So to continue, yesterday we interviewed the host
family. The husband did most of the talking, the wife was quite shy and giggled
when I asked her anything or referenced how nice the tea or lunch was. Then the husband invited several neighbours
over to also partake in interviews.
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| A professional farmer at work. A prize for the first person to email me the answer to the question: what's in the barrel? |
A challenge has been to really convey our
purpose there. We are researchers. We come, we take information, we translate
that information into something new, we share it, hopefully we graduate with an
MSc and we carry on… it’s a selfish business, and sometimes no one benefits but
the researcher.
This is the harsh reality I carry with me, and
it’s been a personal struggle from the start.
Such is why I really wanted to look at the processes happening in development
and see if those mechanisms are helping or hindering women’s empowerment. It seems cliché, but seriously, women are so
often left behind or lumped in with “women and socially excluded groups”,
“women and disadvantaged groups”, “poor, women, disadvantaged and vulnerable
households” as well as several other synonyms to achieve a similar grouping. I
can give references all day long to documents that position the status of women
like this, as some generic grouping beside the 'real' problems of agriculture:
commercialisation, technology, markets, and so on.
Since I have meandered over to this topic,
I’ll share with you some other things I have learned. In recent times, attention has
turned to the role of smallholder farmers in the facet of commercialization,
entrepreneurship and ultimately increased economic activity in the local and
global agricultural markets. This is particularly
true in Nepal, where an upwards of 70% of eligible labor is engaged in the
sector and of those, 90.5% are women and 74.9% are men, the large share of
which is in smallholder capacity (FAO, ND; Government of Nepal, 2011,
Samriddhi).
From a gender perspective, due to a male
hiring bias in urban areas, as well as significant male migration to other
countries for labour opportunities, the proportion of women living and working
in rural areas in Nepal, particularly in agriculture is increasingly larger
than men (FAO, 2012). As evidenced by
the sheer number of women engaged in agriculture it is clear that they have a
large role to play in its development, however as evidenced in the Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook,
women’s “access to resources and opportunities to enable them to move from
subsistence agriculture to higher value chains is much lower than men’s” (WB & IFAD, 2009: 173). The third Millennium Development Goal
identifies women’s empowerment as not only an end in itself, but a means to
contribute to increased efficiencies and improved productivity in the
agricultural sector (IFPRI, 2012). However this is one of the few goals Nepal
is not set to achieve by the 2015 deadline.
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| Cauliflower, which has been seeded and transplanted into straight rows, a relative novelty to the area. |
Culturally Nepal has a deeply
entrenched system of patriarchy, which contributes to Nepal ranking alarmingly
low at 157 of 208 on the UN Gender Inequality Index (UNDP, 2012). Women in Nepal can expect a lower life
expectancy than men, are 35% less literate, have a smaller share of household
resources and their productive economic activity has to date, been largely
unaccounted for and as such, significant challenges to the growth of the
agricultural sector in the context of this gender disparity exist (USAID, 2011;
Worec Nepal 2013; WB, 2013).
Nepal is primed
for taking advantage of agricultural exports and value added products due in
part to its agriculturally based assets: highly productive land that can grow a
wide variety of crops, and a large and active labour force (World Bank 2013).
However there is general consensus that a key challenge to serving domestic and
international demand is the commercialization of its markets (World Bank, 2013;
Samrhiddi, 2011, CIA World Fact Book, ND).
So how do we take these huge ideas and
issues and make them something tangible for smallholders? How can we use some of the implements in
place to make change for good?
This in my opinion is where primary
research enters the picture. Without ongoing accounts of what is really
happening for women farmers, we might be planning for things as they were, or
things as we assume they might be.
There have been many, many NGO’s and projects happening in Nepal over
the last 30 years that it is no surprise that farmers know things are happening
but may not be happening for them. And
If I can make an initial observation from the 18 farmers we have interviews,
those who have some level of commercialization, training, improved inputs, have gotten them away from
near absolute poverty levels, they are hungry for that next level of income or
success, and why should they not achieve it?
Anyhow, these are things rattling around in
my mind as we talk to these women who want change, and training, and access to knowledge
they know they are left out of learning.
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| The shed houses 5 cows. I *kind of* wonder if they ever get out for exercise, and*kind of* don't want to know the answer. |
One lady today was so happy to share the
English she learned with me, and to let me know that she has a Canadian friend,
Jasmine Brown. So Jasmine, if you’re out
there, your Nepali friend says hello, and help. She arrived last to the 'call for interviewees' and came in the door sweating saying 'I'm late, very, very late', which was fine by us, we had been fed and watered, we were just wondering about our cabbie waiting for us was all…
She opened the interview by stating, I need training (in english). A tough conclusion to follow with any subtlety, as she has drawn her own conclusion as to what this research may reveal...
Thankfully my research assistant is a
hopeful and sympathetic entrepreneur who has connections and the tenacity to
get something working in their village.
And honestly, if there’s something I can do I will do it, because
sometimes it’s more about mobilizing people and using existing funds more
effectively rather than starting something new.
So this is turning once again into a rambling
self-indulgent reflection on my take on things.
And I haven’t even gotten to the exciting part! Our cabbie went missing. He wasn’t there when we made the long walk
down the hill to find him.
He had parked at a lady’s house for a while
and then, according to the lady, was arrested and took off, or something. Ezina was quite concerned about him so so we managed to catch a big clunker of a bus
within about 10 minutes (25 rupee each) and went to the police station at the
bottom of the hill to see if he was there but they had no idea what we were
talking about. We talked to an officer
for several minutes and left our contact info and went off to find a cab
home. Just as we were climbing into a
reasonably priced cab ride, he came chasing us down the street to say that his
captain wanted to hear more about our story, for some unknown reason, so we
went back. We waited for her and chatted for several minutes detailing the deal
we had worked out with him and how Ezina had even left her jacket with
him. The best part was a small sized dog
who was so happy to get some pets.
It’s all a bit strange… we owe the guy
money so you’d think he would wait for us, and he was a neighbour friend so
there’s that connection. I literally have
no idea what happened to him.
To be continued?
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| Me, blending in as best as possible. |
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