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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Agricultural Sciences A FEMINIST POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF INDIGENOUS VEGETABLES IN A SOUTH AFRICAN PROTECTED AREA COMMUNITY A Dissertation in Rural Sociology and Women’s Studies by Kathleen Anne Tavenner © 2016 Kathleen Anne Tavenner Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2016 The dissertation of Kathleen Anne Tavenner was reviewed and approved* by the following: Carolyn Sachs Professor of Rural Sociology and Women’s Studies Dissertation Advisor Committee Chair Ann Tickamyer Professor and Head, Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education A.E. Luloff Professor Emeritus of Rural Sociology Robert Crane Professor of Geography C. Clare Hinrichs Professor of Rural Sociology *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii Abstract For over 100 years, the communities adjacent to the Dwesa and Cwebe Forests in South Africa have been caught in a conflict over natural resources. Residents were forcibly removed from the area for decades by colonial and apartheid-era governments. After being declared a Nature Reserve in 1978, locals were fenced out, losing all access to natural resources. Although the communities won a land-claim battle in 2001, the current management of the reserve still reflects a “fortress conservation” model, where local people are prohibited from harvesting natural resources, including indigenous vegetables. Remarkably, the knowledge associated with these foods endures, primarily through the stories, actions, and resistance of local women. Using a feminist political ecology framework to illustrate the gendered power dynamics that mediate the knowledge, valuation, and use of indigenous vegetables, (known locally as imifino), this study describes how women’s everyday practices, traditions, and resistance strategies are being deployed to promote indigenous vegetable (imifino) consumption from both the protected area site as well as in homestead gardens. Analyzing how these local struggles are connected to the wider political discourse on biodiversity conservation sheds light on how formal management rules and regulations interplay with, and are negotiated on a daily basis by protected area community members. Results of the study indicate that a co-management structure that takes women’s knowledge into account could encourage the sustainable use of these resources and consequently, help maintain the indigenous knowledge associated with indigenous vegetables (imifino). A mixed methods approach was taken to gather a holistic picture of the knowledge and practices surrounding these indigenous vegetables. A variety of qualitative and visual methods including participant observation, key informant interviews, facilitated group discussions, free-listing of species, forest walks, community history mapping, and participatory photography were chosen to gain in-depth understanding of indigenous knowledge, community challenges, and everyday strategies of adaptation and resistance to current reserve management. A household survey of 80 homesteads in Southern Hobeni Village was used to provide information on the different varieties of imifino grown in homestead gardens (igadi) as well as intra-household data on the gendered labor dynamics for cultivating these varieties. iii Table of Contents List of Tables viii List of Figures ix Acknowledgements x Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Problem Statement 2 Dissertation Organization 4 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5 Global Discourses of Biodiversity Conservation and Management 5 Co-Management in South Africa’s Protected Areas System 6 The Gender Dimensions of Biodiversity Use, Conservation, and 12 Management Participatory Development and Participatory Exclusions 14 Indigenous Vegetables 17 Chapter Summary 20 Chapter 3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 22 Research Questions 22 Research Question I 22 Research Question II 23 Research Question III 23 Research Question IV 23 Conceptual Framework 24 Feminist Political Ecology 24 Gendered Sciences of Survival and Community Resistance 28 Research Epistemology and Positionality 30 Situated Knowledge and Hard Objectivity 31 iv Reflexivity and Situated Solidarity 31 Chapter Summary 32 Chapter 4 METHODOLOGY 34 Research Design 34 Methods 35 Secondary Data Analysis 35 Key Informant Interviews 35 Participatory Photography/Photovoice 39 Facilitated Group Discussions 43 Household Survey 46 Timeline for Completion and Resources 49 Potential Benefits to the Study 49 Consent 50 Verification Assessment 51 Ethical Considerations 51 Researcher Position and Research Relationships 52 Chapter Summary 53 Chapter 5 BACKGROUND 54 The National Context 54 Land Claims on Protected Areas in South Africa 56 The Provincial Context 58 Mbashe Municipality 