Please note due to illness of Project Leader, no annual report was produced for Year 1.

The overall goal of this project is to better understand the changes occurring in rural agriculture in Asia and Australia in relation to the changing role of women as a result of off-farm employment and/or migration and the ways in which constraints and needs differ between male and female farmers. In particular, the project will identify possible strategies and technologies to help women heads to better manage farms.

This report focuses on the first objective of the study, which is to determine the occurrence and extent of work-related migration and off-farm work in major rice-based or mixed farming systems in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Australia. The first-year activities included reconnaissance, a rapid rural appraisal (RRA), and focus-group discussions (FGDs) in the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Australia. The focus of the research in Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines is on the out-migration of individuals of farming households, while that in Australia is on the incidence of off-farm work. Research villages in Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam were selected based on criteria such as representing typical rice-growing areas under different water regimes (rainfed and irrigated) and access to labour markets (low and high). A structured guide was developed for collecting village-level information, incidence of out-migration, patterns of migration, and characteristics of migrants. FGDs were conducted with key informants to gain perceptions on labour out-migration. Migrants are defined as those individuals who have changed residence for more than 3 months and send remittances. The incidence of out-migration was calculated among farming households, males, and females.

The results of the RRA showed that the proportion of households with migrants is higher in Thailand than in the Philippines and Vietnam. A higher proportion of males than females migrate in Thailand and Vietnam and vice versa in the Philippines. The incidence of out-migration is generally higher in rainfed ecosystems than in irrigated ecosystems. Rural to urban migration is prevalent in Thailand and Vietnam because of more employment opportunities in nearby districts and provinces brought about by rapid industrialization and better communication and transportation facilities. In the Philippines, although rural to urban migration occurs, domestic to international migration is more prevalent. In Vietnam, men work as construction workers and masons in the cities and as hired fishermen, in seafishing, and with shrimp or squid catching in other provinces. Women work in waste trading and small trading, as hired labourers in rice farming, sand boating workers, domestic helpers, and factory workers, or in other industrial areas near rural areas. In Thailand, male and female migrants work as construction workers, factory workers, and in the trading/business and service sector. In the Philippines, female migrants mainly work as domestic helpers and entertainers within the Philippines and in the Middle East, Italy, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Others work as factory workers in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. Male migrants work in the Middle East as construction workers, drivers, operators of heavy equipment, or seamen.

FGDs revealed that low rice productivity in the rainfed areas, the small size of landholdings, the lack of regular and alternative income sources, low profitability in rice farming due to high input costs, the desire of youth to seek adventure in the cities, and as a status symbol for a household to have a migrant abroad are some of the reasons for migration. Other reasons are the availability of non-farm work because of social networks, better wages, and the attraction of better living conditions in urban areas. Wives mentioned that remittances increase their income and enable them to invest in agriculture, repay their debts, and improve their living conditions. However, when husbands are absent on a long-term basis, the women face loneliness, insecurity, and emotional stress when remittances do not come on time for children's education, farm inputs, and other household expenditures. Women take on additional responsibilities of managing the farms.

In Australia, the main activities for the reconnaissance work included a review of the literature and secondary data and focus-group discussions. FGDs were conducted in Western Australia. The findings of the reconnaissance work showed that most farming families have at least one family member working outside the farm in either part-time or full-time work. Approximately 77% of the farming families in Western Australia undertake off-farm and/or non-farm work. This involves either one or more family members working part-time or full-time (but still helping on the farm).

It is clear that labour out-migration and/or off-farm work are occurring in all countries involved although the rates vary. The impact of family migration on agricultural productivity, farming efficiency, household welfare, and the changing role of women will be analysed in the next phase of the study

For this year, extensive surveys of 800 farming households (with and without migrants) in Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and 635 households in Australia were conducted to assess the effects and impacts of family migration/off farm employment on agricultural productivity, farm efficiency, welfare, and the changing roles of women at the household, farm and local level.

Data collection, editing, entry in the computer and preliminary tables were completed in Vietnam and the Philippines. Data editing and data entry is partially completed in Thailand and Australia (75% completed). In-depth surveys of 240 households in Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia were also conducted to examine perceptions on migration, decision-making, changes in gender roles, source of information in rice farming, training attended, participation in rice farming possible interventions and constraints and opportunities. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were also conducted with women farmers in the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia to identify the factors that constrain or support the adoption and diffusion of technologies they face in agriculture due to male out-migration. In North-east Thailand, the work burden of female family members in rice production increased. They complained of high expenditures on herbicides due to high density of weeds, especially in direct seeded plots. They also have problems with snails which damage the young rice seedlings; low yields due to drought and reduction in paddy areas due to increasing area cultivated to other crops (sugar cane, eucalyptus, cassava). Based on these constraints, the women want to be trained on pest control (insect eg snails and weeds) and integrated pest management, production of healthy rice seeds and high yielding rice varieties which can tolerate drought. In Vietnam, women took over the responsibilities and work load of men in rice operations such as water management, land preparation, dredging field canals, pest management, pest identification, pesticide spraying, fertilizer application and hauling of paddy sacks. The women complained of lack of capital to pay for hired labourers and cash to buy material inputs since the remittances were small. FGDs in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam revealed that women who are left to manage their farms are faced with increasing expenditures in rice production. Thus they want to be trained in increasing input efficiency and reducing costs of inputs. For example in Vietnam, women want to be trained on 3 R's (reduce seeds, pesticides, fertilizer) and to better manage/conserve water. In the Philippines, women want to learn more on estimating the costs and returns of rice production. They also want to have access to seeds for short duration and drought tolerant crops which they can grow after rice or between 2 rice crops.

