Gender, Environment and Social Transformation: A Study of Selected Villages in Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

In Himachal Pradesh, 85 per cent of the female work force is in agriculture and 60 per cent of the total work force in agriculture and allied activities is female. Women are a storehouse of traditional knowledge of agriculture (cropping patterns and rotation), conservation methods, cuisines and medicinal plants. The current development scenario is changing women’s lives for the worse. The degradation of the environment and the neglect of rural household needs have a great impact on biomass-based subsistence societies, with the women bearing the brunt of such changes. This article discusses how land acquisition for industry and hydro power, the non-profitability of and loss of interest in agriculture and its consequent decline for all the above-mentioned reasons are affecting women. The article discusses why the state needs to address the displacement of women from livelihoods and also the declining social cohesion caused by reduced agriculture and reduced community feeling and increased commercialisation and penetration of the market. The article also discusses how Jan Abhiyan Sanstha (JAS) and other civil society organisations have been mobilising communities, especially women, to prevent acquisition of rich agricultural land and loss of ecology and livelihoods.