IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v6y2017i1p34-d93532.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Forests and Food Security: What’s Gender Got to Do with It?

Author

Listed:
  • Kiran Asher

    (Department of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA)

  • Annie Shattuck

    (Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-4740, USA)

Abstract

Hunger remains a key development problem in the 21st century. Within this context, there is renewed attention to the importance of forests and their role in supplementing the food and nutrition needs of rural populations. With a concurrent uptake of “gender mainstreaming” for sustainable development, there is also a call for understanding the gendered dynamics of forest governance and food security. In this paper, we reviewed emerging research (2009–2014) on forests and food security and on the ways gender is said to matter. As with previous work on gender and natural resource management, we found that gender is an important variable; but how, to what degree and why are different in every context. That is, despite the suggestion of clear linkages, the relationships between gender, forests and food security are not generalizable across contexts. Understanding the relationship between forest resources and food security requires attention to gender disparities at the local level, but also to the broader political and economic context in which those disparities are reinforced. We flag the need to guard against ahistorical and technical approaches to gender and suggest some example research questions that use a more relational view of gender—one that examines how political economy and social power structure access to resources at multiple scales.

Suggested Citation

  • Kiran Asher & Annie Shattuck, 2017. "Forests and Food Security: What’s Gender Got to Do with It?," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:6:y:2017:i:1:p:34-:d:93532
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/6/1/34/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/6/1/34/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rocheleau, Dianne & Edmunds, David, 1997. "Women, men and trees: Gender, power and property in forest and agrarian landscapes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 1351-1371, August.
    2. Agarwal, Bina, 2009. "Gender and forest conservation: The impact of women's participation in community forest governance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2785-2799, September.
    3. Howard, Patricia L. & Nabanoga, Gorettie, 2007. "Are there Customary Rights to Plants? An Inquiry among the Baganda (Uganda), with Special Attention to Gender," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 1542-1563, September.
    4. Quisumbing, Agnes R & Payongayong, Ellen & Aidoo, J B & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2001. "Women's Land Rights in the Transition to Individualized Ownership: Implications for Tree-Resource Management in Western Ghana," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(1), pages 157-181, October.
    5. Carmen Diana Deere, 1995. "What difference does gender make? Rethinking peasant studies," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(1), pages 53-72.
    6. Bhagowalia, Priya & Menon, Purnima & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Soundararajan, Vidhya, 2012. "What Dimensions of Women’s Empowerment Matter Most for Child Nutrition? Evidence Using Nationally Representative Data from Bangladesh:," IFPRI discussion papers 1192, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susana, 1997. "Impact of privatization on gender and property rights in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 1317-1333, August.
    8. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Johnson, Nancy & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Njuki, Jemimah & Behrman, Julia A. & Rubin, Deborah & Peterman, Amber & Waithanji, Elizabeth, 2011. "Gender, assets, and agricultural development programs: A conceptual framework:," CAPRi working papers 99, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & Erin O. Sills, 2001. "Do Tropical Forests Provide Natural Insurance? The Microeconomics of Non-Timber Forest Product Collection in the Brazilian Amazon," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 77(4), pages 595-612.
    10. Naidu, Sirisha C., 2011. "Access to benefits from forest commons in the Western Himalayas," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 202-210.
    11. Sunderland, Terry & Achdiawan, Ramadhani & Angelsen, Arild & Babigumira, Ronnie & Ickowitz, Amy & Paumgarten, Fiona & Reyes-García, Victoria & Shively, Gerald, 2014. "Challenging Perceptions about Men, Women, and Forest Product Use: A Global Comparative Study," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 56-66.
    12. Rajeev C Patel, 2012. "Food Sovereignty: Power, Gender, and the Right to Food," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(6), pages 1-4, June.
    13. Carmen Diana Deere & Cheryl Doss, 2006. "The Gender Asset Gap: What Do We Know And Why Does It Matter?," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1-2), pages 1-50.
    14. Osama J. A. R. Abu Shair, 1997. "Privatization and Development," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-25374-6.
    15. Agarwal, Bina, 2009. "Rule making in community forestry institutions: The difference women make," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2296-2308, June.
    16. Angelsen, Arild & Jagger, Pamela & Babigumira, Ronnie & Belcher, Brian & Hogarth, Nicholas J. & Bauch, Simone & Börner, Jan & Smith-Hall, Carsten & Wunder, Sven, 2014. "Environmental Income and Rural Livelihoods: A Global-Comparative Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 12-28.
