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Gender and Forest Conservation: The Impact of Women's Participation in Community Forest Governance
Abstract
Would enhancing women's presence in community institutions of forest governance improve resource conservation and regeneration? This paper focuses on this little addressed question. Based on the author's primary data on communities managing their local forests in parts of India and Nepal, it statistically assesses whether the gender composition of a local forest management group affects forest conservation outcomes, after controlling for other characteristics of the management group, aspects of institutional functioning, forest and population characteristics, and related factors. It is found that groups with a high proportion of women in their executive committee (EC)--the principal decision-making body--show significantly greater improvements in forest condition in both regions. Moreover, groups with all-women ECs in the Nepal sample have better forest regeneration and canopy growth than other groups, despite receiving much smaller and more degraded forests. Older EC members, especially older women, also make a particular difference, as does employing a guard. The beneficial impact of women's presence on conservation outcomes is attributable especially to women's contributions to improved forest protection and rule compliance. More opportunity for women to use their knowledge of plant species and methods of product extraction, as well as greater cooperation among women, are also likely contributory factors.
... Studies have linked gendered participation and sustainability showing the importance of integrating gender issues and promoting gender equality in participation in natural resource management (NRM) projects (Meinzen-Dick et al., 2014;Aguilar et al., 2011;Ochola et al., 2010;Agarwal, 2009Agarwal, , 2010Resurreccion and Elmhirst, 2008). These studies have shown that equal participation of both men and women in all processes of NRM projects is critical for increasing opportunities for sustainable activities, enhancing empowerment, for increasing efficiency, and long-term equitable and sustainable outcomes. ...
... Also, these CBFM projects have shown commitment in ensuring equity, equality, and empowerment of women in locally based forest management activities (Blomley, 2013;Cornwall, 2003;Sarin, 2001). Gender equality in participation in CBFM projects is seen as an appropriate approach for ensuring long-term viability, effectiveness of sustainable and equitable conservation practices, and for improving governance and livelihood benefits (Blomley, 2013;Agarwal, 2009;FAO, 2007). ...
... However, gender inequality in CBNRM and particularly CBFM projects, as pointed out by several project members, persists (Larson et al., 2015;Banana et al., 2012;Rodgers, 2012;Mwangi et al., 2011;FAO, 2007;Agarwal, 2001). This is mainly attributed to ignorance of the contextual gendered differences and relations within the community; and this affects the ability of women and men to participate more equally in influencing management decisions; resource management outcomes; local politics and strategic interactions (Agarwal, 2009;Resurreccion andElmhirst, 2008 Cornwall, 2008;Blaikie, 2006). Major critical questions are raised on who attends the village meetings and participate in making decisions regarding the use, management, and the share of the natural resources' benefits, and the process and who is excluded in forest management projects (Cornwall, 2008;Agarwal, 2001 ). ...
This paper highlights ways in which marginalisation of women in forest management participation is happening within community-based forest certification programmes. Drawing from interviews, focus group discussions and observation with men and women in Kilwa District, the paper examines how women are excluded from participating in forest-related activities and in leadership positions. It reveals discourses which institutionalise marginalisation and shows how these discourses have re-produced culture, distance and time as the main constraints to women’s participation in forest management. The paper’s main contribution is to show how the factors which lead to women’s exclusion are woven and become normalized in everyday discourses and continue to exclude women. We show how the institutionalisation of women exclusion from forest marginalisation happens even in the very programmes which claim to bring equal participation of men and women.
... In addition, they have differentiated interests in forest and tree goods and services, with the women's interests largely revolving around the supply of food and energy for their households, while men are mainly driven by commercial interests (Muthee et al., 2021). Numerous case studies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have shown the positive impact of women's participation in forest governance and SFM (Westermann et al., 2005;Acharya and Gentle, 2006;Agrawal and Chhatre, 2006;Agarwal, 2009;Coleman and Mwangi, 2013). Women are recognized to play a key role in the management of forests and forest products. ...
... Several studies outlined the vital role women play when put at the center of whatever decisions are made about managing forest resources (Wynberg and Laird, 2007;Saguye, 2011). They could become agents of change if they are recognized and allowed to voice their opinions and that lack of equity in decision-making risks the well-being of women and, subsequently, the family and society (Agarwal, 2009(Agarwal, , 2010. Women's participation is also crucial for the success of community forests (Agarwal, 2001;Kaphle, 2011;Leone, 2019). ...
... Women are not involved in decision-making on forest issues and have lesser roles in decision-making (Ifegbesan et al., 2016). Agarwal (2009) reported a positive relationship between number of women in executive positions in community forestry and the degree of forest conservation. Similarly, in villages with higher women's participation in the executive committees (EC), women tend to participate in patrolling and were more likely to observe the rules when they were part of the committees. ...
Numerous theoretical and empirical studies examining women's engagement in sustainable forest management (SFM) have shown that women bring distinctive interests and values to forest management. However, their effective engagement is still low due to bottlenecks such as rules of entry, ownership, labor division, social norms, perceptions, rules of practice, personal endowments, institutional outcomes, and other organizational cultures. Key among those are the gendered perceptions that marginalize them from the onset. As a result, women's potential to promote SFM in Africa has not been exploited effectively, yet. This raises concerns for gender and social equity as the current practice socially excludes groups that hold specific ecological knowledge, skills, and interests that influence SFM practices. By critically reviewing systematically selected 104 studies conducted on gender issues and forest management in Africa, this paper explores how women's role in forest management and the broader development discourse is constrained. It also characterizes the prevailing engagement models and shows how they influence inclusive processes of deploying SFM practices. Women's engagement in SFM is dominated by public/civic engagement and significantly lags in effectively engaging them as stakeholders, experts, or households. Of the 104 studies reviewed, 54% (n = 57) characterized women's engagement as largely through public meetings compared to 5% (n = 5) as stakeholders and 4% (n = 4) as experts. Thirty-four percent (n = 36) did not clearly categorize the engagement type. Women's engagement in SFM is merely to fill the gender ‘representation' requirements and any effective roles such as decision making, ownership, and benefits are not under the control of women at large. As a result, women's potential to promote forest management and avert ongoing forest loss is not exploited. There is a need to transition from mere representation to a meaningful engagement of women in the sector for inclusive forest management to flourish. In general, capturing, recognizing, and effectively utilizing women's voices and potential in forest management and development discourse requires institutions that deliberately embrace inclusivity and promote equity in general and across gender.
... Each social context where ecotourism is introduced, has its own power dynamics, as difference in gender, caste or class impacts access to and stakes in conservation initiatives (Agarwal 2009). Furthermore, for villagers who are displaced from their homes in protected areas, not only are the impacts of displacement varied but that the demands for claims and settlements can differ based on historical access and dispossession (Kabra 2020). ...
... Reinforcing this approach, research on gender dynamics in India has shown that forest dependencies often vary based on identity and consequently impact vulnerable groups' stakes in resource management (Agarwal 2009). Yet, despite the obvious intersections of these factors in shaping distributional outcomes, there is a tendency among scholars and policymakers to consider them as separate categories. ...
... Thus, a feminist intersectional framework provides insights into local social dynamics centred around patterns of differentiated access to resources and livelihoods as well as into larger community or regional resource management structures (Sultana 2020). For example, research on gender dynamics in India has shown that forest dependencies often vary based on dimensions of local difference such as gender, caste, and class, consequently impacting vulnerable groups' stakes in resource management (Agarwal 2009). Yet, despite the obvious intersections of these factors in shaping distributional outcomes, there is a tendency among scholars and policymakers to consider them as separate categories. ...
... However, community-based conservation efforts in many parts of the world have failed to adequately secure the participation of marginalized members of society, as determined by ethnicity, class and gender (Agrawal & Gibson 1999, Chatty & Colchester 2002, McShane et al. 2011, Keane et al. 2016. In particular, participatory structures designed to support conservation programmes have paid inadequate attention to gender mainstreaming, including women's participation in decision-making (Agarwal 2009, Torri 2010, Keane et al. 2016, Costa et al. 2017. ...
... This situation persists despite international commitments to integrate gender perspectives in conservation programmes and to ensure appropriate representation of women and girls in management structures (Alvarez & Lovera 2016). Engaging women supports inclusiveness and equity and can improve biodiversity outcomes by harnessing women's knowledge regarding the environment and leveraging opportunities for their contributions to conservation activities (Agarwal 2009, Keane et al. 2016, Kaeser et al. 2018, Kahsay et al. 2021. In South Asia, for example, there is compelling evidence regarding the importance of engaging women in forest management groups for improved governance and conservation outcomes (Agarwal 2009, Leisher et al. 2016. ...
... Engaging women supports inclusiveness and equity and can improve biodiversity outcomes by harnessing women's knowledge regarding the environment and leveraging opportunities for their contributions to conservation activities (Agarwal 2009, Keane et al. 2016, Kaeser et al. 2018, Kahsay et al. 2021. In South Asia, for example, there is compelling evidence regarding the importance of engaging women in forest management groups for improved governance and conservation outcomes (Agarwal 2009, Leisher et al. 2016. ...
Protection of biodiversity requires inclusive and gender-responsive programming. Evidence of success in engaging women in large carnivore conservation remains scarce, however, although women play an important role in caring for livestock at risk of predation and could contribute to large-carnivore conservation. We aimed to assess the performance of an income-generation and skills-building programme for women in Spiti Valley (India) that sought to engage women in local conservation action. Annual programme monitoring together with a one-time survey of attitudes, perceptions and social norms in eight communities exposed to the conservation programme and seven ‘control’ communities revealed: a keen interest and increasing levels of women’s participation over 7 years of programme operation; participant reports of multiple programme benefits including additional personal income, social networking and travel opportunities; and more positive attitudes towards snow leopards among programme participants than among non-participants in the control communities. Women from programme communities recorded in their diaries 33 self-directed conservation actions including improving livestock protection and preventing wildlife poaching. These results show a way forward to purposively engage women in conservation programming towards achieving sustainable and equitable outcomes in efforts to promote carnivore–human coexistence.
... A number of international frameworks (e.g. sustainable development goals) have also emphasised women's participation and gender mainstreaming in forest resource conservation (Agarwal, 2009;Asfaw et al., 2013;Clair, 2016;UN, 1979). In the Sundarban mangrove forest, women conduct resource harvesting activities, such as collecting firewood, fish and nypa leaves, and process the harvested resources (GIZ, 2018). ...
... The involvement of local people, especially women in forest co-management (Manandhar and Shin, 2013) has helped to address sustainable forest resource management and improved livelihood outcomes (Gilmour, 2016). Women's participation in forest resource management can also improve governance by motivating other people to follow rules and regulations, which reduces the tendency for rule-breaking and promotes sustainable use and management of forests (Agarwal, 2001;Agarwal, 2009;GIZ, 2018). When women are included in decision-making on forest management activities, many benefits that enhance livelihoods and opportunities will follow (Nhem and Lee, 2019;Sarin and Khanna, 1993). ...
... Forest co-management can benefit rural lives by empowering rural women (e.g. economic self-sufficiency and self-reliance, decision-making capacity) and providing opportunities to participate in conservation (Agarwal, 2009). The benefits of women's participation in forest co-management is their contribution to improved forest protection and rule compliance (Agarwal, 2018). ...
The impacts of women's participation in forest resource management on forest conservation and women's livelihoods are poorly understood. This study investigated women's role in Sundarban mangrove forest co-management in order to identify these impacts. Qualitative data was collected through focus group discussions (FGDs, n = 16) and key informant interviews (KIIs, n = 29) in four villages, at different tiers of co-management institutions, and with multiple stakeholders. Thematic content analysis, a well-established method for analysing qualitative data, was used to investigate the views of stakeholders on women's role in forest co-management and its impact on forest conservation and livelihood outcomes. Women participate in all tiers of forest co-management institutions, including the village conservation forum, people's forum, community patrol group, and co-management committee. This participation has increased their awareness and understanding of government rules and regulations in forest conservation, extended women's social networks, and created opportunities for involvement in alternative income-generating activities. Thus, women have benefited from the provision of greater financial input into their families, which has ultimately elevated women's status in the family. Local women's knowledge of sustainable forest resource harvesting methods and compliance with Bangladesh Forest Department directives can foster forest resources conservation and wildlife protection. Although women contribute to forest conservation through their participation, their representation is lower than that of men in the co-management of the Sundarban mangrove forest. Policy interventions for community members are needed to influence men's attitudes towards women working outside the home. This may equalise gender participation in forest co-management and increase women's livelihood support through greater recognition of their roles and elevating the value and impact of their participation.
