Engendering Climate Change; Learnings from South Asia
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Engendering Climate Change This book focuses on the gendered experiences of environmental change across different geographies and social contexts in South Asia and on diverse strategies of adapting to climate variability. The book analyzes how changes in rainfall patterns, floods, droughts, heatwaves and landslides affect those who are directly dependent on the agrarian economy. It examines the socio-economic pressures, including the increase in women’s work burdens both in production and reproduction on gender relations. It also examines coping mechanisms such as male migra- tion and the formation of women’s collectives which create space for agency and change in rigid social relations. The volume looks at perspectives from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal to present the nuances of gender relations across borders along with similarities and differences across geo- graphical, socio-cultural and policy contexts. This book will be of interest to researchers and students of sociology, development, gender, economics, environmental studies and South Asian studies. It will also be useful for policymakers, NGOs and think tanks working in the areas of gender, climate change and development. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylor francis.com/books/e/9781003142409, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Asha Hans is a former Director of the School of Women’s Studies and Pro- fessor of Political Science, Utkal University, India. Nitya Rao is Professor of Gender and Development at the School of Inter- national Development, University of East Anglia, UK. Anjal Prakash is the Research Director and Adjunct Associate Professor, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India. Amrita Patel has been an adviser in the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Odisha, India. Engendering Climate Change Learnings from South Asia Edited By Asha Hans, Nitya Rao, Anjal Prakash and Amrita Patel First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Asha Hans, Nitya Rao, ICIMOD and Amrita Patel; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Asha Hans, Nitya Rao, ICIMOD and Amrita Patel; to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978-0-815-36165-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-69586-6 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-14240-9 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by SPi Global, India Contents List of figures vii List of tables ix List of contributors x Foreword xvii Acknowledgements xix 1 Gender, climate change and the politics of vulnerability: an introduction ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 NITYA RAO, ANJAL PRAKASH, ASHA HANS, AND AMRITA PATEL PART I Vulnerabilities 17 2 Vulnerabilities of rural women to climate extremes: a case of semi-arid districts in Pakistan ���������������������������������������������������������� 19 AYESHA QAISRANI AND SAMAVIA BATOOL 3 Gendered vulnerabilities in Diaras: struggles with floods in the Gandak river basin in Bihar, India ��������������������������������������������������� 38 PRANITA BHUSHAN UDAS, ANJAL PRAKASH, AND CHANDA GURUNG GOODRICH 4 Of borewells and bicycles: the gendered nature of water access in Karnataka, South India and its implications for local vulnerability �����58 CHANDNI SINGH 5 Vulnerabilities and resilience of local women towards climate change in the Indus basin ����������������������������������������������������� 85 SAQIB SHAKEEL ABBASI, MUHAMMAD ZUBAIR ANWAR, NUSRAT HABIB, AND QAISER KHAN vi Contents 6 Climate change, gendered vulnerabilities and resilience in high mountain communities: the case of Upper Rasuwa in Gandaki River Basin, Hindu Kush Himalayas ���������������������������������������������� 106 DEEPAK DORJE TAMANG AND PRANITA BHUSHAN UDAS PART II Adaptation and Wellbeing 125 7 Wells and well-being in South India: gender dimensions of groundwater dependence ��������������������������������������������������������������� 127 DIVYA SUSAN SOLOMON AND NITYA RAO 8 Gender, migration and environmental change in the Ganges- Brahmaputra-Meghna delta in Bangladesh ������������������������������������ 152 KATHARINE VINCENT, RICARDO SAFRA DE CAMPOS, ATTILA N. LÁZÁR, AND ANWARA BEGUM 9 Women-headed households, migration and