Food Security

When Wetlands Dry: Feminist Political Ecology Study on Peat Ecosystem Degradation in South and Central Kalimantan

Citation:

Indirastuti, Catharina, and Andi Misbahul Pratiwi. 2019. “When Wetlands Dry: Feminist Political Ecology Study on Peat Ecosystem Degradation in South and Central Kalimantan.” Jurnal Perempuan 24 (4): 335-49.

Authors: Catharine Indirastuti, Andi Misbahul

Abstract:

INDONESIAN ABSTRACT: 

Indonesia memiliki 47 persen lahan gambut tropis dari total lahan gambut dunia. Namun sayangnya tata kelola lahan gambut yang berkelanjutan belum banyak diterapkan dalam pemanfaatan lahan gambut, alih-alih menjadi rumah bagi keanekaragaman hayati, lahan gambut di Indonesia justru berakhir kering, terbakar, dan beralih menjadi perkebunan monokultur. Persoalan degradasi ekosistem gambut adalah akibat dari politik tata kelola lingkungan yang tidak berkelanjutan--yang menyejarah. Penelitian ini memperlihatkan kompleksitas politik tata kelola kawasan gambut dan dampaknya terhadap perempuan dengan lensa ekologi politik feminis. Penelitian ini dilakukan di beberapa desa di Kalimantan Tengah dan Selatan, kawasan gambut tropis terbesar di Indonesia. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa 1) Ada persoalan salah tata kelola lahan gambut yang disadari perempuan desa baik secara praktis maupun politis; 2) perempuan dan anak perempuan mendapatkan dampak berlapis dari degradasi ekosistem gambut yakni, perempuan tercerabut dari ruang hidup, perempuan sulit mendapatkan sumber air dan pangan, perempuan mengambil alih peran kepala keluarga karena laki-laki bermigrasi namun tidak selalu diakui perannya sebagai kepala keluarga, dan perempuan dimiskinkan karena kehilangan kemandiriannya dan harus bekerja sebagai buruh sawit. Penelitian ini menggunakan kajian ekologi politik feminis sebagai alat analisis untuk melihat ketertindasan berlapis yang dialami perempuan pedesaan akibat degradasi ekosistem gambut. 

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: 
Indonesia tropical peatlands area is 47 percent of out of the total global peatlands. But unfortunately, sustainable peatland governance has not been widely applied in the management of peatlands, instead of being home to biodiversity, peatlands in Indonesia have ended up dry, burning and turned into monoculture plantations. The problem of peat ecosystem degradation is the result of unsustainable - historical environmental governance politics. This study shows the political complexity of peatland governance and its impact on women with a feminist political ecology lens. This research was conducted in several villages in Central and South Kalimantan, the largest tropical peat areas in Indonesia. This study found that 1) Rural women were realized that there are problems with peatland governance, both practically and politically; 2) women and girls have multiple impacts from peat ecosystem degradation ie, women are deprived of living space, women find it difficult to get water and food sources, women take over the role of the head of the family because men migrate but are not always recognized as the head of the family, and women are impoverished because they lose their independence and must work as oil palm workers. This study uses a feminist political ecology study as an analytical tool to see the multi-layered oppression experienced by rural women due to peat ecosystem degradation. 

Keywords: rural women, peatland village, peat ecosystem, feminist political ecology, resource governance, perempuan desa, desa gambut, ekosistem gambut, ekologi politik feminis, tata kelola sumber daya

Topics: Agriculture, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Governance, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods, Security, Food Security Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Indonesia

Year: 2019

Gardening Matters: a Political Ecology of Female Horticulturists, Commercialization, Water Access, and Food Security in Botswana

Citation:

Fehr, Rachel, and William G. Moseley. 2017. “Gardening Matters: a Political Ecology of Female Horticulturists, Commercialization, Water Access, and Food Security in Botswana.” African Geographical Review 38 (1): 67-80.

