The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report revelas that in most of the world, women lag well behind men in ownership of agricultural land.
In most parts of the world, including India, women are way behind men in ownership of farm land, says the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The FAO report says out of the total 119 lakh farm land holders in the country, only 9.21% are women.
"In most of the world, women lag well behind men in ownership of agricultural land and access to income from land, though women are major producers of food crops," reveals a new online FAO database on genderwise land rights.
Customary norms, religious beliefs and social practices influence gender-differentiated land rights, it says, adding widespread inequalities between men and women in their access to land is one of the major stumbling blocks to rural development and food security in most part of the world.
The new FAO database highlights up-to-date information on how men and women in as many as 78 countries differ in their legal rights and access to land.
For instance, women account for just 9.21% of the total 119 lakh farm land holders in the country. Women comprised 32% of the agricultural labour force in 2008, it said, adding a similar situation prevails in most countries.
The report points out only 12.98 lakh women have land rights in the country due to legal constraints and socio-cultural factors such as the practice of female seclusion or purdah, prevent women's access to land.
Barring Indonesia, the data of majority of 17 Asian countries show fewer women having land rights.
According to the new FAO online data, as many as 17 lakh women own farm land in Indonesia out of the total 20 lakh holders. Whereas in Bangladesh, 7.9 lakh women own land out of total 28 lakh landholders, while in Nepal only 2.71 lakh women have land rights out of 33 lakh land holders.
Out of the total 57 lakh land holders in Thailand, women are 15.85 lakh, while in Malaysia, 65,328 females have land rights out of 5 lakh land holders, the FAO said.
An official with the UN body Zoraida Garcia noted that in many cases, national constitutions acknowledge men and women have equal rights to land, but the day-to-day reality is very different.
Often, those rights are jeopardised by conflicting laws or long-standing traditional and institutional practices which assign land titles and inheritance to males or the man's side of the family, she said.
Until now, the data regarding gender-wise land ownership at a single place has been difficult to get. The new online database is a vital information for policy makers, FAO said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}