ing phenomenon. Apart from problems in claiming their rights to land and resources, women have to deal with an old agricultural system and techniques, since not much investment was ever made in agriculture because of the continuous occupation. Moreover, in 2001, women's agricultural activities were shrinking because land was confiscated and donor support for agriculture decreased. "In this context informal employment has become a survival mechanism, especially for households maintained by women" (Esim and Kuttab, 2002).

In Iraq, women-headed households are numerous in the rural areas and women are increasingly becoming a vulnerable group because of the ongoing violence. Women farmers are particularly vulnerable because they have limited control over production resources such as land and technology and reduced access to support services (UN/World Bank, 2003).

2.6.3.4 Mechanization and technology

Mechanization and labor-saving technology have radically changed agricultural production and work organization in rural areas. These changes have been beneficial to women in some cases and detrimental in others. Home-based technology, such as piped water and electricity, has helped reduce female domestic drudgery by reducing the amount of work necessary to collect fuel and water. Agricultural machinery, however, is usually designed for male users, thus reinforcing the gender division of labor. Big handles and heavy levers can impede women's use of machines. Social biases that associate machinery with men further limit women's use of technological improvements (Brandth, 2006). This is confirmed by a research project on Lebanese agriculture, according to which the low involvement of women in technology is due to practical difficulties in access and cultural restrictions on use. In addition, women's crops and livestock are usually disregarded as research priorities (ESCWA, 2001). In the 1960s, when Egypt started mechanizing agricultural production, men's work began to change radically while women's work remained labor intensive (Saunders and Mehenna, 1986). The introduction of new agricultural technology in the Syrian countryside brought many farmers who

had migrated back to the fields with prospects of increased production. Men took over the use of the machinery for land preparation or harvesting while women and children were assigned tedious manual jobs such as weeding and thinning. In some cases, the new machines have freed women from performing time-consuming tasks (FAO, 1995).

2.6.3.5 Globalization trends

Many countries of the CWANA region, such as Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Turkey, are moving toward structural adjustment policies that reduce agricultural subsidies, increase the role of the private sector and free market, decrease government expenditures and increase efficiency. Evidence shows that liberalization measures have mainly disfavored smallscale farmers and unskilled and informal workers. Women constitute a large part of these categories and are increasingly suffering from job insecurity. The increasing precariousness of work has affected mainly women, who are the first to be discriminated against in employment patterns. At the same time, the potential benefits connected to globalizing the labor force do not benefit women, whose working choices are restricted, for social reasons, to the internal labor market and eventually to conditions of limited reward.

Policies of market liberalization suffer from gender biases, and market dynamics have marginalized petty trading, which primarily involves women. Gender discrimination in state and market institutions and intrahousehold inequalities all reduce women's control over the income from their work (Baden, 1998). Social policies to counteract the marginalization of disadvantaged sectors have not been put in place. On the contrary, the retreat of the state from providing social security has greatly affected women, who have suffered from the lack of support. For example, women and girls are forced to compensate for the weakened public health system by caring for the old and sick at home. Migration trends have continued to intensify the female labor load in rural areas. Environmental degradation is adding pressure by affecting the ecosystem many depend on for their livelihoods (Sindzingre, 2004).