Women's agricultural work and nutrition in South Asia: From pathways to a cross-disciplinary, grounded analytical framework. (January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rao, Nitya; Gazdar, Haris; Chanchani, Devanshi; Ibrahim, Marium
• Is Part Of: Food policy. Volume 82(2019)
• Page Start: 50
• Page End: 62
• Publication Date: 2019-01
• Subjects: Nutrition -- Agriculture -- Gender -- South Asia; Food supply -- Periodicals; Food security -- Periodicals; Food -- Quality -- Periodicals; Food Supply -- Periodicals; Alimentation -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 338.1905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.10.014
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-9192

Abstract

Highlights: Seasonality, poverty and gender shape the links between women's work and nutrition. Need to move beyond homogenised views of both women and agricultural systems. Women's work mediates household socio-economic status and its food security. Policies must recognize women's work contributions and ensure adequate support. Cross-disciplinary research frameworks are needed to generate robust evidence. Abstract: In this systematic review, we aim to examine the impact of women's work in agriculture on maternal and child nutrition in South Asia. Building on previous reviews supported under the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) consortium, and recent published literature, we include findings from new LANSA research. While mapping literature onto the gender-nutrition pathways linking agriculture to nutrition (Kadiyala et al., 2014), we also point to conceptual and methodological directions for further exploration emerging from our work. Key amongst these are a focus on seasonality, poverty, and gender relations, moving beyond both an exclusive focus on women as a unified and homogenous group, and agriculture as an unchanging and common set of activities and production processes. Our analysis suggests the need for a more contextualised approach, and for a richer cross-disciplinary framework for effectively addressing the ways in which women's work mediates agriculture's role in improving child and maternal nutrition in South Asia.