Social and Gender Analysis in Natural Resource Management Learning Studies and Lessons from Asia

1.1. Key features of women in development (WID) and gender and development (GAD) approaches to research
1.2. Key features of the six studies
1.3. Methods, tools and skills used in the six case studies
2.1. Demographics of the two study regions compared with national data, 2001
2.2. Size and ethnic composition of households in the selected villages
3.1. An overview of vegetable vending enterprises in Kohima
3.2. Designated market niches for vegetables vendors provided by the Kohima Town Committee
3.3. Number of vegetable species sold each month by women vendors from Pholami
3.4. Costs and benefits of a trip to the Kohima market for vendor 1 (INK)
3.5. Costs and benefits of a trip to the Kohima market for vendor 2 (INR)
3.6. Comparison of retail and wholesale prices per unit of vegetables and fruits obtained by a vendor from Pholami village (INR)
3.7. Options for increasing and improving production of marketable vegetables and fruits in Merema and Tsiese Basa
4.1. Sources of seeds across wealth categories
4.2. Involvement of men and women in seed production across wealth categories
5.1. Changes in out-migration in Anhui, Qinghai and Guangxi, 1997-2003
5.2. Basic information about the five research sites
5.3. Key characteristics of maize production at the research sites
5.4. Men and women's perceptions of who manages household resources and activities
5.5. Men and women's perceptions of who makes decisions about the management of resources and activities
5.6. Comparison of variety selection criteria between women and men farmers in Guangxi villages
6.1. Land use in Hong Ha and Huong Nguyen communes
6.2. Population of Hong Ha and Huong Nguyen communes
6.3. Wealth ranking of commune households
6.4. Access to training by wealth category in the two communes
6.5. Number of women and poor households involved in interest groups
7.1. Participation of men and women in the protection and restoration of natural resources according to community members
7.2. Pasture rotation plan designed by the Arjargalant community women's group
7.3. Changes in income structure of herder households, 2001-03 (n = 36)

1. E. Bulgan has a background in language studies. She holds an M.A. in linguistics from the University of Humanity in Mongolia. Since 2001 she has been working as secretary and research assistant for the Ministry for Nature and the Environment-International Development Research Centre project 'Sustainable Management of Common Natural Resources in Mongolia'. Her research interests include community-based pasture and natural resource management, participatory research, and social and gender research in natural resource management. She is hoping to pursue further studies in rural development in 2005.

2. Liz Fajber is a senior programme officer at the International Development Research Centre's South Asia Regional Office in New Delhi. She is active in programme areas primarily relating to rural development and natural resource management. Her interests focus on social and gender equity, access and tenure issues; local and indigenous knowledge and technologies; multi-stakeholder approaches; and enhancing community participation in, and benefits from, applied research. She has an M.A. in anthropology from McGill University.

3. Chanda Gurung holds M.Phil, and Ph.D. degrees from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. The focus of her thesis was women's roles in development, women's rights and discrimination against them. Currently, she is based in Kathmandu, Nepal, and is actively involved as a researcher and consultant in various projects related to gender (natural resource management agriculture and indigenous knowledge); sustainable livelihoods; and participatory research and development. She has extensive experience working in the eastern Himalayan region (eastern Nepal and north-east India) as well as in the terai of Nepal. She has published several papers on gender and agriculture, and one concerning participatory approaches in agriculture. Gurung is also founding member and coordinator of the Eastern Himalayan Indigenous Women's Network, an NGO working on women's and gender issues in natural resource management and livelihoods.

4. Nawraj Gurung began his career as an extensionist with the Spices Board, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. He now coordinates the horticulture programmes of the Swiss Development Cooperation/IC project in Sikkim. He is also coordinator of an NGO called Eastern Himalayan Initiatives. His professional interests include participatory technology development and methodological questions.

5. Hoang Thi Sen has a background in forestry and agriculture. She obtained an M.Sc. from Chiang Mai University, Thailand, and is currently pursuing Ph.D. studies in rural development at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala. She has been a trainer in participatory research since 1995 for project officers, development workers and farmers. Her current interests include farmer participatory research and gender analysis. She believes that social and gender research is not only about understanding a particular situation, but also, more importantly, about empowering local people and strengthening their capacities and assets.

