Feminisation of Local Communities and its Impact on Food Security in Rural Nepal Sujata Tamang A thesis in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES NSW 2052, AUSTRALIA April 2019 2 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date …………………………………………….............. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents a non-exclusive licence to archive and to make available (including to members of the public) my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known. I acknowledge that I retain all intellectual property rights which subsist in my thesis or dissertation, such as copyright and patent rights, subject to applicable law. I also retain the right to use all or part of my thesis or dissertation in future works (such as articles or books).’ ‘For any substantial portions of copyright material used in this thesis, written permission for use has been obtained, or the copyright material is removed from the final public version of the thesis.’ Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date …………………………………………….............................. AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis.’ Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date …………………………………………….............................. ii iii Abstract This thesis is concerned with the feminisation of local communities and its impact on food security in rural Nepal. The boosted labour market in Gulf countries has contributed to the absence of men, thereby shifting responsibilities to women within households, communities and state affairs in rural areas of Nepal. The feminisation of local communities has an impact on all dimensions of rural life, including livelihoods but in particular on food security. The feminisation of local communities is a relatively new phenomenon and its relationship to food security is understudied. The literature on food security has given little attention to the feminisation of local communities in Nepal. This thesis aims to address this gap by focusing on the relationship between the feminisation of local communities and food security. Drawing on research conducted in rural Nepal, this thesis highlights a number of issues related to the feminisation of local communities, including the use of land, access to and control over resources, and women’s participation in decision-making at the household, community and state levels. However, despite these changes, historically-rooted patriarchal practices and hierarchical relations among different social groups are reinforcing the status quo, thereby reducing food security of local communities. This thesis employs a feminist political ecology perspective to critically analyse the relationship between the feminisation of local communities and food security. The study used a mixed methods approach and case study strategy to collect data from two case study sites: Nalma of Lamjung and Piprahar of Nawalparasi districts, both located in Western Nepal. Methods included household surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, document review and participant observations. The thesis demonstrates the differentiated impacts of the feminisation of local communities on food security among different social and economic groups, highlighting the strategies employed by different social groups to manage their livelihoods and iii everyday lives. Such differentiated impacts on food security are linked to the persistence of discriminatory practices based on gender, caste, ethnicity, and wealth. The thesis suggests that a broader political response on the issues of feminisation and food security is needed. This is possible when a trans-formative approach to land use, access to and control over resources and participation in decision-making is adopted. A prerequisite of such policy departure would be the development of capacities of women and the poor and marginalised groups, with the focus on food security. iv AcKnowledgement The stories, information, figures and statements presented in this thesis are the outcomes of interactions, discussions and reflections with many men and women of the research sites, agriculture professionals, activists in Nepal and the work of academic intellectuals of Nepal and aboard. This was further enriched with the insightful questions and suggestions from my supervisors and colleagues. I would like to sincerely thank all for their valuable contribution to enable me to come with this piece of work. First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to many of the community members of Nalma village of Lamjung and Piprahar village of Nawalparasi for their kind consent and willingness to participate in the discussions and generous interests to support me to generate the information that is used in this thesis. I am particularly indebted to Ms Rameswori Mahato and Ms Maya Ale of Piprahar and Mr Chakra Gurung of Nalma for their support in facilitating discussions and collecting information during my fieldwork in the respective villages. Similarly, the developed understanding of the current context of the feminisation of local communities and its impact on food security at the local level and on-going policies plans programmes at the province and central level would not have been possible without active participation and insightful contributions from the concerned communities of practitioners and the professionals of this field. I would like to thank them all for their valuable time and insights, in particular, District Agriculture Officers, agriculture activists and members of National Land Right Forum, National Farmers Group Federation, Community Forestry Users’ Group among others. I am very grateful to my supervisors; Associate Professor Dr Krishna Kumar Shrestha and Professor Dr Anthony Zwi for their guidance throughout the study period, from designing to analysing and writing. I am also greatly thankful to Professor Zwi who guided during final revision of the thesis. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr Hemant Ojha, Dr Tanya Jackimow, Dr Robert Fisher for their valuable inputs and useful insights. I highly appreciate the support of postgraduate coordinators Professor Dr Richard Hugman and Associate Professor Dr Geoffrey Brahm Levey from the school of social sciences. v Similarly, I highly appreciate and acknowledge the support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) for awarding me the John Allwright Fellowship. Without their generous support, I would not have been able to pursue this research course. I would like to express special thanks to Dr Tony Bartlet, Professor Dr Ian Nuberg, Dr Nora Devoe, Dr Geoffrey O’Keefe, Dr Margaret Becker for their encouragement and generous support throughout my graduate study. I want to thank ForestAction Nepal team who encouraged me to take this research and supported me throughout the research journey. I very much appreciate the contribution of Dr Krishna Paudel, Dr Naya Sharma, Mr Amrit Adhikari and other colleagues with whom I worked in developing research ideas and shared values to complete this research. I want to thank Ms Rita Mastrantone for her contribution in editing the thesis. Similarly, I would like to express thanks to everyone who has contributed to reading and providing feedback on my writing. I am thankful to my fellow students and friends in UNSW and outside UNSW. Above all, I am greatly indebted to my parents and all brothers and sisters. My special thanks to brother Suresh, sister-in-law Ekta Pun, niece Menjam, and nephew Lobsang Makana for their unconditional love, care, and inspiration. Thank you all vi Table of Contents Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................. v List of Figures .................................................................................................................... xi List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii List of Publications .......................................................................................................... xiii CHAPETER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 1.1 Research Background .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Research Problems and Rationale ..............................................................................