“We are interested in how women within households use their time and participate in agricultural activities and what trade-offs they may be making when it comes to their time use,” said Paige Castellanos, assistant research professor in the college’s office of international programmes.
U.S. Agency for International Development’s issued a $45,000 grant to researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences under the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut Research. These researchers have been working to enable higher women empowerment and self-sufficiency among the female farmers in Ghana involved in cultivating peanut production. The primary focus of these projects is to promote gender equality and improve labor productivity. Under this project, a team of scientists from Penn State and Savannah Agricultural Research Institute in Nyankpala, Ghana, will work on a two-year study, at the University of Georgia.
Image Feed The Future
This study will also look at “time poverty,” a term coined to highlight limitations to take on new responsibilities and tasks by women owing to their household commitments. The study shares a holistic perspective on the division of labor at home and on the farms based on gender to have a better idea of prioritizing tasks to increase women’s productivity. The research team will recognize the value of women’s participation and contribution in this field and educate the farmers about effective and efficient production and farming techniques.
Intern, Vidula
Vidula Dhanda is an Economics enthusiast, currently pursuing an MBA in marketing from Symbiosis Pune. She also holds a masters in economics as well as holds the position of Senior Coordinator in SIMSETT, Sims Economics Think tank Vidula worked as intern for a month for The middle Road.