6. Chozhule Kikhi is deputy director of training in the State Department of Horticulture, Nagaland, India. She is working with grassroots women on income-generating activities, such as home-scale food processing, organic vegetable cultivation and mushroom cultivation using agricultural wastes. From 1996 to 2000 she was the gender coordinator in the 'Nagaland Environment Protection and Economic Development (NEPED), Phase 1' project-the only female among 14 men. She has presented NEPED experiences and learning on gender issues nationally and internationally. She continues to work with farmers on the NEPED Phase 2 project to establish sustainable livelihood, especially for the people of the Angami and Zeliang tribes in Kohima and Peren districts. She holds a B.Sc. in home science from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, and has received considerable training in food processing and mushroom cultivation in Delhi, Bangalore and Solan, and in organic farming in Nishinasuno, Japan.

7. Le Van An is a senior lecturer at Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF), Viet Nam. He is a livestock systems specialist and recently obtained his Ph.D. in animal science from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (where he also did his M.Sc.). He is director of international relations at HUAF. His research focuses on rural development and livelihood issues. He has a special interest in doing participatory action research together with marginalized people. He coordinates a number of research projects funded by international donor agencies (including the Swedish International Development Agency, the Ford Foundation and the International Development Research Centre).

8. Vengota Nakro is deputy director in the State Department of Soil and Water Conservation, Nagaland, India. He is also a member of the 'Nagaland Empowerment of People through Economic Development' (NEPED) project's operations unit. The nature of his work is to collaborate with and support agricultural workers as they move towards a sustainable livelihood. His current assignments include activities with the people of the Konyak tribe. He holds a B.Sc. in agriculture from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, and an M.Sc. in tropical silviculture from Goettingen University, Germany.

9. B. Naranchimeg is a graduate of the Economics and Management School of the Mongolian State University. Currently, she is studying for an M.A. at the same school. She works as a researcher in the university's Population Training and Research Center with support from the Mongolian government and the United Nations Population Fund. She was an active member of the group on reproductive health research. Her areas of expertise and research interests lie in gender, development and demographic issues; poverty and environmental issues; and child labour.

10. Ts. Odgerel has a background in social sciences and holds an M.Phil, from the social science faculty of the Mongolian State University. She started her career as a researcher in the social and economic sector of the Research Center of the Mongolian Parliament. She has research experience in gender and social differentiation, Mongolian women's social conditions, women's labour and women's participation in natural resource management. Currently, she works as a researcher for the Gender Center for Sustainable Development, an NGO in Mongolia.

11. Pitamber Shrestha has a social science background. His expertise is rural development with particular interest in rural people's empowerment, local institution building and grassroots organization. He is also very interested in the field of participatory plant breeding, to which he has made contributions since 1992. Currently, he is LI-BIRD's site officer for the 'Strengthening the Scientific Basis of In-Situ Conservation of Agro-biodiversity' project in Nepal, a component of a global project coordinated by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome. This project aims to develop sound community-based biodiversity management practices for the sustainable conservation of agricultural biodiversity on-farm.

12. Deepa Singh is a horticulturist. Her research interests include agriculture biodiversity, natural resource management, participatory and action research and gender studies, and plant breeding. She focuses mainly on Nepal. She received her academic training at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, and worked for LI-BIRD in 2003 and 2004. She is currently employed as a scientist by the Nepal Agriculture Research Council.

13. Yiching Song is a social scientist with a special interest in rural development, organization of (women) farmers and agricultural extension. She received her Ph.D. in communication and innovations studies from Wageningen University, the Netherlands. She also has extensive knowledge about participatory plant breeding and has been the project leader of a long-term research effort to create synergies between the seed systems of farmers and the Chinese government. Currently, she is a senior research scientist at the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy in Beijing. She is the author of a number of journal articles and book chapters.

