Impacts
An empowered group of local women
The major gender impacts of the project can be attributed to the development of the cadre of group promoters, who have demonstrated persistence and continuity in their efforts to mobilize district level resources for the benefit of leasehold group members even after the termination of their contracts. These strong, outspoken women appear to be truly empowered. They speak frankly and even with a sense of familiarity with DOF rangers and other line agency staff in the district centres, and they have been successful at securing resources, such as literacy classes, from government agencies and NGOs other than those involved directly in the project. They have broadened their work to include issues related to domestic violence and family planning. Some line agency staff are said to be intimidated by them, as their reputation for persistence is well known. Indeed, they have earned the respect of their communities, line agency staff, senior officials in DOF and DLS, and even the National Planning Commission.
As a result, some DOF staff, impressed by the group promoters, have voiced a desire to learn from the promoters about the perspectives of rural women and their needs. Even bank personnel have been observed to give preference to these women, asking them to come forward from the queues in which they are standing, perceiving that they are busy, important people within the community. They were, at least once, able to obtain a meeting with senior-most officials in DOF in Kathmandu in order to make a plea to extend their contracts so that they might return to work.
The women group promoters themselves have demonstrated fresh attitudes and behaviours as a result of their training, group development and newfound confidence in their leadership abilities. They have started to speak out and to take action against those who try to dominate them, even in instances of harassment by government officials. In one case, a woman of a marginalized ethnic group publicly voiced her opposition to the actions of a man who was her professional superior; her opinions were supported by other group promoters, the gender team and some outspoken district forest officers.
This has created a new space for rural women’s participation on an equal basis with men, even those with more professional qualifications and higher social status. In addition to the sense of empowerment the women feel because of this, they also feel confident about their abilities to approach numerous line agencies in their districts to try to gain access to resources and opportunities for their communities. In some cases, they are provided with contracts by international NGOs and projects to supply services to communities and local NGOS. They are recognized as local resource persons in planning meetings of Village Development Councils, which are government administrative units. In half of the districts, the group promoters have formed their own NGO to build up an association of women change agents at the grass roots to advocate for women’s rights in natural resource management and agriculture sectors. In Makawanpur, the group has monthly meetings in a space provided by district forest officers.
The women feel proud of the recognition they have received from the DOF and others as the ‘backbone’ of the project. This recognition has been expressed in project evaluations and invitations to participate in planning meetings among district level line agency officials. The two gender magazines published by the group promoters and the gender focal persons helped them to position themselves as respected resource persons for social mobilization in natural resource management activities.
The gender focal persons behind the women
In each project district, the gender focal persons, mostly men who are mid-level technicians from the line agencies and who are thus government agents, have built a support system for the group promoters. Through gender training, on-the-ground supervision of the group promoters and interactions with the gender team, they have come to respect and value the work of these women. In the words of one ranger from Hetauda:
“These group promoters are like our own family. If we had not given them this support, the project would not have been successful. We need group promoters now in this situation [the Maoist insurgency]; they are our messengers to the leasehold communities. They can help us hold meetings. Since they have come, the participation of women has increased. Through gender training, we have become aware of women’s knowledge and roles in natural resource management. We believe we need them. All of us and the farmers say we need the group promoters.”
Members of the gender focal persons group made public commitments to gender equity initiatives in speeches on International Women’s Day, for example, and became solid supporters of the group promoters and catalysts of the movement for gender equity within the line agencies. Their support extended to the provision of funds from their own pockets to produce banners for International Women’s Day and to paying travel costs so that group promoters could come to the district centre even though there is no longer a budget for them to do so. There is a strong sense among this group and among the group promoters of their interdependence, and they speak amicably of each other. And, because the gender focal persons include staff in four line agencies, the collaboration among the agencies has improved dramatically.
District Forest Officers and Senior DOF Staff
Another successful outcome of this synergistic initiative has been the change in attitudes of district forest officers. This group of senior-level men, all trained as professional foresters, may have been the greatest bastion of male resistance within the project. Not all have displayed a change in attitude, but many have expressed their strong support for the women group promoters and for the gender focal persons. They have allowed rural women to speak out, creating spaces for their involvement in forums attended by DOF staff, and they have listened to the concerns of these women. They have demonstrated and expressed in front of the junior staff their respect for these women and rural women in general.
In a discussion with several group promoters in his office, the deputy director general of the DOF voiced his respect for the women in a non-patronizing manner.
“You have been playing a strong role in project implementation,” he said. “We need your consultation and your cooperation.”
Men and women Leasehold Members
Changes in attitudes and behaviours were also evidenced among the men and women of the leasehold forestry communities. Women farmers now commonly take the lead in group meetings, as well as in forestry planning. Women have successfully made demands for public services on a regular basis, even without project help. Many men have also begun to share household work and childcare duties when the women participate in group meetings and project activities and visit banks and other offices to request services such citizenship certification.
The rural women leasehold members gained expertise and confidence by way of both the social processes involved in working together and the technical processes involved in the management of environmental resources. Individual monetary gain through the sale of livestock assets and fodder resources served as an important incentive for project participation. After the project’s inception, the participation of women increased to 50% in all meetings, training sessions and study tours. Women-managed savings and credit groups became very effective, qualifying the women to access to formal credit.
Because of the project’s technical interventions and the women’s abilities to work together, a major impact has been a dramatic expansion in forage resources. Women have saved significant amounts of time due to the easy accessibility of nutritious grasses and other fodder resources close to their homesteads. The increase in the quality and quantity of animal feed has meant that women have been able to keep larger and more valuable livestock. The livelihood outcome has been rising income from sales of livestock (often an income under the control of women) to provide for family needs. Leasehold women are very appreciative of the easier availability of fodder and the enormous amounts of time saved (Ohler, 2000). Since time is the basic resource under the direct control of rural women, the extra time can be used to boost income and social options through attendance at meetings, training and other activities, thereby strengthening the position of women within the household through enhanced contributions to decision-making and incomes. Hence, the project has directly benefited women both practically and strategically. The design was such that there was a good fit between gender roles at the household level and the project interventions (Balakrishnan, 2000).
In the words of Nizam, the Hetauda ranger:
“Now we have a good impact in communities. Women in communities are speaking more than the men. We speak like we are all one family. Gender training with women and men has made a big difference. Farmers have changed their concept of us, don’t call us ‘hajur’ [a term of great disrespect] anymore. We have seen much change. Last year, the group promoters were able to bring six literacy classes, which we use to give extension messages. We are supporting group promoters with small amounts of money as needed to produce a banner for International Women’s Day on March 8.”
Key Elements and Best Practices
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