Forest degradation, changing livelihoods and gender relations : a study of two tribal communities in Orissa, India | |
| Author | Panda, Smita Mishra |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no. HS-96-06 |
| Subject(s) | Forest management--India--Orissa--Citizen participation Women in rural development--India--Orissa |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. HS-96-06 |
| Abstract | Forests are an important feature of the environment and economy of the developing world. In India a number of tribal communities depend on the forests for their livelihood by way of hunting, gathering and swidden cultivation. Forest depletion and degradation has led to a significant impact on the livelihoods of tribal communities. There have been several State interventions initiated to alleviate their socio-economic conditions, but they have not yielded desired results. It is an established fact that a lack of holistic approach to deal with forest degradation along with lack of gender concerns has been the major weakness of most external interventions. Thus it is important to consider the links that exist between forests as resources and gender dimensions of household sustenance while formulating sustainable development policies and programmes for forests and tribal communities. The present study was conducted among tribal (Juang and Saora) communities in two selected villages in Orissa, India, faced with severe forest depletion and degradation. Participatory approaches and tools of gender analysis were applied in the primary survey conducted in the villages. The focus of the study is to first assess the cause and extent of forest degradation and depletion in the study areas. Secondly the impact of forest degradation on the livelihoods in terms of loss of household resources have been studied. The Juang and Saora have adapted to the changing resource environment by taking up wage employment both within and outside the region (male migration among the Saora) and trading in the market, an economy characterised by cash. Thirdly the study focused on the impact of forest degradation and changes in the livelihood on gender relations. An assessment of the development policies and programmes relating to the tribals and the forests has been done to delineate the gaps that could be dealt with, in order to recommend viable approaches in sustainable forest resource management with gender as a critical concern. So far the policies have been gender-blind and have not paid any attention to gender differentiation and intra-household dynamics that shape gender relations. Forest degradation is caused by endogenous and exogenous factors, the latter dominant over the former. The tribals are largely left to cultivate and gather those forest areas that are degraded thereby leading to fmiher degradation. The livelihoods have changed from one that was primarily based on forests to a combination of cultivation (wet lands, homesteads and swidden) of lands, forest gathering and, wage employment and trading. One of the major features that led to changes in the internal prope1iy system of the tribals is introduction of land titles during the land survey and settlement done by the state in the 1970s. Land titles led to a change from communal to private individual ownership, whereby the titles rested with the male head of the household. There is a differential impact of forest degradation on women and men. With continuing forest degradation, there has been an alienation of household resources the most important of them being food. As women are traditionally responsible for providing for the household needs, the burden and workload has increased with depletion of forest resources. The time spent by women in land cultivation and forest gathering has increased significantly along with the physical effort required to undertake these tasks. Additionally women have to perform certain compelling domestic tasks which leaves them very little time for leisure. iv The study revealed that women on an average spend 3 to 4 hours more than men in doing different tasks in a day. Both women and men are inclined to cash economy, but it is the men who have been favoured as they have been able to dissociate from much of the domestic responsibilities. Men's involvement in the traditional land based activities have been reduced to minimal or at best one time activities such as cutting the bigger trees before firing in order to clear the swidden plots or ploughing and sowing (among Juang only) in the wet lands. Women are therefore largely left to take care of all the cultivation and forest gathering activities along with other domestic responsibilities. The major factors that have influenced gender relations among the Juang and the Saora are the changes in the internal property system, in which women emerge as non-owning producers; commoditisation of the swidden lands among the Saora where there is considerable erosion of women's rights; male migration among the Saora, which leaves women with more responsibilities within the domestic economy. The study shows that there is a sharpening of gender based division of labour with men more oriented to the cash economy. Such a gender differentiation has led to hierarchy between genders in which men and their income earning capacity is considered superior than women's tasks and responsibilities. The continuing Hindu caste influence also contributes to gender inequalities in Juang and Saora communities. The analytical model proposed for analysing gender relations indicate prevailing inequalities between women and men in access to resources, control and ownership of resources, access to alternative opportunities as well as social decision making power (calculated and aggregated as gender relations index). The application of this model provides a gender disaggregated view of the critical factors that contribute in fashioning gender relations. The gender relations index derived from the analysis shows that women have lower position within the household than men. This index when juxtaposed with the time contribution index further reveals the disadvantageous position of women among both the tribes. The study shows that there are no existing policies relating to swidden cultivation or the overuse of resources. There is no integration between forestry and agriculture or horticulture sectors at the State level, which is closely linked in case of the Juang and the Saora. The tribals are not considered as agents in managing the forests. Thus certain recommendations have been made based on the findings of the study. They pertain to four main areas such as tenureship, institutional, gender specific and provison of livelihood in terms of enhancing resource productivity. Providing land titles to women and men is a starting point to implement any sustainable programmes. Property rights to women has a direct bearing on their empowerment. They not only have decision making power but also a choice for alternative opportunities. Effective participation of women in the market is also another way by which they can be empowered, for which Juang and Saora women have the potential. At the institutional level, a partnership approach like the Joint Forest Management (JFM) has been suggested as a possibility. This could prove to be an efficient mechanism to deal with forests and the crisis associated. |
| Year | 1996 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. HS-96-06 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Human Settlement (HS) |
| Chairperson(s) | Dale, Reidar; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Kelkar, Govind;Remigio, Amador; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) ; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1996 |