Editorial

The focus of this issue is agriculture and its many facets: ranging from livelihoods and jobs in the rural sector, including out-migration, farmer groups, and the challenges facing women farmers in particular.

Mushtaq and Goswami looked at agrarian transformation in Indian Kashmir and found that the transition to commercial farming is driving dispossession and the consolidation of farmlands at the expense of small farmers, raising questions as to the role of the Indian State in these processes in politically contested regions. Rodrigue, Houessou, and others found that mentoring had an important role for both young men and women entering the rural sector with women gaining more from programs aimed at young professionals.

Siphe Zantsi provided a view on how smallholder agriculture in South Africa has evolved over time. Zantsi found that, as kinship ties have weakened, rural households have less of a buffer to rely on, with women still being the most vulnerable to food insecurity as they exist on less than minimum wages. The paper asks if government policy should change so that the minimum wage laws should apply to these women. Zantsi, with Nengovhela, also explores land reform in South Africa where its impact has been minimal in terms of poverty alleviation and development. This has been due to poor implementation and a lack of post resettlement support. They found that the private sector and NGO initiatives are more successful, suggesting a private and independent entity may be a way forward in continuing land reforms in South Africa.

Angelique, Tesfamicheal, and others analysed a survey on household living conditions in Rwanda and found that young people are choosing non-farm-wage jobs as their preferred livelihoods. They also found a clear gender bias, with men being more engaged in agriculture. In all cases, non-farm income is needed for households to survive. The paper concludes with the observation that government needs to support increased farm productivity and off-farm job opportunities.

Nguyen, Nguyen, Le, and Tran looked at the effects of COVID-19 on income according to socio-economic factors such as Indigeneity, demonstrating that manual workers with physical contact with others, families with boys, and stall holders, all had their income reduced. The paper argues for targeted recovery plans for these most affected groups.

Bhaskar Kakati addressed out-migration from tea gardens in West Bengal, India, surveying workers at the Kurti Tea garden as a case study. He found that out-migration was driven not only by poor livelihood opportunities but also by poor working conditions, low wages and benefits, and inadequate healthcare. Farouque, Kabu, and others looked at farmers active in common interest groups in Bangladesh. They found that these programs are generally positive but there are clear gender gaps whereby women famers do not receive the same support as their male counterparts. In a similar vein, Kanyagui, Velankar, and others explore, in a practice note, the livelihood challenges faced by women in rural India, using innovative participatory action research workshops where they identified the important issues, including access to capital and valuing unpaid domestic work.

Spann and Maetala, in a viewpoint, look at women in entrepreneurial activities in the Solomon Islands, the challenges they face, and the extra layers they have to navigate in their negotiations on what they call the possessive and distributive, to reflect their dual roles in a community. They note the role that men can play in facilitating these processes.

The issue is rounded out with a delightful review by Frank Rennie of van Eekelen’s book ICT and rural development in the Global South.