... Gender can influence the management and use of natural resources and the conservation of biodiversity in complex ways (Agarwal, 2009;Torri, 2010;Khadka and Verma, 2012;James et al., 2021)-for example, women and men usually perform complementary gender-differentiated tasks in rural settings and therefore experience natural resources and wildlife from different perspectives and gain a distinct set of skills and knowledge (Fortnam et al., 2019). Addressing these gender dynamics requires an understanding of the broader historical and social context (Resurreccion and Elmhirst, 2012). ...
... The two community case studies presented underline the importance of context-specific approaches to engage women as equal partners in biodiversity conservation in order to protect their rights and enhance conservation program uptake and sustainability (James et al., 2021). Improved conservation outcomes are also expected as has been demonstrated in other settings (Agarwal, 2009;Leisher et al, 2016). It is difficult, however, to demonstrate that specific measures to engage women are correlated with improved program outcomes in the absence of dedicated evaluation efforts (Woodhouse et al., 2015). ...
Community-based conservation efforts represent an important approach to facilitate the coexistence of people and wildlife. A concern, however, is that these efforts build on existing community structures and social norms, which are commonly dominated by men. Some biodiversity conservation approaches may consequently neglect women’s voices and deepen existing inequalities and inequities. This paper presents two community case studies that draw upon the knowledge and experience gained in our snow leopard conservation practice in pastoral and agro-pastoral settings in Mongolia and India to better understand women’s roles and responsibilities. In these settings, roles and responsibilities in livestock management and agriculture are strongly differentiated along gender lines, and significant gaps remain in women’s decision-making power about natural resources at the community level. We argue that context-specific and gender-responsive approaches are needed to build community support for conservation actions and leverage women’s potential contributions to conservation outcomes.
... Recent studies suggest that women are more susceptible than men to the adverse health effects of climate change, in terms of mortality in climate disasters, climate-driven food insecurity, and increased risk of physical, sexual, domestic violence in the aftermath of climate disasters (Neumayer and Plümper 2007;Sorensen et al. 2018). Given women's greater responsibility for daily provisioning, water scarcity and degradation of common property resources make them more vulnerable to health, nutrition, and income deprivations (Agarwal 2009). ...
... Another model for environmental movements around the globe is the Green Belt Movement, a broad-based, grassroots organization that emphasized planting of trees by women's groups in order to conserve the environment and improve women's livelihoods (Maathai 2004). Another case shows that in India and Nepal, community forest organizations that had proportionately more women on their executive committees were able to maintain healthier forests (Agarwal 2009). More broadly, integrating gender-awareness and ecological-awareness into conceptual and policy frameworks can have sweeping effects for sustainable development in all its dimensions. ...
An undergraduate course in development economics presents an ideal opportunity to introduce students to the importance of gender differences in economic outcomes. The authors of this article argue that a systematic integration of gender into development economics courses based on standard textbooks is feasible and desirable. They provide a gendered narrative of how to engender a development economics course in the Global North using as examples topics that are commonly taught and show how gender-aware scholarly articles, classroom activities, and assignments can complement a course based on a standard textbook or set of articles. They engender three main sections of a prototype development economics course: meanings and measures of economic development; strategies for economic development; and salient issues in development; and they add a forward-looking section on creating equitable development.
... Women and men bring unique knowledge and perspectives to decision-making bodies, though women tend to be underrepresented in management institutions (Ngece, 2006;Giesecke, 2012;FAO, 2018). A growing body of evidence shows women's participation in community resource governance brings benefits not only to women, but to their families, communities, and conservation efforts more broadly (Agarwal, 2009;Mwangi et al., 2011;Leisher et al., 2016;Beaujon Marin and Kuriakose, 2017). Prior to 2018, women made up less than 10 percent of CRB members across Zambia's 76 elected CRBs, and only four were led by women (Malasha, 2020). ...
... When women earn more money, they prioritize family education, health and nutrition spending, increasing household wellbeing (Smith and Haddad, 2000;Armand et al., 2020;Booysen and Guvuriro, 2021). Involving women in natural resource governance and enforcement also increases the adoption of sustainable practices, crucial in both adapting to and mitigating the growing threat of climate change (Agarwal, 2009;Mwangi et al., 2011;Leisher et al., 2016;Beaujon Marin and Kuriakose, 2017). ...
Community-based natural resource management bodies, including Community Resource Boards (CRBs) and Community Scouts, are responsible for governance and wildlife law enforcement in Zambia’s Game Management Areas (GMA), community lands that buffer the National Parks. Despite commitments to inclusive governance and benefit sharing, men dominate the wildlife and natural resource sectors in Zambia; they make up the vast majority of wildlife scouts who patrol the GMAs and hold most positions on the CRBs who allocate benefits and decide on management priorities. Gender blind structures within community governance institutions during the recruitment and training process and social and gender norms that see leadership roles as men’s domain act as barriers to women’s participation in the sector. In response, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) invested in a comprehensive package of activities to increase women’s effective participation in wildlife governance and law enforcement, including gender-responsive CRB elections, empowerment training for newly elected women candidates, revised community scout training curriculum, and capacity building support for organizations that support scouts and CRBs. The intervention helped increase women’s representation in CRBs from four percent to 25 percent in pilot communities. It also supported the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) to recruit the first gender balanced cohort of community scout recruits and field an all-women patrol unit in Lower Zambezi National Park.
... Degradation of nature, poverty and social discrimination are some consequences of unfair environmental decisions often present in rural communities in the Global South. Difficulties in achieving fair decisions are largely a consequence of the lack of representation of local people's values in decision-making processes (Agarwal, 2009;Edwards et al., 2016). This lack of representation has been a constant challenge in environmental governance in such communities, reflecting power differences that exclude people based on social axes such as gender, economic status, religion, education and ethnicity (Rocheleau et al., 1996). ...
... In the following subsections, how/why local people engaged in dialogues regarding power differences in environmental decision-making and values towards nature will be presented. (Agarwal, 2009;IPBES, 2022). We found that the experiences of exclusion from environmental decision-making portrayed in the script acted as 'callings' for different social groups to express their worldviews on nature. ...
Nature degradation, poverty and social discrimination are some of the consequences of unfair decision‐making over environmental resources within rural communities in the Global South. Barriers to achieving fair environmental decisions are entrenched power differences and the lack of representation of the diversity of local values in environmental decision‐making.
Using intersectionality and value pluralism as a conceptual base, this is the first paper to examine the potential of Forum Theatre, a performance arts‐based method, to discuss ‘solutions’ regarding power differences and values towards nature in environmental decision‐making.
We implemented Forum Theatre in two rural villages in Chiapas, Mexico, framed around conflicts and power differences in eco‐tourism development.
Participants felt empathy with the Forum Theatre characters and dissatisfaction over the conflicts, and this motivated them to engage and participate in collective reflections on their own personal experiences with power differences in environmental decision‐making.
From these reflections, participants performed diverse ‘solutions’ to the conflicts, bringing to the fore plural interconnected and dynamic values towards nature in these narratives. Despite this, Forum Theatre does not look to ‘solve’ conflicts; it is a safe space to explore how power differences and values towards nature play out in environmental decision‐making.
Results offer a promising picture of the potential of Forum Theatre as an opening where participants could discuss power differences and values towards nature. However, establishing its potential as a tool in environmental decision‐making would require engaging those involved in implementing environmental decisions that affect the communities but who operate from other levels of the governance structure, such as policy‐makers and large NGOs.
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... This study agrees with Anyakoha (1999) who also found that more women were involved in forestry and stated that women are very active in afforestation programmes and thus champion the management and development of communal forests. Again, women involvement in policymaking is found to enhance natural resource governance (Leisher et al., 2016), reduce disruptive conflicts (Coleman & Mwangi, 2013) and improve conservation outcomes (Agarwal, 2009;Leone, 2019). The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN, 2015d) to some extent, concerned women's participation in social forestry management and climate change mitigation. ...
Forest trees' seeds carry numerous seed-borne fungi which cause considerable damage to seedlings. These fungi can infect seeds while on mother tree, during seed collection and storage. To minimize seed-borne fungi damage, knowledge about them is imperative. Hence, this research sought to establish forest trees' seeds collection, storage practices and awareness of seed-borne fungi infection of four Forest Districts in the Ashanti region of Ghana namely Offinso, Nkawie, Juaso and Mankranso. Respondents comprised only staff of Forestry Commission who are directly involved in seed collection and storage. Structured and semi-structured interview schedules were used for data collection. Data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 23. Descriptive statistics was used and means presented using tables and graphs. From the study, 33.3% of the respondents collected seeds from forest reserves by floor collection only as against plucking only (8.3%) while 58.3% collected seeds by both floor collection and plucking. All the respondents (100%) collected seeds between the months of November and March. Majority of the respondents (58.3%) and (100%) did not clean and treat seeds with fungicides before storage respectively. Most of the respondents (66.7%) mixed same seeds species but different mother trees for storage. Fifty percent of the respondents failed to keep records of seed mother trees and were also unaware of seed-borne fungi infection. It is recommended that, Forestry Commission of Ghana trains its forestry staff in the study areas through workshops on proper seed collection practices, storage and create awareness of seed-borne fungi infections among its staff.
... The most important problem in the Himalayan region among the various water-related issues is the gendered nature of an emerging water crisis (McCright, 2010). The differential consequences of climate change are largely due to the roles and duties that men and women have at the household and the community level (Agarwal, 2009). Climate change does not necessarily result in disadvantages and detrimental impacts on women (Bhattarai et al., 2015). ...
Understanding climate change from the perspective of local communities can provide valuable insights into policy and strategy planning for the unprecedented consequences of climate change. A semi-structured questionnaire survey was carried out at 253 locations in the entire state of Uttarakhand that included three stakeholder groups, namely water resource managers, tribal communities, and local people. Qualitative and Quantitative methods were used to analyze the stakeholder responses about awareness, indicators, consequences, traditional practices, and adaptation strategies. Hypothesis testing using the Chi-Square (χ2) test at a 95% confidence level was performed to assess the climate change perceptions considering the stakeholder characteristics such as gender, income, landholding size, tribe, and residency period. The study deals with an innovative approach for validating the stakeholders' responses with geospatial datasets using common indicators such as precipitation, surface and sub-surface flow, and land use and land cover change (LULCC). The findings indicate that different stakeholder groups have different perceptions regarding the impact of climate change on natural resources, agriculture, and water. The results reveal that the stakeholders' perceptions are concurrent with observed geospatial datasets. The study will help water resource managers and policy makers develop appropriate adaptation strategies based on indigenous and local knowledge to cope with climate change impacts.
... Additionally, these norms have also been shown to prevent women from spending time away from domestic duties to engage in community participatory work (Agarwal, 2001;Begum et al., 2022), and women's involvement in meetings may be rejected by men as women are not allowed to speak in front of elder men, although some have reported increased involvement over time since gaining confidence in their public speaking capacity (Prokopy, 2004). Increasing awareness of women's roles could be important in this regard (Agarwal, 2009;Nuggehalli and Prokopy, 2009), given there is local community support for women's involvement in forest co-management. ...
