The Obstacles of Rural Women Participation in Agricultural Development in Erbil Province of Iraq

The role of rural women’s in agricultural activities is substantial in Iraq, especially in Erbil province. The aim of the study is to determine the problems of rural women faced during agricultural activities. This study is conducted in Erbil province which is located in the North of Iraq. The data is collected from 250 women from through face to face interviews. Results show that the obstacles of women’s role in agricultural development are lack of literacy due to their poor academic background, increased work inside and outside of activities of rural women, family obstacles, whereby women always face disagreement with their family while attending to social and economic activities. Furthermore, the women also have obstacles in the agricultural development due to the gender discriminations as well as due to low attendance of women NGOs to track their problems.