In Australia, FGDs revealed that most farming families have at least one member who works off-farm. Both men & women work off-farm, but there is a higher percentage of women working off-farm. Men mostly do the farm work while women work off-farm to supplement household income. But women also work on the farm. The driving forces for off-farm work and/ or work-related migration are to: supplement household income, social reasons and isolation issues. The effects of off-farm and non-farm work on agricultural production are: a) additional (higher) household income, women feel they are contributing to household finances and leading to empowerment (i.e., increased participation in decision-making in the household and in the farm). As more and more women are getting off farm work (where there is employment) the men, who weren't that way inclined before are slowly being trained in the traditional female dominated roles. Men are beginning to realize that women are sometimes the ones saving their livelihood and the significant contribution they make, so farming is definitely becoming more and more a joint effort, with roles constantly being re-evaluated.. The major constraints women & their families face when looking for/ undertaking off-farm work are: lack of employment opportunities, tyranny of distance, low wages, high travel cost, lack of services (e.g., health, child care, education) and isolation. The opportunities are: harnessing women's skills, revitalising communities by providing opportunities for off-farm work, opportunities for value adding, attracting youth back to the countryside, and stimulating business in rural communities. During the FGDs, women identified training in leadership programs as an area for capacity building for women in farms.

To monitor the progress of the project activities, two meetings were conducted. During the first meeting, training on statistical and multivariate analysis was conducted in Social Sciences Division, March 30-June 3. Training on data analysis (econometric analysis) of 800 household surveys was conducted during the 2nd meeting held this year at Curtin University of Technology, Muresk, Perth, Australia on 30 August 2006 by Dr. Fay Rola-Rubzen. Econometric analysis focused on measuring technical efficiency, production analysis and determinants of migration.

This year, the project accomplished the following objectives: 1) assessed the impact of family migration/off-farm employment on agricultural productivity, farm efficiency, women's empowerment and the changing roles of women at the household and farm level; 2) examined key constraints faced by women heads and other poor women in increasing their productive capacities; 3) identified on-farm strategies and technologies that could help address these constraints; 4) tested and evaluated the identified strategies and interventions through participatory approaches; 5) communicated/disseminated information to stakeholders, including women, farm households, research institutions, government bodies and NGOs.

To achieve Objectives 1 and 2, 800 farm households (with and without migrants) were interviewed in each collaborating country (Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) using a structured questionnaire. Probit analysis was used to identify the factors which determine the probability of a family member to migrate. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) was used to determine the impact of migration, socio-economic factors and farm variables on household income.

In the three countries, the share of remittance earnings to household income ranged from 20 to 50% with the highest share in the Philippines which showed high incidence of international migration. Remittance earnings were spent mainly on food, children's education, debt repayments, and farm inputs. Although remittance earnings helped prevent further income erosion of poor farming households, the pressure to maintain rice yields are shouldered by the family members left behind, particularly the female members. Maximum Likelihood Estimate (MLE) was used to determine the impact of migration on rice productivity and farm efficiency.

In-depth surveys of 200 farm households, a subset from the 800 households were also conducted to determine changes in gender roles as a result of labour out-migration, women's decision-making authority in household and farm-related matters and constraints women farmers face in the absence of men. Women's Empowerment Index was developed to assess women's decision-making authority compared to men. WEIs were found to be higher among households with migrants than those without migrants. Wives are compelled to make "on-the spot" decisions when husbands are away on a long-term basis. Their roles have begun to shift from unpaid family workers to de facto farm managers.

Traditionally, women manage the allocation of cash for household expenditures. However, with male absence, they are now getting involved in allocating the limited budget for farm inputs as well. Constraints to increasing women's productive capacity were lack of access to technical knowledge in all aspects of rice production, particularly in the efficient use of inputs and reducing the costs of rice production. Majority of the women have not received any training in relation to new methods of crop/farm management.

On-farm strategies, technologies and training needs were identified through focus group discussions conducted in the villages. Participatory action research (PAR) included testing and evaluation of improved rice production and post harvest practices with emphasis on seed health and pest management in the Philippines, use of biofertilizer, golden snail control, use of bio-insecticide in Thailand and rice pest management such as IPM (Vietnam).

Women cooperators were trained in the use of these technologies. In Vietnam, before the training, women were given tests on their existing knowledge on pest identification, weed management, cultural practices to maintain healthy plants, reduce inputs and high yield as well as the methods of pest control. Leaflets (about 1000) which include the important roles of women in rice farming were also distributed in the communes and villages. Training materials were developed with the help of Director of Extension Center at Cu Ulong Rice Research Institute (CLRRI) as well as other specialists. Women participants were given T-shirts with slogans on the front "Phu Nu Tao Dung Tuong Lai" which means " Women are keys to a better future".

In Australia, the project completed the review of literature, conceptualized action research and conducted workshops and road shows. These workshops were conducted to communicate research results of surveys, to introduce action research and determine on-site needs. One milestone of the project is the organization of a training course for WiRL (Women in Rural Leadership) which aims to develop a pathway for women to increase women's participation, representation and leadership by developing essential skills for rural women that will lay the foundation for future leadership roles in their own farm business, communities and in agribusiness and influential organizations. This course given in Esperance was successful. There is a demand for other areas and have received invitations to hold WiRL in the wheatbelt, MidWest Bunbury and Kimberley.