As the country marked International Women’s Month, a party-list group representing the agriculture sector is calling on government to do more in addressing gender inequality in rural areas and provide women in agriculture with opportunities for decent livelihood.
“March is International Women’s Month—this is a good time for government to take stock of what we still need to do to ensure that women in agriculture stand on equal footing with men,” said AGRI Party-list Secretary General Benjie Martinez.
Foremost among the issues that government needs to address is the existing pay gap between men and women in the country’s agricultural sector, said Martinez.
A study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies in 2018 also reported that around 35 percent of women in the crop and animal production, hunting and related activities were unpaid.
“A lot of women are engaged in unpaid work mainly because they are relegated to traditional roles like housework and caring for the family.”
Meanwhile, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority reveal that male agricultural workers are paid at least 28 pesos more than women in 2017. The country’s nominal wage rate of agricultural workers averaged P280.37 per day. Male farm workers are being paid P284.72 per day, while female farm workers are paid P255.80 per day.
“A lot of women are engaged in unpaid work mainly because they are relegated to traditional roles like housework and caring for the family. Dahil dito, limitado ang oras at oportunidad hindi lamang na mapalawak ang kaalaman nila, but also to engage in enterprises that pay more,” said Martinez.
Martinez urged the Department of Agriculture to closely coordinate with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other related agencies to come up with programs that would address the constraints faced by rural women in attaining sustainable livelihood.
“AGRI Party-list would look at possible measures that would address gender inequity.”
He also assured that if reelected, AGRI Party-list would look at possible measures that would address gender inequality.
“Babalikan natin ang mga batas gaya ng Free Irrigation Act para masiguro na makikinabang din dito ang mga kababaihan, more especially so they could have easier access for activities such as backyard farming,” he added.
AGRI Party-list would also conduct consultations so it could introduce measures that would make women effective partners for change, Martinez added.
