Title: Insights from two case studies on the socio-economic status of women farmers in low-income societies

Authors: Amani Ishemo; Brenda Bushell

Addresses: Faculty of the Built Environment, University of Technology Jamaica, Kingston 6, Jamaica ' Department of English Language and Media Communication, University of the Sacred Heart, 4-3-1 Hiroo, Shibuya ku, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract: Women continue to dominate the agriculture sector in most non-industrial, low income societies around the world. Despite their significant contributions in agriculture, their work is undervalued and they are marginalised due to social norms and traditions. Based on this reality, the paper investigates the current socio-economic status of women farmers through two descriptive case studies based in rural Jamaica and in rural Nepal. Thematic content analysis was employed to analyse the data, using the women's empowerment in agriculture index, including education, resources, production, income diversity, and workload. The findings reveal that access to education, resources and income diversity are crucial to improving the socio-economic status of women farmers.

Keywords: women farmers; female farmers; Jamaica; Nepal; socio-economic status; feminisation of agriculture; education; autonomy; income diversity; workload; case studies; low-income societies; rural communities; resources; farming.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2016.074874

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2016 Vol.17 No.1, pp.38 - 46

Received: 11 May 2015
Accepted: 26 May 2015

Published online: 22 Feb 2016 *

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