The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Agricultural Science GENDER AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN NEPAL A Dissertation in Rural Sociology by Atsuko Nonoguchi Copyright 2012 Atsuko Nonoguchi Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2012 The dissertation of Atsuko Nonoguchi was reviewed and approved* by the following: Carolyn Sachs Professor of Rural Sociology and Women’s Studies Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Leif Jensen Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography Clare Hinrichs Associate Professor of Rural Sociology Nancy Tuana Professor of Philosophy Ann Tickamyer Professor of Rural Sociology Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii ABSTRACT Climate change discourses, including Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, have focused on differential climatic risks and impacts among different social groups of people. From a gender perspective, women in developing countries are considered more vulnerable than men due to their limited access to resources in relative to men. However, overemphasis on women’s limited resources or lower capacities often leads to the stereotyped view of women as helpless victims and undermines their coping strategies. It is also problematic to view women as a universal group of the vulnerable, ignoring the intersection of gender with other socioeconomic factors of class, caste/ethnicity, and age. Findings from the author’s field research in two flood-prone communities in Nepal in 2009 show some key implications of gender and climate change. In these sites, vulnerability and adaptive capacity were firmly shaped by the structural inequality of gender, caste/ethnicity, and age. People’s experiences and risk perceptions varied by different adaptive capacity, including location, economic status, educational levels, and access to information and technology. Vulnerable people, including poor women and lower caste/minor indigenous groups, struggled with on-going economic crises other than climatic changes. Unlike biased views, some vulnerable people resisted against climatic and economic crises with their indigenous knowledge and networks. In the context of climatic changes, gendered responsibilities, space, and access to resources changed with women’s decision-making power and limited control over resources exacerbated. While many men were free from climatic and economic risks due to their migration or engagement in labor work, women left at home took double responsibilities and were still exposed to both risks. Poor uneducated women particularly suffered from food shortage and iii financial burdens. These findings indicate that without transforming unequal power relations, vulnerable men and women will fell into further deficit. The climate adaptation policies that fail to challenge unequal power relations in everyday life may exacerbate the existing structural inequality and generate long-term food insecurity problems. This dissertation calls for urgency that policy makers recognize and integrate the actual implications of gender and climate change. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures…….……………………………………………………...................................... vii List of Tables…….…………………………………………………………………………….. viii List of Maps…...………………………………………………………………………………… ix List of Abbreviation………..……………………………………………………………………. x Acknowledgements……...……………………………………………………………………… xii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK……………..…….................................................. 7 Natural Disasters Risk Theory…………………………………………………………… 7 Feminist Political Ecology……………………………………………………………… 12 Chapter 3. LITERATURE REVIEW…………………….……………………………………... 20 Recent Climate Change Literature……………………………………………………… 20 Recent Literature on Gender and Climate Change/Natural Disasters………………….. 22 Chapter 4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……………………………………….…………... 29 Specific Questions………………………………………………………………...……. 29 Feminist Methodology………………………………………………………………….. 32 Research Strategy……………………………………………………………………….. 34 Research Sites…………………………………………………………………………... 36 Research Methods………………………………………………………………………. 57 Limitations…………………………………………………………...…………………. 64 Validity and Reliability……………………………………………………...………….. 64 Chapter 5. FINDINGS FROM FIELD RESEARCH IN KABILASH AND KUMROJ...........…66 Risk Perceptions and Experiences of Climatic and Environmental Changes ……………66 Life-threatening Risks of Intensified Natural Disasters………………………… 68 Risk of Food and Livelihood Insecurity…………………………………………82 v Imagined and Actual Adaptive Capacity………………………….……………………. 91 Critical Gap between Imagined and Actual Adaptive Capacity …..……….…... 