Flexible Division of Labour on Family Farms in Northern Pakistan: A Report

Abstract

This paper gives a short report on the sex-specific division of labour on the family farms of the village of Battakundi in the Upper-Kaghan Valley (North Pakistan). The corresponding investigations were carried out on behalf of the GTZ in 1987/88. Since then no fundamental changes have taken place there. In this area the sex-specific division of labour is partly rigid, partly flexible. The female labour-input, however, is also determined by the socio-economic characteristics of the individual farm and by external socio-economic factors, independent of the individual farm. Finally, nearly all the activities related to production are (also) carried out by women. Tending the animals, gardening and household chores are the almost exclusive prerogative of the women. However, irrespective of the socio-economic position of the farm, they are not integrated into the activities related to distribution, i.e. the market.