Resource information
The Bangladesh polder zones cover 1.2 million hectares of agricultural land and are home to around eight million people with women playing a critical role in agriculture and food systems. With limited access to and control over productive resources and incomes, women are disproportionately vulnerable to climatic risks. Their ability to make important decisions can have positive outcomes on the governance of natural resources, agricultural productivity, and livelihoods. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study aims to examine the extent and level of women's participation in water management groups (WMGs) and analyze the socio-cultural, political, economic, and biophysical contexts that influence participation. A structured-questionnaire survey of 720 households was conducted during April-June 2022 in four polders of the Khulna division. Focus group discussions with women and men members were conducted to reflect on the factors that influence women's participation in WMGs. Results reveal that while men contributed mostly to decisions on structure/equipment investment and the release and distribution of water that directly affected agriculture production, women were more involved in enlisting participants for training on homestead gardening, livestock and poultry, as well as leadership development. Both men and women highlighted that participation in WMGs resulted in access to innovations that improved crop productivity and incomes. Women members opined that participation gave them social recognition in the community. Despite these perceived benefits, more than 60% of women respondents believed that their participation in meetings and decisions in WMGs is constrained by unpaid domestic work and restrictive social norms. The preliminary findings highlight that tackling restrictive gender norms to redistribute the unpaid domestic work burden of women is one way of enabling effective participation in water governance.