Authors: Rachel Fehr, William G. Moseley

Abstract:

The Government of Botswana and its partners have sought to address household food insecurity and poverty by experimenting with gardening initiatives of various sizes and commercial orientation. We use a multi-method approach, incorporating both econometric analysis and qualitative data, viewed through the theoretical lens of feminist political ecology, to determine how effective these women’s gardening initiatives are in addressing household food insecurity. We compare the relationship between commercial orientation and food security for women who rely on borehole water, tap water, and river water. We find that food security status improves with commercial orientation only when women are already experienced with the commercial market and/or when commercialization helps cover unavoidable water costs. When women have access to a reliable source of inexpensive water (as the river water users do), they can sustainably pursue subsistence-oriented horticulture and may in fact see greater food security benefits from consuming what they grow than from selling it. This study’s results call into question claims that commercialized horticulture will improve food security without first addressing the gendered dynamics of water access.

Keywords: commercial agriculture, feminist political ecology, food security, horticulture, water access, Botswana

Annotation:


 

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Women, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Botswana

Year: 2017

New Agribusiness Investments Mean Wholesale Sell-out for Women Farmers

Citation:

Tandon, Nidhi. 2010. “New Agribusiness Investments Mean Wholesale Sell-out for Women Farmers.” Gender & Development 18 (3): 503–14.

Author: Nidhi Tandon

Abstract:

Globalisation impacts on local land markets and land-use; land transaction costs affect food prices; and the combined effect is particularly damaging to women who produce food and who put food on the table for their families. This paper examines three issues: what is attracting investors and market speculators into the farm and land sectors? What is at stake for small farmers and especially women farmers and long-term impacts for food production and food security? And what action is needed to enable women to secure access to natural resource and land assets for current and future generations?

Keywords: land-grab, food prices, women farmers, commodity futures trading

Topics: Agriculture, Gender, Women, Globalization, Land Grabbing, Security, Food Security

Year: 2010

Land Grabbing: A Gendered Understanding of Perceptions and Reactions from Affected Communities in Nguti Subdivision of South West Cameroon

Citation:

Ndi, Frankline A. 2019. “Land Grabbing: A Gendered Understanding of Perceptions and Reactions from Affected Communities in Nguti Subdivision of South West Cameroon.” Development Policy Review 37 (3): 348–66.

Author: Frankline A. Ndi

Abstract:

This article examines the political economic processes and gendered consequences involved in large‐scale land acquisition (LSLA ) in rural South West Cameroon. The study adopts a gender‐disaggregated approach to data collection to understand local perceptions and reactions to LSLA in the region. It shows how traditional cultural prescriptions have combined with contemporary land laws to masculinize power over land to the detriment of women. It argues that although men and women are both affected by LSLA projects, the impacts are much greater for women because what the state considers “empty land” is used by them to secure household food security. Second, it argues that amid societal discrimination over land‐ownership rights, perceived gender differences between men and women appear “rational” in the event of LSLA —men follow their ascribed roles in overt reactions, women being more covert and much less vocal in land‐related contests. New policies that promote rural women's land rights will not only empower them during land struggles, they will also provide communities with greater security to sustain ecologically viable livelihoods.

Keywords: Cameroon, feminist political ecology, gender perceptions and reactions, land grabbing, large-scale land acquisition, rural livelihoods

Topics: Gender, Masculinity/ies, Land Grabbing, Livelihoods, Political Economies, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, Central Africa Countries: Cameroon

Year: 2019

Grabbing the Female Commons: Large-Scale Land Acquisitions for Forest Plantations and Impacts on Gender Relations in Kilolo District, Iringa Region, Tanzania

Citation:

Gmür, Désirée. 2019. “Grabbing the Female Commons: Large-Scale Land Acquisitions for Forest Plantations and Impacts on Gender Relations in Kilolo District, Iringa Region, Tanzania.” In The Commons in a Glocal World: Global Connections and Local Responses, edited by Tobias Haller, Thomas Breu, Tine De Moor, Christian Rohr, and Heinzpeter Znoj, 301–17. Abingdon: Routledge.

Author: Désirée Gmür

Annotation:

Summary:
This chapter focuses on the impacts of the ways in which large-scale land acquisitions consolidate commonly owned land that affects women’s resilience differently than men. It argues that the commons enclosure through large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA) mainly has negative impacts on women, involving increased workloads. The chapter suggests that resilience – in terms of food security – is therefore negatively impacted, creating an imbalance between gender and generation based on the power relation and discusses a new institutionalism (NI) perspective in social anthropology. The NI perspective is about institutional transformations driven by change in the relative price of land due to the LSLA that leads powerful actors to select among a plurality of institutions. In addition, the LSLA also increases wives’ dependency on their husbands as their resource base that gave them certain freedom in action has been reduced, leaving them completely reliant on the husbands’ relatives’ property, which is mostly controlled by elderly men. (Summary from Bern Open Repository and Information System)

Topics: Age, Gender, Land Grabbing, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Tanzania

Year: 2019

Gender Implications of Biofuels Expansion in Africa: The Case of Mozambique

Citation:

Arndt, Channing, Rui Benfica, and James Thurlow. 2011. “Gender Implications of Biofuels Expansion in Africa: The Case of Mozambique.” World Development 39 (9): 1649–62.

Authors: Channing Arndt, Rui Benfica, James Thurlow

Keywords: biofuels, Gender, growth, poverty, land abundance, Africa

Annotation:

Summary:
We use a gendered dynamic CGE model to assess the implications of biofuels expansion in a low-income, land-abundant setting. Mozambique is chosen as a representative case. We compare scenarios with different gender employment intensities in producing jatropha feedstock for biodiesel. Under all scenarios, biofuels investments accelerate GDP growth and reduce poverty. However, a stronger trade-off between biofuels and food availability emerges when female labor is used intensively, as women are drawn away from food production. A skills-shortage among female workers also limits poverty reduction. Policy simulations indicate that only modest improvements in women’s education and food crop yields are needed to address food security concerns and ensure broader-based benefits from biofuels investments. (Summary from Elsevier)

Topics: Agriculture, Economies, Poverty, Education, Gender, Women, Infrastructure, Energy, Livelihoods, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Mozambique

Year: 2011

Climate Disasters Contaminate Women: Investigating Cross-National Linkages between Disasters, Food Insecurity, and Women's HIV in Less-Developed Countries

Citation:

Austin, Kelly F., Mark D. Noble, Laura A. McKinney. 2020. "Climate Disasters Contaminate Women: Investigating Cross-National Linkages between Disasters, Food Insecurity, and Women's HIV in Less-Developed Countries." Global Health Governance (May): 85-102.

Authors: Kelly F. Austin, Mark D. Noble, Laura A. McKinney

Abstract:

HIV/AIDS remains a serious public health threat in less-developed countries, especially for women. Drawing on ecofeminist perspectives, we explore linkages between climaterelated disasters, food insecurity, and HIV transmission. Using data from over 90 lessdeveloped countries, we construct a structural equation model to analyze the direct and indirect influences on the percent of the adult population living with HIV who are women. We find that climate-related disasters are a significant factor shaping women’s HIV vulnerability indirectly through increased food insecurity. Food insecurity is theorized to alter social relationships and behaviors, including risky sexual behaviors, forced sex, and transactional sexual relationships. Our results confirm that disasters lead to conditions of hunger and resource deprivation, which serve to escalate HIV transmission among vulnerable women in poor countries.

Topics: Environment, Environmental Disasters, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender, Women, Health, HIV/AIDS, Security, Food Security

Year: 2020

Gender and Impact of Climate Change Adaptation on Soybean Farmers' Revenue in Rural Togo, West Africa

Citation:

Ali, Essossinam, Nadège Essossolim Awade, and Tahirou Abdoulaye. 2020. "Gender and Impact of Climate Change Adaptation on Soybean Farmers' Revenue in Rural Togo, West Africa." Cogent Food & Agriculture 6 (1).

