The Dynamics of Women’s Participation and Support System in a Community Watershed Project
Keywords:
Women’s participation, community watersheds, support system, social networks, capacity building and spill overAbstract
Community watershed project provided the platform for women’s participation and enhancement of their socio-economic condition. With improvements in the biophysical condition of the village, women’s livelihood improved. Watershed activities impacted women’s access to resources and expanded their choices due to training and exposure that allowed for building on women’s skills and hands-on experience in the management of resources. Enhancement of social networks and institutional links proved important for maintaining livelihoods and availing new opportunities for collective action and other economic prospects. To harness community involvement especially of women, the institutional architecture of research for development (R4D) initiatives like community watersheds should work to minimize gender asymmetry through capacity building with service complementation, strong social preparation to minimize over dependency, deliberate strategies for spill overs of innovations.
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