Your search found 8 records
1 Pradhan, R.; Meinzen-Dick, R.; Theis, S. 2019. Property rights, intersectionality, and women's empowerment in Nepal. Journal of Rural Studies, 70:26-35. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.05.003]
Property rights ; Gender ; Role of women ; Empowerment ; Households ; Personal property ; Social aspects ; Customary law ; Ethnic groups ; Norms ; Living standards ; Life cycle / Nepal
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049400)
(0.29 MB)
Property is widely recognized as an important resource for empowering women. Many development policies worldwide therefore call for strengthening women's rights to property, especially to physical assets such as land and livestock. However, the relationship between property and women's empowerment is more complex than generally assumed because of the overlapping and dynamic nature of property rights. In this paper, we explore how property rights affect the empowerment of women at different stages of the life cycle and different social locations, ethnicities, household structures, and social classes, using the lens of intersectionality. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted for the “Evaluation of the Welfare Impacts of a Livestock Transfer Program in Nepal,” we examine patterns in women's strategies to exercise specific rights over joint and personal property within their households. The findings show that legal categories of property rights in Nepal fail to account for nuanced rights to assets shared within households. Rather than emphasize individual control over assets for women's empowerment, the social relations around property need to be considered to understand which rights women value. The paper makes recommendations for how research and development projects, especially in South Asia, can avoid misinterpreting asset and empowerment data by incorporating nuance around the concepts of property rights over the life cycle.
2 Joshi, Deepa; Braaten, Y.; Hakhu, Arunima; Pradhan, Rubina; Gallant, Bryce. 2021. Gender and inclusion in the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE): an end of program reflection and evaluation. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). 30p. (WLE Legacy Series 5) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2022.207]
Gender equality ; Social inclusion ; CGIAR ; Research programmes ; Project evaluation ; Agricultural research for development ; Gender-transformative approaches ; Women ; Marginalization ; Social change ; Norms ; Learning ; Institutions ; Corporate culture ; Stakeholders ; Policies ; Diversification ; Impact assessment
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050977)
(2.87 MB)
The growing relevance of research on gender and social inclusion in agricultural research for development calls for systemic, transformative change processes. Transformative gender ambitions can stand at odds with personal biases and experiences that shape diverse understandings of gender, institutional values, structures and cultures that tend to reward technological quick-fix solutions, and other practical challenges to ‘doing’ gender on the ground. Very little is known about these challenges. How are these challenges navigated by (relatively small) teams of gender researchers, who are often caught between the demand for tangible fast gains on gender, and the intractable challenges of deep-rooted and complex, intersectional gender inequalities? This was the focus of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) End of Program Reflection and Evaluation (EoPRE) to assess how gender and inclusion research is pursued, and the key barriers to knowing and doing gender in eight research projects. Adopting a reflexive, self-analytical feminist approach to evaluation, this EoPRE facilitated eight project teams, diverse and with an uneven focus on gender, to connect the dots between the processes of knowing and doing gender research. A key finding of this evaluation is that the need for change is foremost internal. We need to begin by fixing our personal biases and assumptions, and fixing institutional cultures, values and structures instead of just trying to fix things out there, including fixing poor and marginalized women. A key recommendation is to seek more regular and open conversations across researcher disciplines and hierarchies, and between CGIAR and external partners and stakeholders, including feminist grassroots actors and networks – on what works well (and does not) and why. This would allow us to grasp why we start with different meanings and conceptualizations of gender; how agile we are (or not) in adapting to changes on the ground; and how, through a culture of reflection and learning, we might shift pathways to more transformative change processes in a fast evolving and increasingly unequal world.
3 Walsh, C. 2022. Beyond rules and norms: heterogeneity, ubiquity, and visibility of groundwaters. WIREs Water, 9(4):e1597. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1597]
Groundwater ; Norms ; Cultural factors ; Water governance ; Political ecology ; Aquifers ; Wells ; Pumping ; Infrastructure ; Surface water ; Communities
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051266)
https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/wat2.1597
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051266.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051266.pdf
(1.98 MB) (1.98 MB)
Over the last 150 years or so engineers, farmers, scientists, and many others around the globe have gained access to the waters that lie underground with drilling technology, pumps and cheap energy. Since the mid-twentieth century, a massive worldwide proliferation of deep wells has redistributed groundwaters away from springs, seeps, wells, and oases, robbing them of the water that supports local sustainable socionatural relations. The idea and social fact of groundwater has emerged in this history, and has three distinguishing features: heterogeneity, ubiquity, and visibility. The failure to halt depletion has prompted a turn to culture in the hope of governing the liquid sustainably. However, rather than grapple with the complexities and contradictions of heterogeneity, ubiquity, and visibility, these efforts take a rather thin view of culture—as rules, norms, and institutions to be studied, codified and deployed to address the crisis. This instrumental understanding of culture as a set of traits to be selectively used for arresting depletion has not proven effective, however, compelling us to rethink our cultural, political, and economic engagements with groundwater.
