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Renegotiating gender roles and cultivation practices in the Nepali mid-hills: unpacking the feminization of agriculture

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  • Kaitlyn Spangler

    (Utah State University)

  • Maria Elisa Christie

    (Virginia Tech)

Abstract

The feminization of agriculture narrative has been reproduced in development literature as an oversimplified metric of empowerment through changes in women’s labor and managerial roles with little attention to individuals’ heterogeneous livelihoods. Grounded in feminist political ecology (FPE), we sought to critically understand how labor and managerial feminization interact with changing agricultural practices. Working with a local NGO as part of an international, donor-funded research-for-development project, we conducted semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation with over 100 farmers in Mid-Western Nepal in 2017. Household structure and headship are dynamic in the context of male out-migration, pushing women to take on new agricultural duties and increasing household labor responsibilities. In this context, decision-making processes related to agricultural management and new cultivation practices illustrate ongoing renegotiations of gender and cultivation practices within and beyond the household. We contend that the heterogeneity of household power dynamics muddies the empowering impacts of migration and emphasize the importance of community spaces as a locus of subjectivity formation and social value. We conclude that FPE can illuminate complexities of power, space, and individual responses to socio-ecological conditions that challenge the current feminization of agriculture framework.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaitlyn Spangler & Maria Elisa Christie, 2020. "Renegotiating gender roles and cultivation practices in the Nepali mid-hills: unpacking the feminization of agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(2), pages 415-432, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:37:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10460-019-09997-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-019-09997-0
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    5. Khed, Vijayalaxmi D. & Krishna, Vijesh V., 2023. "Agency and time poverty: Linking decision-making powers and leisure time of male and female farmers of Central India," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    6. Aryal, Jeetendra Prakash & Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Gartaula, Hom Nath, 2022. "Gendered Analysis of Food Security Gaps in Rural Nepal," ADBI Working Papers 1279, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    7. Rachana Devkota & Laxmi Prasad Pant & Helen Hambly Odame & Bimala Rai Paudyal & Kelly Bronson, 2022. "Rethinking gender mainstreaming in agricultural innovation policy in Nepal: a critical gender analysis," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1373-1390, December.
    8. Saroj Koirala & Soniya Bashyal, 2025. "The land left behind: a systematic review of transnational migration-induced change and its implication for rural sustainability in Nepal," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Balayar, Ramesh & Mazur, Robert, 2021. "Women’s decision-making roles in vegetable production, marketing and income utilization in Nepal’s hills communities," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    10. Bhawana, KC & Race, Digby, 2020. "Women’s approach to farming in the context of feminization of agriculture: A case study from the middle hills of Nepal," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    11. Forsyth, Tim & McDermott, Constance L. & Dhakal, Rabindra, 2022. "What is equitable about equitable resilience? Dynamic risks and subjectivities in Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    12. Doss, Cheryl, 2024. "Gendered Patterns of Labor in Agriculture," IAAE 2024 Conference, August 2-7, 2024, New Delhi, India 344339, International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE).
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    14. Carolyn Sachs, 2023. "Gender, women and agriculture in Agriculture and Human Values," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 19-24, March.

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