58 Study Site – The Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve 60 Hobeni Village 62 Resident People and Xhosa Culture 63 Livelihoods in Hobeni 64 Diversification of Livelihoods as Result of 64 v Male Migration Cultivation 65 Natural Resource Use 65 Forced Removals 67 Management of the Dwesa and Cwebe Forests and 69 the Creation of the Nature Reserve Reclaiming the Land 70 The Settlement Agreement 71 The Community Forestry Agreement 72 The Current Management Regime 73 Chapter Summary 76 Chapter 6 MIXED METHODS ANALYSIS 77 RQI Situated Gendered Knowledges and Practices 78 RQII Gendered Power Relations and Resource Value 91 RQIII Everyday Practices, Traditions, and Strategies of Resistance 104 The Cultivation of Imifino Varieties in Homestead Gardens 110 RQIV Implications for Resource Management 117 Chapter Summary 122 Chapter 7 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 125 Summary of Study Aims and Methods 125 Summary of Conclusions 126 Theoretical Contributions 128 Programmatic Applications 130 Policy Implications 132 Study Limitations and Directions for Future Research 133 Study Impact 134 vi Final Thoughts 137 Bibliography 139 Appendices 149 Appendix A – Key Informant Interview Questionnaire 150 Appendix B – Agenda for Imifino Discussion Groups 152 Appendix C – Community Member Semi-Structured Interview Guide 153 Appendix D – Consent Form – Participatory Activities 156 Appendix E – Consent Form and Participant Information Sheet 157 – Participatory Photography Appendix F – Consent Form – Household Survey 159 Appendix G – Household Survey Instrument 160 vii List of Tables Table 2.1 – Protected Areas in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa 10 Table 2.2 – Typology of Participation 16 Table 4.1 – List of Key Informants and Corresponding Coding Pseudonyms 38 Table 4.2 – List of Photovoice Participants and Corresponding Coding Pseudonyms 42 Table 4.3 – Facilitated Discussion Group Participants and Corresponding Coding 45 Pseudonyms Table 4.4 – Demographic Characteristics of Survey Respondents 48 Table 6.1 – Results from Species Inventory among Three Facilitated Discussion Groups 82 Table 6.2 – Results from Species Availability among Three Facilitated Discussion Groups 83 Table 6.3 – Imifino Cultivation by Sex of Household Head 111 Table 6.4 – Household Head Demographic Characteristics 112 Table 6.5 – Tests of Between-Subjects Effects 113 Table 6.6 – Cultivation of Imifino Varieties and Intra-household Labor Allocation 114 Table 6.7 – Results of Paired Samples Tests for Intra-household Distribution of 116 Labor for Imifino Cultivation in Homestead Gardens viii List of Figures Figure 1 – Taraxacum officinale/irhaba/dandelion xi Figure 5.1 – Eastern Cape Province (Google maps, 2016) 58 Figure 5.2 – Satellite image of the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve 61 Figure 5.3 – Map of the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve 62 Figure 5.4 – Map of Hobeni after Betterment Planning 68 Figure 6.1 – Results from Species Inventory 82 Figure 6.2 – Species Seasonal Availability 83 Figure 6.3 – Imifino prepared as isitshebo 86 Figure 6.4 – Raw imifino (ilaxa) 86 Figure 6.5 – Community History Line, Mavundleni, Facilitated Discussion Group 88 Figure 6.6 – Photovoice camera 03, male, 74 years old 92 Figure 6.7 – Photovoice camera 04, female, 65 years old 93 Figure 6.8 – Photovoice camera 06, female, 39 years old 94 Figure 6.9 – Photovoice camera 04, female, 65 years old 95 Figure 6.10 – Photovoice camera 05, female, 47 years old 96 Figure 6.11 – Photovoice camera 05, female, 47 years old 97 Figure 6.12 – Photovoice camera 01, male, 46 years old 98 Figure 6.13 – Photovoice camera 11, male, 29 years old 99 Figure 6.14 – Photovoice camera 09, female, 41 years old 100 Figure 6.15 – Photovoice camera 08, female, 53 years old 100 Figure 6.16 – Photovoice camera 12, male, 37 years old 101 Figure 6.17 – Photovoice camera 12, male, 37 years old 101 Figure 6.18 – The Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve Perimeter Fence by Cwebe Gate 2 105 Figure 6.19 – A Rogue Heifer Lounging on Cwebe Coast 108 ix Acknowledgements I am grateful to the many people who helped make this study possible. Thank you to my home departments at Penn State – AESE and Women’s Studies – for supporting my doctoral studies. Special thanks and sincere gratitude to my committee – Carolyn, Ann, Al, and Rob – thank you for your encouragement and guidance throughout my Penn State journey. The inspiration for this project began in 2013 when the Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering, and Development in Africa (AESEDA) Parks and People Program took a chance on me and facilitated my first trip to South Africa. Thanks to Neil Brown, Rob Crane, and Jan Venter for introducing me to this beautiful country and your wisdom as I tried to navigate its complexities. My return to South Africa was supported