The other side of migration in rural Nepal: sociocultural transformation and the women left behind

This study examines the relationship between male labour out-migration and the process of sociocultural transformation in the places of origin. Taking an example from Nepal, it shows that male labour out-migration has increased women’s partici­pation in agriculture, more significantly so in those cases where the left-behind women are de-facto household heads than in cases where they live with in-laws. Similarly, in the case of ­­de-facto female heads of households, women’s role in agricultural decision-making has increased. Women, who in the absence of their husbands live with their in-laws, continue to remain under patriarchal control, not by their husbands but by their father-in-law and elder brothers-in-law. Women who are de-facto heads of the households can exercise more autonomy in decision-making and have more control over their own mobility. Hence, the effects of male out-migration on women’s participation in agricultural work and decision-making are also conti­ngent upon the domestic arrangement in which they find themselves. </p

From working in the wheat field to managing wheat: women innovators in Nepal

This article presents research conducted in Nepal’s Terai plains in 2014-15 showing that women are innovating in wheat to the extent that wheat farming is experiencing a shift from feminization of agricultural labor towards women taking control over decision making. Processes accounting for this include male out-migration, non-governmental organizations working on promoting women’s equality that has developed women’s confidence, individual support from extension agents, and strong cooperation between women to foster each other’s “innovation journeys.

TH1.1: Beyond Household Headship: Examining the Intra-household Decision-Making Process Among Wheat Growers in Bihar, India

Agricultural decisions among smallholders are made within the households where in most cases husband and wife discuss, contest, negotiate, or consent to the decisions they make. Comparing male and female-headed households misses these important dynamics of decision-making that are happening inside the households. Likewise, comparing household heads does not consider the role of women who live in male-headed households. This study looks beyond who makes which decisions and the binaries of yes and no responses as a measure for gender dynamics. It disentangles the intra-household aspect of the decision-making process itself and helps understand the "why" behind decisions among wheat growers in two districts of Bihar- Madhepura and Darbhanga. It uses vignettes, or stories, to survey 420 women and men farmers (210 households) to identify the decision patterns across six key activities of wheat farming covering strategic, operational, and financial decisions. The vignettes describe five possible household scenarios by narrating five short stories to individual respondents and showing corresponding graphics for visual aid. Preliminary analysis indicates that patterns between households and gender are not uniform. There are divergent patterns across five vignettes amongst households for women and men's roles. Further, they are found to have different patterns of responses to the same agricultural activities, adding more complexity in the mix. Understanding these dynamics will help design more comprehensive, effective and actionable approaches to gender-intentional interventions in the wheat crop management, including breeding and inclusive seed system development, as it feeds to identify entry points for women's role in agricultural decisions

Migration to and from the Nepal terai: shifting movements and motives

In Nepal, the historical evidence shows that migration to the terai increased after the eradication of malaria in the late 1950s and has been increasing ever since. More recently, however, out-migration from the terai is rapidly increasing. By applying both qualitative and quantitative research methods, in-depth qualitative interviews, focus group discussions and household survey were used for data collection, with considerable inputs from ethnographical fieldwork for about 21 months. The paper presents three types of population flows in the historical pattern. First, the history of Nepal as an arena of population movement; second, the gradual opening up of the terai, leading to the hills-terai movement; and the third, the current outward flow as an individual migration for work. The paper exemplifies that poverty and lack of arable land are not the only push factors, but that pursuing a better quality of life is gaining importance as a migration motive. We conclude that like movements of people, their motives for moving are also not static and cannot be taken for granted

Gender, rainfall endowment, and farmers’ heterogeneity in wheat trait preference in Ethiopia

Paper presented at the 7th African Conference of Agricultural Economics, 18-21 September 2021, Durban, South Africa. More information on the conference can be found here: https://www.acae2023.org

Gender, social, household, and ecological factors influencing wheat trait preferences among the women and men farmers in India

The goal of public breeding programs is to develop and disseminate improved varieties to farmers. This strategy aims at providing farming communities with superior crop varieties than they are growing. However, the strategy rarely considers the needs and preferences of farmers, especially gendered preferences, failing to solve real field problems by addressing the differences and inequalities prevalent in the farming communities. Our research examines how personal, household, agronomic and ecological characteristics of wheat growers in Bihar, India’s eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains, affect women and men’s wheat trait choices. Data were obtained from 1,003 households where both male and female respondents from the same household were interviewed. We accounted for 23 traits of wheat from a careful assessment of production, environment, cooking quality, market demand, and esthetic criteria. Binomial logistic regression was used to determine women’s and men’s trait preferences. The results imply that gender influences the preferences of wheat traits. Some traits are favored by both women and men, however, in other instances, there are striking disparities. For example, men choose wheat varieties that are well adapted to extreme climate conditions, have a higher grain yield, and produce chapati with a superior taste, while women prefer wheat types with superior chapati making quality, higher grain yield, and high market prices. Other socioeconomic, agronomic, cultural, and geolocational factors have a considerable impact on trait preferences. These human dimensions of traits preferred by women and men farmers are important for trait combinations to develop breeding product profiles for certain market segments

