Gender Issues in Developing Countries

Gender Issues in Developing Countries Empowerment of Rural Woman in Bangladesh through Agriculture Introduction The gender issue in developing countries again highlighted at the World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 (Hicks, 1997). Women’s work in the productive and social sectors is a key aspect of development. Everyone has a unique classification of empowerment based on his or her life experiences, behavior, and ambitions, person has the power to decide about their things, their life, and their actions can be identified as empowerment. Rao and Kelleher stated that â€Å"the capacity of women to be economically self-sufficient and self-reliant with control over decisions affecting their life options and freedom from violence† (Rao and Kelleher, 1995). The disempowerment of women reflects upon their less education level income, control over their own income, bargaining power in selling their own produce and labor. This susceptible condition ended an overall dependency of women on their male relatives through their life cycle particularly in developing countries which lowers their value of life in the society. Bangladesh is a developing country, according to the United Nations Gender-related Development Index (GDI), Bangladesh ranked 105th out of a total of 177 countries worldwide (Grimm, Harttgen et al., 2008). A patriarchal social system dominate the life of women in Bangladesh, controls a women’s mobility, the roles and everyday jobs. In Bangladesh traditionally men dominate women in all spheres of life. The poor women in rural areas having the least power, have few rights, little choice about their lives, and very few chances to modification their condition. Women in Bangladesh in rural area are generally illiterate and often have the least to eat. Though, despite all of the problems, women do play a significant role in agricultural activities in Bangladesh. Agricultural activities includes crop production and processing, post-harvest operations, livestock husbandry, aquaculture and agro-social forestry. Figure – 1 The Ratio of economically active women working in agriculture, 1980-2010    Source: FAO (2003) LIFDCs: low income food deficit countries LDCs: Least Developed Countries The female contribution to the overall economy in developing countries have particularly 43% of the agricultural labor force in developing countries in the agricultural sector like Bangladesh but societal and economic constraints limit their further inclusion in this field. (Food and Organization, 2011). Around 84% of the total population lives in rural areas where agriculture plays vital role in the economy, this sector comprises crops, forests, fisheries and livestock, Women’s involvement to agriculture considered as unpaid family labor, is grossly underestimated. Bangladesh is a traditional Muslim country where women are hardly participate in agricultural activities outside home (Hossain and Bayes, 2009). In Bangladesh the women’s agricultural activities limited to homestead production and post-harvest operations but in recent years they are mostly involved in livestock and poultry rearing activities besides crop production. In Bangladesh women’s contribution to socio-economic development were not noticeable, because of a set of social standards which allowed men to dominate women Women’s contribution in agricultural production is processing and storage of grains and pulses with household based small-scale industry. Men specially worked in public space like the fields, roads and market place on the other hand restrictions prevent women from attending the market. The contribution of women remains socially invisible; control over the proceeds of their labor is transferred to male hands. In the case of rice, which is the main crops in Bangladesh provides a significant example of this process. Main responsible for preparing the fields, sowing the seeds, weeding and harvesting are men also carried the harvest home and help in the threshing. Women then conquest the process the paddy into rice, includes parboiling and drying the paddy, and storing the grain. In Bangladesh women spent an average of 3.1 hours per day on agricultural work while men spent 5.1 hours (Zaman, 1995). In Bangladesh the farm technologies are not adequately developed to handle although participation of women in agriculture increasing (Jaim and Hossain, 2011). Women’s role is changing from unpaid family worker to active worker which is called as â€Å"feminization of agriculture in the absence of male members in the family. Contribution of women in the agricultural sector has increased over time. Women’s work increased from 3.2 million in Survey 1985/86 to 21 million in Survey 1989 (Rahman and Routray, 1998). During 1999–2000 and 2005–06, the number has increased from 3.76 to 7.71 million (Asaduzzaman, 2010). Women more likely to be involved in the agricultural sector who has poor households and risk of being food-insecure, because there’s earnings are important to their families’ survival. Limited use of ownership, and control of productive physical and human capital emphasis on women’s ability to generate income in the agricultural sector. The disadvantage of Bangladeshi women relative to men with respect to assets brought to marriage, and human capital (Quisumbing, 2003). Women in Bangladesh lag behind in terms of education and the lack of education in adult women in Bangladesh live below half a dollar a day make them very poor (Ahmed, Hill et al., 2007) Development in poultry created many employment opportunity in poultry industry and poultry related products. The revolution in poultry industry has achieved more than 200 percent growth last 5 years because of new technology.