The emergence of co-management, where various government and non-government actors work together, is one of the most important governance mechanisms for natural resource management. However, local stakeholders' understanding of forest co-management has thus far been poorly appreciated. This study examined stakeholders' views on the forest co-management system of the Sundarban mangrove forest in Bangladesh. Four villages in the Chandpai range of the Sundarban mangrove forest were selected for the study. Primary data were collected through key informant interviews with multiple stakeholder levels, and focus group discussions with men and women either involved in forest co-management or not. Thematic coding and content analysis of the qualitative data was used to analyse stakeholders' views on key forest co-management activities and practices: forest protection, monitoring, meeting role, training and organisational support. These co-management activities are largely implemented through local stakeholders who are members of a number of institutions: the Village Conservation Forum (VCF), the People's Forum (PF) and the Community Patrol Group (CPG) at the local level, and the Co-management Committee (CMC) at the higher level, in which local, district and national stakeholders are involved. Stakeholders reported both positive and negative views on these co-management activities. While the positive views were mostly related to the benefits obtained from forest co-management practices (e.g., increased knowledge, awareness and ability to obtain entry permits), the negative views were related to the obstacles frequently faced by the local stakeholders, such as limited harvesting opportunities, poor meeting support and strict rules on eligibility for VCF/PF membership. The findings indicated that while stakeholders' views of forest co-management activities were mixed, it did identify the types of existing co-management benefits, problems and challenges of the local people and showed where they differed. Furthermore, this study identified particular ways to strengthen the co-management activities from the local people's perspective, which would enable their participation in the co-management system of the Sundarban mangrove forest.
... Health facilities in the Garhwal region are very poor, and some people have migrated to urban areas to find better health care (Agarwal, 2009). Further, among Rudraprayag, Chamoli, and parts of Tehri and Pauri Garhwal districts, there is only one government hospital with proper healthcare facilities. ...
Rural-urban migration is the most adopted strategy in rural areas to overcome the risk associated with subsistence economy and to diversify income. The Garhwal Himalaya has the highest rate of rural-urban migration in India, which has serious repercussions. Despite this, there is a dearth of literature on the implications of rural-urban migration in the region. This paper attempts to fill this void. The objectives of the paper are to investigate various types, patterns, determinants, and implications of rural-urban migration in the Garhwal Himalaya. In order to meet the objectives, 15 villages were studied from five districts of the Garhwal Himalaya. A comprehensive questionnaire with diverse set of questions from various dimensions was employed in the study. Several migration related questions from both origin and destination were considered while framing and conducting the survey. Several focused group discussions and interviews were conducted in the study villages to understand the real drivers and implications of rural-urban migration in the region. The study reveals that rural-urban migration is a serious issue in Garhwal Himalayas, posing various socioeconomic problems. Without immediate action, it will have serious repercussions. Finally, this study suggests minimizing the current rate of rural-urban migration in the Garhwal Himalaya.
... It is believed that use of forest resources depended on the sex of the individual. Studies have shown that the roles, knowledge, and skills of rural men and women differ with respect to forest use and management (Hunter, 2007;Agarwal, 2009;Mai et al.2011Sunderland et al., 2014. The negative relationship (r= -0,006, p˃0.057) was an indication that males and females in the study area valued forest resources in different ways. ...
... Somasundaram, Thiruchenduran (2016) 2 "Empowerment of Women Farmers for Agricultural Development" Women constitute almost half of the work force engaged in agriculture. They play a key role in the entire food system starting from the selection of seeds, sowing, adding manure in the fields, drying, storing and feeding the family from the harvested product. ...
Agriculture workers are often those who are unable to get regular jobs in the remunerative formal sector on account of their low level of education and skills. This paper tries to bring out the predicament of women in agriculture highlighting the benefits of women engaged in agriculture work, women exposure and economic exposure from agricultural activities. The researcher applied percentage analysis and Factor analysis to interpret the results. The sample group is rural based, low income group, well experienced but fairly satisfied with the agricultural work. The study reveals that the benefits for the women engaged in agriculture work are empowerment, independence and decision making. It is suggested that necessary incentives from the government such as social security and pension will improve their standard of living and quality of life.
... Leone (2019) further claims that the new provision has actually increased women's participation within the Executive Committees of Forestry User Groups and increased overall effectiveness. Several studies on Nepal and India's forestry sector reveal that groups with more women in the Executive Committees exhibit improvements in forest conditions (Agarwal, 2009;Leone, 2019). ...
As Nepali society is largely men-dominated, women are under-represented in
all public fronts, including politics, bureaucracy and institutional management.
Nevertheless, efforts are made towards promoting women’s participation in the
governance of public institutions. In this study, I take the question of how the formal structures at an institutional level are (dis)empowering school stakeholders and (dis/en)couraging participation of women in school governance. As such, I explore the understanding and practices of inclusive school governance, especially from the perspective of women participation, in a rural Nepali community school. Applying the theoretical lenses of participation, representation, critical mass and feminist standpoint, I examine the dynamics of including and othering in the School
Management Committee (SMC) by unfolding the perceptions of SMC members
themselves.
The field materials are drawn from over 18 months of intensive ethnographic
fieldwork, dominated by kurakani with the SMC members, conducted between 2016 and 2018 in a rural community school in Gandaki Province. Moreover, the participant engaged meaning-making process was applied to co-construct the meanings, and then the key insights are further discussed in light of some literature and theoretical lenses.
The study reveals that the idea of women inclusion is contestable, and participants’ beliefs ranged from conformist to transitional to utopian. Yet, their situatedness can be mapped largely at the transitional level. It further explores the driving forces that brought certain women to the SMC. Besides the policy reform, which required more women to be in the SMC compared to the past, family interest and support, community people’s encouragement, sense of belonging and sustaining
legacy, and acceptance culture also drove women to the SMC. The study further
reveals that women SMC members’ seeming ignorance of school affairs and strong
trust in the Headteacher/Chair limited them from participating fully and made them
feel ‘othered’, ‘alienated’ and ‘excluded’. However, gradually, with the passage of
time and learning, they felt somehow ‘included’ as their voices were also heard and
interests were served.
Therefore, the agenda of inclusion has not only given women SMC members a chance to represent women but also to drive girl-friendly initiatives, which otherwise might be neglected.
... Furthermore, May et al. (2021) observed significant differences between male and female environmental economists with regard to environmental issues and policies. Agarwal (2009) observed that the presence of women on the executive committee improved forest protection practices in Nepal. Li et al. (2017) observed that gender-diverse boards improved the environmental policies of US firms. ...
The significance of economic policies and their impact on corporate behavior and ecosystems are increasing in today's interconnected world. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on waste generation by firms and the impact of gender diversity on corporate boards on the relationship between EPU and waste generation. The study contributes to existing research related to ecological economics by investigating the impact of EPU on the level of waste generated by firms in China, Europe, and the US. Using a dataset of 8007 firm-year observations from 2002 to 2019, we find overwhelming evidence that EPU increases the level of waste produced, both hazardous and non-hazardous. This finding supports the "shareholders' wealth maximization" theory, which states that firms strive to safeguard shareholders during periods of high uncertainty. However, women directors, being more sensitive to sustainability, perform well on this front even during periods of high uncertainty, as the results show that gender-diverse boards significantly moderate the adverse impact of policy uncertainty on waste generation. However, the moderating impact of gender diversity is significant only for firms operating in environmentally sensitive industries. Our results are robust to different regression models, proxies for waste, and endogeneity issues.
... For example, US firms with more women on their boards have been found to be more environmentally conscious (Kassinis et al., 2016); and even when they express the same environmental concerns, women are significantly more likely to support environmental regulations at the European Parliament (Ramstetter and Habersack, 2019). In India and Nepal, the participation of women in executive committees responsible for community governance of forests has resulted in significantly better improvement of forest conditions (Agarwal, 2009). Wildlife watching tourism is a sector that is intrinsically linked to nature and its conservation, and the findings of our case study are supported by these examples which suggests that gender should be considered in the process of developing management actions for wildlife watching sites. ...
Gender differences in biospheric value orientation and opinions on wildlife management have the potential to be used as a management tool in wildlife watching settings. In this research note, we build on a dataset from Chauvat et al. (2021) to investigate gender differences in biospheric value orientation and opinions on seal watching management of visitors at seal watching sites post hoc. Questionnaires (n = 597) were collected at three sites in Northwest Iceland. It was found that when genders were compared, women had stronger biospheric value orientations, were more aware of potential anthropogenic impacts on seals, believed to a higher extent that regulations were useful in terms of decreasing impact, and were more positive towards most management actions suggested in the questionnaire. We argue that further understanding of the gender dynamics regarding pro-environmental attitudes may be a valuable element in the context of sustainable wildlife tourism management.
... Additionally, women endure more barriers to access educational programmes, including those offered in community-based conservation initiatives. As a consequence, women are less likely to receive the information and training on sustainable practices that they could implement in their households and transmit to their children (Agarwal, 2009;Gutierrez-Montes et al., 2012). Receiving information and training on sustainable activities is especially important for the development of rural and agricultural communities given that women have a dominant role in obtaining firewood, procuring water, and gathering and cooking food (Gutierrez-Montes et al., 2012). ...
Across the globe and across time, primates have been used in live performances and depicted through imagery to entertain audiences and tell stories. Technological advances have led to a proliferation of ways in which we consume media and with that, audiences for primates in entertainment have flourished. Here we review some of the ways primates are used as entertainers and examine representations of primates in contemporary media. We provide an overview of the role of primates in the entertainment industry and discuss issues of animal welfare and conservation. An understanding of the history primates in media and entertainment is critical to regulating these practices and ensuring the health and welfare of both humans and animals.
... Additionally, women endure more barriers to access educational programmes, including those offered in community-based conservation initiatives. As a consequence, women are less likely to receive the information and training on sustainable practices that they could implement in their households and transmit to their children (Agarwal, 2009;Gutierrez-Montes et al., 2012). Receiving information and training on sustainable activities is especially important for the development of rural and agricultural communities given that women have a dominant role in obtaining firewood, procuring water, and gathering and cooking food (Gutierrez-Montes et al., 2012). ...
The increasing demand for natural resources has led to continued changes in land use, affecting the survival of many wild species, including non-human primates. One of the major challenges for primate conservation in landscapes dominated by agriculture is to find environmentally friendly alternatives that provide economic benefits to local communities while improving the health of the ecosystems that primates and humans rely on. Community-based conservation is an approach whereby researchers and conservationists work in collaboration with local people to plan, implement, and assess conservation projects. This ensures effective and sustainable management of their natural resources based on the specific needs and cultural traditions of each community. In this chapter, we present an overview of primates living in agricultural landscapes and provide some guidelines for developing community-based conservation projects based on experiences of three case studies from Colombia and Ecuador. It is important to create participatory spaces for local communities to become involved in the co-planning and co-design of conservation actions and provide training that strengthens people’s capacities to acquire the necessary skills for implementing sustainable practices that bring revenue to the communities while protecting wildlife. Due to the social nature of community-based approaches, these conservation projects must also consider the socioeconomic and political contexts that influence the relationships between people and wildlife at each intervention site.
... Additionally, women endure more barriers to access educational programmes, including those offered in community-based conservation initiatives. As a consequence, women are less likely to receive the information and training on sustainable practices that they could implement in their households and transmit to their children (Agarwal, 2009;Gutierrez-Montes et al., 2012). Receiving information and training on sustainable activities is especially important for the development of rural and agricultural communities given that women have a dominant role in obtaining firewood, procuring water, and gathering and cooking food (Gutierrez-Montes et al., 2012). ...
Pet primates are those kept typically for companionship, enjoyment, and status, although their uses as pets may extend beyond these parameters. The trade in pet primates is historically rooted, with many primates playing important roles in human cultures and religions. Thus, it is not surprising that current sociocultural trends reveal an ongoing fascination with primates and their purchase as status pets. Recent reports from various regions are presented in this chapter, demonstrating the need for drastic interventions to avoid further losses. Capture of animals for the pet trade may be intentional or opportunistic and is often exacerbated by internet trade and social media. This situation is complicated by the difficulty of obtaining accurate numbers of primates bought and sold illegally. The health and welfare of primates captured or kept as pets is another area of great concern. Long-term solutions will require attention from governmental, professional, and public actors on local and international levels.
... Particularly in Chile, being a woman involved in HWC poses a variety of obstacles, especially for campesinas 1 that subsist in a context of poverty, isolation, and lack of resources (Bahamondes and Herrera, 2009). In this perspective article, we will briefly communicate the need to address the lack of a gender perspective in human-wildlife coexistence research, and how doing so could contribute to alleviating the challenges faced by women involved in HWC (Westermann et al., 2005;Agarwal, 2009;Sodhi et al., 2010). We refer to two categories of female stakeholders that play different roles: campesinas (female farmers) and female practitioners (professionals and researchers), although focusing mainly on the first group as traditional dwellers of landscapes and carriers of essential traditional local knowledge (TLK) (Barreau and Ibarra, 2019;Guerrero-Gatica et al., 2020). ...
Gender plays an important role in human–wildlife coexistence. Women have their own distinct form of environmental knowledge; women shape attitudes and perceptions related to wildlife and influence the use of natural spaces and the nature of human–wildlife interactions. Being a female farmer or practitioner involved in human–wildlife conflict mitigation poses a variety of obstacles and benefits. The way conservation conflicts are perceived and managed is gendered, and this needs to be taken into account when working with local communities to achieve effective and fluent dialogue, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The existing body of evidence is focused mainly in Africa and Asia and suggests that the sharing of landscapes between humans and wildlife has different implications for men and women with respect to their attitudes toward wildlife and how they are impacted by it. Although extensive research has been done in relation to gender, conservation, and natural resource management, the gender perspective of human–wildlife coexistence is underreported. Feminist political ecology emphasizes that gender differences originate in the need to overcome existing social and political barriers and is highlighting the importance of en-gendering research. In Chile, work in the rural sector poses various challenges, especially for women. Rural landscapes are, in general, dominated by men, with low female participation in decision-making spaces. Nonetheless, this appears to be silently changing. In this perspective, we contrast three undocumented experiences of our work as female researchers and facilitators of human–wildlife coexistence (northern case, central case, and southern case). The aim of this perspective piece is to expose current findings for the role of women in human–wildlife coexistence, contrast these with our reports, and propose future directions.
... Various studies have reported the benefits of involving women in social forestry programs. In the aspect of forest protection, (Agarwal, 2009) revealed that involving women in group activities will increase community commitment to forest conservation, accelerate information dissemination and increase supervision. ...
Social forestry programs, aimed to reduce poverty in forest communities while maintaining the forest function, are increasingly incorporating gender issues and responsiveness. By design, social forestry program is supposed to promote justice and equality for forest users, but on the ground discriminatory practices against women are occurring. Drawing case study from two Indonesian villages, this study examined the extent of discrimination against women in the implementation of the state social forestry programs. In-depth interviews, observations, and focused group discussions were conducted to collect the data from the villages to analyze the extent of discriminatory practices by using a social justice framework with a three-dimensional approach, namely recognition, representation, and participation, as well as distribution. This study found that women were not recognized as the primary users of forest land (not considered as farmers), low representation and participation of women in the Social Forestry Groups, and unequal distribution of benefits between women and men in obtaining assistance and participation in training for capacity building. Furthermore, gender based discrimination and inequality in social forestry are influenced by local social constructions in the form of patriarchal culture and religious belief. Finally, discrimination against women can take place even in state programs designed to bring justice in the context of joint forestry management, and the formal programs with a degree of gender responsive elements can be succumbed to biased local informal institutions and beliefs.
... The incentive to join the NR program was investigated using a logit model [31], denoted by Equation (1), where the dependent variable is a binary choice of participation in the program (yes = 1 or no = 0). NR participation may be motivated by household characteristics (household size) [32] and available resources, both monetary and intangible (e.g., education level of household head), since knowledge and labor are needed in the program, in view of the positive influence of education in resource-saving behavior [33][34][35]. ...
Charcoal production is an essential energy source and income source for many people in low-income countries, such as Africa. Charcoal production is also associated with deforestation—a global issue that significantly affects the environment and ecosystems. Therefore, promoting strategies that can balance forestry protection and people’s livelihoods in low-income countries is critical. This study investigated the factors affecting Zambia’s rural households’ participation in the natural regeneration (NR) program—the program initiated by the Forest and Farm Facility program (FFF) of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Zambia in 2015. Using household survey data collected from Choma District in Southern Zambia, this study used descriptive statistical analysis and a logit model to detect the factors that affect the use of the NR program. The results indicate that charcoal production enhances the livelihoods of rural households when forest conservation is reconciled with household income and forest-management methods that abandon traditional practices. Participation in the NR program seems to be mainly driven by household income. The results indicated that the relationship between forest-resource utilization and conservation in Choma is encouraging. The implementation of the Forest and Farm Facility program is recommended to be spread to other communities to improve both livelihoods in local communities and forest conservation.
... Previous research has demonstrated that burning agrowaste decreases agricultural output, contributes to climate change, and causes health problems, primarily respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis, eye irritation, asthma, etc. In addition to contributing to an unattractive and unappealing environment, the uncontrolled disposal of such waste also contributes to this condition [8][9][10]. The tropical tree Pentaclethra macrophylla benth (PMB) can reach a height of 21 metres. ...
Biomass systems are based on a wide range of feedstock, like food and agricultural waste. The quest for bio-adsorbents that are environmentally benign is the rationale for this study. Thus, the research is aimed at the isolation, physicochemical, and BET analysis of cellulose obtained from Pentaclethra macrophylla Benth Pod (PMBP) biomass waste. The powdered PMBP was dewaxed with toluene and ethanol (2:1) and, thereafter, treated with aqueous sodium hypochlorite (7.5% at 70 o C) and sodium hydroxide (17.5%w/v at 80 o C) to obtain isolated cellulose. Proximate, ultimate, and chemical composition analysis reveals the presence of cellulose (42.7%), hemicelluloses (7.8%), lignin (38.5%), silicon (40.72%), aluminium (17.10%) and elements. The FTIR and Raman spectroscopic analysis revealed some of the functional groups associated with isolated cellulose and raw PMBP. The presence of hemicelluloses and lignin in the isolated cellulose implies that the isolation process did not remove all the impurities. The BET analysis reveals a better specific surface area, pore volume, and average pore diameter or size of the isolated cellulose, and could serve as a better adsorbent than the raw. As a result of the increased surface area and high percentage of isolated cellulose in PMBP, it can be used as a sustainable energy source as well as for the environmental remediation of heavy metals.
... Thus, a feminist intersectional framework provides insights into local social dynamics centred around patterns of differentiated access to resources and livelihoods as well as into larger community or regional resource management structures (Sultana 2020). For example, research on gender dynamics in India has shown that forest dependencies often vary based on dimensions of local difference such as gender, caste, and class, consequently impacting vulnerable groups' stakes in resource management (Agarwal 2009). Yet, despite the obvious intersections of these factors in shaping distributional outcomes, there is a tendency among scholars and policymakers to consider them as separate categories. ...
p>This research article calls for explicit attention to micro-politics through engagement with a feminist intersectional lens for enabling convivial conservation. Convivial conservation provides a vision for equitable conservation through simultaneously pursuing structural change and addressing context specific micro-politics. This research article draws on feminist intersectional research and feminist political ecology to argue that convivial conservation needs to explicitly engage with the ways that intersections of class, gender, caste, and other identity positions shape the micro-politics of power around land rights and opportunities for benefitting from conservation interventions. It draws on findings from two forest villages near the Corbett Tiger Reserve in India to demonstrate the micro-politics that shape the variegated access and tourism dependencies experienced by different local residents. Engaging with learnings from implementation of the progressive Forest Rights Act (FRA) which intended to redress these issues, this analysis highlights that the FRA serves as both a cautionary and potentially transformative example for furthering the convivial conservation vision of local people's engagement with conservation areas.</p
... In conservation practice, conditions have to be created for people becoming implementers and decision makers according to their gendered experiences and impacts, rather than passive beneficiaries. Women are good active decision makers and implementers, and efficient managers of natural resources (Agarwal 2001(Agarwal , 2009(Agarwal , 2010Leisher et al. 2016). ...
This article applies a feminist political ecology framework to analyze a particular case of human-wildlife interaction from northeastern India, linking it to the emerging paradigm of 'decolonized conservation.' Through the oral testimonies of local community members with regard to living close to wild Asian elephants in a forest-agriculture landscape matrix of rural Assam, this article argues that place-based conceptualizations of 'wildlife', 'forest dependency' and 'living with wildlife' are affected by gendered roles and responsibilities, gendered access to spaces and gendered interaction with wildlife. By doing so, this article argues for (i) extending the discourse on 'decolonized conservation' towards the role of gender in rethinking these place-based conceptualizations and (ii) bringing forward such 'en-gendering' into redesigning wildlife policies, as that will have the potential of ensuring feminist environmental justice as well as positive conservation outcomes.
... We further varied whether participants received recommendations on the maximum number of resource units to be extracted by each individual to ensure the sustainability of the resource. We also collected demographic data (gender and age) in order to (dis)confirm previous findings about lower extractions by women in CPR contexts (Agarwal, 2009;Revollo-Fernández et al., 2016) and an U-shape effect of age on extractions (Handberg and Angelsen, 2015). ...
Dilemmas related to the use of environmental resources concern diverse populations at local or global scales. Frequently, individuals are unable to visualize the consequences of their actions, where they belong in the decision-making line, and have no information about past choices or the time horizon. We design a new one-shot extraction game to capture these dynamic decisions. We present results from a nationwide common pool resource experiment, conducted simultaneously in eleven French cities, involving a total of 2813 participants. We examine, for the first time, the simultaneous impact of several variables on the amount of resource extracted: the local vs. the national scale of the resource, the size of the group (small vs. big), the low vs. high recovery rate of the resource, and the available information. We show that individuals significantly reduce extraction levels in local as compared to national level dilemmas and that providing recommendations on sustainable extraction amounts significantly improves the sustainability of the resource. Overall, women extract significantly less, but care more about preserving the local resource; older participants extract significantly more resources but extract less from the national resource. Our experiment also fulfills a science popularization pedagogical aim, which we discuss.
... This supports findings from other studies linking women's leadership in governance with positive environmental outcomes. For instance, corporate firms with women serving on the board of directors have been more likely to implement corporate social responsibility practices [114], and community forests with women serving on the executive committee have had better forest conservation outcomes [115]. Although we classified female mayors as representing the voice and accountability governance indicator [116], it is possible that female leadership also represents other indicators, including social equity [117] and control of corruption [118]. ...
Deforestation continues at rapid rates despite global conservation efforts. Evidence suggests that governance may play a critical role in influencing deforestation, and while a number of studies have demonstrated a clear relationship between national-level governance and deforestation, much remains to be known about the relative importance of subnational governance to deforestation outcomes. With a focus on the Brazilian Amazon, this study aims to understand the relationship between governance and deforestation at the municipal level. Drawing on the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) as a guiding conceptual framework, and incorporating the additional dimension of environmental governance, we identified a wide array of publicly available data sources related to governance indicators that we used to select relevant governance variables. We compiled a dataset of 22 municipal-level governance variables covering the 2005–2018 period for 457 municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon. Using an econometric approach, we tested the relationship between governance variables and deforestation rates in a fixed-effects panel regression analysis. We found that municipalities with increasing numbers of agricultural companies tended to have higher rates of deforestation, municipalities with an environmental fund tended to have lower rates of deforestation, and municipalities that had previously elected a female mayor tended to have lower rates of deforestation. These results add to the wider conversation on the role of local-level governance, revealing that certain governance variables may contribute to halting deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
... Literature has also emphasized that women's unique responsibilities and roles in households, communities, and economies position them well for finding solutions to changing socio-climatic risks and identifying adaptive livelihood strategies (Agarwal, 2009;Antwi, 2020;Babagura, 2010;Enarson, 2013;Twyman et al., 2014;Umeh & Nwachukwu, 2019). These literatures focus on the different "situated knowledges" (cf., Haraway, 1991) and expertise that women often bring to adaptation, as a result of their unique positions within societies; such as their role in family life (e.g., Peake, 2016) and their high dependence on environmental resources (Caretta, 2014). ...