Gender differences in smallholders' socioeconomic networks and acquisition of seed of improved wheat varieties in Ethiopia

Enhancing farmers' access to improved seeds is essential to increase productivity and ensure food security in the Global South. However, for many socially marginalized groups, seed access is constrained by the weak institutions governing the input supply chains and the dissemination of information. Using cross-sectional survey data collected from 1,088 farming households in three major wheat-growing regional states of Ethiopia in 2021, this paper assesses empirically how participation in different socioeconomic institutions by men and women farmers shapes their access to and acquisition of seed of improved wheat varieties. The results show that the seed market in the study area is largely informal, where the recycling of wheat seeds from the previous season is a common practice among both male- and female-headed households. However, a significant difference exists between male- and female-headed households regarding patterns of varietal use, with male farmers growing newer wheat varieties more frequently. Men are also more active than women in local social and economic institutions, and their participation is positively associated with the adoption of new wheat varieties. Thus, strengthening the local social and economic institutions and supporting equitable participation of both male- and female-headed households in these institutions could facilitate the diffusion of quality seeds of improved and recently released wheat varieties in countries where the informal seed system plays a major role in seed acquisition

Are wheat-based farming systems in South Asia feminizing?

This article pulls together the state of knowledge on the degree to which wheat-based systems in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, are feminizing. It is not yet possible to make definitive statements. However, it is clear that wheat-based systems are undergoing far-reaching changes in relation to “who does what” and “who decides.” There are some commonalities across all four countries. Intersectionalities shape women’s identities and abilities to exert their agency. Purdah is a cultural norm in many locations. Nevertheless, each country displays different meta-trends. In Nepal managerial feminization is increasing unlike in Pakistan. Women in Bangladesh spend the least time in field work whereas in other countries they are often strongly engaged. There are strong local variations within countries as well which we explore. Establishing the extent of feminization is challenging because studies ask different questions, operate at different levels, and are rarely longitudinal. Researchers often construct men as primary farmers, leading to a failure to find out what men and women really do and decide. This diminishes the value of many studies. Cultural perceptions of honor can make men respondents reluctant to report on women’s agency and women can be reluctant to claim agency openly. We provide suggestions for better research, and urge support to women as workers and decision-makers.</p

Isolation of wheat endosperm cell walls: effects of non-endosperm flour components on structural analyses

We report the isolation of a pure form of cell walls from wheat endosperm ‘popped’ out from the whole, enzyme deactivated and soaked grain, and compare them with cell walls isolated from milled flours of extraction rates from 45% to 75%, at physiological (37 °C) and elevated (70 °C) temperatures. Cell walls isolated from flours all contained non-endosperm walls whereas walls from popped endosperm were apparently pure. The monosaccharide composition of ‘popped’ cell walls was different to that of cell walls isolated from flour, particularly glucose and mannose contents (34 and 7% for ‘popped’ cf 29 and 3% for flour respectively) and arabinose to xylose ratios (0.45 for ‘popped’ cf 0.58 for flour). Total phenolic contents of popped endosperm cell walls were three to four times lower than for cell walls from flour. Elevated isolation temperature also had a solubilising effect, altering the cell wall composition. This study provides a novel method of isolating pure wheat endosperm cell walls, and demonstrates how contaminating (thick cell walled) non-endospermic material in milled flours can have a major influence on cell wall compositional analyses

Responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of Nepal’s hillside farming system

Agricultural mechanization in developing countries has taken at least two contested innovation pathways—the “incumbent trajectory” that promotes industrial agriculture, and an “alternative pathway” that supports small-scale mechanization for sustainable development of hillside farming systems. Although both pathways can potentially reduce human and animal drudgery, the body of literature that assesses the sustainability impacts of these mechanization pathways in the local ecological, socio-economic, cultural, and historical contexts of hillside farms is either nonexistent or under-theorized. This paper addresses this missing literature by examining the case of Nepal’s first Agricultural Mechanization Promotion Policy 2014 (AMPP) using a conceptual framework of what will be defined as “responsible innovation”. The historical context of this assessment involves the incumbent trajectory of mechanization in the country since the late 1960s that neglected smallholder farms located in the hills and mountains and biased mechanization policy for flat areas only. Findings from this study suggest that the AMPP addressed issues for smallholder production, including gender inequality, exclusion of smallholder farmers, and biophysical challenges associated with hillside farming systems, but it remains unclear whether and how the policy promotes small-scale agricultural mechanization for sustainable development of agriculture in the hills and mountains of Nepal