Women, food security and the pandemic in peri-urban and rural West Bengal
Journal of International Trade Law and Policy
ISSN: 1477-0024
Article publication date: 20 October 2023
Issue publication date: 8 December 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Gender-differentiated role obligations, constraints and dependencies affect food security dynamics across peri-urban and rural areas. This paper aims to understand how periods of crisis disproportionately exacerbate hardships for female populations in such areas and endeavours to assist agro-food policymaking in formulating support initiatives more effectively.
Design/methodology/approach
A feasibility/pilot survey was conducted through face-to-face semi-structured interviews in public settings and sought to understand and analyse the differentiated impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on rural and peri-urban food insecurity through the experiences of 50 women from across various districts in West Bengal.
Findings
The study found that women play multivarious roles regarding food security in rural and peri-urban households, extend these obligations to their female children and encounter deficiencies in financial autonomy to access and use food resources. It concludes that while women seem to contribute the most to household and community food security, they are also most vulnerable to food insecurity. These vulnerabilities were exacerbated during the pandemic.
Practical implications
This feasibility/pilot study may serve as a springboard for a larger, more comprehensive survey exploring the dynamics of gender inequality, food insecurity and the Covid-19 pandemic amongst women across peri-urban and rural areas in West Bengal. This may bolster pandemic vulnerability analyses and impact assessments in the State.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, no other study implemented in West Bengal explores the interfaces between gender inequality, food insecurity and the Covid-19 pandemic in rural and peri-urban areas.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to extend their gratitude to the Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, for equipping the author with the knowledge and skills necessary to conceptualise this paper and undertake this study. The author would like to thank Atulita Banerjee and Dishani Roy for their assistance and facilitation of the field research conducted across various districts of West Bengal. The author would also like to thank the South Asia International Economic Law Network for allowing the author to present an analysis of the themes explored in this paper at their Third Biennial Conference on Food Security and International Law: Critical and Interdisciplinary Perspectives.
Citation
Dasgupta, R. (2023), "Women, food security and the pandemic in peri-urban and rural West Bengal", Journal of International Trade Law and Policy, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 209-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/JITLP-04-2023-0020
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited