Transnational feminism and women’s activism: Building resilience to climate change impact through women’s empowerment in climate smart agriculture

Abstract

The far western part of Nepal is the most under-developed region of the country. The majority of the population here relies on subsistence agriculture. Floods, landslides, drought and extreme temperatures associated with climate change are impacting the agricultural productivity of the region. Consequently, this area faces ongoing food insecurity, particularly affecting women and children of marginalized groups. Although the aid agencies are trying to mitigate agricultural issues associated with climate change by introducing climate smart technologies, such as Multi Water Use Systems (MUS), Multi Irrigation Technologies (MIT), Conservation Agriculture (CA) etc., the local population has been reluctant to adopt these. Moreover, the low productivity of land forces males to migrate in search of better livelihood options, leaving women to bear the extra burden of domestic and agricultural activities, resulting in adverse effects on their health and nutrition. The Anukulan-Building Resilience to Climate Change and Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) project funded by UKAID aims to create agricultural practices that are resilient in the face of climate change and natural disasters. Its target is 500,000 poor and vulnerable people (especially women and children) through the introduction and awareness generation about climate smart technologies.

Keywords:

• women’s empowerment
• patriarchal society
• agriculture
• resilience

Acknowledgement

I owe my most sincere gratitude to Mr. Deepak Thapa, Associate Program Director of NTAG for his continuous support. I would also like to show my profound gratitude to Mr. Rajan Poudel, Australian volunteer from NTAG for his input in this paper. I would like to thank Ms. Kusum Wagle and Mr. K.P. Lamsal for providing their assistance. I thank Dr. Mala Khullar for her continuous support and inputs for the finalization of this paper.

Notes on contributor

Sangita KHAPUNG is from Biratnagar in Eastern Nepal. She earned her Masters’ degree in Public Health from the University of Chulalongkorn, Thailand and has been working with Nepali Technical Assistance Group, a leading NGO that works for maternal and child nutrition in Nepal. Currently, she works as a Regional Nutrition Specialist in the mid- and far-western region of Nepal. She is responsible for overseeing the nutritional component of the Anukulan-BRACED project, which aims to create climate resilient livelihoods for local people in Western Nepal, which suffers from extremes of climate and environmental disasters.