Abstract:
This paper examines the potential gender impacts of the trade
reforms in plantation agriculture in the emerging context of the two
prominent FTAs, viz. the Indo-ASEAN and the proposed EU-India FTA.
The focus of the analysis is on three major plantation crops, viz., tea,
coffee and rubber, which have distinctions in terms of: (a) predominance
of female workers in the organised and unorganised plantation sectors
(tea and coffee); (b) preponderance of small and marginal producers
(coffee, rubber and tea); and (c) geographical or regional concentration
of the production sector (tea in Assam, West Bengal, Tamilnadu and
Kerala; coffee in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu; rubber in Kerala,
Tamilnadu, Karnataka and North Eastern Region). While critically
reviewing the trajectories of development of the plantation sector
especially since the post-colonial period, the paper also explores the
potential implications of the Indo-ASEAN and EU-India FTAs on the
external trade performance of the plantation sub-sectors and their
implications on livelihoods of the small and marginal producers and
women workers. The paper then highlights the policy imperatives for
revamping the plantation sub-sectors to be more competitive in the
emerging context of FTAs which invariably calls for devising more
labour and gender sensitive and socially responsive production and
management practices in order to face the challenges of apparent labour
shortages as well as the dwindling labour support systems. The gender
dimension including status and livelihood of women workers forms
integral part of the paper, as employment in the plantation sector
historically has shown a definitive trend towards increased participation
by women even in the productive activities involving physical exertion,
like plucking the tea leaves and coffee beans and rubber tapping. Given
the critical roles played by women in the plantation production and
processing activities, any serious setbacks in the production sector as
caused by India’s increased engagements with FTAs may further worsen
the otherwise deprived socio-economic status of women plantation
workers in particular.
