Excluding the marginalized? Exploring the livelihood and inequality implications of herbicide diffusion in eastern India

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cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Centeren_US
cg.contributor.donorBill & Melinda Gates Foundationen_US
cg.contributor.donorCGIAR Trust Funden_US
cg.coverage.countryIndiaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2INen_US
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Asiaen_US
cg.coverage.regionAsiaen_US
cg.howPublishedGrey Literatureen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaGender equality, youth and social inclusionen_US
cg.subject.impactPlatformGenderen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 5 - Gender equalityen_US
dc.contributor.authorMkondiwa, Maxwellen_US
dc.contributor.authorKrishna, Vijesh V.en_US
dc.contributor.authorKhed, Vijayalaxmi D.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-04T12:47:41Zen_US
dc.date.available2024-01-04T12:47:41Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/137136en_US
dc.titleExcluding the marginalized? Exploring the livelihood and inequality implications of herbicide diffusion in eastern Indiaen_US
dcterms.abstractThe increasing agricultural wages in rural India have lent significant R&D and policy support for laborsaving agricultural technologies. While some are heralded as ‘game changers’ in achieving food sufficiency goals, less research is devoted to understanding whether farmer adoption of these technologies worsens economic inequalities. We hypothesize that the rapid diffusion of laborsaving agricultural technologies could result in a reduction in employment and loss of a key source of livelihood for the nonfarming rural poor, especially women from socially marginalized groups. Analyzing two datasets (2,725 households) collected from the Bihar state of India in 2021– 22, we document empirical, stylized facts on the intersectionality of gender and caste on effects of a laborsaving technology—chemical weeding. We then develop a task-based conceptual framework in which social norms on tasks performed by women and marginalized caste groups are examined to understand the technology impacts on inequality. This framework helps in developing the relevant policy actions toward FROM RESEARCH TO IMPACT, October 2023 49 more inclusive innovation. We observe that herbicide adoption has increased by 50%age points in the past decade. A large share of the herbicide application labor is provided by male laborers replacing hand weeding labor, which is supplied mostly by female laborers from marginalized caste groups. Herbicide adoption has reduced the labor force participation of women from marginalized castes. We do not observe reinstitution of women hired laborers in other on-farm tasks (e.g., land preparation, sowing). There is no evidence of them getting better opportunities in the nonfarm sector or they have the necessary skillsets.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationMkondiwa, Maxwell; Krishna, Vijesh V.; Khed, Vijayalaxmi D. 2023. Excluding the marginalized? Exploring the livelihood and inequality implications of herbicide diffusion in eastern India. Poster. Presented at the CGIAR GENDER Conference 'From Research to Impact: Towards just and resilient agri-food systems', New Delhi, India, 9-12 October 2023. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centeren_US
dcterms.issued2023-10-10en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseOtheren_US
dcterms.publisherInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Centeren_US
dcterms.subjectgenderen_US
dcterms.subjectagricultureen_US
dcterms.subjectresearchen_US
dcterms.subjectgender relationsen_US
dcterms.subjectinnovation adoptionen_US
dcterms.subjectherbicidesen_US
dcterms.typePosteren_US

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