4 Welsch, H. 2022. Do social norms trump rational choice in voluntary climate change mitigation? Multi-country evidence of social tipping points. Ecological Economics, 200:107509. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107509]
Climate change mitigation ; Social aspects ; Norms ; Forecasting ; Public goods ; Policies ; Energy consumption ; Households ; Income ; Models / Europe
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051290)
(0.54 MB)
The rational choice model of voluntary public good provision predicts that an individual's contribution to climate change mitigation responds negatively to larger contributions by others whereas social norm theory maintains that one's own contribution is positively related to that of others. This paper tests the competing hypotheses empirically using representative data for about 30,000 individuals from 23 European countries. The paper finds that, up to a threshold percentage of others perceived to engage in mitigation, individuals' willingness to engage in mitigation themselves is lower the more other individuals are perceived to engage in such behavior, whereas the relationship is positive when the threshold is passed. Since the actual percentage of others perceived to engage in mitigation is lower than the estimated threshold (30 to 56%) in a number of countries, marginal increases in the percentage of others perceived to behave in a climate-friendly way may backfire by enhancing free-rider behavior. For the social norm to take grip, policy-induced non-marginal increases of perceptions may be required to shift the system past the tipping point.
5 van Koppen, Barbara. 2022. Living customary water tenure in rights-based water management in Sub-Saharan Africa. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 41p. (IWMI Research Report 183) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2022.214]
Water tenure ; Customary tenure ; Water rights ; Water management ; Water law ; Customary law ; Water resources ; Water sharing ; Infrastructure ; Water supply ; Multiple use water services ; Rural communities ; Water allocation ; Sustainable Development Goals ; water, sanitation and hygiene ; Norms ; Policies ; Legislation ; Water governance ; Water quality ; Water distribution ; Water permits ; Conflicts ; Costs ; Gender ; Women ; Right to water ; Right to food ; Households ; Living standards ; Drinking water ; Domestic water ; Farmer-led irrigation ; Pastoralists ; Livestock ; Land ; Water security ; Nexus approaches / Africa South of Sahara
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H051372)
(1.10 MB)
Living customary water tenure is the most accepted socio-legal system among the large majority of rural people in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on literature, this report seeks to develop a grounded understanding of the ways in which rural people meet their domestic and productive water needs on homesteads, distant fields or other sites of use, largely outside the ambits of the state. Taking the rural farming or pastoralist community as the unit of analysis, three components are distinguished. The first component deals with the fundamental perceptions of the links between humankind and naturally available water resources as a commons to be shared by all, partially linked to communities’ collective land rights. The second component deals with the sharing of these finite and contested naturally available water resources, especially during dry seasons and droughts. Customary arrangements shape both the ‘sharing in’ of water resources within communities and the ‘sharing out’ with other customary communities or powerful third parties. Since colonial times, communities have been vulnerable to those third parties grabbing water resources and overriding customary uses and governance. The third component deals with infrastructure to store and convey water resources. Since time immemorial, communities have invested in infrastructure for self supply, ranging from micro-scale soil moisture retention techniques to large-scale collective deep wells. As increasingly recognized in both the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and irrigation sectors, this component of self supply is rapidly expanding. In all three components, local diversity is high, with gender, class and other social hierarchies intertwining with social safety nets, neighborliness and moral economies.
The study derives two sets of implications for state and non-state policies, laws and interventions. First, state legislation about the sharing of water resources should recognize and protect living customary water tenure, especially through due process in ‘sharing out’ water with powerful third parties. Remarkably, water law, which is dominated by permit systems in sub-Saharan Africa, lags behind other legislation in recognizing customary water tenure (see IWMI Research Report 182). Second, by taking communities’ self supply for multiple uses as a starting point for further water infrastructure development, the WASH, irrigation and other sectors can follow the priorities of communities, including the most vulnerable; identify cost-effective multi-purpose infrastructure; develop local skills; and, hence, contribute more sustainably to achieving more United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 13. Further historical and interdisciplinary research to achieve these benefits is recommended.
The study derives two sets of implications for state and non-state policies, laws and interventions. First, state legislation about the sharing of water resources should recognize and protect living customary water tenure, especially through due process in ‘sharing out’ water with powerful third parties. Remarkably, water law, which is dominated by permit systems in sub-Saharan Africa, lags behind other legislation in recognizing customary water tenure (see IWMI Research Report 182). Second, by taking communities’ self supply for multiple uses as a starting point for further water infrastructure development, the WASH, irrigation and other sectors can follow the priorities of communities, including the most vulnerable; identify cost-effective multi-purpose infrastructure; develop local skills; and, hence, contribute more sustainably to achieving more United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 13. Further historical and interdisciplinary research to achieve these benefits is recommended.