The ability of businesses to adapt effectively to climate change is highly influenced by the external business enabling environment. Constraints to adaptive capacity are experienced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across sub‐Saharan Africa, regardless of the gender of the business owner. However, gender is a critical social cleavage through which differences in adaptive capacity manifest and in Africa most entrepreneurs are women. We conduct a systematic review to synthesize existing knowledge on differential vulnerability of female entrepreneurs in Africa to climate risk, in relation to their sensitivity to extreme climate events and their adaptive capacity. We synthesize this literature using a vulnerability analysis approach that situates vulnerability and adaptive capacity within the context of the wider climate risk framework denoted in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. In doing so, we identify gendered barriers and enablers to private sector adaptation and suggest women entrepreneurs face a “triple differential vulnerability” to climate change, wherein they: (1) are often more sensitive to climate risk, as a result of their concentration in certain sectors and types of enterprises (e.g., micro SMEs in the agricultural sector in remote regions); (2) face additional barriers to adaptation in the business environment, including access to finance, technologies, (climate and adaptation) information and supportive policies; and (3) are also often concurrently on the frontline of managing climate risk at household levels. Since various forms of inequality often create compounding experiences of discrimination and vulnerability, we pay particular attention to how factors of differential vulnerability intersect, amplify, and reproduce.
This article is categorized under: Climate and Development > Social Justice and the Politics of Development
Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Institutions for Adaptation
... Increasing evidence suggests gender inequality can limit the effectiveness of environmental management outcomes, such as forest biodiversity (Agarwal, 2009), sustainable fisheries (Thomas et al., 2021), and marine managed areas (Baker-Médard et al., 2017;Kleiber et al., 2018;Rohe et al., 2018). For example, in a remote village in Solomon Islands male-dominated governance and decision-making led to the placement of a traditional marine closure over an area women fished for subsistence, leading to low compliance with the resource management rules (Rohe et al., 2018). ...
Gender equality, a universal agreed principle and value, has been adopted widely but implemented to varying levels in different sectors. Our study was designed to contrast how gender development (here-after 'development') and fisheries sectors view and invest in gender, and then explore opportunities to strengthen collaborative relationships and networks between the two, with the aim of improving capacity for gender inclusion in practice in fisheries. We conducted key informant interviews with fisheries (n = 68) and development (n = 32) practitioners (including managers) in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu between 2018 and 2019. We found three points of divergence between fisheries and development practitioners and/or their organisations when it comes to the inclusion of gender into their work: (1) fundamental differences in organisational motivations for working on gender-(i.e., fisheries organisations viewed gender equality as a means to achieve fisheries objectives (instrumental), while development organisations viewed it as a core value or principle (inherent); (2) fisheries practitioners had comparatively little to no access to qualified gender focal points and training, and limited networks with gender experts; and (3) differences in what each considered successful versus failed approaches to gender integration. Our findings illustrate opportunities, as well as limitations or challenges (e.g. resistance and indifference), to transfer knowledge and capacity to integrate gender into fisheries policies and practice. We suggest using these divergences to 'pivot change' in the fisheries sector by building on decades of knowledge, learning and experience from the development sector focusing on four areas for strategic partnership: (1) shifting values; (2) gender mainstreaming; (3) adopting gender best practice; and (4) investing in gender networks and coalitions. We argue that fundamental to the success of such a partnership will be the ability and willingness of fisheries and development practitioners and their organisations to break down silos and work collaboratively towards gender equality in the fisheries sector.
... Gender differentiation in the collection and trade of NTFP products, which support notions that there are distinctive 'male' and 'female' roles associated with NTFP chains has been recognized (Ruiz Pérez et al., 2002;Paumgarten and Shackleton 2011;Purnomo et al., 2014;Sunderland et al., 2014). The roles, knowledge, and skills of rural men and women differ with respect to forest use and management (Rocheleau and Edmunds, 1997;Hecht, 2007;Agarwal, 2009;Bechtel, 2010;Peach Brown, 2011). Research has highlighted the role of gender in shaping access, management and use of forest resources and their associated benefits (Mai et al., 2011;Ndumbe, 2013). ...
Abstract
Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Pierre ex Pax., locally known as njansang, is an important non-timber forest traded from the Central African tropical humid forested area. The Southwest region was selected as an important production and market hub, where little data exist on the role of gender in the livelihoods of those harvesting and marketing njansang. Information was gathered for the period 2013 to 2015 using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews from 115 harvesters, 100 retailers in eight major retail and wholesale markets, 10 exporters and 34 buy’am sell’ams, representing 28% sample of these target groups. Qualitative and statistical analysis was used to assess the gender aspects of the economics and income from the njansang trade. Women dominate harvest and trade in all stages of the value chain, and on average harvest higher volumes than men, but with averagely US$0.6 lower profit margins than men. Most harvest (76%) is from wild trees in open access forests. The 24% harvested from trees found on farms, fallows and in family-owned forests are 92% male owned. Of the 8% of harvesters who have planted Ricinodendron heudelotii, 72% are women. Women used more of income from njansang trade on household needs relative to men who invest theirs in other businesses. To ensure the long-term sustainability of the value chain, culturally appropriate and gender aware policies and actions could support the sustainable access of women to njansang and improve their access to markets.
Keywords: Gender, Ricinodendron heudelotii, value chain sustainability, non-timber forest products, rural livelihoods.
Purpose
As rural nonfarm activities grow in developing countries, less attention is being paid to the opportunities they may provide for women. The purpose of this study is to examine the gender-differentiated impact of nonfarm diversification strategies in rural Senegal.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses data collected from the Senegalese poverty monitoring survey and employs an instrumental variable (IV) approach and a multinomial endogenous treatment model to investigate the extent to which diversification strategies lead to improved outcomes for rural women and their households.
Findings
While nonfarm diversification is a male-dominated livelihood strategy, rural women make the most of it, regardless of whether they diversify into low- or high-return nonfarm activities. At the individual level, diversification improves rural women’s well-being through large income-increasing effects and higher empowerment but has no effect on rural men’s well-being. At the household level, the authors find that, when only women diversify, households have lower per capita income but are less likely to be food insecure than when only men or both genders diversify.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on cross-sectional data, making it impossible to examine the dynamic effects of nonfarm diversification strategies on well-being outcomes.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the current literature on rural livelihood diversification. While much attention has been paid to the feminization of agriculture, remarkably little is known about the expanding role of rural women in the nonfarm sector.
One of the earliest demands of Indian women’s organisations in the pre-Independence period was the right to be elected to legislative bodies. Yet, almost a century later, a vast gender gap persists in terms of women’s presence at all levels of governance. Why is it important to include women in political and policy decision-making bodies, beyond the issue of equality? Do women representatives necessarily represent women’s interests? Indeed, how do we define women’s interests and how can they be represented best? And how much presence makes for effective representation? This paper addresses these questions, both conceptually and based on empirical evidence.
Development programs often rely on women’s participation. However, there is little evidence of whether development programs that engage women’s unpaid labor – particularly in care work – add to their time burdens. We tested this hypothesis on a nutrition-sensitive agriculture program delivered through community-based preschools in Malawi. The mixed-methods study was conducted over one year using data from 1,168 female caregivers from a cluster-randomized control trial. A longitudinal binomial logistic regression model was used to estimate the proportion of time spent caregiving in a 24-hour period (expressed as minutes) at baseline and then separately for each treatment group at 6-months and 1-year post-randomization. In addition, two rounds of 38 qualitative in-depth interviews (n = 76) were conducted with women, men and adolescent girls to explore their perceptions of program activities, time use and gender attitudes. We found that the program quantitatively increased daily caregiving time for participating women by approximately 30 min. However, this effect occurred only during the lean season when preschool scale-up investments increased. Qualitatively, program-related tasks were not considered burdensome. Moreover, participants saw contributions as important investments in their children’s development. These findings add to limited evidence of the impacts of nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs and early childhood interventions on women’s time use. Measuring women’s participation through mixed-method evaluations can aid interpretation to avoid harm and to better understand the tradeoffs of women’s time.
El sector forestal mexicano enfrenta sobreexplotación, tala ilegal, deforestación, falta de subsidios gubernamentales y crecimiento agrícola irregular, lo que reduce su competitividad. Este estudio analiza la capacidad de las empresas forestales para adaptarse a los desafíos ambientales, económicos y sociales en el distrito VII de Tehuacán y Sierra Negra del estado de Puebla. Se utilizó un enfoque mixto, de alcance exploratorio y diseño transversal. En 2021, se seleccionaron por conveniencia a 16 productores de madera (aserraderos), 12 comercializadores (madererías) y 38 consumidores finales (constructoras - carpinterías). Se aplicó una encuesta estructurada con datos demográficos; percepciones ambientales y de manejo sustentable (la referencia fueron los Objetivos del Desarrollo Sustentable de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas); organizacionales, legales y socioeconómicos. Los resultados demostraron que el agente más beneficiado durante el COVID-19 fue el aserradero (44 %), que junto con las madererías son empresas familiares (75 % y 92 %, respectivamente). Los encuestados están dispuestos a adaptarse a los desafíos económicos; aunque, su capacidad para enfrentar el desarrollo ambiental y económico será a largo plazo. Los aserraderos intentan proteger y mantener las zonas boscosas, pero carecen de apoyo externo. En el aspecto social, prevalece la participación de los hombres; el consumidor final tiene un mayor interés en el precio de la madera (58 %), que en su origen legal (42 %). En futuras investigaciones se podría aumentar el tamaño de muestra, aplicar un muestreo aleatorio e incluir otras regiones dentro y fuera de México.
This research mainly examines the influence of democracy on forest protection by employing an estimation of generalized method of moments (GMM) and data on 111 countries during the period 1991–2018. The empirical results suggest that democracies tend to do better at forest protection, which is supported when we conduct several robustness tests. If the regimes transform from lower democratic to higher democratic, then this is also beneficial for forest protection. Although liberal democracy, electoral democracy, participatory democracy, and deliberative democracy promote forest protection, egalitarian democracy does not bring about the forest protection. Additionally, better control of corruption strengthens the positive effect of democracy on forest protection, while the utilization of renewable energy, trade globalization, and business freedom weaken it. Finally, parliamentary democracies and majoritarian democracies are more likely to protect forests than presidential democracies or proportional democracies.
The tourism industry has long been recognised for supporting women in achieving economic empowerment and social freedom through entrepreneurial and employment opportunities. Widely recognised as a women‐dominated sector, tourism is deemed to be a facilitator of women's development following the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the existing literature suggests, women's involvement in tourism activities supports local economic growth and development, while facilitating social transformation that enables them to create their own identities. Despite these achievements, several studies noted the persisting issues women face in participating in tourism. With the goal of contributing to existing discourses, this paper aims to analyse their experiences in community entrepreneurship by examining several community‐involved tourism enterprises in the Philippines. The findings of this study reveal that women have been largely involved in tourism activities in that country, yet their experiences working in these enterprises vary. The opportunities and challenges identified in this study can serve as a springboard for further analysis of the experience of women working in the Philippine tourism industry.
The adoption of school‐based management (SBM) reforms has led to the formation of local‐level school committees in many low‐ and middle‐income countries. These committees are usually created with the stated aim of giving parents or local community members a greater say in school management. Various studies have, however, highlighted difficulties with parental and female participation, casting doubt on the extent to which greater community representation improves school management. The article examines empirically whether greater parental and female representation in Indian school management committees (SMCs) is associated with school improvement as measured by increases in the school‐level provision of basic infrastructure and services. Fixed‐effects regression models are estimated using school‐level panel data. I find that increased parental representation is not associated with improvements in school infrastructure/service provision. Rather, what contributes strongly to improved outcomes is increased representation of elected local authority members. Overall, schools with female‐majority SMCs also perform better. While the requirement for Indian SMCs to include representation from local government appears to be an effective feature of their composition, there is a need for capacity‐building efforts to ensure that parent members also contribute effectively to school management. SMCs should also be encouraged to meet the female representation quota, as the analysis suggests a positive association between female representation and school outcomes.
