Outmigrating men: A window of opportunity for women's participation in community forestry?

Abstract

Encouraging women to become active participants has been an important goal of the community forestry program in Nepal. Achieving this goal has been elusive, and studies have identified a range of formal structures and informal processes that can exclude women. This study explored whether there is a relationship between men's outmigration and women's participation in community forestry. Data were collected using a semi-structured survey, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with women from two community forest user groups. The analysis indicated that men's outmigration provides a “window of opportunity” to increase women's participation, as the left-behind wives were more likely to attend and voice their opinions during the general assembly. However, the extent to which outmigration represents an opportunity depends on family type and composition. The women who do not have an adult man in the household are those who become most involved in the community forest user group. By participating in the general assembly, they may achieve increased participation in forest decisions.