(Shamsuddoha, 2005) Poultry rearing can be considered as an alternative income generating activity for the development of rural women of Bangladesh. Poultry farming is mostly homestead-based and contributes an important role to the agricultural sector in Bangladesh. Poultry rearing generates extra income for these families which is a part of agro-rearing practices of the village community of Bangladesh. Around 89% of the rural house-holds rear poultry (Fattah, 2000), mainly operated and managed by rural women on a small scale. Furthermore 70% of rural landless women are directly or indirectly involved in poultry rearing activities. Family restrictions, social and traditional barriers keep rural women unable to work outside their home. For these difficult circumstances, homestead poultry rearing is considered the best way to add contribution to the household. It requires least land, small amount of investment and traditional knowledge. Now a day’s one of the main sources of income for the rural women of Bangladesh is home-based poultry. They have the opportunity to spend the earnings for children, special occasions even educating their children. extra income from home-based poultry rearing provides the survival of rural families which empowered by decision making process and gives them freedom to take part in making family decisions. (Hadi, 1997). By increasing the food consumption and nutrient intake poultry projects help rural women (Nielsen, Roos et al., 2003). Now a days the growing awareness in Bangladesh is rural women can play a vital role to the socio-economic growth of the country and provide their families with a higher standard of living (Alam, 1997). In this way poultry rearing can provide significant benefits to rural women in Bangladesh which lead to better empowerment. Bangladesh is the most promising countries for freshwater aquaculture industry which is second only to agriculture in the overall economy for its abundant water resources and sub-tropical climate conditions. Women are involved in various aspects of freshwater aquaculture activities like fish feeding, on-farm feed preparation, pond fertilization, stocking and harvesting. Women’s participation in the fish industry the production has increased by up to 20% (Ahmed and Toufique, 2014). Aquaculture related activities are very important for the empowerment of rural women in Bangladesh. Most rural women have the absence of technical knowledge in aquaculture, heavy household tasks and socio-cultural constraints such as mobility restriction keeps out women’s participation in aquaculture activities. For this contribution in aquaculture by women is under expectation. Economic, nutritional and social benefits are interlinked in order to empower rural women in Bangladesh. Women have generally improved their standard of living, purchasing power and ability as an economic actor which enhance their position in families. Women’s participation in aquaculture improve empowerment which give them greater equity, mobility, more control over resources and political awareness helps to reduce incidents of domestic violence .The expansion of small-scale aquaculture in rural Bangladesh, the women are now breaking through the traditional norms and able to come forward for participate in the development activities outside their homesteads. Several rural women in Bangladesh have successfully adopted and developed with aquaculture production. They feed and harvest fish, also raise fry to yield fingerlings for stocking ponds, they are mainly responsible for the skilled and time consuming tasks that take place on-shore like making and mending nets, processing and marketing fish. Women are previously engaged in coastal area of Bangladesh where shrimp farming is a dominant occupation. Nearly 85% of the women are involved in fry collecting which does not interfere with their day-to-day household work, and helps addition the household income.(Shelly and Costa, 2002). Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in Bangladesh works upon addressing poverty as well as rural development, gender equality, environmental preservation, tragedy management, human rights and other social issues. It also support communal and financial empowerment of the poor, microcredit, agriculture and related activities, water supply and sanitation, women entrepreneur development and other areas. Bangladesh is the most active NGO sector in the developing world, over 6000 registered NGOs are active and about 10 percent play a major role. (Rahman, 2006) The NGOs works on many programs to develop women development and sustainable development in the society, raise the capacity of the women to participate in national, social and democratic processes and to participate in national and local business activities. Most of the sectors are agro based due to most of the women are still engaged with the agro-based sectors like paddy production, poultry farming, dairy farming etc. Conclusion In recent year a great percentage women in Bangladesh are both directly and indirectly involved in agricultural activities . In crop production activities women involvement is mostly related to managerial activities. Women friendly pre-harvest as well as post- harvest technologies for crop production and processing. Participation of women in Livestock and poultry production activities as well as in homestead gardening has gradually increased to a substantial extent. A women in Bangladesh feel more comfortable in agricultural activities. If a woman achieve capability in 80% or more of the weighted pointed as empowered When economic activities incise the rural women benefit most in Bangladesh. Socioeconomic conditions rise within the households with increased participation in aquaculture, which give her increased decision-making power on household management and income making activities. Poverty is the main cause of difference in a rural phenomenon, for the impact of fisheries and aquaculture gender equity become very high. Most prominently visible economic benefits were able to originate from various activities has gained them suitable place in the decision making process. References Ahmed, A. U., et al. (2007). The world’s most deprived: Characteristics and causes of extreme poverty and hunger International Food Policy Research Institute. Washington, DC: 145. Ahmed, N. and K. A. Toufique (2014). Greening the blue revolution of smallà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ scale freshwater aquaculture in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Aquaculture Research. Alam, J. (1997). Impact of smallholder livestock development project in some selected areas of rural Bangladesh. Livestock research for rural development 9(3): 1-14. Asaduzzaman, M. (2010). The next agricultural transition in Bangladesh: Which transition, why and how? conference on Understanding the Next Generation in Asia, Bangkok, April. Fattah, K. A. (2000). Poultry as a tool in poverty eradication and promotion of gender equality. Frands Dolberg and Poul Henning Petersen (eds.) 10. Food, U. and A. Organization (2011). The State of Food and Agriculture 2010–2011: Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development. FAO Home, http://www. fao. org/docrep/013/i2050e/i2050e00. htm (accessed 1 November 2011). Grimm, M., et al. (2008). A human development index by income groups.World development 36(12): 2527-2546. Hadi, A. (1997). The NGO intervention and womens empowerment--the Bangladesh experience. Hicks, D. A. (1997). The inequality-adjusted human development index: a constructive proposal. World development 25(8): 1283-1298. Hossain, M. and A. Bayes (2009). Rural economy and livelihoods: Insights from Bangladesh, AH Development Publishing House. Jaim, W. and M. Hossain (2011). Women’s Participation in Agriculture in Bangladesh 1988-2008: Changes and Determinants. pre-conference event on â€Å"Dynamics of Rural Livelihoods and Poverty in South Asia 7th Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE) International Conference Hanoi, Vietnam. Nielsen, H., et al. (2003). The impact of semi-scavenging poultry production on the consumption of animal source foods by women and girls in Bangladesh. The Journal of nutrition 133(11): 4027S-4030S. Quisumbing, A. R. (2003). Household decisions, gender, and development: a synthesis of recent research, International Food Policy Research Institute. Rahman, S. (2006). Development, democracy and the NGO sector theory and evidence from Bangladesh. Journal of developing societies 22(4): 451-473. Rahman, S. and J. K. Routray (1998). Technological change and womens participation in crop production in Bangladesh. Gender, Technology and Development 2(2): 243-267. Rao, A. and D. Kelleher (1995). Engendering organizational change: the BRAC case. IDS bulletin 26(3): 69-78. Shamsuddoha, M. (2005). Poultry rearing-an alternative income generating activity for rural women development of Bangladesh.Chittagong University Journal of Commerce 19. Shelly, A. and M. Costa (2002). Women in aquaculture: initiatives of caritas Bangladesh. Penang, Malaysia, ICLARM-The World Fish Center: 77-87. Zaman, H. (1995). Patterns of activity and use of time in rural Bangladesh: class, gender, and seasonal variations. The Journal of Developing Areas: 371-388.

