Gender and Sustainable Livelihoods in India: ‘Side Stream’/‘Mainstream’

The narrow Ziro valley nestled amid temperate Himalayan forests in Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India stretches from 1,500m to 2,700m; in the middle is a cluster of Apatani villages. Over centuries the Apatani men have adroitly channelled mountain streams to the fields in the valley. But the unique high-altitude farming system of irrigated paddy and fish culture is almost wholly the women’s responsibility. No draught animals are used, although some well-to-do Apatani maintain cattle and mithuns (Bos Frontalis, the domesticated Indian gaur) as a status symbol. Families cooperate to manage the water channels but farm separately. The community contributes labour and materials to build houses, cramped closely together. Fires spread easily through the woodpiles stacked nearby, so family granaries are built well away from the villages. Wild and domesticated fruit trees — pear, plum, and cherry — are grown around homesteads. On the hill slopes, the Apatani also cultivate blue pine and bamboo, carefully fenced all around —‘like a child snuggled in a muffler’. Strips of seasoned bamboo are used for roofing.