Authors: Essossinam Ali, Nadège Essossolim Awade, Tahirou Abdoulaye

Abstract:

This study assesses the impact of climate change (CC) adaptation on farm-level revenue among 500 soybean farmers randomly selected in three districts in Togo using endogenous switching regression method. The survey results indicate that only 40.37% of the women have adapted to CC against 59.62% of the men. Moreover, being member of farmer-based organization (FBO), access to credit and extension services, agricultural training of women are the main factors that increase the likelihood of adaptation. The gender-differentiated impact shows that women would earn more than men from adaptation, while losing compared to men if they do not take any adaptation actions. The loss from non-adapting to CC will increase by 0.268% of the soybean revenue. However, the heterogeneity effects suggest further assessment on the adopted technology in soybean farming in the study areas. Adaptation policy that seeks to ensure food security and enhance farmers’ welfare in subsistence agriculture should consider the gender dimension, while reviewing the financial policy in terms of affordability, access of extension services and supporting FBO will increase technologies adoption and farming revenue.

Keywords: adaptation, climate change, Gender, soybean, endogenous switching regression

Topics: Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Togo

Year: 2020

Women's Empowerment and Crop Diversification in Bangladesh: A Possible Pathway to Climate Change Adaptation and Better Nutrition

Citation:

De Pinto, Alessandro, Gregory Seymour, Elizabeth Bryan, and Prapti Bhandary. 2019. Women's Empowerment and Crop Diversification in Bangladesh: A Possible Pathway to Climate Change Adaptation and Better Nutrition. 1849. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Authors: Alessandro De Pinto, Gregory Seymour, Elizabeth Bryan, Prapti Bhandary

Abstract:

The existing literature shows that climate change will likely affect several of the dimensions that determine people’s food security status in Bangladesh, from crop production to the availability of food products and their accessibility. Crop diversification represents a farm-level response that reduces exposure to climate-related risks and it has also been shown to increase diet diversity and contribute to the reduction in micronutrient deficiencies. In fact, the Government of Bangladesh has several policies in place that encourage and support agricultural diversification. However, despite this support the level of crop diversification in the country remains low. Women empowerment has been linked to diversified diets and positively associated with better child nutrition outcomes. Furthermore, although traditionally their role in agriculture tends to be undervalued, women involvement has already been shown to affect agricultural production choices and enhance technical efficiency. This paper connects three different areas of inquiry - climate change, gender and nutrition – by exploring whether women’s empowerment in agricultural production leads to increased diversification in the use of farmland. Specifically, we use a series of econometric techniques to evaluate whether there is sufficient evidence to claim that a higher levels of empowerment lead to greater diversity in the allocation of farmland to agricultural crops. Our results reveal that indeed some aspects of women empowerment, but not all, lead to a more diversified use of farmland and to a transition for cereal production to other uses like vegetables and fruits. These findings provide some possible pathways for gender-sensitive interventions that promote crop diversity as a risk management tool and as a way to improve the availability of nutritious crops.

Topics: Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Women, Security, Food Security Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Bangladesh

Year: 2019

Gender, Politics, and Water in Australia and Bangladesh

Citation:

Alston, Margaret. 2019. "Gender, Politics, and Water in Australia and Bangladesh." In People and Climate Change: Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Social Justice, edited by Lisa Reyes Mason and Jonathan Rigg, 165-83. New York: Oxford University Press.

Author: Margaret Alston

Keywords: water, Gender, women, policy, Australia, Bangladesh

Annotation:

Summary:
In the wake of climate change, environmental degradation, and increasing global populations, food and water security are under threat throughout the world. This chapter focuses on the impacts of climate change on water security in Australia and Bangladesh, noting in particular the gendered implications and the way policies influence and shape gendered responses. In Bangladesh, for example, following disasters, access to safe, uncontaminated water may involve women walking significant distances. Australian research has examined the impact of water policies on gendered livelihood strategies as farming families readjust to their reduced access to irrigation water. A critical feature of this chapter is an examination of the way water has become “commodified” and reconfigured around new forms of market value. The chapter poses questions about the ongoing impact of water insecurity in the face of predicted and extreme climate events. (Summary from Oxford Scholarship Online)

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Livelihoods, Security, Food Security Regions: Asia, South Asia, Oceania Countries: Australia, Bangladesh

Year: 2019

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