adaptation to climate change in the Mahanadi Delta, India ��������������������������������������������� 172 SUGATA HAZRA, AMRITA PATEL, SHOUVIK DAS, ASHA HANS, AMIT GHOSH, AND JASMINE GIRI 10 Gender dynamics and climate variability: mapping the linkages in the Upper Ganga Basin in Uttarakhand, India ��������������������������� 201 VANI RIJHWANI, DIVYA SHARMA, NEHA KHANDEKAR, ROSHAN RATHOD, AND MINI GOVINDAN 11 Shaping gendered responses to climate change in South Asia ��������� 226 ASHA HANS, ANJAL PRAKASH, NITYA RAO, AND AMRITA PATEL Index 236 Figures 2.1 Temperature trend for Faisalabad 24 2.2 Temperature trend for Dera Ghazi Khan 25 3.1 Flood zones in Bihar 40 3.2 Pipra-Piprasi Embankment in Gandak River 42 3.3 Disparities in Landownership in West Champaran 42 3.4 Top down versus bottom up approach of vulnerability 44 3.5 Differential gender impact of climate change in an agrarian society 45 3.6 Loan burden among households in a village in Nautan 49 4.1 Map of study area: Kolar District in South India showing research sites 63 4.2 Block-wise rainfall patterns in Kolar District, 1900–2005 (top); average annual rainfall in Kolar, 2006–2014 (bottom) 64 4.3 Main employment categories in Kolar 65 4.4 Types of land use in Kolar (left) and area under different types of cultivation (right) 67 4.5 Key risks to agriculture ranked by men (top) and women (bottom) 71 4.6 Principal source of drinking water in Kolar 74 4.7 Plastic pots for water – public taps exist but are not reliable and involve long waiting times 75 5.1 HI-AWARE intervention sites in Pakistan 88 5.2 Women’s perception: Climate induced events in Upstream Basin 92 5.3 Women’s perception: Climate-induced events in the High Rainfall Zone MIB (Pakistan) 95 5.4 Women’s perception: Climate-induced events in the Medium Rainfall Zone MIB (Pakistan) 96 5.5 Women’s perception: Climate-induced events in the Low Rainfall Zone MIB (Pakistan) 96 5.6 Women’s perception: Climate-induced events in the Low Indus Basin LIB (Pakistan) 97 viii Figures 6.1 Gandaki river basin 108 6.2 Satellite image of study villages in Rasuwa district 109 7.1 Location of Coimbatore District in India 129 7.2 Plantation area of dryland crops (coarse millets and grains) in Coimbatore District, 1997–2015 133 7.3 Average pre-monsoon (May) and post-monsoon (July) groundwater levels in Coimbatore District, 1997–2015 140 8.1 Gendered migration patterns from the Ganges-Brahmaputra- Meghna delta in Bangladesh 158 8.2 Reason for migration in migrant households 160 8.3 Percentage of migrant households receiving remittances 161 8.4 Perceived success of migration by women 162 8.5 Level of happiness of women in migrant and non-migrant households 163 8.6 Percentage of women in migrant households who intend to migrate in the future 163 8.7 Barriers to migration for women in non-migrant and migrant households 164 9.1 The study area map of Mahanadi Delta 175 9.2 Multi-hazard risk and migration map of Mahanadi Delta 179 9.3 Major components in vulnerability assessment 186 9.4 Distribution of households in five multi-hazard zones 187 9.5a Dimensions of migration at individual level (migrant) 190 9.5b Dimensions of migration at collective level (household and village) 190 10.1 Conceptual framework of the study 203 10.2 Yearly average temperature trend in Kim Khola, Hakeempur Turra, and Huddu respectively for 1901–2015 208 10.3 Water Resource Map for Hakeempur Turra Village 210 10.4 Map depicting the study sites in the high, mid- and plain regions of Uttarakhand 215 Tables 2.1 Sample selection by district 21 2.2 Socio-economic indicators by district 23 4.1 Changing cropping patterns and practices in Kolar 66 4.A.1 Rationale for choice of blocks in Kolar district 84 4.A.2 Details of villages studied in Kolar 84 5.1 Socio-economic situation of women in Indus 90 5.2 Women’s vulnerabilities to climate change in Indus basin 99 6.1 Broad task allocation study (TAS) in the case study sites 114 7.1 Land and well ownership among households sampled by caste 131 7.2 Intra-household strategies for coping with water shortages in order of preference 144 9.1 Socio-economic profile of the five districts of the Mahanadi Delta 177 9.2 Socio-economic characteristics of respondents 181 9.3 Vulnerability Assessment of Men and Women Headed Households in MD 184 9.4 Patterns of Migration from Women Headed Households in MD 188 9.5 Adaptation Activities of