HYDERABAD: The Sindh government is planning 115 day care centres for the children of women labourers who toil on farmland throughout the day along with their children.

This was stated by Sindh Women Development Minister Shahina Sher Ali at the inaugural session of the first-ever two-day conference on the “Women Empowerment in Agricultural Growth: Challenges and Way Forwards” held on Wednesday in Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) Tandojam.

She observed that women farm labourers were real working women who should be treated at par with their gender in any other sector.

The minister said the women who sent their children to schools and then entered fields for work in fact took care of their entire family members and worked for their betterment. She said the government wanted to serve those women by planning some welfare initiatives. A boy needed to be encouraged who took pride in admitting that he was the son of a peasant, she added.

SAU Vice Chancellor Dr Altaf Siyal said Pakistan could progress through gender parity and said that 67pc women were practically part of the agriculture sector, but there were no arrangements for ensuring them adequate wages. He informed that mostly men held the proprietary rights of lands.

He called for ensuring land ownership rights to women because they (women) remained practically engaged with crops right from cultivation to harvesting, along with their men. He observed that women faced difficulties in decision making as far as their right to academic activities, rese­arch and development were concerned.

Former VC Fateh Marri said women had an important role in the agriculture sector. He expressed concern over the fact that unfortunately girls had a 2pc share among the luckiest 10pc children who got access to the higher education.

He said the women had almost negligible presence in entrepreneurship, therefore, they would have to be provided opportunities in marketing business and making them relevant in that sector.

He said that media, academic, elected houses and political leadership could play their role in ensuring practical role of women in society. He said that country’s GDP could be stabilised with their participation in agricultural growth.

Ms Anne Klervimarie Cherriere from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) drew attention of the audience towards health and socio-economic challenges confronting women. She said those women worked 12-14 hours daily in fields and noted that their disproportionate exposure to climate change impacts, food insecurity and gender-based inequalities.

Zahida Detho, a social activist, stressed the need to reform system to integrate women into marketing roles. She said that while the women performed majority of labour-intensive tasks in agriculture, men dominated market-side activities. She said those women didn’t have access to legal remedies.

Highlighting insufficient facilities like support systems, including shelters, protection cells and complaint mechanisms for the women, she advocated for comprehensive reforms to ensure equitable treatment for them.

Engineer Mansoor Rizvi of the Pakistan Society of Agricultural Engineering emphasised women’s vital contributions to global development. “Excluding half of our population from progress impedes development,” he said, calling for similar conferences at other universities to amplify the message of empowerment and inclusion.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2025