Ethnoprimatology, the combining of primatological and anthropological practice and the viewing of humans and other primates as living in integrated and shared ecological and social spaces, has become an increasingly popular approach to primate studies in the twenty-first century. Offering an insight into the investigation and documentation of human-nonhuman primate relations in the Anthropocene, this book guides the reader through the preparation, design, implementation, and analysis of an ethnoprimatological research project, offering practical examples of the vast array of methods and techniques at chapter level. With contributions from the world's leading experts in the field, Ethnoprimatology critically analyses current primate conservation efforts, outlines their major research questions, theoretical bases and methods, and tackles the challenges and complexities involved in mixed-methods research. Documenting the spectrum of current research in the field, it is an ideal volume for students and researchers in ethnoprimatology, primatology, anthropology, and conservation biology.
Heat waves and drought in Europe and China, forest fires in the US, dust storms and extreme rainfall in India and high precipitation in Japan and other island nations are all examples of the disasters which have occurred within a single year of 2018. The climate change induced economic damage has been increasing in the past few decades and is likely to continue growing because of population growth, urban development and changing land use pattern. People who have the least capacity to respond to natural hazards are also affected more. Majority of women, who are considered among the poorest of the poor are at a greater disadvantage because their income is mostly derived from informal natural resources dependent livelihoods.
The importance of community-based forest management (hereafter, CBFM) is drawing attention to forest policies in finding solutions for deforestation and importantly to also understand the basis of people’s involvement. Focusing on the latter, the study presented here targets a regional CBFM (Van (forest) Panchayat; hereafter, VP) at the village level in Uttarakhand, India and looks into characteristics and critical aspect of people’s participation. Participatory observations were conducted in four selected villages, followed by structured interviews with 113 of a total of 131 households and semi-structured interviews with additional 28 female villagers. Some specific findings were (a) the VP members were mostly involved in forest-related activities, e.g., plantation, forest patrols, (b) a greater use of firewood by the management committee (hereafter, MC) where most members were from the higher-caste, and (c) most of the VP forest users were women; however, few women members were involved in decision-making, as they were mostly fixed members and they had not voluntarily chosen their positions. In the above context, it implied a limited participation of women in the decision-making process, i.e., no or little involvement in the management plan by the main VP forest users. Results concluded three stages of local peoples’ participation in forest management: “participation in activities”, “participation in decision-making” and “participation in management plan creation”. In summary, what our study shows is that participation by the VP members in CBFM activities was easy. The most difficult aspect related to the participation of female members was the decision-making process in each VPMC investigated.
Gender mainstreaming is the push in international governance and development to use women’s empowerment, inclusion and labor to be more inclusive and help solve development issues. Research has found that when women are involved in projects, environmental outcomes are more likely to succeed. Over the past 30 years, environmental bilateral development aid has been increasing. Extant research has theorized the relationship between environmental aid, women’s empowerment and forest loss. However, results have been mixed, with some finding that female-focused environmental aid reduces forest loss, while others find that it increases forest loss. To add to this debate, we argue that bilateral aid may be moderated by quality of the receiving nation’s governance. Using high-quality satellite forest loss data, we use ordinary least-squares regression with robust standard errors for a sample of 85 low- and middle-income nations from 2000 to assess if nations with high levels of governance facilitate bilateral aid effectiveness that focuses simultaneously on gender equality and environmental protection. We find that in nations with high levels of governance, bilateral environmental gender aid is significantly associated with reduced levels of forest loss.
As the topic of gender and forests gains international attention through programs related to addressing the Sustainable Development Goals, we focus on a case study of the African Locust Bean (Parkia biglobosa) in the savannah landscape of northern Ghana. Although this tree holds high cultural significance for Dagomba women, it is unfortunately becoming scarcer in our study area near Tamale. We investigate the reasons for this decline in relation to the agricultural, ecological, and cultural landscape and discuss the gendered impacts of these changes. Research in these communities was conducted between 2018 and 2021 as part of a transdisciplinary action research approach to process underutilized species with women’s groups. The research started with a survey that included 27 women’s groups in 13 communities with 524 women participants. Out of a selected number of groups, our research team has worked more intensively with three women’s groups near Nyankpala, which selected for their processing focus the African Locust Bean, locally known as dawadawa. More than 45 group sessions were organized with seven groups in a collaborative learning process in 2019. Additionally, the three groups in Kpachi who chose to process the African Locust Bean sustained facilitation of group activities until the end of 2021. Specifically, on the topic of the decline of this tree, 19 semistructured interviews were conducted in August 2020 with 8 female farmers, 7 male farmers and 4 chiefs in the local governance system. Our results show the cultural significance of the African Locust Bean for women in the Dagomba culture as well as practical uses of all parts of the tree. Specifically, the seeds are used for making a fermented condiment and tea. Although seeds of the African Locust Bean are considered a women’s crop, their access to this tree is mediated by the local chiefs and often male land-users. Most farmers interviewed reported a reduction in trees in their fields. The reasons for the decrease can be summarized in six different categories, (1) aging tree populations, (2) challenge caring for saplings until maturity, (3) agricultural changes with increased mechanization and pesticide use, (4) over-use as a firewood resource, (5) usufruct rights between traditional chiefs, male land-owners, and women who should be granted access to the trees according to Dagomba cultural values, and (6) reduced water availability inhibits seed yield. In conclusion, there is an urgent need for action to protect and restore the African Locust Bean within northern Ghana’s savannah landscape to ensure continued access and benefits of the tree to women in the region.
This study aims to examine the relationship between forest preservation and governmental ideology by conducting empirical investigation based on data for 101 countries from 1991 to 2018 and GMM estimation. The estimations support that left-wing government benefits for forest preservation while right-wing one does some harm to forest preservation, this idea is still confirmed while we conduct robustness tests by using two partisan variables and removing extreme values. Furthermore, the higher political power would increase the influence of governmental ideology on forest; Moreover, if the governmental ideology changes to right-wing, the forest would decrease. Meanwhile, results for moderating effect suggest that globalization, air quality and population density would weaken the role of governmental ideology in forest preservation. Additionally, both the length of remaining terms and share in legislatures determine the governmental ideology’s impact on forest preservation.
An examination of agricultural practices in tribal communities through tank irrigation with the phenomenon of gender inequality in labour force participation and resource management literature demonstrates the unequal effects on men and women, with female marginal worker and landless labour bearing the major brunt. Applying both quantitative and the narrative method of subjective inquiry the community perspectives of role of women in labour force participation and income generation in the rain-fed agriculture in Mayurbhanj District of Odisha. The findings suggest that tank irrigation supports women’s participation in the intensive and extensive agriculture though they lack control over accumulated benefit of production and income, decision making to prioritize their need, differential access to the information and communication technology in countering the resilience and adaptation of the adverse impacts of climate shocks. This paper emphasized that vulnerability-sensitive interventions and policies must ensure male and female need and priorities to end the gender inequality in water resource livelihood outcomes. MSC 2010: 62DXX, 03B48. Keywords: Agriculture, Tank Irrigation, Gender participation, Tribal Community, Mayurbhanj
This paper explores the existing gender role in community-based Tanguar Haor management. This paper will apply qualitative approaches and follow in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.
This article intervenes in the persistent hierarchy of epistemological worth that produces scientific knowledge as meaningful, and knowledge from arts or humanities as marginal, or illustrative. The specific trans-disciplinary project we discuss brings together environmental social sciences with performance-based Forum Theatre methods to explore ‘value’ as understood in communities in Tabasco and Chiapas, Mexico in relation to Payment for Ecosystem Services. We argue for engaging, community-based participatory methods that are forged with an understanding of research participants as holistic beings whose lifeworlds are embodied, experiential as well as culturally informed. Trans-disciplinary collaborations that seek to incorporate ‘novel’ methods to engage participants differently might better reflect the dynamic, emergent, and often shifting nature of beliefs, attitudes and values.
Forest is considered the lifeline of rural people, especially for women, as they solely depend on it for their food, fodder, fuelwood, medicine, and other things. At the same time, their economic and socio-cultural needs also get fulfilled from the forest. They own the forest, and thus, they assume the responsibility to protect and nurture the forest. On the other hand, in the 'Make in India' programme, the government is trying to fulfill the corporate interest by putting up factories that hamper the forest area, which costs the destruction of the whole environment. In this paper, the authors aim to highlight a Case of a remote village of Balarampur in Dhenkanal district of Odisha, where the government has cut down more than 900 trees to set up102 corers worth of beer factory in the forest area. After a massive protest by the women, being covered by live media broadcasts, supported by activists and political gatherings, the chief minister could assess its adversity and finally cancel the brewery project.The authors aim to describe the approach adopted by the village people to protect their forests forgenerations. Also, they attempt to critically analyze the collective effort of women against the administration and the brewery factory to withdraw the project and their endeavor to plant trees to regenerate the forest. In this paper, the authors discuss how the village women, with their conscious and collective effort, could save their forest, their ecological environment and ultimately establish peace in their village.
The main purpose of this research was to investigate Communities’ participation and project’s performance in Rwamagana photovoltaic solar power plant. This study used descriptive survey research with target population of three hundred and eighty (380) respondents. A Sample size of seventy-nine (70) respondents were determined using Nassiuma (2001) formula. Simple random sampling technique made the basis for selection of respondents from sample size. The researcher used drop and pick later method to distribute the study questionnaires. Data collected were coded and analyzed using descriptive (percentages and frequencies) while concept of statistics such regression and correlation analysis was used to determine relationships between the independent and dependent. The study’s results obtained indicate that project selection had moderate positive correlation (r =0.411 with a P value = 0.000) project planning had moderate positive correlation (r =0.366 with a P value = 0.000) while project execution had moderate positive correlation (r = 0.391 with a P value = 0.000) with project performance. The study further found that indicate that when independent variables (Project execution, Project planning and = Project selection) were held constant project performance is 1.000. a unit increase in project selection would lead increase project performance by 0.721 with P value of 0.000 a unit increase in project planning would lead increase project performance by 0.698 with P value of 0.000 while unit increase in project execution would increase project performance by 0.946 with P value of 0.000. The study draws a conclusion that all project should continue to use project selection, project planning and project execution identify and assess project performance. In addition, the study concludes that a project management team should identify the specific elements contributing to the project performance regard to how the project owners determine a project’s performance. The study recommends Rwamagana photovoltaic solar power plant to continue applying project selection, project planning and project execution process how they will involve Communities to assess projects before they are implemented. It is very crucial to involve Communities on all project stages. Project management team at Rwamagana photovoltaic solar power plant should identify specific elements contributing to the project performance. Finally, the study recommends Rwamagana photovoltaic solar power plant to establish another performance measuring tool to be used to analyze and evaluate all potential projects before resources are allocated. The study recommends future researchers to conduct research on the influence of community participation on project performance. Keywords: Community Participation, Project Performance, Solar Power Project, Rwanda
This chapter is based on empirical data from five women-only FUGs in the mid-west region of the Rapti zone.2 It is complemented by secondary data on women-only FUGs and mixed FUGs throughout the country. We acknowledge that substantial variations may exist even between women-only FUGs, and the data presented here do not statistically represent the whole scenario. However, we aim to assess whether the goal of promoting women-only FUGs to address the gender inequity observed in mixed groups is met in reality.
The chapter questions whether the instrumental approach of promoting women-only FUGs is a wise move to address issues of gender and social inequity in community forestry. We hope to see whether in spaces in which they are in charge, women are able to exercise agency and discard the traditional hierarchies, or whether indeed traditional power relations, materialized through caste hierarchies, are maintained.
