Impact of migration and/or off-farm employment on roles of women and appropriate technologies in Asian and Australian mixed farming systems

• Curtin University of Technology, Australia
• Khon Kaen University, Thailand
• Cuu Long Rice Research Institute, Vietnam

Migration from farms, either to seek off-farm employment as an income supplement or to move to areas for greater opportunities is common throughout much of Asia. Off-farm employment is seen as a way to boost income, particularly for smallholder family-owned farms. This may increase income but at the cost of reduced farm labour and the likely consequence of reduced farm productivity. Increasing economic pressures from trade liberalisation, globalisation and their impacts, together with environmental constraints such as disease and weed pests and water availability, are increasing trends to migrate and/or to work off-farm.
The wider these pressures and their affects are felt, the greater the probability of reduced farm productivity impacting on the broader economy. It is men who increasingly migrate to seek off-farm employment. This is leading to far-reaching changes to household structures and, in cases of long-term or permanent migration, economic and social changes. Women are increasingly being left with the task of farm management, including having to overcome production constraints, mainly from lost labour inputs of husbands, brothers and other male workers.
Such changes are also occurring in some farming communities in Australia, creating many of the same issues. Little research has been done regarding these changes, their impacts and farm management. Of particular interest are technologies that can be used to alleviate production constraints caused by labour shortages, to help women in Asian and Australian farming systems to manage farms.

The overall goal of this project was 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. It also investigated the differences in constraints and needs between male and female household heads. In particular, the project identified possible strategies and technologies to help women household heads to better manage farms.

The research team determined the occurrence and extent of work-related migration/off-farm work and female-headed households in major rice-based or mixed farming systems in Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines and Australia. The researchers reviewed the literature, including past and current gender-sensitive government policies, survey/focus group discussions, key informant interviews, site selection for surveys, and development and pre-testing of questionnaires.
Their next task was 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. They examined key constraints faced by women heads of farms, how they differed from male heads, and identified on-farm strategies and technologies that could help address these constraints. They tested and evaluated on-farm local strategies and interventions through participatory approaches, and considered appropriate and available interventions (training/technologies) through continuous participatory evaluation and testing of technology options.

The project focus in Asia was on migration, which was defined as the move or change in residence of family members of farming households, leaving other family members behind. In Australia, the focus was on off-farm and/or nonfarm work. A rapid rural appraisal (RRA) and census of farming households in 48 villages in Thailand (northeast), 46 in the Philippines (Central Luzon and Bicol regions) and 42 in Vietnam (North and South) revealed that migration is occurring in both rainfed and irrigated ecosystems. However, migration is higher in rainfed villages than in irrigated villages. Migration is highest in northeast Thailand - 63% of farming households in rainfed and 54% in irrigated villages have at least one migrant. Migration is lower in the Philippines and Vietnam (about a quarter of farming households). In Western Australia, approximately 77% of farming families undertake off-farm and/or nonfarm work. This involves either one or more family members working part-time or full-time (but still helping on the farm).
Surveys of farming households with and without migrants were conducted in rainfed and irrigated villages in Thailand (830), the Philippines (813), and Vietnam (831). Results showed that, among the male migrants in Thailand and the Philippines, more sons than principal males/heads of household migrate, leaving elderly parents to manage the farms. This is in contrast to Vietnam, particularly in the north, where more principal males/heads of households than sons leave the villages for employment, leaving principal females/wives with more responsibilities on the farm aside from their household and child care responsibilities. The 'push' factors of rural migration are poverty, low income from rice, small landholdings, lack of jobs, low wages in the villages, and other natural calamities such as drought, floods, avian flu, pig disease etc., which affect farm production.
Remittance earnings and nonfarm income comprised a larger share than farm income of the total household income in the Philippines, Thailand and North Vietnam. The share of remittance earnings to household income ranged from 28% (domestic migration) to 65% (international migration) in the Philippines, 30 to 49% in Thailand, 21 to 35% in South Vietnam, and 46 to 48% in North Vietnam. Nonfarm sources contributed 14-26% in Thailand, 19-28% in the Philippines, 8-10% in South Vietnam, and 10-17% in North Vietnam to total annual household income. However, in South Vietnam, rice income comprises about 39-57%, which was higher than the share of remittances.
Families left behind spent their remittance income on food and daily expenditures, children's education, farm inputs, house repair/construction, and debt payments. Thus, migration is an escape from poverty and a part of livelihood strategy. But the survey found that families left behind still maintained rice yields on a par with those households without migrants, despite the reduction in family labour supply.
However, male migration has a greater effect on gender roles and women's empowerment. Men traditionally dominate in decisions related to farm operations and crop management, while women are custodians of household cash and dominate in household decisions. In Thailand, where more sons and daughters are the migrants, the labour participation of principal females did not change. In the Philippines, labour participation of principal females declined as they were more engaged in nonfarm activities. In cases in which the principal males left, the principal females took over the management of farms. However, in Vietnam, principal females took over in traditional tasks of men such as irrigating the fields, spraying chemicals, and hauling and marketing of farm products.
Women have less access to agricultural training and extension activities, new seeds, and technologies (labour saving and cost reducing) that can reduce their work burden and increase the returns of their labour. Several strategies and technologies validated through participatory action research focused on enhancing women's knowledge and skills in all aspects of rice production. Rice technologies were disseminated through participatory experiments by men and women, the use of extension materials, real samples of pests, and news broadcasts through village loudspeakers as well as participation of local agricultural extension units. In Australia, participants of the Women's Rural Leadership Program were trained to run a farm as a business.
The next generation of farmers who are better educated no longer find rice farming a satisfactory source of income and they will continue to seek greener pastures. The elderly parents and the women will be left behind to sustain household food security. The challenge is how to upgrade farming from subsistence to commercial farming using the latest advances in science and technology generated by international and national agricultural research institutions. There is a need to enhance the skills of family members (particularly the women) left behind so they are equipped with the knowledge required for modern farming.