Your search found 6 records
1 Leder, S.; Sugden, F.; Raut, Manita; Ray, D.; Saikia, P. 2019. Ambivalences of collective farming: feminist political ecologies from eastern India and Nepal. International Journal of the Commons, 13(1):105-129. (Special issue: Feminist Political Ecologies of the Commons and Commoning) [doi: https://doi.org/10.18352/ijc.917]
Collective farming ; Collective action ; Resource management ; Gender relations ; Women ; Political ecology ; Tenant farmers ; Land fragmentation ; Land management ; Commons ; Water management ; Dry season ; Social aspects ; Labour ; Case studies ; Villages / India / Nepal / Eastern Gangetic Plains / West Bengal / Madhubani / Cooch Behar / Alipurduar / Saptari
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049381)
https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/10.18352/ijc.917/galley/919/download/
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049381.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049381.pdf
(0.60 MB) (616 KB)
Collective farming has been suggested as a potentially useful approach for reducing inequality and transforming peasant agriculture. In collectives, farmers pool land, labor, irrigation infrastructure, agricultural inputs and harvest to overcome resource constraints and to increase their bargaining power. Employing a feminist political ecology lens, we reflect on the extent to which collective farming enables marginalized groups to engage in smallholder agriculture. We examine the establishment of 18 farmer collectives by an action research project in the Eastern Gangetic Plains, a region characterised by fragmented and small landholdings and a high rate of marginalised and landless farmers. We analyze ambivalances of collective farming practices with regard to (1) social relations across scales, (2) intersectionality and (3) emotional attachment. Our results in Saptari/ Eastern Terai in Nepal, Madhubani/Bihar, and Cooch Behar/West Bengal in India demonstrate how intra-household, group and community relations and emotional attachments to the family and neighbors mediate the redistribution of labor, land, produce and capital. We find that unequal gender relations, intersected by class, age, ethnicity and caste, are reproduced in collective action, land tenure and water management, and argue that a critical feminist perspective can support a more reflective and relational understanding of collective farming processes. Our analysis demonstrates that feminist political ecology can complement commons studies by providing meaningful insights on ambivalences around approaches such as collective farming.
2 Bastakoti, Ram; Raut, Manita; Thapa, Bhesh Raj. 2020. Groundwater governance and adoption of solar-powered irrigation pumps: experiences from the eastern Gangetic Plains. Washington, DC, USA: World Bank. 16p. (Water Knowledge Note)
Groundwater irrigation ; Water governance ; Irrigation methods ; Solar energy ; Pumps ; Groundwater extraction ; Water use efficiency ; Water market ; Electricity supplies ; Business models ; Policies ; State intervention ; Water costs ; Subsidies ; Entrepreneurs ; Community involvement ; Farmers' attitudes ; Case studies / Nepal / India / Eastern Gangetic Plains / Ganges Basin / Bihar / West Bengal
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049596)
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/33245/Groundwater-Governance-and-Adoption-of-Solar-Powered-Irrigation-Pumps-Experiences-from-the-Eastern-Gangetic-Plains.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049596.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049596.pdf
(0.97 MB) (992 KB)
Solar-powered irrigation pumps (SPIPs) have been promoted in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) in recent decades, but rates of adoption are low. This case study assesses the evidence from several solar pump business models being adopted in parts of the EGP, particularly eastern Nepal and northern India, and explores how different models perform in various contexts. It documents lessons for increasing farmers’ resilience to droughts through better groundwater use by promotion of SPIPs. Groundwater access for agriculture in the past was dependent on diesel and electric pumps, respectively constrained by costs and reliability of energy. Both government and nongovernment agencies have promoted SPIPs in the Ganges basin for irrigation and drinking purposes. SPIPs receive different levels of subsidies across countries and states in the region to facilitate adoption and ensure continuous and timely irrigation, which particularly benefits small and marginal farmers. Because the EGP faces variability in water availability, the SPIPs could help in building drought resilience. However, because low operating costs for SPIPs does little to incentivize farmers to use water efficiently, one critical question is how to balance equitable access to SPIPs while ensuring groundwater overdraft is not perpetuated. Farmers’ awareness of efficient water management options is crucial to avoid overextraction of groundwater.
3 Khadka, Manohara; Uprety, Labisha; Shrestha, Gitta; Minh, Thai Thi; Nepal, Shambhawi; Raut, Manita; Dhungana, Shashwat; Shahrin, S.; Krupnik, T. J.; Schmitter, Petra. 2021. Understanding barriers and opportunities for scaling sustainable and inclusive farmer-led irrigation development in Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal: Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). 92p.
Farmer-led irrigation ; Sustainability ; Smallholders ; Small scale systems ; Agricultural value chains ; Gender equality ; Inclusion ; Livelihoods ; Irrigation equipment ; Supply chains ; Water management ; Multiple use water services ; Public-private partnerships ; COVID-19 ; Policies ; Innovation scaling / Nepal
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050731)
https://repository.cimmyt.org/bitstream/handle/10883/21683/64317.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050731.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050731.pdf
(1.87 MB) (1.87 MB)
4 van Koppen, Barbara; Raut, Manita; Rajouria, Alok; Khadka, Manohara; Pradhan, P.; GC, R. K.; Colavito, L.; O’Hara, C.; Rautanen, S.-L.; Nepal, P. R.; Shrestha, P. K. 2022. Gender equality and social inclusion in community-led multiple use water services in Nepal. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 29p. (IWMI Working Paper 203) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2022.200]
Multiple use water services ; Gender equality ; Social inclusion ; Community involvement ; Water resources ; Water supply ; Supply chains ; Right to water ; Water availability ; Drinking water ; Domestic water ; Water, sanitation and hygiene ; Participatory approaches ; Decision making ; Governmental organizations ; Non-governmental organizations ; Households ; Women ; Livelihoods ; Vulnerability ; Water sharing ; Solar energy ; Food security ; Nexus ; Rural areas ; Water systems ; Infrastructure ; Irrigation ; Small scale systems ; Sustainability ; Benefit-cost ratio ; Financing ; Income ; Competition / Nepal / Dailekh / Sarlahi
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H050908)
(1.21 MB)
The Constitution of Nepal 2015 enshrines everyone’s right of access to clean water for drinking and the right to food. The common operationalization of the right to water for drinking is providing access to infrastructure that brings water for drinking and other basic domestic uses near and at homesteads. Challenges to achieving this goal in rural areas include: low functionality of water systems; expansion of informal self supply for multiple uses; widespread de facto productive uses of water systems designed for domestic uses; growing competition for finite water resources; and male elite capture in polycentric decision-making. This paper traces how the Nepali government and nongovernmental organizations in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), irrigation and other sectors have joined forces since the early 2000s to address these challenges by innovating community-led multiple use water services (MUS). The present literature review of these processes complemented by field research supported by the Water for Women Fund focuses on women in vulnerable households.