Community forestry programme has been a major programme of Nepal’s forestry sector for more than two decades. With its widely acknowledged success, different challenges have been emerging over time. Exclusion of women from decision-making process is one of the major challenges of community forestry. Recognizing the importance of women’s participation in community forestry, forestry policy has focuses on enhancing the wider participation of women in decision-making and benefit sharing. But this legal provision has not brought any significant changes to increase women’s participation in community forestry. This study intends to identify critical gender asymmetries in decision-making and division of labour in community forestry. It also analyzes how these asymmetries are created. Furthermore, this investigation aims at contributing recommendations to mitigate these gender asymmetries in policy for the forest development programme.
This paper examines the effects of gender inequality on prospects of cooperation and environmental sustainability. Gender inequality is a form of inequality that is interactive with but distinct from other forms of economic and social inequalities. It dwells not only outside the household but also centrally within it. It stems not only from pre-existing differences in economic endowments between women and men, but also from pre-existing gendered social norms and social perceptions, that is, the inequality is also ideologically embedded. And it not only pre-exists in the noted forms, but can also arise from newly-defined rules and procedures that structure the functioning of the governance institution itself. All three dimensions of gender inequality can impinge on prospects for cooperation and efficient local commons management; and all are largely neglected in collective action literature on the commons. The paper also distinguishes between voluntary and non-voluntary cooperation arguing that cooperation need not always be a voluntary act. Cooperation may appear to exist despite inequalities and conflicts of interest within a community, because it is imposed by some on others through the exercise of social and/or economic power. The paper analyses how these different aspects of gender inequality can impinge on collective action and the form it takes (voluntary or non-voluntary), and the likely outcomes for environmental sustainability. It does so by analyzing the experience of community forest management across India, drawing also on the author's recent field data from western India. In addition, based on the latter, it empirically tests the effects on rule formulation and forest quality of women's greater inclusion in the decision-making process of local commons governance.
I A controlled supply of water is crucial for much of the world's agriculture. This is particularly the case in many of the semi-arid and uneven-rainfall areas of South Asia. While there is considerable amount of work on the management of large canal systems and the structure and practices of the irrigation bureaucracy, economists have only recently started paying attention to issues of local community-level cooperation and other institutional arrangements that are key to substantially improving the existing levels of utilization of irrigation potential. Community institutions can have various functions in different irrigation systems: For example, they aim at pooling efforts and resources in constructing and maintaining field channels at the local outlet level, at regulating water allocation and monitoring violations; in cases of tank irrigation also at desilting, weeding, and stopping encroachments on tank beds; at repairing, maintaining, and controlling water allocation from public and community tubewells; at controlling groundwater overexploitation with privately owned pumps in areas with fragile aquifers, and so on. Water reform in the sense of building or promoting such community institutions of cooperation is at least as important as land reform in rural development.2 But the history of local community-level cooperation in water management in South Asia is rather mixed.3 There are several documented examples of successful local community water management (although usually at a rather low level of organizational form) in different parts of the region, some of them going many hundreds of years back in history and still surviving, but there are also numerous cases of failure of cooperation, leading sometimes to an anarchical scramble for water. It is important to understand the conditions working for and against sustainability of local cooperation in situations of general social and economic interdependence.
Among its basic objectives, the Indian National Forest Policy, 1988, emphasizes ‘meeting the requirements of fuelwood, fodder, minor forest produce and small timber of the rural and tribal populations’ and ‘creating a massive people's movement, with the involvement of women, for achieving these objectives’. This represents a major step forward on previous policy which focused on management of forest for timber production, to the virtual exclusion of other uses. Yet the implementation of this policy is proving to be gender biased, even where women are included in the formal structures of control based on community participation. Women's needs and rights are not reflected in the new systems of control which produce results very different from the common property regime which preceded the nationalization of forest land.
The idea of people's participation has long been part of development thinking. But today the management of local natural resources by village communities is widely accepted as an institutional imperative. It is therefore essential to examine how these institutions perform, especially from the perspective of the more disadvantaged. Based on extensive fieldwork among community forestry groups in India and Nepal, and existing case studies, this paper demonstrates how seemingly participatory institutions can exclude significant sections, such as women. It provides a typology of participation, spells out the gender equity and efficiency implications of such exclusions, and analyzes what underlies them. It also outlines a conceptual framework to help analyze the process of gender exclusion and how it might be alleviated.
In the past two decades, scholarship on resource use and management has emphasized the key role of institutions, communities, and socio-economic factors. Although much of this writing acknowledges the importance of a large number of different causal variables and processes, knowledge about the magnitude, relative contribution, and even direction of influence of different causal processes on resource management outcomes is still poor at best. This paper addresses existing gaps in theory and knowledge by conducting a context-sensitive statistical analysis of 95 cases of decentralized, community-based, forest governance in Himachal Pradesh, and showing how a range of causal influences shape forest conditions in diverse ecological and institutional settings in the Indian Himalaya. In focusing attention on a large number of cases, but drawing on findings from case studies to motivate our analysis and choice of causal influences, our study seeks to combine the strengths of single case-oriented approaches and larger-N studies, and thereby contributes to a more thorough understanding of effective resource governance.
This paper demonstrates how institutions for natural resource management (such as community forestry groups), which appear to be participative, equitable and efficient, can be found lacking on all three counts from a gender perspective. It also examines possible gender differences in social networks, values and motivations. Although there is little to suggest that women are inherently more conservationist than men, the distinctness of women's social networks embodying prior experience of successful cooperation, their higher dependence on these networks (as also on the commons in general), and their potentially greater group homogeneity relative to men, could provide an important (and largely ignored) basis for organising sustainable environmental collective action. The paper also outlines the factors that can constrain or facilitate women's participation in formal environmental management groups. Illustrative examples are drawn from rural South Asia. Copyright 2000 by Oxford University Press.
This study suggests that there is a narrower scope to expand inequality with the increase in forest sources of income to total income relative to non-forest income irrespective of the type of villages and types of FPCs. The addition of forest income in the JFM households after JFM reduces measured income inequality by about twelve percent, all else equal. But no such perceptible decrease has been found after JFM situation for non-JFM households. Categorically, forest income plays the dominant role in reducing measured income inequality for poor households who are relatively asset poor and that also live below poverty line. But this study also lends credence to the fact that the non-involvement in the JFM programme by the non-JFM households might bring about a major environmental shirking, because illegal timber income constitutes the major part of all sources of income for non-JFM households even after JFM situation.
Evidence supporting the claim that women's participation in large-scale rural water supply projects leads to improved project outcomes is largely limited to isolated case studies. This paper attempts to fill this gap by examining data from 45 villages in two World Bank-assisted projects in India. Using data from a variety of sources, including water committee members, household surveys and focus groups, women's participation is quantified - what percentage actually attend meetings or are involved at higher levels of participation such as decision-making? While it is determined that, in some cases, female committee members are nominal, or token, participants, there is evidence that being on a local water committee helps women develop skills and confidence. Overall community participation is found to have a positive and significant relationship with different measures of project success; however, women's participation at the levels observed in this study is found to have no relationship to project success.
Recently formulated plans for the forestry sector in Nepal place much emphasis upon the encouragement of tree cultivation on private land. This paper examines tree cultivation by farmers from a village perspective. The species composition, location, and population structure of trees being cultivated by 44 farmers on their own land are discussed in the light of field observations and farmers' comments. Villagers' perceptions of the value of different species are outlined, and used to show why certain species are commonly planted. Farmers' planting techniques are also reported. An important factor influencing the location of these on farm land was found to be farmers' views about the effect of tree shade on crop yields. The population of trees on farm land was found to be dominated by seedlings and saplings. A number of broad conclusions are drawn from the findings that have relevance to forestry projects operating on other parts of Nepal's Middle Hills, as well as national planning. -from Author
Economists studying environmental collective action and green governance have paid little attention to gender. Research on gender and green governance in other disciplines has focused mainly on women's near absence from forestry institutions. This interdisciplinary book turns that focus on its head to ask: what if women were present in these institutions? What difference would that make? Would women's inclusion in forest governance - undeniably important for equity - also affect decisions on forest use and outcomes for conservation and subsistence? Are women's interests in forests different from men's? Would women's presence lead to better forests and more equitable access? Does it matter which class of women governs? And how large a presence of women would make an impact? Answers to these questions can prove foundational for effective environmental governance. Yet they have hardly been empirically investigated. This book is the first major study to comprehensively address these wide-ranging issues. It traces women's history of exclusion from public institutions, the factors that constrain their effective participation, and how those constraints can be overcome. It outlines how strategic partnerships between forestry and other civil society institutions could strengthen rural women's bargaining power with community and government. It examines the complexities of eliciting government accountability in addressing poor rural women's needs, such as for clean domestic fuel and access to the commons. Located in the interface of environmental studies, political economy and gender analysis, the volume makes contributions to current debates on gender and governance, forest conservation, clean energy policy, critical mass and social inclusion.
In Orissa a large number of villages have been protecting and managing state forests lands as a common resource through elaborate community arrangements. Rural communities involved in forest management have also been demanding secure rights over these forests. Vasundhara and Sanhati, an alliance of NGOs in Orissa, recently facilitated a broad-based consultation process with village people and NGOs on the issue of community rights over forests. This discussion brought forth the intricacies involved in operational details relating to community rights over forests, and how women's concerns and priorities tend to get marginalised in these debates. This paper tries to capture the discussion and debate on community rights over forests. It reflects on how women define their relationship with forests, how this is in contradiction with the 'rights regime' and the property-based view of forests from which it emanates, and how this could lead to conflicts over non-timber forest produce.
The last two decades have seen the emergence, spread, and institutionalization of par ticipatory processes. In the natural resource management sector, it has taken various forms under the terms community forestry (in Nepal), joint forest management (in India) or, more generically, participatory forestry. As this model is built around the concepts of participation and partnerships, there is an assumption that everybody in the community would have an opportunity to participate and benefit. Yet emerging evidence from the field shows that this is not the case. The social reality of rural societies and their relation ships with natural resources are more complex and entangled than first acknowledged.This article, based on relevant literature and recent fieldwork in Sindhu Palchok and Kavre Palanchok districts of Nepal, will attempt to address the reasons for the failures of formal institutional models like community forestry to integrate gender as a funda mental variable. The current dominant focus on the biophysical dimension of natural resource management, in-built shortcomings of participation, and the failure to tackle power issues impede any meaningful progress towards gender and social equity, and the need jor change goes beyond mere institutional adjustments.
In 1983 the General Assembly of the United Nations called for the setting up of a World Commission on Environment and Development. The Commission's ambitious tasks were described by its Chairman, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway, as: (1) to propose long‐term environmental strategies for achieving sustainable developments by the year 2000 and beyond; (2) to recommend ways concern for the environment could be translated into greater cooperation among developing countries and between countries at different stages of economic and social development; (3) to consider ways and means by which the international community could deal more effectively with environmental concerns; and (4) to help define shared perceptions of long‐term environmental issues and the appropriate efforts needed to deal successfully with problems of protecting and enhancing the environment. The Commission's Report, Our common future,was published in 1987.
This text is the second of two volumes. Two and a half billion people are affected directly on a day-to-day basis by the allocation and use of local resources. Yet ‘official’ development economics has concentrated on headline international issues and only recently begun to take account of the dependence of poor countries on their natural resources; the link between acute poverty and environmental degradation; and the problems associated with the management of local common property such as soil and soil cover, water, forests and their products, animals, and fisheries. The chapters cover emerging development issues, ranging from foundational matters to case studies. They address both analytic and empirical issues on the role of environmental resources in the development process, presenting explanations of existing situations and policies for the future.
Based on an extensive literature and illustrated by a field survey of two Forest User Groups in Nepal, this paper explores how participation in community forestry is affected by social status and more so by gender. Looking more specifically at gender differences, the paper presents the reasons and the ways in which women, despite the current rhetoric, remain excluded from any meaningful participatory process.
