Women as forest managers: the effect of male outmigration

Participation has always been one of the development goals of decentralized programs. The community forestry program in Nepal also aims to bring forth the participation of disadvantaged communities such as women in forest management. However, even after three decades of community forestry, women's participation is still hard to achieve. Empirical studies on women's participation often cite the social context as one of the important factors affecting women's participation. This research aims to investigate the effect of a changing social context - due to male outmigration - on women's (active) participation in the management of community forests. In particular, different circumstances that can arise due to male outmigration in a social setting will be identified and their relation to women’s participation in community forestry will be analyzed. The goal is to assess which conditions can lead to increasing women’s participation in community forestry. Data is collected in two Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) in Ramechhap district: Majuwa Bhumithan CFUG and Dugudsingh Hup CFUG. Semi-structured survey, key-person interviews, observations were used to collect primary data. Likewise, secondary information such as existing data on migration, database of CFUGs located in Mid-hills, forest constitution and operational plan of CFUGs are also gathered. This research project thus aims to analyze women’s empowerment through community forest management of Nepal. Specifically, the research aims to analyze following dimensions:

  • How can male outmigration affect women's participation in community forestry? Are there any circumstances that arise due to male outmigration that can enhance women's participation?
  • What are women's preferred mode of participation in community forestry?
  • Does male outmigration lead to a process of social transformation that is conducive to empower women through an active engagement with community forestry? 

Publications

Giri, K. and I. Darnhofer (2010). Nepali women using community forestry as a platform for social change. Society & Natural Resources 23(12), 1216-1229. Giri, K. and I. Darnhofer (2010). Outmigrating men: A window of opportunity for women's participation in community forestry? Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 25(Supp 9): 55-61. Giri, Kalpana (2009). Women as forest managers: the effect of men's outmigration. Unpublished PhD Thesis. University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna (Austria). Giri, K. and I. Darnhofer (2009). Participating and not just sitting in: Understanding women's agency in community forestry. Paper to be presented at the 2nd Gender and Forestry Conference, 15-18 June 2009 in Umea, Sweden. Giri, K. (2009). The role of students from developing countries. Presentation at the Conference "Internationalisation and development policy dimensions at universities" held 16-17 April 2009 in Vienna, Austria. Christie, M.E., K. Giri and J.D. Gurung (2009). Women in the woods. Experiences of women in the forestry sector in Nepal. Paper preseted at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, held 22-27 March 2009 in Las Vegas, USA. Giri, K. and J. Gurung (2008). Still a man's world: Reflections on women foresters in Nepal. Paper presented at the IUFRO Gender Conference held 16-19 November 2008 in Dehradun, India Koirala, R., K. Giri and B. Pokhrel (2008). Development and status of community forestry governance in Nepal. Paper presented at "Forestry in a climate of change", the 2008 National Convention of the Society of American Foresters, held on 5-9 Nov. 2008 in Reno-Tahoe, Nevada, USA. Giri, K. (2008). Participation: Different dimensions and associated challenges to development. Presentation at the 4th Young Scientist Forum, held 29 October 2008 in Vienna, Austria. Giri, K., B. Pokhrel, I. Darnhofer (2008). In the absence of their men: Women and forest management in the Mid-hills of Nepal. In: K. Aravossis, C.A. Brebbia, N. Gomez (eds.). Environmental Economics and Investment Assessment II. Southampton, WIT Press, pp. 295-304.  Giri, K. (2007). Evaluating governance in a Community Forest User Group. Good governance as a key concept for the sustainable management of forest resources in Nepal. Poster presented at the 8th Student Conference for Conservation Science, held 27-29 March 2007 in Cambridge, UK. Giri, K. (2006). Resource complexities and governance mechanisms: Evaluating the community forestry program of Nepal. Paper presented at the Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change held on 17-18 November 2006 in Berlin, Germany.