Overcoming sectoral silos, these organizations support what is often seen as the sole responsibility of the WASH sector: targeting infrastructure development to bring sufficient water near and at homesteads of those left behind. Women’s priorities for using this water are respected and supported, which often includes productive uses, also at basic volumes. In line with decentralized federalism, inclusive community-led MUS planning processes build on vulnerable households’ self supply, commonly for multiple uses, and follow their priorities for local incremental infrastructure improvements. Further, community-led MUS builds on community-based arrangements for ‘sharing in’ and ‘sharing out’ the finite water resources in and under communities’ social territories. This realizes the constitutional right to food in line with the Nepal Water Resources Act, 1992, which prioritizes core minimum volumes of water for everyone’s domestic uses and many households’ irrigation. Evidence shows how the alleviation of domestic chores, women’s stronger control over food production for nutrition and income, and more sustainable infrastructure mutually reinforce each other in virtuous circles out of gendered poverty. However, the main challenge remains the inclusion of women and vulnerable households in participatory processes.
Overcoming sectoral silos, these organizations support what is often seen as the sole responsibility of the WASH sector: targeting infrastructure development to bring sufficient water near and at homesteads of those left behind. Women’s priorities for using this water are respected and supported, which often includes productive uses, also at basic volumes. In line with decentralized federalism, inclusive community-led MUS planning processes build on vulnerable households’ self supply, commonly for multiple uses, and follow their priorities for local incremental infrastructure improvements. Further, community-led MUS builds on community-based arrangements for ‘sharing in’ and ‘sharing out’ the finite water resources in and under communities’ social territories. This realizes the constitutional right to food in line with the Nepal Water Resources Act, 1992, which prioritizes core minimum volumes of water for everyone’s domestic uses and many households’ irrigation. Evidence shows how the alleviation of domestic chores, women’s stronger control over food production for nutrition and income, and more sustainable infrastructure mutually reinforce each other in virtuous circles out of gendered poverty. However, the main challenge remains the inclusion of women and vulnerable households in participatory processes.
5 Suhardiman, Diana; Raut, Manita; Pradhan, P.; Meinzen-Dick, R. 2023. Irrigation systems management in Nepal: women’s strategies in response to migration-induced challenges. Water Alternatives, 16(1):244-264.
Irrigation systems ; Irrigation management ; Gender ; Women's participation ; Strategies ; Migration ; Water user associations ; Institutions ; Canals ; Maintenance / Nepal / Chitwan / Dhading / Janakalyan / Kalleritar
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051576)
https://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol16/v16issue1/687-a16-1-4/file
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051576.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051576.pdf
(0.41 MB) (418 KB)
Large-scale male outmigration has placed new pressures on both men and women, especially regarding labour division in farm households and involvement in Water Users Associations (WUAs). This paper illustrates how the interplay between existing gender norms, male migration, remittances, and alternative sources of male labour influence women’s agency and WUA decision-making processes in Nepal. Despite official quotas aimed at promoting women’s participation in WUAs, some women prefer to monetise membership contributions rather than actively engage with the organisation. Others pursue strategic interests through changing WUA rules and, in the process, bringing about an adjustment of cultural norms. Women’s agency is derived not only from their knowledge of irrigation systems features and their ability to manage them; it is also related to their ability to learn new organisational skills and to apply them in the WUA context to negotiate and mobilise rules and resources. Women (re)shape their WUA involvement in conjunction with their farming strategies, their view of the WUA’s functionality, and whether they perceive the involvement as either an opportunity for productive engagement or as merely an increase in their already heavy workload.
6 Raut, Manita; Varady, R. G.; Rajouria, Alok. 2023. Gender and social inclusion in community water resource management: lessons from two districts in the Himalayan foothills and the Terai in Nepal. Water International, 48(4):547-566. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2023.2213962]
Gender ; Social inclusion ; Water resources ; Water management ; Community management ; Rural areas ; Water supply ; Water user groups ; Institutional development ; Policies ; Sociocultural environment / Nepal / Himalayan Foothills / Terai Plains / Dailekh / Sarlahi
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052033)
Despite decades of concerted efforts to address the problem, Nepal’s rural water supply sector continues to be laced with gender and social exclusion. This study provides insights from community water-user groups in two geographically and socially diverse contexts to better understand, from a gender and social inclusion perspective, and through institutional bricolage, how some water-user groups adapt to local contexts, shaping varied group dynamics that are not always equitable. Findings reveal that policies promoting social inclusion are difficult to implement amid the complex web of social and economic factors associated with community-managed water supply systems.
Powered by DB/Text WebPublisher, from