An important part of our approach to forest policy is the examination of ‘policy narratives’ or stories told by different protagonists. These are not ‘just talk’ or inventions for others’ amusement, but persuasive constructions with a beginning (assumptions, problem framing, choice of issues, etc), a development (argumentation, supporting evidence, justifications, troublesome side issues and other relevant circumstances) and a conclusion (what should be done and policy recommendations). They use some facts, are ignorant of or deselect others and interpret information in a particular manner so as to tell a persuasive and consistent story. They frame issues and problems in certain ways to focus on some issues and to exclude others. This may be done either consciously, as a strategy, or unconsciously, where the author has a particular set of facts and values which are not critically reflected upon. Narratives are used in policy-making as much as in everyday life. They are a way of making sense of an uncertain, complex, and contested world. In a more strategic sense, narratives may also be a means of persuading others. In no way is the labelling of an account as a ‘narrative’ meant to be derogatory or to imply falsehood or fantasy. On the other hand, however, we cannot assume that we know the actors’ intention from our interpretation of what they say. As Chapter 3 has illustrated, forest policy is complex, with many competing political representations and political ecologies at different scales, and narratives fulfil important objectives for the actors involved. Narratives serve to stabilize their expectations and provide secure moorings in a shifting and sometimes threatening world, but they also perform representative and political purposes in the exercise of power by persuasion. Narrative analysis is therefore well suited for the treatment of policy (see Roe 1994, Hajer 1995, Apthorpe and Gaspar 1996, Forsyth 2003).
Using a case study from India, this article examines the limitations of populist ecofeminist thought. The case study shows that both men and women assume interchangeable roles as destroyers and conservers of the environment, depending on both the material relationship they have with their natural resources and the social context within which they operate. Secure livelihood opportunities and usufruct rights, and the existence of enabling institutional mechanisms are of considerable importance for people to have a stake in conserving their natural resources.
Forest use rules determine what products are extracted from community governed forests, in what quantity, by what methods, and by whom. The nature of rules and the process by which they are formulated (e.g. who participates in formulating them) can impinge critically on institutional sustainability (given their potential impact on the commitment and incentive to protect), and on equity and conservation outcomes. This is well recognized in the substantial literature on institutions governing common pool resources (CPRs). It is also well recognized, although in relation to other types of institutions, such as legislatures and village councils, that there can be notable differences in women's and men's policy priorities. Yet there is surprisingly little existing work on, or statistical testing of, potential gender differences in rule making in institutions managing natural resources such as forests. This paper, based on the author's primary data for India and Nepal, seeks to fill this conceptual and empirical gap. It examines why we might expect women to favour different rules from men, and statistically tests whether the gender composition of the executive committees (ECs)—the main decision-making bodies of community forestry institutions (CFIs) in South Asia—makes a difference to the strictness of forest use rules. This is analyzed both by specifying a strictness index which aggregates rules across products and by examining rules for selected products, and both for all sample districts together and for each district separately. Gender is found to make a significant difference to the rules specified but not always in the expected direction. Given their substantial and daily dependence on local forests, especially for firewood and fodder, rural women may normally be expected to veer toward lenient rules of extraction. In fact, groups with more EC women and especially with all-women ECs tend to make stricter rules than other groups in most of the sample districts, except one district where they tend to make less strict rules. Greater strictness is attributable especially to the resource constraint faced by all-women groups (ie. CFIs with all-women ECs) which receive smaller and more degraded forests than groups with men. Less strict rules among CFIs in the exceptional district are attributable especially to the disproportionate presence of landless women on their ECs. In other words, not simply women's presence in rule making but also their economic class can matter. Strictness also varies by type of product, forest and population characteristics, the EC's average age and dominant caste, and monitoring constraints. The potential implications for equity, institutional sustainability and forest conservation are also discussed.
Local community-level water management is crucial for rural development in the poorest parts of the world, in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Local cooperative institutions have been successful in water management in some cases, but there are numerous cases of failure. The paper draws upon the relevant lessons from the theoretical literature on cooperation in game theory, both in economics and evolutionary biology. Then it goes into the evidence from field studies by anthropologists and others on the conditions for success or failure of local cooperation. This points to some additional insights which the theoretical models are yet too constricted to incorporate.
This dissertation focusses on the forests of Uttarakhand, India as a terrain where local, regional, national, and international politics are mapped. By examining the multiple narratives of forest use and abuse, I discuss the complex politics of control and coercion, of subsistence and profit, and of resistance and reconciliation which are woven in and around forests. Even though the dissertation is about forests, it is not about forests alone but critically addresses the questions of unequal relations of power, of conflicting notions of gain, of gendered and caste-based nature of conflict, and of competing interpretations of history.In this anthropological exploration of ecological change, I examine the multiple ways through which local men and women contest and consent to the hegemonic compulsions of the forest department. By presenting the narratives and counter-narratives of social and ecological change, I discuss how local people perceive of the transformations in their ecological landscape. What does 'environment crisis' mean to them? How do they imagine the contours of a modern society as they struggle to procure food, firewood and fodder? More specifically, how do women justify stealing wood from the government-owned reserved forest? The answers to these questions are mainly drawn from extensive fieldwork in a village in Uttarakhand Himalaya and from the interviews and discussions I had with village leaders, members of village Panchayat, environmental activists, and journalists.By discussing the environmental discourse in colonial and independent India, I argue that the environmental historiography is dominated by a focus on the colonial period that undermines the continuity and connections which exist between colonial and pre-colonial periods. The legacy of this interpretation informs the contemporary environmental discourse which presents a romantic picture of pre-colonial past, of indigenous populations, of Himalayan dwellers, and especially of women. The famous Chipko is discussed in this context. By discussing the everyday practices of forest use, I provide a critique of the romantic representation of indigenous people and argue that in order to understand the complex process of ecological change, we have to move beyond chronological periodization of history and problematize the dichotomies of tradition and modernity, of ecologically benign and ecologically harmful. My contention is that the relationship of the pahar is with the forests is shaped by multiple positionings of caste, gender, age, and inter- and intra-village politics. By presenting the contentious relationship of a forest dependent community with its forests, with each other, and with the state, the dissertation illustrates the multiple axes of power and control that determine the politics of forest use and management and exploitation.
Summary The gender and politics literature has long debated how women's proportional strength affects policy formulation within legislatures. Studies on gender and environmental governance have focused mainly on women's limited participation in local institutions. Both bodies of work leave important aspects unexplored. The former neglects the in-between process -- the impact of women's numbers on their effective participation, such as attending and speaking up at meetings, and holding office. The latter neglects to ask: what impact would increasing women's proportions have on participation and what proportions are effective? Rigorous empirical analysis is also scarce. Addressing these gaps, this paper, based on primary data for community forestry institutions in India and Nepal, statistically tests if a group's gender composition affects women's effective participation, and if there are any critical mass effects. The results support the popularly emphasized proportions of one-quarter to one-third, but women's economic class also matters, as do some factors other than women's numbers.
"The focus of 'Engendering the Commons: A Case Study in Gender, Difference and Common Property in Himachal Pradesh, India' is women's use of common property, primarily village forests, and how women of different caste and economic status use common lands for distinct needs. The research is theoretically framed by a perspective in difference, and bounded by common property as a parameter for study. Research is based upon 10 weeks of fieldwork, undertaking interviews with women in 33 households in two small agricultural villages in the Kullu Valley. "The present research supports theory at a macro-level that rural villagers are highly dependent upon common property resources, and may therefore have interest in defending village commons from degradation. At a micro-level, however, this study suggests that there is stratification by caste and class within rural villages that ultimately leaves the poorest within the village outside management and influence in decision making over village common lands. "In this study, 97% of the women interviewed used village commons for the collection of firewood, fodder and/or cow bedding, although each woman relied upon the commons for distinct livelihood needs Households with limited land and cattle resources required products from the commons to sustain agricultural livelihoods. The near-landless often used village commons to gather products for sale or to be utilized within reciprocal relationships with kin households. Within this context of differing needs from village commons, a women's organization, the Mahila Mandal, had organized to protect village forests from continuing environmental degradation The diversity of needs from village commons, as well as women's differing positions within the village socio-political structure, was found to create conflict at the village level over the management and issues of control of common lands. The study concludes that a perspective in difference brings a closer understanding of 'community' management of 'common' resources."
"The present work is concerned with the topical issue of natural resource management. It does not deal, however, with broad-spectrum environmental concerns such as protection of wilderness areas (for example, the south pole), air or water pollution, etc., but focuses on local ecosystems. What distinguishes local-level resources from larger ecosystems is that (1) they are susceptible of appropriation by relatively small units (including individuals) and (2) they can lead to rivalry in consumption in so far as yields of these resources are clearly perceived as subtractable. This book thus addresses the question as to how these local or village-level natural resources (as contrasted with global commons) can be most efficiently and equitably managed. In other words, can we find guidelines or sound theoretical principles for an optimal long-term exploitation of local resources (forests, irrigation water, pastures, lakes and rivers, sea areas, etc.)? Disturbing evidence highlighting rapid processes of resource depletion, particularly so in developing countries, has stimulated a lot of theoretical and empirical works during the last decades. Moreover, relevant theoretical tools (such as game theory) have been developed independently of environmental concerns which have potential applications to this field. The present attempt aims essentially at making a pause in order to take stock of the achievements attained so far. We believe this step is necessary in view not only of the considerable body of literature which has accumulated on the subject under concern, but also of the multidisciplinary nature of the works involved. Due to these two characteristics, there are many gaps to be bridged between various strands of thinking or contributions to the field."
Drawing on research in areas of Andhra Pradesh where rain is scarce and unreliable, argues that some villages develop and finance joint institutions for cooperative management of common property resources in grazing and irrigation - but others do not. The main reason lies in the risk of crop loss. Villages located towards the tail-end of irrigation systems, and with soils fertile enough to support a high density of livestock, show a larger amount of corporate organization than villages elsewhere.-from Publisher
Thesis (M.A.)--University of Manitoba, 1995. Includes bibliographical references. Photocopy.
Corruption in the public sector erodes tax compliance and leads to higher tax evasion. Moreover, corrupt public officials abuse their public power to extort bribes from the private agents. In both types of interaction with the public sector, the private agents are bound to face uncertainty with respect to their disposable incomes. To analyse effects of this uncertainty, a stochastic dynamic growth model with the public sector is examined. It is shown that deterministic excessive red tape and corruption deteriorate the growth potential through income redistribution and public sector inefficiencies. Most importantly, it is demonstrated that the increase in corruption via higher uncertainty exerts adverse effects on capital accumulation, thus leading to lower growth rates.
Policy, gender and institutions: a journey though forest manage-ment issues in the Kullu Valley Out of the wood? Local institutions and community forest management in two central Himalayan villages Why is community forestry a social-and gender-blind technology? The case of Nepal
- Delhi
- K Bingeman
- Winnipeg
- C Britt
Oxford University Press, Delhi. Bingeman, K. 2001. Policy, gender and institutions: a journey though forest manage-ment issues in the Kullu Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India. Masters thesis in Natural Resource Management, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg. Britt, C. 1993. Out of the wood? Local institutions and community forest management in two central Himalayan villages, Cornell University, Ithaca, draft monograph. Bromley, D.W. (Ed.), 1992. Making the Commons Work: Theory, Practice, and Policy. InInstitute for Contemporary Studies Press, San Francisco. Brundtland Report, 1987. Our Common Future. World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Buchy, M., Subba, S., 2003. Why is community forestry a social-and gender-blind technology? The case of Nepal. Gender, Technology and Development 7 (3), 313–332.
A Review of Forest User Groups: Case Studies from Eastern Nepal
- D R Dahal
Dahal, D.R., 1994. A Review of Forest User Groups: Case Studies from Eastern
Nepal. International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD),
Kathmandu.
Women organize for wasteland development: a case study of SARTHI in Gujarat
- Sarin
Sarin, M., Khanna, R., 1993. Women organize for wasteland development: a case study
of SARTHI in Gujarat. In: Singh, A., Burra, N. (Eds.), Women and Wasteland
Development in India. Sage publications, Delhi, pp. 129-169.
The Environment and Emerging Development Issues
- P Seabright
Seabright, P., 1997a. Is cooperation habit-forming? In: Dasgupta, P., Maler, K.-G. (Eds.), The
Environment and Emerging Development Issues. InClarendon Press, Oxford, pp. 283-307.