Botany Durian

Durian: Genus: Durio Family: Malvaceae Kingdom: Plantae Tribe: Durioneae Order: Malvales Subfamily: Helicteroideae Scientific Classification: †¢ There are 30 recognized Durio species †¢ Nine of them produce edible fruit 1. Durio zibethinus 2. Durio dulcis 3. Durio grandiflorus 4. Durio graveolens 5. Durio kutejensis 6. Durio lowianus 7. Durio macrantha 8. Durio oxleyanus 9. Durio testudinarum †¢ Durio zibethinus is the only species available in the international market †¢ Other species are sold in locally Species Durian: It is a large-sized tropical fruit tree.The tree can reach a height of 35 – 45m if grown from seeds. Durian trees that are planted on a smooth level of land are smaller in size (10-15m in height). Climate: Climate Condition †¢ Soil: It grows best in fertile, deep soils with abundant organic matter and a pH of 6-7 †¢ Temperature: 25 -30 C; evenly distributed. The trees may survive occasional changes in temperature as low as 10? C a nd as high as 46 C. †¢ Needs tropical warmth, abundant moisture, and sunshine to thrive. †¢ If coconut can grow and bear well in some climate, except for seaside areas (durians are not salt-tolerant), durians may be possible too.Soils: The durian needs Loamy to sandy loamy is the most suitable soil. This soil is mostly found at the slopes of hills. Soil like â€Å"bris† soil, sulphuric acid and peaty soil is not suitable for durians. Roots: Durian roots have primary taproot going directly down from the trunk and secondary roots growing out from it. Durian Flowers †¢ Durian flowers are strongly fragrant and having nectar †¢ 50-70 mm long and grow in clusters of 1 to 45 individual flowers per cluster †¢ Flower clusters hang from the main and smaller branches, or directly from the trunk of the tree. Period of 3 to 4 weeks of dry weather is needed to stimulate flowering †¢ It takes about one month for a durian flower to develop from first appearance as a tiny bud to an open blossom. †¢ Each flower has 5 sepals and 5 petals †¢ Colour of the flower matches the color of the edible pulp that will develop inside the fruit; – Yellowish petals produce yellow-fleshed Durians (the most common) – White or Reddish petals will produce white or reddish fleshed Durians. †¢ Durian flowers are normally open from around 3 p. m. to midnight †¢ Durian flowers are hermaphrodites, each having a stamen and pistil in the same flower. Self-pollination rarely happens because the pistil and the stamen do not appear at the same time. †¢ Durian flowers are primarily pollinated by Bats when they visited flowers for nectar †¢ No evidence for any durian pollination happens via the wind †¢ It has been demonstrated that durian fruit-set will greatly increase by human hand-pollination †¢ Usually only 1 or 2 durian fruit develop from each flower cluster Flowerbud and flower: The nocturnal durian flower blooms when night falls and is at its peak at midnight. Usually, no pollen can survive until the next morning, so active pollination occurs during the night. Bats are pollination agents. Durian Leaf †¢ leaves are about 8 – 20 cm long and 2. 5-7. 5 cm wide †¢ Elliptic to oblong in shape †¢ Upper surface is shiny smooth, light or darkgreen †¢ Bottom surface is somewhat scaly, sometimes brown but more often with a golden shine. †¢ Leaves are folded at their mid-rib when they first appear, then stretch out as they mature. Durian Fruit †¢ Durian fruits’ Weight commonly ranges from 2-5 kg, up to 8 kg is also possible. †¢ Thai varieties are generally the largest, as 200 mm long by 175 mm in diameter †¢ Fruits from Philippines and most other regions are sually smaller and lighter †¢ The weight of the fruit and its spiky armor make a durian grove a hazardous place during ripening season, unless the fruits have all been pre-tied with string s or ropes to prevent their fall to the ground, or large safety nets positioned to catch them. Durian Fruit †¢ Inside each fruit there are 5 compartments containing the arils and 1 to 7 seeds of 2-6 cm long with glossy, red-brown seedcoat †¢ The aril or pulp varies extensively between cultivars and different seedlings in aroma, flavor, texture, thickness, and color, usually ream yellow to deep orange, but also rarely in some varieties white and even bright red. †¢ Durians from trees aged 50, 60 years and more have enhanced qualities of flavor, aroma, and texture †¢ Fruits of older trees can be identified visually by having very wrinkled skin on the fruit sections. †¢ Durians are highly perishable. They are fully ripe 2 to 4 days after falling and lose eating quality in 5 or 6 days †¢ The fruit is attractive to a great variety of animals