Etic and emic perspectives on HIV/AIDS impacts on rural livelihoods and agricultural practice in Sub-Saharan Africa

Using an HIV/AIDS lens in looking at developments in rural livelihoods and agricultural practice reveals a diversity of critical impacts of the epidemic. Still, in most of the countries hardest-hit by HIV/ AIDS the agricultural sector lacks adequate policies and programmes to deal with the crisis. This paper examines the results of research about HIV/AIDS impacts on rural livelihoods and agricultural practice in Sub-Saharan Africa that was carried out during the past five years. Most of the researchers concerned are affiliated with Wageningen University. A number of them contributed as authors to the present special issue. In the review and synthesis presented in this paper both an etic and an emic perspective are used. The etic picture is one of mixed evidence regarding the livelihood effects of HIV/AIDS. Eliciting the views of people living with HIV/AIDS (the emic perspective) revealed continuity between notions of health of the human body and health of crops and the natural environment. This is particularly relevant for the practice and language of extension services and the effectiveness of approaches used by organizations – governmental and non-governmental – that try to mitigate the impacts the epidemic has on farmers and rural livelihoods

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

The disruption and rebuilding of social capital in involuntary resettlement in the Philippines and Indonesia

Abstract Resettlement studies are in agreement that involuntary resettlement tears apart the existing social fabric where poor households can draw different forms of resources for survival or sustenance. Utilizing the social capital theory, the present study presents findings on the extent of how the structural and cognitive dimensions of social capital was disrupted by the displacement and how it was subsequently rebuilt amidst strangers in the new government resettlement sites a year later

Indonesia’s women; Diversity and dynamics

The study of Indonesian women inevitably involves methodological questions, a prime one being whether Indonesian women as a category form a meaningful object of study. In edited volumes on Indonesian women, the contributions usually form a mosaic of different kinds of Indonesian women, defined by variables such as ethnicity, class, residence, or historical time. This raises questions about diversity and difference and the applicability of specific findings to Indonesian women in general. Taking as a point of departure that it is useful to treat Indonesian women’s studies as one field of study, I explore these issues in relation to women’s agency and empowerment. First, I do so by applying a system’s approach to a case which I know best from my own fieldwork, that of women in a Madurese fishing community. Second, I use an intersectional approach to explore the subject of Indonesian women and social change, focusing on the aspects of family and food, and urbanization. Finally, I interweave the two parts and draw conclusions on the resilience of traditional values in the family food domain and on the impact of women’s paid work, but I also point at many remaining questions for further research

Fish and Female Agency in a Madurese Fishing Village in Indonesia

Le rôle crucial des femmes dans l’économie halieutique locale et leur haut degré d’autonomie sociale constituaient deux traits remarquables de l’organisation socio-économique du village de pêcheurs de Patondu (Madura) en 1978. Un nouveau travail de terrain en 2004 montre que se sont produits au cours de ces 26 ans dans la pêcherie des changements technologiques et économiques de grande portée. De plus, avec la mise en place d’équipements publics, Patondu est désormais mieux relié au monde extérieur. En 2004, pourtant, les femmes y ont, autant sinon plus qu’avant, une place éminente. Les cas de six femmes actives dans le commerce et le traitement du poisson et le financement de la pêche sont examinés. Les pangamba’, considérées dans la littérature comme formant « un groupe phénoménal » , méritent une attention particulière : ces femmes – marchandes, entrepreneures et banquières, tout à la fois – sont les pivots de l’économie halieutique, comme « matrones » dans les relations de « matronage » qui structurent les réseaux socio-économiques. La solide position des femmes repose sur une division sexuelle du travail, écologiquement et culturellement fondée dans la société de Patondu, qui leur ouvre un vaste champ d’opportunités d’action dans les sphères économique et sociale. La vie quotidienne de Patondu s’apprécie en ichtyo-valeur et les femmes déterminent cette valeur. Elles contrôlent donc, dans une large mesure, l’économie halieutique locale. De plus, la limite fluide entre les sphères domestique et économique évite aux femmes le confinement au foyer et leur permet de jouer ce rôle de matrones dans la sphère économique. Des recherches sur les commerçantes des marchés à Java ont produit des résultats similaires. La société de Patondu n’est pas égalitaire et, même si le genre, comme facteur de stratification, recoupe d’autres facteurs et si le hiatus entre femmes aisée et pauvres s’est élargi, le contraste de genre demeure dominant et compréhensif.In 1978 two remarkable features of the economic and social organization of the fishing village of Patondu on the island of Madura were women’s key role in the local fishing economy and their large measure of social autonomy. Fieldwork carried out in 2004 showed that, during the 26 years in-between, far-reaching technological and economic changes in fishery had taken place. Public facilities had become available to Patondu, which was now better connected to the outside world. Yet in 2004, the position of its women was still strong, if not stronger than before. To find an explanation, six cases of women active in fish trading and processing and in fishery finance were documented, survey findings checked for trends, and key informants interviewed. The pangambă’ warrants special attention: A trader, entrepreneur, and banker, all in one, she plays a pivotal role in the fishing economy. Referred to in the literature as a “phenomenal group of women,” the pangambă’ are the matrons in the matronage relationships structuring the local socio-economic networks. The analysis shows that the explanation for the strong position of women lies in the ecologically and culturally underpinned, gendered division of labor in Patondu society that provides women with ample space and opportunities to exercise agency in the economic and social spheres. Since daily life in Patondu is taken at “fish value” and it is the women who manipulate and determine this value, they control the local fishing economy to a large extent. Furthermore, the boundaries between the domestic and economic spheres are fluid, preventing women from being domestically confined and enabling them to play their role as matrons in the economic sphere. Research on women traders in the Javanese market system has yielded similar findings. Patondu society is not egalitarian and, although gender as a stratifying variable intersects with other variables and the gap between well-to-do and poor women has widened, the gender difference has remained all-pervasive and encompassing