The Gender Analysis of the Saffron Production Process in Rural Areas (Case Study: Torbat-e-Jam and Bakherz Counties)

Gender analysis is a sort of methodology offering a comprehensive image of the contribution and role of women and men in the economy of a community. In this exploration, it has been endeavored to investigate the role and contribution of women in producing and profiting from the financial benefits of saffron as an essential and exportable economic product. For this purpose, 253 saffron producers in 9 villages of the cities of Torbat-e-Jam and Bakherz were studied as a statistical sample using descriptive-analytic research method, including a questionnaire and a semi-organized interview. Data were analyzed by T-test, MANOVA, Duncan and Fisher test using SPSS software and Rural Participatory Appraisal (PRA) research. The outcomes of the study exhibited that there is a significant difference between the participation of family members in the studied area during different phases of production (planting, harvesting, cropping, marketing, and sales). Moreover, the inferential findings revealed that although the men's participation ratio of only 24% is significantly higher than women's participation in the production of saffron, the benefit rate of the gained saffron production profit for the men (i.e. 74/16%,) is significantly higher than the benefit rate for women (i.e. 25/84%). The Rural Participatory Appraisal method also revealed that there is a significant difference between the physical participation and saffron income between males and females. In other words, men possess almost all the financial benefits of saffron production; in fact, women are deprived of the sources that can help them be empowered in economic and social areas. Of course, rural women in the study area did not express dissatisfaction with this issue, and they believed that this income would be well spent for the whole family.