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Gender Transformative Impacts from Watershed Interventions: Insights from a Mixed-Methods Study in the Bundelkhand Region of India

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/11393/
https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.13568
doi:10.13031/trans.13568
 
Title Gender Transformative Impacts from Watershed Interventions: Insights from a Mixed-Methods Study in the Bundelkhand Region of India
 
Creator Padmaja, R
Kavitha, K
Pramanik, S
Duche, V D
Singh, Y U
Whitbread, A M
Singh, R
Garg, K K
Leder, S
 
Subject Watershed Management
Gender Research
 
Description This study examined gender perspectives on water security by exploring an integrated water management approach
for agriculture, livestock, and human consumption. The data were generated in a watershed project to enhance
drought resilience of farming through groundwater recharge and agroforestry interventions in the water-scarce Bundelkhand
region of Uttar Pradesh in central India. Post-intervention, a quantitative survey and qualitative gender and social
analysis tools were applied to understand the benefits of the interventions for women, men, and the community as a whole.
Quantitative data were collected from 700 individuals in five villages (three treatment villages and two villages where watershed
interventions were not implemented). In addition, 33 semi-structured interviews and eight focus group discussions were
conducted to understand local gender norms at the project sites. Data analysis revealed that the community benefits accrued
from the watershed interventions included increased crop productivity and diversification of agriculture and livelihoods.
However, strict patriarchal norms restricted the visibility, mobility, and communication of women within the household and
community during the interventions. Considering gender diversity, this study identifies that women can benefit from participating
in watershed interventions and provides a deeper understanding of the constraints and barriers to women’s participation
in such projects, including economic, social, and cultural factors. The construction of check dams reduced women’s time
per day for fetching water by about 29%. Groundwater level increases reduced the effort required of women to draw water
from open wells and hand pumps. Female education is a significant factor related to the benefits of watershed interventions,
and regression analysis indicated that households with higher levels of education of adult women were significantly more
likely to benefit from the interventions than other households. To avoid perpetuation of the exclusion of diverse local
knowledge and gender inequality at the community level,
mechanisms must be developed and adjusted continuously
such that whole communities, including men and women, are
empowered to participate in the decision-making process at
various levels and for different purposes. When implementing
watershed projects in a highly patriarchal context, as in the
Bundelkhand region where women are hidden behind the
strong presence of men, advocacy of behavioral change
communication must be implemented regularly. The community
needs to be sensitized toward systematic and gendersensitive
institution building, social engagement, and capacity
development for local as well as global water security.
 
Publisher American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
 
Date 2020-01
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/11393/1/pdfviewer.pdf
Padmaja, R and Kavitha, K and Pramanik, S and Duche, V D and Singh, Y U and Whitbread, A M and Singh, R and Garg, K K and Leder, S (2020) Gender Transformative Impacts from Watershed Interventions: Insights from a Mixed-Methods Study in the Bundelkhand Region of India. Transactions of the ASABE (TSI), 63 (1). pp. 153-163. ISSN 2151-0040