Most of the farms where women work are found in the towns, villages and hamlets of the region, particularly in Tihama Sahel.
Umm Mushabbab Asiri, a woman working on a farm, told Arab News that agriculture has always been her profession.
“In the past, agriculture was the main source of income for our family. I used to work on a small farm owned by my father where my siblings and I learned plowing, seeding, harvesting and other activities,” she said.
Umm Mushabbab said as there was no real education system those days, she and her brothers and sisters considered working on the farm not only as a means of making extra money, but also a place for recreation.
“This was all in the past though. For many families, agriculture is no longer a profession. Many families have moved to the cities where there is education and better living conditions,” she said.
She, however, added that some families were still working on farms. “We used to go to school in the morning and in the afternoon we would work on the farm,” she recalled. She added that she made farming her profession after she had completed her secondary school education.
Safiyah, nicknamed Umm Sultan, is another woman farmer. She said she was obliged to become a farmer to support her children after the death of her husband, who was a farmer and driver.
“I could not find any other job to feed my children so I became a farmer. I sell fruit and vegetables and use the proceeds to sustain my family. There is nothing wrong or shameful in working in agriculture. It is an honorable means to earn a living,” she said.
Fahd Al-Farteesh, director general of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Asir branch, said women in the province were and still are important assets for agricultural production and animal breeding.
“The Asir women used to bring water from the wells, raise domestic animals, milk cows and goats, plow the soil, plant the seeds and work with axes from early morning until evening,” he said.
He said though they spent most of their time working on the farms, Asir women never neglected their home duties.
“They used to take good care of their homes, decorating them with flowers and plants,” he said, adding that women, especially the elderly, were still working on farms in the villages of Tihama and Sarat Obaidah.
Al-Farteesh noted that with modern developments, the lifestyle in the region has changed.
“Agriculture work has gradually receded with Asir women going for government jobs in schools, hospitals and others,” he said.
He pointed out that the role of women in Asir in agriculture and animal breeding was still important.
“The picture has slightly changed. With the import of foreign manpower and girls going to schools, less and less women are now working on the farms. However, you can still see old women in Asir working on farms side by side with men.”
