Chapters 6.1
6.1 - Kneepads to assist with weeding
Rebecca Webster , University of Guelph, Canada
Suggested citation for this chapter.
Webster,R(2022) Kneepads to assist with weeding . In Farmpedia, The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.farmpedia.org
Introduction
It is important that a product is easy to use, inexpensive, durable, and makes everyday life for a subsistence farmer easier. There are countries that have well over 50% of their workforce in agriculture such as, Zambia with 85%, Tanzania with 80%, Nigeria with 70% and Nepal with 69%; that is to just name a few (CIA.) On farms, smallholder women farmers do a lot of the work that requires them to be kneeling for long periods of time both in the home and on the farm (Suthar and Kaushik, 2013).
Background
Kneepads are a useful invention because the average woman farmer has so many uses for them. A woman spends a lot of her time in farming doing tasks like, sowing crops, weeding, harvesting, removing dead weeds from fields, and collecting and spreading manure (Varma, 1992). Not only do they spend all this time taking care of crops and animals but they also have household chores and must take care of their children (Suthar and Kaushik, 2013). Women usually do most of these tasks and the men typically look after animals and go to the towns to do business (Varma, 1992).
Knee, thigh, and lower back pain could possibly be improved with the use of this simple product. The kneepads protect the knees from the hard ground whether it’s in the field or in the home; this in turn helps the legs and back. The user does not have to keep squatting or bending over and putting strain on their back, because they can just kneel and stay kneeling longer. The constant standing would also cause the legs to become very tired and when women are doing this work day after day (Suthar and Kaushik, 2013), they need to be able to do it without pain.
In a study about agricultural worker discomfort, it was found that women usually had a higher percentage of body pain doing agriculture activities, especially when weeding. In another study (Suthar and Kaushik, 2013) that looked at only the women’s side of agriculture, sixty women were surveyed and they were asked about different levels of pain that ranged from very light to very severe in their body parts. The survey specifies the various body parts that pain could arise in. In total, 56.7% of women reported pain in their thighs, which could be cut down immensely by kneepads. They would not have to squat or stand as much, therefore it would reduce the stress put on the thighs. About 81% of women said they had lower back pain, which can be from bending and twisting. The kneepads would help with this problem because the user could kneel instead of stand and bend and rotate their body instead of twisting at the waist (Suthar and Kaushik, 2013).
The same study (Suthar and Kaushik, 2013) examined how many hours these women spend on farming, household chores and animal care, in both peak and off-season. Some numbers that stood out in this study were, during peak season over 60% of these women spend 7-8 hours on agriculture, 3-4 hours on household chores and 2-3 hours on animal care. Women who spend this amount of time doing hard labour need products such as kneepads to make some of their tasks more bearable (Suthar and Kaushik, 2013). Similar studies show parallel outcomes (Vyas, 2012).
Benefits
There are both long-term and short-term effects of the long and hard hours of work that woman put into the farming. In the short-term, extended kneeling and squatting cause general pain in joints and muscles (Suthar and Kaushik, 2013), which they usually work through or have small breaks. When injuries or pain are not given the proper attention that they need that is when long-term problems will arise. Some issues that may occur are, arthritis (inflammation in the joints), meniscus injury (small disc in the knee), and Chondromalacia Patellae (deterioration in part of the knee) (Suthar and Kaushik, 2013). These injuries can make it extremely difficult, if not impossible for someone to keep working. Kneepads have the potential to reduce such chronic injuries, thus improving the productivity and health status of smallholder women farmers. Many women squat during their work on farms, which would mean knee pads would not prove as useful, however if they could change their habit of squatting then they could avoid a lot of pain and injury. They would have to be educated about the benefits of kneeling instead of squatting. In their study, Suthar and Kaushik (2013 show that a lot of women report pain from squatting, in the legs and in the back. The change of kneeing instead of squatting could eradicate some of this pain, by taking the pressure off of the legs and back.
Problems With This Product
Although kneepads are potentially very beneficial, there are some issues that could occur. There may be problems with adopting this product: women might be embarrassed to wear them because of the colour or because they are too bulky or attract unwanted glances or comments because this product may be new to a culture. In this situation, farmers may prefer non-attached foam pads that sit on the ground that similarly cost $2 USD. Many women squat rather than kneel in which case the product is not useful. As stated earlier, some women will not want to change traditional habits, like squatting. While marketing this item there would have to be a strong emphasis on teaching women a better, more efficient way of farming. If worn for extended periods of time the kneepads may cause chaffing, they could be too tight or they might pinch the skin. Most kneepads are inexpensive, however that means they may not be durable. Finally, a major challenge will be the availability, accessibility and marketing of the product as it is so new.
Picture Based Lesson to Train Farmers
Useful Links To Get Started
Photos of kneepads
References
1. Contact CIA. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2016
2. Nag, P. K., & Nag, A. (2004). Drudgery, accidents and injuries in Indian agriculture. Industrial Health, 42(2), 149-162.
3. Suthar, N., & Kaushik, V. (2013). Musculoskeletal problems among agricultural female workers. Stud Home Com Sci, 7(3), 145-149.
4. Tibaijuka, A. (1994). The cost of differential gender roles in african agriculture: a case study of smallholder banana-coffee farms in the Kagera region, Tanzania. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 45(1), 69-81.
5. Varma, S. K. (1992). Role of Women in Agriculture. New Dimensions in Agricultural Geography: Socio-economic dimensions of agriculture, 3, 81.
6. Vyas, R. (2012). Mitigation of musculoskeletal problems and body discomfort of agricultural workers through educational intervention. Work, 41(Supplement 1), 2398-2404.