忆章台·农妇

丰年好，人欢闹，五谷丰登农妇笑。更喜猪羊兴旺多，小康昌盛换新貌。

农妇的故事（上）

兔年，正月初一，清晨六点。爆竹的“噼啪”声响得急促而突然。

The Snake Goddess as Woman： De-Mythologization in a Folk Epic

This paper deals with the Mangal Kavyas of Bengal, folk epics arising out of an oral tradition practiced by rural women. The female deities to whom these epics are devoted, like the snake goddess Manasa, are also part of the folk tradition, far removed from the Hindu pantheon of gods or the Vedic ways of worship and are related to the particular fears of village life. There is therefore, a de-mythologized version of these deities represented in these epics, a crystallization of the desires, wants, and ways of life of the rural population through the figure of the goddess, a version these village women can readily empathize with, making these epics rich in social documentation of contemporary village life.

The Impact of Rural Women＇s Land Rights on Food Production in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana

The poor performance of the agricultural sector as reflected in high prices of food stuffs as well as huge importation of food has been a major concern to many governments in Africa. Agriculture remains the backbone of Ghana＇s economy and women who constitute about 70% to 80% of farm labour face discrimination in terms of means of production such as land. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of women＇s land rights on food production in the Brong-Ahafo region which is Ghana＇s food basket. Several land reforms have been instituted to ensure equitable access to land in order to enhance food production, yet the study reveals that many women have limited or no access to land and experience insecurity of tenure, which affects their farming methods, choice of crops grown, and production levels, consequently, resulting in low incomes and poverty. Relevant Primary Rate Access （RPRA） tools were used to gather data. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics using Statistic Package for Social Science （SPSS） and Microsoft soRwares and presented into percentages, tabulation, and graphics. The research also revealed that the lack of awareness and education on land reforms and policies coupled with escalating land prices and complicated land transaction method are the major challenges to women＇s access and security over land. The study recommends the decentralization of the land title registration process, gender mainstreaming in the land title registration process, and intensification of advocacy on land rights, among others as crucial to improve women＇s access, control, and security over land for agricultural purposes

Harnessing the Potential of Community Radio in Empowering Rural Women in Malawi

This paper examines the extent to which community radio has the empowering and transformation potential. It draws on Nkhotakota community radio station in Malawi to analyze how community radio can empower women especially in rural areas. Although the whole of the rural population can be considered as marginalized, women are the most affected as they face marginalization in the family and village setting. Based on the data drawn from semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis, and participant observation, the paper observes that inequality and high illiteracy rate are the major hindrances among rural women which prevent them from accessing information necessary for their improvement. This paper argues that community radio has the potential to empower women in rural areas by providing them with access to information necessary to empower and transform their lives and enable them to participate in development activities.

Forest Dependent Survival Strategies of Rural Women in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State

This study was conducted in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State. The major objective is to ascertain the forest dependent survival strategies of rural women in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State. The specific objectives are to ascertain the socio- economic characteristics of the women, find out the forest based activities of the women, identify what they do with products collected from the forest, establish how much income they make from such products weekly and identify the challenges of these women in exploiting forest for survival. Ten villages were selected and from the selected communities, 15 women were randomly selected in each community to give 150 respondents. From the result of the survey about 96.0% of the respondents had household sizes of between 6-10 persons. Women collect many forest products which include seeds, herbs, honey, mushroom, fuel wood, snails, stimulants, bitter kola, pear, raffia leaves （fronds）, edible worms, wrapping leaves, spices, bush mango, locust beans, wild fruits, leaves, fuel wood, snails, mushrooms and fruits. Some of the forest products are used for income generation only, some for household use, while others are used for both income generation and household use. The major constraint is the decline in the availability of forest products as a result of deforestation, over exploitation, bush burning and long distance to available forests. The study shows that forest products play a significant role in improving the livelihood of rural people. Rural development and future forest conservation strategies and interventions should pay attention to the contribution of forest products to people＇s livelihood and environmental sustainability.

Micro Credit is a Tool for Women Entrepreneurship Development

As a result of 30 years of an internal armed conflict, women and children not only lost male relatives in struggle, but comprised of the displaced. Most of the households in Sri Lanka are now headed exclusively by women. The micro finance institutions help the poor people in effective ways in order to generate income to enhance their standard of living in the rural areas. This study focuses on women entrepreneurship development through micro credit programme under post war development in Jaffna District selecting four rural areas which are Kopay, Chavakachcheri, Varani and Kodikamam. The main objective of this study is to identify the linkage with micro credit programmes and entrepreneurship development. Further it has an objective to identify the impact of micro credit on entrepreneurship development. The information has been gathered by primary data which has been distributed through the close ended questionnaire to the rural women in the above selected areas and seventy seven （77） responded out of 100. The relation between the micro credit programmes and women entrepreneurship development is examined using Statistical Package for Social Sciences （SPSS）. It is concluded that the Entrepreneurship development has a significant relationship （p〈0.05） with the microcredit programme and its impact on entrepreneurship development is crucial. It is suggested that the microcredit facilities are essential in women entrepreneurship development under post war development.

A Hurdle Negative Binomial Regression Model for Non-Marital Fertility in Namibia

The rise of non-marital fertility, which seems to defy the Bongaarts model by decoupling marriage from fertility, has become a subject of interest in both the developed and developing world. Consequences of non-marital fertility are mostly negative particularly in developing countries. In Namibia, although premarital childbearing has been reported to be high and increasing, no studies have explicitly analyzed factors influencing non-marital fertility. This paper uses data from the 2006/7 Namibia DHS to establish the determinants of non-marital fertility among women by applying a two-part model, with one part to describe the presence of non-marital birth and the other part to explain its intensity （number of children born）. Using the number of children ever born as an outcome, we explored various count data models. Based on the Voung statistics model comparison, we settled for the Hurdle logit Negative Binomial regression to model the number of non-marital births. Non-marital fertility in Namibia is associated with the age, with young women likely to have lower fertility compared to older women. Women with secondary or higher education had lower fertility compared those with no formal education. Findings also show that rural women higher fertility propensity compared to their urban counterparts even though there was no significant difference in fertility intensity. With regard to socio-economic status, fertility intensity decreased as the women got richer. Intervention efforts should focus on promoting education among girls and women especially in rural areas to improve their socio-economic status, reduce teenage pregnancy and non-marital fertility.

Women as a Key to Agriculture and Food Security in Sudan： The Case Study of Northern Kordofan State

In the rural areas where most of the world＇s hungry people live, women produce most of the locally consumed food. Their contribution could be much greater if they had equal access to essential resources and services, such as land, credit, and training. In Sudan, women have always been active in agriculture and food security, constituting 17% to agricultural labor force. However, culture coupled with imperfections of official data underestimates their contribution. Accordingly, this study was carried out in the western part of Sudan, namely, North Kordofan State in order to identify and assess the role of women in agriculture and food security and identify the main factors and constraints affecting their contribution to agricultural production in the state. The findings confirm that women contribute 74% to the monthly agricultural income, 65% to total income, 62% to the labor work, and 65% to the household activities. Their average daily working hours are 14, while, those of men are only 8. The study suggests that the removal of the obstacles those women face could increase their contribution to and enhances the livelihood of the people in the state. Hence, a review to the relevant government policies is needed, so that women are empowered by improving their access to resources and credit.

农妇

用锄头 细细地将岁月打磨