Women in natural resource collection: Experience from rural Jharkhand in India

Ghosh, Bhola Nath and De, Utpal Kumar (2015): Women in natural resource collection: Experience from rural Jharkhand in India. Published in: AIP ISM2 Conference in Malaysia No. 1643 (5 February 2015): pp. 476-486.

Abstract

Women living in rural areas are closely associated with the natural environment. Poor families are mostly dependent on natural resources for their survival activities viz.grazing of cattle, collection of water for drinking and cooking purposes and collection of fuel wood. In the poor families due to the compulsion of earning, adult males mostly go for outside activities and sometimes female members of the family also join them. The aforementioned natural resource collection activities are considered to be inferior, less remunerative and hence suitable for the women or young kids to perform. Thus, they are found to be more close to the nature than men and this very close relationship makes them perfect managers of the eco-system in their vicinity. The life of rural women is so much intertwined with the environment that they can't even think of her survival without it. However, there might be significant inter-household differences in the distribution of such activities between male and female members of the families, depending upon their socioeconomic characteristics, cultural and religious beliefs and attitude towards women and children. The involvement of women in such activities is also found to be more in the tribal dominated societies. This paper tried to examine the extent to which women in rural Jharkhand are involved in such natural resource collection and management activities. Also, we tried to unearth various economic and cultural reasons and their impact on the involvement of women in such activities across various social and economic groups. The analysis of primary data collected from the rural areas of tribal dominated Jharkhand reveals that income, occupation and status of the families have significant inverse link with the involvement of women and also of girl children at the cost of their educational prospects. Religious and cultural beliefs also enter in the determination of extent of involvement of women and children in the rural society. It is also an indication of the low empowerment level of the rural women in the study area.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Natural Resource, Dependence on Natural Resource, Women in Natural Resource Collection, Cultural Belief, Jharkhand.
• Subjects: Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q2 - Renewable Resources and Conservation > Q20 - General; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q2 - Renewable Resources and Conservation > Q23 - Forestry; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q2 - Renewable Resources and Conservation > Q28 - Government Policy; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology

References

1. A. Agrawaland and E. Ostrom, ‘Politics and Society’, Collective action, Property Rights, and Decentralization in RESOURCE Use in India and Nepal (India, 2001). pp 485–514. 2. B. Agarwal, “Does Women’s Proportional Strength Affect their Participation? Governing Local Forests in South Asia,” World Development, 38, 98-112 (2010). 3. C. M. Lambi, J. N. Kimengsi, C. G. Kometa and E. S. Tata, “The Management and Challenges of Protected Areas and the Sustenance of Local Livelihoods in Cameroon,” Environment and Natural Resources Research, 2, 10-18 (2012). 4. I. C. Dutta, Non Timber Forest Products of Nepal: Identification, Classification, Ethnic Users and Cultivation, Kathmandu: Hillside Press P. (Ltd.), 2007. 5. J.-M.Baland and J.-P.Platteau, Halting Degradation of Natural Resources: Is There a Role for Rural Communities? Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. 6. J. Salzman, “Thirst: A Short History of Drinking Water, Duke Law School Research”, Paper No. 92, 2005, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=869970. 7. John Thompson, et al., “Waiting at the Tap: Changes in Urban Water Use in East Africa of Three Decades,” Environment and Urbanization, 37, xx (Oct., 2000). 8. M. Buchy and S. Subba, ‘Gender, Technology and Development’, Why is Community Forestry a Social and Gender Blind Technology? (Nepal, 2003). pp 313-332. 9. N. Basik, The Role of Women in Asia’s Community Forest Enterprises (Washington DC: Rights and Resources Initiative, 2012). 10. N. Sen, UK De and BN Ghosh, “Gender Empowerment, Deprivation and Poverty in Rural Jharkhand: A Case Study”, International Journal of Current Research, 11, 107-116 (2010). 485 This article is copyrighted as indicated in the article. Reuse of AIP content is subject to the terms at: http://scitation.aip.org/termsconditions. Downloaded to IP: 14.139.207.126 On: Thu, 05 Feb 2015 05:22:33 11. P. Bose, “Forest Tenure Reform: Exclusion of Tribal Women’s Rights in Semi-arid Rajasthan, India”, International Forestry Review 13, 220-232 (2011). 12. U. Adhikari, “Women in Forest Management: A Case Study of Dharapani Women Community Forest Bharatpokhari VDC, Kaski, Nepal”, Masters Thesis, Pokhara University, 2011. 486 This article is copyrighted as indicated in the article. Reuse of AIP content is subject to the terms at: http://scitation.aip.org/termsconditions. Downloaded to IP: 14.139.207.126 On: Thu