Revitalizing Community-managed Irrigation Systems in the Context of Out-migration in Nepal

Irrigation systems, crucial for the food security of many populations in rural areas of the developing world, require sustained collective action. Widespread male out-migration presents major challenges for maintaining irrigation systems. However, existing scholarship suggests that changes in household structure and labor relations may provide new opportunities for increased involvement of women in the local governance of important resources, but the conditions under which this could occur remain unknown.

Through a study of farmer-managed irrigation systems in Nepal, I ask:

1. How are community-managed irrigation systems changing as a result of male out-migration?
2. How do changing household structure and labor relations open up possibilities for marginalised groups to engage with collective irrigation management?

By developing a synthesis of theory on translocality and feminist political ecology, I employ a mixed methods approach to study how rapid agrarian and social transformations are altering existing forms of collective action.

This project seeks to identify the pathways through which a greater engagement of marginal groups can help to revitalize collective natural resource management. Such bottom-up processes of change could be a vital part of a long-term transition towards more equal access to resources and improved food security in rural households of the Global South.

Please visit the homepage on Collective Water Governance and Rural Out-Migration: https://www.stephanieleder.com/current-project