91 Changing Adaptive Capacity with External Interventions………………...…… 99 Different Responses to Climatic and Environmental Changes…………………..……. 102 Wealth and Needs for Cash because of Increasing Climate Variability………. 104 Needs for Cash because of Social and Economic Changes……………..…….. 108 Structural Constraints by Caste and Ethnicity…..…………………………….. 111 Structural Constraints by Rurality…………………………….……………..... 114 Different Adaptive Capacity between Men and Women and between Women..119 Impacts of Climate Change on Gender Relations……………………………………... 131 Changes in Gendered Responsibilities, Space, and Access to Resources…….. 132 Changes in Decision-making and Control over Resources………….………… 138 Chapter Summary…………………………………………………………………...… 142 Chapter6. CONCLUSION…………………………...…………………………..………….… 148 References…...…………………………………..………………………………………..…… 161 Appendix A. Questionnaire for Key-informant Interviews…………………………………… 170 Appendix B. Topics for Focus Groups Discussions………………….......…………………… 172 Appendix C. Questionnaire for In-depth Interviews………………………………………...… 174 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Conceptual Framework………………………………………….……………… 19 Figure 2 Population of Kabilash VDC by Caste/Ethnicity Category…….…………….… 50 Figure 3 Agricultural Resources Possessed by Population of Kabilash VDC……….…... 51 Figure 4 Rate for the Households in Kabilash VDC that Engaged in Non Agricultural Economic Activities………….…………………………………………….…… 51 Figure 5 Agricultural Resources Possessed by Population of Kumroj VDC…….….…… 53 Figure 6 Rate for the Households in Kumroj VDC that Engaged in Non Agricultural Economic Activities………….…………………………………………….…… 54 Figure 7 Participants in In-depth Interviews in Kabilash and Kumroj VDCs by Sex..…... 60 Figure 8 Participants in In-depth Interviews in Kabilash and Kumroj VDCs by Caste/Ethnicity...................................................................................................... 60 Figure 9 Participants in In-depth Interviews Kabilash and Kumroj VDCs by Sex and Age Range.................................................................................................................... 61 Figure 10 Participants in In-depth Interviews in Kabilash and Kumroj by Sex and Educational Levels...……………………………………………………………. 61 Figure 11 Caste/Ethnicity Based Land-Holding-Size of Participants in Kabilash and Kumroj VDCs…………………………………………...…………………………….… 62 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Profile of Kabilash VDC………………………………………………………... 50 Table 2 Profile of Kumroj VDC………………………………………………………… 53 Table 3 Profiles of Past Intensive Disasters in Kabilash and Kumroj VDCs…….….….. 56 viii LIST OF MAPS Map 1 Nepal…………………………………………………………………………… 36 Map 2 Chitwan District, Narayani Zone, Central Development Region…...………….. 47 Map 3 Chitwan District………………………………………………………………….47 Map 4 Kabilash and Kumroj VDCs in Chitwan District…………………………….… 48 ix LSIT OF ABBREVIATION ACAP Annapurna Conservation Project ADRC Asian Disaster Reduction Center CA Constituent Assembly CEDAW Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination CBS Central Bureau of Statistics CDM Clean Development Mechanism CPN-M Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists DoHM Department of Hydrology and Meteorology EC Europe Commission FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GDP gross domestic product GLOF glacial lake outburst flood GNI gross national income ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development ILO International Labor Organization IPCC Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change ISET Institute for Social and Environmental Transition JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency JTO junior technical officer LAPA Local Adaptation Plans of Action LDC least developed country MoAC Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives MoHA Ministry of Home Affairs x MoE Ministry of Environment NCSA National Capacity Self-Assessment NGO non-governmental organization PAR Pressure and Release RRN Rural Reconstruction Nepal SLC School Leaving Certificate UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women UCPN-M Unified Community Party of Nepal-Maoists UN OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs VDC village development committee WFP World Food Programme xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My foremost appreciation goes to my committee members who provided me with technical support to improve the quality of my field research in Nepal and dissertation. I particularly appreciate Dr. Carolyn Sachs for her guidance throughout the process and all the editing of the dissertation. Thanks to her constant and strong encouragement as well, I could accomplish this dissertation. Thank to College of Agricultural Science,