ANNOUNCEMENTS
Excessive rates of male out-migration in the hill districts of Uttarakhand have led to changes in the rural production system and the sociocultural structures of the villages. There have been observable changes in the lives of these women left-behind; from the workload to the amount of responsibility they hold in the household and the livelihood options they follow. This research, using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, aims to delve deeper into this vulnerable context and map changes in the lives of women due to male-outmigration. Further, it aims to assess the role of the livelihood intervention - Integrated Livelihood Support Project (ILSP) by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – India, in this dynamic setup. The study design adopted a case-control approach choosing three villages of Almora district. Mixed method was used for data collection which included household surveys, interviews with 80 women, focused group discussions and participatory rural appraisal tools. The analysis of data revealed that women and young girls were overburdened with reproductive roles that left them with no time to invest in productive activities. Although women were engaged in farm activities, in the absence of property rights and recognition as ‗farmers‘, they were seldom able to exercise control over means of production. Their access to economic decision making was limited. The only difference was where women from households with out-migrated male members considered themselves as ‗temporary household head‘ with the power to make decisions pertaining to household expenditure. The ILSP project, through its association with the vulnerable groups, helped the farmers connect to the market. But this association was slow to scale up in the absence of adequate processes and incomplete visualisation of the context and the asset sets. The women respondents perceived some benefit from the group association through enhanced social capital that could help them cope with stress conditions, particularly in the absence of male counterparts. The study further provides recommendations to fill the gaps observed.
Keywords: out-migration, women left-behind, development projects
