Water

Pilot and Demonstration Activities
Promoting Gender Equality for Poverty Reduction Through Improved Irrigation Management

Rural poverty has a woman’s face. Small and poor quality land with commensurate low yields has forced male migration in search of wage labor. Reducing rural poverty, therefore, means increasing the capacity of women to cope with the vagaries of weather. This can be through efficient water management, appropriate technology, and innovation through research, dissemination, and adoption of its results.

Numerous examples exist in Nepal where the adoption of sprinkler and drip irrigation in water scarce and marginal areas have transformed subsistence households into cash crop producing farm units with increased benefits to women and poorer farmers. These innovations are reported to be particularly suited to women farmers as they build on the existing farming practices of women engaged in vegetable gardening.

This technology targets the poor and the less endowed areas and has the potential to have a significant impact in alleviating rural poverty. It has also proven to be environmentally sound, has increased water use efficiency four-fold compared to traditional irrigation practices, and improved livelihood security by a five-fold increase in production. More importantly, positive impacts have been reported in reducing women’s labor-- in weeding, land preparation, harvesting and other activities defined as women’s tasks—thereby giving them greater opportunities for community participation, learning, networking and building social capital.

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• Document the impact of sprinkler/drip irrigation from a gender perspective
• Analyze factors promoting/impeding its adoption and diffusion
• Undertake trial innovations with women farmers to increase productivity

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• Improved women’s technical knowledge on efficient water use
• Increased women to women extension services provided
• Increased social capital of women as a group
• More even spread of demand for agricultural labor leading to reduced male migration with positive social impacts to women and children
• Improved cultural practices: better soil and water management
• Opportunities for assistance identified for large-scale adoption and diffusion
• Increased household food security and more balanced nutritional intake
• Women increasingly involved in household decision making
• Increased women’s control over resources

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Measurable Performance Indicators

• Increase in homestead agricultural production
• Increase in availability of cash
• Increase in female enrollment in primary and secondary schools
• Increase in women’s presence or involvement in community activities
  

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Scope for Replication in Other DMCs

The pilot project has the potential to link innovation with effective capacity building, education and awareness building while addressing issues of poverty and gender inequality.

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• Final Report [PDF] (May 2004)
• Proposal: Promoting Gender Equality for Poverty Reduction Through Improved Irrigation Management [PDF]
• Country Water Action: Demonstrating the Promise of Drip (July 2005)