With 2022-2023 being marked as the ‘International Year of Millets’, a huge opportunity awaits women, who constitute 80% of the farmers cultivating the crop in India. A millet revolution can bring about economic empowerment apart from ensuring the betterment of family health, and the overall welfare of society.
While presenting the budget for 2022-23 in early February this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that for the International Year of Millets in 2023, ‘support will be provided for post-harvest value addition, enhancing domestic consumption, and for branding millet products nationally and internationally.’
India has already tapped a huge millet market. While Rajasthan tops the list of states in the country as the highest producer of millets, states like Karnataka and Jharkhand have incentivized its production.
Packed with nutrients, the small grasses have multiple benefits that help fight obesity, blood pressure and keep heart diseases at bay. Known to be climate-resilient, they consume less water compared to other crops. In the wake of several crops turning unviable, millets are being seen as a feasible and empowering route for women, as it ensures food and financial security for them.
In the last decade or more, several belts of India have taken up millet farming led by women. Be it in Vizianagaram in Andhra or the hilly terrain of Nagaland, or in the tribal belts of Madhya Pradesh, the millet revolution that stresses nutrition and organic practices has made it a safer and healthier option.
Reports also note that millets have opened vistas of economic empowerment among women, linking it to a declining maternal mortality rate. As the position of rural women improves, it also offers gender equality a push. Such empowerment in the grassroots would also mean that education levels go up and progress for the subsequent generations. As the United Nations emphasizes, gender equality is a precursor to other goals.
Given its popularity and enormous scope, it is essential to enable women farmers and self-help groups (SHGs) to adopt packaging methods, boost agro-marketing, improve financial literacy, and other entrepreneurship skills.