    17. Jagger, Pamela & Luckert, Martin (Marty) K. & Duchelle, Amy E. & Lund, Jens Friis & Sunderlin, William D., 2014. "Tenure and Forest Income: Observations from a Global Study on Forests and Poverty," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 43-55.
    18. Agarwal, Bina, 2013. "Gender and Green Governance: The Political Economy of Women's Presence Within and Beyond Community Forestry," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199683024.
    19. Zhang, Wei & Ricketts, Taylor H. & Kremen, Claire & Carney, Karen & Swinton, Scott M., 2007. "Ecosystem services and dis-services to agriculture," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 253-260, December.
    20. Barbara Vinceti & Céline Termote & Amy Ickowitz & Bronwen Powell & Katja Kehlenbeck & Danny Hunter, 2013. "The Contribution of Forests and Trees to Sustainable Diets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(11), pages 1-28, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sirisha C. Naidu, 2023. "Circuits of Social Reproduction: Nature, Labor, and Capitalism," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 55(1), pages 93-111, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Razafindratsima, Onja H. & Kamoto, Judith F.M. & Sills, Erin O. & Mutta, Doris N. & Song, Conghe & Kabwe, Gillian & Castle, Sarah E. & Kristjanson, Patricia M. & Ryan, Casey M. & Brockhaus, Maria & Su, 2021. "Reviewing the evidence on the roles of forests and tree-based systems in poverty dynamics," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    2. Shyamsundar, Priya & Ahlroth, Sofia & Kristjanson, Patricia & Onder, Stefanie, 2020. "Supporting pathways to prosperity in forest landscapes – A PRIME framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Wunder, Sven & Angelsen, Arild & Belcher, Brian, 2014. "Forests, Livelihoods, and Conservation: Broadening the Empirical Base," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 1-11.
    4. Mengesha, Ayelech Kidie & Damyanovic, Doris & Mansberger, Reinfried & Agegnehu, Sayeh Kassaw & Stoeglehner, Gernot, 2021. "Reducing gender inequalities through land titling? The case of Gozamin Woreda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    5. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Johnson, Nancy & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Njuki, Jemimah & Behrman, Julia A. & Rubin, Deborah & Peterman, Amber & Waithanji, Elizabeth, 2011. "Gender, assets, and agricultural development programs: A conceptual framework:," CAPRi working papers 99, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Lambrecht, Isabel, 2016. "“As a husband I will love, lead, and provide:†Gendered access to land in Ghana:," IFPRI discussion papers 1514, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Lambrecht, Isabel Brigitte, 2016. "“As a Husband I Will Love, Lead, and Provide.” Gendered Access to Land in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 188-200.
    8. Jagger, Pamela & Cheek, Jennifer Zavaleta & Miller, Daniel & Ryan, Casey & Shyamsundar, Priya & Sills, Erin, 2022. "The Role of Forests and Trees in Poverty Dynamics," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    9. Andrews, Jeffrey & Borgerhoff Mulder, Monique, 2022. "Forest income and livelihoods on Pemba: A quantitative ethnography," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    10. Leone, Marinella, 2019. "Women as decision makers in community forest management: Evidence from Nepal," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 180-191.
    11. Isabel Lambrecht & Monica Schuster & Sarah Asare Samwini & Laura Pelleriaux, 2018. "Changing gender roles in agriculture? Evidence from 20 years of data in Ghana," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(6), pages 691-710, November.
    12. Savath, Vivien & Fletschner, Diana & Peterman, Amber & Santos, Florence, 2014. "Land, assets, and livelihoods: Gendered analysis of evidence from Odisha State in India:," IFPRI discussion papers 1323, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Leanne Roncolato & Nicholas Reksten & Caren Grown, 2017. "Engendering Growth Diagnostics: Examining Constraints to Private Investment and Entrepreneurship," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35(2), pages 263-287, January.
    14. Carmen Diana Deere & Cheryl Doss, 2006. "The Gender Asset Gap: What Do We Know And Why Does It Matter?," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1-2), pages 1-50.
    15. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2001. "Land Inheritance and Schooling in Matrilineal Societies: Evidence from Sumatra," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 2093-2110, December.
    16. Mara van den Bold & Andrew Dillon & Deanna Olney & Marcellin Ouedraogo & Abdoulaye Pedehombga & Agnes Quisumbing, 2015. "Can Integrated Agriculture-Nutrition Programmes Change Gender Norms on Land and Asset Ownership? Evidence from Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(9), pages 1155-1174, September.
    17. Bhattarai, Basundhara & Beilin, Ruth & Ford, Rebecca, 2015. "Gender, Agrobiodiversity, and Climate Change: A Study of Adaptation Practices in the Nepal Himalayas," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 122-132.
    18. Klaus Deininger & Songqing Jin, 2008. "Land Sales and Rental Markets in Transition: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(1), pages 67-101, February.
    19. Peterman, Amber & Behrman, Julia & Quisumbing, Agnes, 2010. "A review of empirical evidence on gender differences in nonland agricultural inputs, technology, and services in developing countries," IFPRI discussion papers 975, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    20. Peterman, A., 2010. "A review of empirical evidence on gender differences in nonland agricultural inputs, technology, and services in developing countries," IWMI Working Papers H043605, International Water Management Institute.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:6:y:2017:i:1:p:34-:d:93532. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.