Land, Assets and Livelihoods Gendered Analysis of Evidence from Odisha Vivien Savath, Diana Fletschner, Amber Peterman, Florence Santos March 25,2014

2 Odisha State in India  42 million people  Second most Tribal-dense state  32 nd of 35 Indian States on the HDI  Abundant natural resources  Some of the lowest agricultural productivity in the country  250,000 homestead-less families

3  Households do not always pool assets; it matters who in the household has access to and control over them  Assets play a central role in households’ ability to exit poverty  Assets can influence a household’s livelihood strategy  Land, an asset integral to economic development and socio- cultural identity, has long been a central fixture in Indian policy We know that…

4 We use data from Odisha to ask… How do women’s and men’s differential access and control over household assets, especially land, shape their households’ livelihood strategies?

5  October Representative sample of 1,730 households covering 4 districts of Odisha  Answers from adult female in household  Data captures sex-disaggregated ownership, use, and decision- making power over household assets including land, livestock and productive tools  Qualitative investigation in one district involving focus groups, individual interviews and participatory activities We leveraged existing evaluation data…

Economic Activities Data suggests 11 typical economic activities in this region Households can and often do engage in multiple activities But there are patterns! Self employment Other wage labor Agricultural wage labor Draft animal rearing Small ruminant rearing Cattle rearing Ration card /other public transfers Vegetable cultivation Fruit cultivation Rice cultivation Poultry rearing

Livelihood Strategies 4 Livelihood Strategies Agricultural wage labor Off-farm wage labor Wage labor with a farm Farm & Self-Employment

8 Agricultural wage labor Off farm wage labor Wage labor with a farm Farm & self- employment Self employment Other wage labor Agricultural wage labor Draft animal rearing Small ruminant rearing Fruit cultivation Cattle rearing Ration card /other public transfers Rice cultivation Livelihood Strategies Rice cultivation Fruit cultivation Vegetable cultivation Agricultural wage labor Other wage labor Ration card /other public transfers

9 Agricultural wage labor Off farm wage labor Wage labor with a farm Farm & self- employment Food Security and Livelihood Strategies Dietary Diversity (HDDS, out of 12) % of households vulnerable 16% 5% 3% 4% to hunger Monthly food $22 $29 $23 $28 expenditures most food insecure!

10 Agricultural wage labor Off farm wage labor Wage labor with a farm Farm & self- employment Self employment Other wage labor Agricultural wage labor Draft animal rearing Small ruminant rearing Fruit cultivation Cattle rearing Ration card /other public transfers Rice cultivation How Can They Improve their Livelihoods? Rice cultivation Fruit cultivation Vegetable cultivation Agricultural wage labor Other wage labor Ration card /other public transfers

11 What assets are associated with the livelihood strategy they have adopted? Assuming that:  they value food security and  they have chosen the most food secure LS available to them Which assets matter:  Land?  Labor force?  Other productive assets?

12 What assets are associated with the livelihood strategy they have adopted?  Land? -Amount of land they can access? -How long they have had it? -Whether they own it? -Whether they have documents? -How they had acquired it?  Labor force? -Number of adults -Highest level of education  Other productive assets? -Value of the assets Does it matter who has them? Men or Women?

13 Households with a more food secure strategy are those who: Land Can access more land Have acquire land more recently Own land Own documented land Have inherited land Have purchased land Labor force Have more adults Have higher level of education Other productive assets Have more valuable prod.assets Off farm wage labor Wage labor with a farm Farm & self- employment √√ √ √ √ √ √ X XX √ √ √ XX √ √  Gender-sensitive data and analysis matter!

14 Recommendations Land  Plot size matters. Land allocation programs should resist the political and economic temptation to settle for plots that are too small to be meaningful.  Formal documentation matters. Documentation was shown to be significant over and above a socially legitimate sense of ownership. This validates hypotheses behind regularization and documentation efforts.  Programs need to be gender-sensitive. Land allocation and regularization programs should address gender biases in customs and processes, work in a gender-sensitive way at all stages, and ensure that women’s names are included on the land documents.

15 Recommendations Other Assets  Labor. Labor markets in this region are highly gendered.  Equip women and men with the necessary skills to be employable  Work with communities to address discriminatory perceptions of what constitutes acceptable jobs for women  Education. Households with higher levels of men’s and women’s education are associated with higher food security.  Invest in both boys’ and girls’ education, despite the common argument that girls will become just housewives  Invest in non-formal education such as interventions to strengthen rural men and women’s negotiation, marketing, and management skills

16 Recommendations Research  A gender-sensitive framework yields a more nuanced understanding.  Need to employ a gendered lens in research design, data collection and analysis  Sex- disaggregated data is essential  Continue to use and invest in the development of gender-sensitive tools such as those developed by the Gender Agriculture & Assets Project (GAAP) to advance the field together

17 Thank you!