and insects as well as people, including monkeys, gibbons, orangutans, apes, birds, dogs, pigs, rhinoceros, ears, squi rrels, tapirs, deer, elephants, tigers, and even the domestic cat. Odor/Smell of Durian — Smell of Durian is a mixture of – Unwashed socks – Rotten fish – City dump on a hot summer's day – Carrion in custard – Decayed onion – Turpentine – Garlic Taste of Durian †¢ Taste of the Durian is a mixture of – Custard – Almonds – Cream cheese – Sherry wine – Ice cream spices – Banana Medicinal Properties †¢ Parasitic worms are said to be expelled by eating durian †¢ Fevers are said to be reduced by drinking a tea of the leaves and roots, or applying durian leaf juice to the head. Swellings and skin diseases are said to be healed by applying a tea of the leaves and fruits †¢ People with high blood pressure or pregnant women are traditionally advised not to consume durian †¢ Durian is not recommended for consuming with alcoholic beverages, as the combination of natural sub stances is a powerful producer of internal gas. Facts About Durian: -The durian is commonly known as the â€Å"king of the fruits. † The name comes from the Malay word duri, meaning â€Å"thorn. † -Durians cannot be plucked from the tree. You have to wait for durians to drop. The fruit usually drops at night.

Essay on The Republic of Plato The Debate - 1390 Words

Thrasymachus, Polemarchus, Cleitophon, and Socrates’ heated debate over the nature of justice in Book 1 of The Republic of Plato comes to an intriguing point of argument wherein both parties go back and forth over justice being the â€Å"advantage of the stronger†(15). It is clear that Socrates presents a more sound and logical counterargument as he calls upon the duties and abilities of professionals in their fields and how they benefit not only themselves but humanity at large as well. His skill in argument serves him well and the clear victor in the debate as the textual evidence is easily observable both in Plato’s presentation of the squabble and in Thrasymachus’ responses. Thrasymachus begins this debate by claiming, â€Å"the just is†¦show more content†¦Irritated by the changing direction Socrates has steered the argument, Thrasymachus continues with his berating of Socrates, calling him a â€Å"sycophant in arguments† (18). This malice embedded in Thrasymachus’ speech further hinders his desire to sway the argument back in his favor. Thrasymachus now begins his attempt o dismantle Socrates proposition, by counter-arguing that the mistakes of a professional does not define his profession. He mentions the professions of doctors, grammarians, craftsmen, wise men, and rulers, noting that they make mistakes not by the nature of their work or profession, but â€Å"on account of a failure in knowledge† (18). In the case of a ruler for example, when making a mistake, which serves to his own disadvantage, is not acting as a ruler at the particular moment where he is at fault. Thus, as Thrasymachus explains, the man who makes mistakes is not the stronger, but â€Å"the ruler, insofar as he is a ruler, does not make mistakes†¦[and] sets down what is best for himself† (18). Socrates then seems to take advantage of Thrasymachus’ apparent frustration and anger, adequately derailing his argument. 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The Maya Used Glyphs for Writing

The Maya, a mighty civilization that peaked around 600-900 A.D. and was centered in present-day southern Mexico, Yucatan, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras, had an advanced, complex writing system. Their â€Å"alphabet† consisted of several hundred characters, most of which indicated a syllable or a single word. The Maya had books, but most of them were destroyed: only four Maya books, or â€Å"codices,† remain. There are also Maya glyphs on stone carvings, temples, pottery, and some other ancient artifacts. Great strides have been made in the last fifty years in terms of deciphering and understanding this lost language. A Lost Language By the time the Spanish conquered the Maya in the sixteenth century, Maya civilization had been in decline for some time. The conquest-era Maya were literate and had kept thousands of books, but zealous priests burned the books, destroyed temples, and stone carvings where they found them and did all they could to repress Maya culture and language. A few books remained, and many glyphs on temples and pottery lost deep in the rainforests survived. For centuries, there was little interest in ancient Maya culture, and any ability to translate the hieroglyphs was lost. By the time historical ethnographers became interested in the Maya