Gender and Development

Nepal

Irrigation Management Transfer Project,1994

The project is intended to benefit poor small farmers in Nepal by establishing sustainable and effective water user associations, and rehabilitating and improving irrigation and drainage facilities. It consists of 11 subprojects covering a total of 67,800 ha.

Women have a critical role in agriculture and irrigation in Nepal. But their role has been largely undervalued, and they generally have less access to the benefits of agricultural development. The project therefore seeks to increase women's involvement in project implementation and their participation in water user associations (WUAs).

Several steps have been taken, at both the policy and the project implementation level, to achieve this goal. The Department of Irrigation has held workshops to make its senior management more aware of the gap between policies and institutional mechanisms relating to women's representation in WUAs. District irrigation office staff have been trained to provide support in the integration of gender issues in improving irrigation performance. The workshop and the training have helped bring more women, as well as men, into the operation and management of WUAs. A gender and development (GAD) training unit has also been set up for both women and men farmers.

A GAD strategy has been developed to address gender issues in day-to-day project activities. The project agronomist and the project sociologist are women. A gender specialist has been hired to assist the project staff and to ensure the proper implementation of the government's irrigation policy, which calls for 20 percent representation for women in WUAs. Women field staff have been recruited to help mobilize women water users, and women's groups have been assigned to collect irrigation service fees from these users. Women are being trained to head WUAs and to gain increased access to agricultural inputs and technology for women members.

To assist in gender mainstreaming, the project budget is itemized and a gender-disaggregated database for monitoring and evaluation is being planned.