? Where? (add an explanation from your sources that IS industrialization (ISI) policies that prevailed during the 1940s-1970s favored industry over agriculture).

Put the text in the "Criticisms" subsection earlier, call it something else like "Definition of" or "Identification of the phenomenon" since these are issues that pertain to whether or not there is feminization of agriculture. (Also, if you keep "The most common criticism is the lack of available data." specify criticism of what? Also make clear who is claiming feminization and who is disputing that.

It is not clear why feminization of agriculture started in the 1960s. Add that.

The food insecurity consequence should be linked to the article by Corinthiandose.

Minor edits: No need to capitalize first letters of "Feminization of Agriculture" or "Feminization" or "Female" head of households. Avoid use of "current" specify decade or years. The first letters of World Bank should be in caps.174.23.231.169 (talk) 18:10, 28 April 2012 (UTC)BerikG

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Feminization of agriculture???
Are you kidding??? Agriculture has always been carried out by women. Since the birth of the first human communities, men went hunting and fishing, while women took care of the fields, livestock, housing and children. Perhaps this article is about industrialized agriculture, but in this case we should talk about the machines that have taken the place of humans. –p joe f (talk • contribs) 12:21, 18 June 2012 (UTC)


 * While industrialization also had an impact on agricultural labour, this article pertains to a distinct concept within feminist economics dealing with the increasing number of women employed in the agricultural sector, particularly in the global south. Gobōnobo  + c 01:13, 11 September 2012 (UTC)