54 | East and South Asia and the Pacific (ESAP) Report

 

     In ESAP, avian influenza emerged as the most serious threat to animal and human health. The first case of avian flu was reported in a farmed goose in Guangdong, China. The H5N1 avian flu virus spread rapidly across the region, creating transboundary animal disease epidemics.  Avian flu outbreaks were reportedly in Cambodia, China, Indo­nesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam. Countries in the region made massive efforts to cull infected chickens and ducks and to vaccinate healthy birds. In spite of these efforts, incidents of human infection and death oc­curred among people who worked and lived in close contact with poultry. By 2006-2007, H5N1 had been detected in Bosnia-Herzogovina, Ghana, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Tur­key and the United States.

Effect of agriculture on climate change. Agriculture is a significant contributor to climate change. About 20% of global carbon dioxide emissions, 60% of methane gas emis­sions and 80% of nitrous oxide come from modern agri­culture. By another estimate, livestock accounts for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, including 9% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide and 37% of anthropogenic methane. Land use, including deforestation, expansion of pastures and land cultivated for feed crops, are the largest contributors to total livestock-related greenhouse gases (Steinfeld et al., 2006). Action should be taken to reduce the overall effect of livestock production on global warming. Both methane and nitrogen emissions can be reduced by better livestock diet and manure management.

2.4.4     Gender, equity and sustainability

2.4.4.1   AKST, workload and time allocation for agricultural production
Women are major stakeholders in agricultural production. This fact is supported through time-use surveys conducted in selected countries, both industrial and developing, in Asia and the Pacific. Women's time contributed to agricultural production is much higher than men's (Table 2-10). In Ne­pal women work longer than men in all seasons in both rainfed and irrigated agriculture (Sharma, 1995).
     With increased migration of male laborers to cities, the agricultural workload of women and children has increased (Balakrishnan, 2005). But the introduction of new agricul­tural technology decreased the agricultural workload for some women, as in southern Viet Nam, where workload fell about 30% (Ba and Hien, 1996). This saved time was used in other subsistence activities, such as aquaculture on home­stead land, home gardening and crafts, sometimes shifting from one activity to another (Felsing and Baticados, 2001). Although additional income might be gained by additional activities, a study in Indonesia and Malaysia showed these additional activities, including aquaculture, added to wom­en's workload, while the profits went to the men (Burgere, 2001).
     Though women were the managers and workers, their economic contribution was either not counted or under-counted in the national economy. The agricultural census did not reflect the actual contribution of women in agricul­ture because of inadequacies in conceptualization, definition of terms and data-gathering methods. After analyzing the

 

gender division of labor, it was found that women contrib­uted much more than men (Joshi, 2000).
     Despite women's greater contribution, the predomi­nant image of a farmer in both developing and industrial ESAP countries was male; therefore, policies and programs ignored women's needs and concerns as farmers (ADB and UNIFEM, 1990; Alston, 2004). National statistics, however inaccurate, served as the principal data in framing develop­ment policies. These inaccurate data led to undercounting women, both as workers and as those available for work. Women's contributions were either unrecognized or under­valued (Alston, 1998; Siason et al., 2001). Many ignored concerns still need to be understood. Gender-disaggregated data would be necessary for appropriate intervention and policy change. Disaggregated data were lacking or under-reported in both developing and industrial countries such as Australia (Alston, 1998; Siason et al., 2001).

2.4.4.2   Gender roles and AKST
Women contributed more time than men in both agricultur­al production and household activities. The double burden of work reduced the time women had to participate in and benefit from development activities.
     The time women and men spent for productive, house­hold, social and religious activities differed significantly by season and environment. It was also significantly influ­enced by the introduction of technology (Kolli and Bantilan, 1997). Gender division of labor prevails in all social sys­tems. Traditionally, women are allotted most domestic jobs and time-consuming drudgery in the fields. People are slow to perceive what women and men actually do. For instance, both women and men consider fishing a man's job; in fact, women were almost equally involved in fishing in Yunan, China (Yu Xiaogang, 2001). Gender division of labor is not static but changes with time and circumstance (Kusakabe, 2002). Gender division of labor in work outside the home is changing with introduction of agricultural technology, environmental change or economic change. However, it is hard to see drastic change in division of labor in households. Women take on more and more responsibility in produc­tion, but their household work remains. This overburdens women with work. It creates physical and psychological problems, there is lack of time for self-development and it enforces gender inequality. Little recognition of women's contribution also prohibits their participation in making decisions.

2.4.4.3  AKST and changes in decision patterns
Women take part in agricultural production, but they make few decisions on technology. Decisions on how to use and manage a technology differ according to the technology used and the activity. According to studies conducted in dif­ferent countries, women have lagged behind men in mak­ing agricultural technology decisions. Examples can be seen in decisions on adopting modern technology in Bangladesh and India (Singh et al., 2000; Rahman and Routray, 2001). Improved technology developed by research and develop­ment institutions mainly focused on male workers (Singh et al., 2000). Not involving women in decision making regard­ing technological production has negative implications for livelihoods and sustainability.