6 Korzenevica, M.; Grasham, C. F.; Johnson, Z.; Gebreegzabher, A.; Mebrahtu, S.; Zerihun, Z.; Hoque, S. F.; Charles, K. J. 2022. Negotiating spaces of marginality and independence: on women entrepreneurs within Ethiopian urbanization and water precarity. World Development, 158:105966. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.105966]
Gender ; Women ; Entrepreneurship ; Marginalization ; Negotiation ; Urbanization ; Water supply ; Water access ; Social aspects ; Norms ; Empowerment ; Households / Ethiopia / Tigray / Wukro
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051332)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X22001565/pdfft?md5=3ed6f395debc4aaeda69717ed11ec2de&pid=1-s2.0-S0305750X22001565-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051332.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051332.pdf
(1.39 MB) (1.39 MB)
In the context of the growth of Ethiopia’s market economy the importance of women-owned enterprises is acknowledged, with barriers to economic success outlined in a limited number of studies. However, the daily struggles and embodied experiences of low-skilled women entrepreneurs in informal economies, as well as precarious and unequal intermittent water environments, have been insufficiently understood. We analyse how women strive for and negotiate their independence through spatiality and how services, specifically water, affect their ability to develop their business spaces. The evidence derives from five studies, using mixed methods, conducted in the small town of Wukro, Ethiopia. The methods used were household surveys, a water diary, and interviews with women entrepreneurs - owners of coffee, alcohol, and hair salons businesses. Our study finds that they develop their businesses through the simultaneous presence of various, multilevel spaces of marginality/paradoxical spaces and articulation of independence as control over one’s business and body. Unlike the positive term ‘empowerment’, the lens of negotiating ‘independence’ integrates spaces of conflicting subjectivities, where marginality and resistance, suffering and claimed control, interpellation, and re-construction of own identities are simultaneously present. We suggest that water struggles are analysed not only through the evaluation of water shortages and unequal geographical sectorization but also through the perspective of ‘water precarity’ (Sultana, 2020) as in our study it was a water-induced lack of control over businesses and daily lives that caused the most suffering. We highlight that this multidimensional approach is pivotal in supporting women’s entrepreneurship and gender equality.
7 Nunes, R.; Fielmua, N. 2022. Institutional bricolage in community-based water management: some insights from non-representational theory. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 30p. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2022.2078288]
Water management ; Institutional development ; Water governance ; Communities ; Towns ; Water systems ; Water supply ; Social aspects ; Women ; Households ; Norms ; Regulations ; Case studies / Ghana / Daffiama / Gwollu / Babile / Busa
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051420)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07900627.2022.2078288
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051420.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051420.pdf
(1.93 MB) (1.93 MB)
Drawing on non-representational theory, using as an example the work of Gilles Deleuze, we offer a complementary perspective on critical institutionalism. We examine four case studies of community-based water management in the Upper West Region of Ghana, which has empowered communities and encouraged democratically accountable approaches, while also underpinning discriminatory practices. We find this can be attributed to institutional bricolage, but we argue that non-representational theory also provides an alternative orientation to our data. It allows the agency of disempowered individuals to be recast as acts of hope.
8 Hatch, N. R.; Daniel, D.; Pande, S. 2022. Behavioral and socio-economic factors controlling irrigation adoption in Maharashtra, India. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 67(6):847-857. (Special issue: Advancing Socio-Hydrology) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2022.2058877]
Irrigation ; Adoption ; Socioeconomic aspects ; Psychological factors ; Farmers' attitudes ; Norms ; Risk ; Water scarcity ; Modelling / India / Maharashtra / Vidarbha / Marathwada / Nagpur / Wardha / Amaravati / Yavatmal
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051452)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02626667.2022.2058877
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051452.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051452.pdf
(3.48 MB) (3.48 MB)
Psychological frameworks are rarely used to understand irrigation adoption behaviour in developing countries. A Bayesian belief network (BBN) model was developed that integrated socio-economic characteristics and psychological factors to understand farmer behaviours with respect to irrigation practices in four districts of Maharashtra, India. Strong norms, risk perceptions of water scarcity, and attitude play roles in the adoption of irrigation technology and practices. Critically, it was found that no one factor can explain adoption behaviour; rather, an ensemble of factors is needed to understand farmer behaviour. A farmer who is highly educated, middle-aged, and moderately wealthy with a significant level of family help and an open well as their main water source, while receiving low promotional information related to water scarcity and irrigation adoption, is most likely to adopt irrigation technology. The application of the BBN in this study enables stakeholders and policymakers to better understand the linkages between different factors and behaviour.
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