Dr. Meena Bilgi, WOCAN’s Core Associate was one of the panelists in an all-women panel on ‘The Business Case for Gender Mainstreaming in Agriculture’ during the 11th SANKALP Global Summit on 26th November, 2019 in Mumbai, India. The other panelist and the moderator of the session were from different organizations (IDH, INI Farms, SEWA, SAMUNATI and Unltd India). Dr Bilgi shared her experience of working very closely with women farmers in different geographical locations of the country. She gave examples of increased productivity from 10 to 30% (depending on different geographical locations) when women are trained on improved agricultural practices and technologies. The women reinvest up to 90% of their earnings back into their households; that’s the money spent on food, nutrition, education, health and diversifying to other livelihoods such as homestead development, kitchen gardening, small and medium enterprises resulting in breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty, all of which has a significant impact on the economy, establishing the business case at a macro level.
She shared findings from her Ph.D. research on gender budgeting and public policy in the agriculture sector in India specifically from Gujarat over a decade. She mentioned that even-though all mechanisms for gender-responsive budget are in place, the gender agenda remains consistently underfunded, irrespective of which government is in power. The stagnant or declining allocation even in 2016-17 is not a diversion but seems to be a norm. A paradigm shift in gender-responsive budget is needed. Meaningful ‘planning’ at the time of budget prioritization is crucial rather than ‘just reporting’. It would be incorrect to assume that gender equality can be achieved only by earmarking public funds. Gender sensitivity requires loud thinking beyond project or program boundaries. A deep understanding of root causes of gender inequality, structural and systemic barriers, believe in woman rights as human rights, political commitment, coordination mechanisms and robust monitoring systems is crucial for concrete actions and transformative changes dismissing lip-servicing gender.