14. Anil Subedi is a rural extensionist. His research interests include rural development, natural resource management, agricultural biodiversity, informal seed systems, rural people's organizations and networking, participatory research methodology, appropriate technology, innovation and extension. He focuses mainly on Nepal and South Asia. He received his academic training at the University of Reading, United Kingdom. He was with the Lumle Agricultural Research Centre from 1971 to 1995 and executive director of LI-BIRD from 1996 to 2003. Since 2003 he has been the country director of the Intermediate Technology Development Group, Nepal.

15. H. Ykhanbai is director of the Forest/Pasture Policy and Coordination Department of the Ministry of Nature and Environment of Mongolia. He is the study team leader for the 'Sustainable Management of Common Natural Resources in Mongolia' research project supported by the International Development Research Centre. A graduate of the Forest Engineering Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia, he also holds a Ph.D. in natural resources economics from the academy. He has also attended environmental economics and macroeconomic policy natural resource management courses at Harvard University.

16. Linxiu Zhang is a senior research fellow and deputy director of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. She has been working in the field of rural development policy research for more than 20 years. Her research focuses on land tenure rights and their impact on gender and resource management, rural labour market development, gender and poverty, and public investment in agricultural and rural areas. She has published widely in both English and Chinese journals.

1.1. Theory of action
2.1. Location of the study sites in the Sikkim region
3.1. The Nagaland region showing the location of the research sites
4.1. Map of Nepal showing the research site
4.2. Reasons for growing modern varieties of rice
4.3. Reasons for growing landraces of rice
4.4. Period of seed replacement for three socioeconomic categories of farmers
4.5. Existing seed marketing channels for Kachorwa farmers
4.6. Rates for seed exchange across socioeconomic categories
4.7. Seed selection methods according to wealth category
4.8. Labour used at various stages of seed production by socioeconomic category
4.9. Participation by men and women in decision making and selling (rich farmers only)
4.10. New seed marketing channels
5.1. Trends in out-migration in Anhui, Qinghai and Guanxi by sex
5.2. Location of the research sites in southern China
6.1. The Viet Nam research site
6.2. Access of men and women to training courses
6.3. Source of decisions about training topics
7.1. Location of the study sites
7.2. The participation of men and women in farming and household work (n = 84)

Ronnie Vernooy is Senior Program Specialist, Environment and Natural Resources, at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Canada. He obtained his Ph.D. in the sociology of rural development from Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and joined IDRC in 1992. His research interests include rural development, natural resource management (including agricultural biodiversity), farmer and herder experimentation and organization, and participatory action research methods including social and gender analysis, monitoring and evaluation. Dr Vernooy has conducted and directed a number of rural development research projects in Nicaragua and currently contributes actively to community-based natural resource management research efforts in China, Cuba, Mongolia and Viet Nam.

Besides various articles, Ronnie Vernooy has authored, co-authored or co-edited several books. These include Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management : A Sourcebook (co-edited, 2005), Seeds that Give : Participatory Plant Breeding (2003), Evaluating Capacity Development : Experiences from Research and Development Organizations around the World (co-authored, 2003) and Taking Care of What We Have : Participatory Natural Resource Management on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua (co-authored, 2000).

3.1. The NEPED project
3.2. Gajo-jotho : A promising wild vegetable for domestication
3.3. Fencing : A leap towards sedentary agriculture
3.4. Insect infestation : A selling point!
3.5. Substituting vegetables for rice in TRCs
3.6. Creating an overnight storeroom in Kohima
3.7. Situation for an average part-time vendor in Tsiese Basa
3.8. An alterative marketing chain : The vendors of Pfutsero
5.1. The seed fair in Guozhai
6.1. People's voices

"The perspective from which it is presented makes it very interesting. The authors have taken much care to provide the readers with an adequate description of the study context where the learning projects are implemented, gender-related information including equity, access to land and other resources, and information as well as outcome of the action-oriented projects where different stakeholders are involved in various ways…this book, beyond doubt provides many valuable insights." - Journal of Social and Economic Development