civilization in the nineteenth century, the Maya hieroglyphs were meaningless, forcing these historians to start from scratch. Maya Glyphs Mayan glyphs are a combination of logograms (symbols that represent a word) and syllabograms (symbols that represent a phonetic sound or syllable). Any given word can be expressed by a lone logogram or a combination of syllabograms. Sentences were composed of both of these types of glyphs. A Mayan text was read from top to bottom, left to right. The glyphs are generally in pairs: in other words, you start at the top left, read two glyphs, then go down to the next pair. Often the glyphs were accompanied by a larger image, such as kings, priests or gods. The glyphs would elaborate on what the person in the image was doing. History of Deciphering of the Maya Glyphs The glyphs were once thought of as an alphabet, with different glyphs corresponding to letters: this is because Bishop Diego de Landa, a sixteenth century priest with extensive experience with Maya texts (he burned thousands of them) said so and it took centuries for researchers to learn that Landa’s observations were close but not exactly right. Great steps were taken when the Maya and modern calendars were correlated (Joseph Goodman, Juan Martà ­Ãƒ ±ez Hernandez and J Eric S. Thompson, 1927) and when glyphs were identified as syllables, (Yuri Knozorov, 1958) and when â€Å"Emblem Glyphs,† or glyphs that represent a single city, were identified. Today, most of the known Maya glyphs have been deciphered, thanks to countless hours of diligent work by many researchers. The Maya Codices Pedro de Alvarado was sent by Hernà ¡n Cortà ©s in 1523 to conquer the Maya region: at the time, there were thousands of Maya books or codices which were still used and read by the descendants of the mighty civilization. Its one of the great cultural tragedies of history that nearly all of these books were burned by zealous priests during the colonial era. Today, only four badly battered Maya books remain (and the authenticity of one is sometimes questioned). The four remaining Maya codices are, of course, written in a hieroglyphic language and mostly deal with astronomy, the movements of Venus, religion, rituals, calendars and other information kept by the Maya priest class. Glyphs on Temples and Stelae The Maya were accomplished stonemasons and frequently carved glyphs onto their temples and buildings. They also erected â€Å"stelae,† large, stylized statues of their kings and rulers. Along the temples and on the stelae are found many glyphs which explain the significance of the kings, rulers or deeds depicted. The glyphs usually contain a date and a brief description, such as â€Å"penance of the king.† Names are often included, and particularly skilled artists (or workshops) would also add their stone â€Å"signature.† Understanding Maya Glyphs and Language For centuries, the meaning of the Maya writings, be the in stone on temples, painted onto pottery or drawn into one of the Maya codices, was lost to humanity. Diligent researchers, however, have deciphered nearly all of these writings and today understand pretty much every book or stone carving that is associated with the Maya. With the ability to read the glyphs has come a much greater understanding of Maya culture. For example, the first Mayanists believed the Maya to be a peaceful culture, dedicated to farming, astronomy, and religion. This image of the Maya as a peaceful people was destroyed when the stone carvings on temples and stelae were translated: it turns out the Maya were quite warlike, often raiding neighboring city-states for pillage, slaves, and victims to sacrifice to their Gods. Other translations helped shed light on different aspects of Maya culture. The Dresden Codex offers much information about Maya religion, rituals, calendars, and cosmology. The Madrid Codex has information prophecy as well as daily activities such as agriculture, hunting, weaving, etc. Translations of the glyphs on stelae reveal much about the Maya Kings and their lives and accomplishments. It seems every text translated sheds some new light on the mysteries of the ancient Maya civilization. Sources Arqueologà ­a Mexicana Edicià ³n Especial: Cà ³dices prehispà ¡nicas y coloniales tempranos. August, 2009. Gardner, Joseph L. (editor). Mysteries of the Ancient Americas. Readers Digest Association, 1986. McKillop, Heather. The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives. Reprint edition, W. W. Norton Company, July 17, 2006. Recinos, Adrian (translator). Popol Vuh: the Sacred Text of the Ancient Quichà © Maya. Norman: the University of Oklahoma Press, 1950.