Women's indigenous knowledge of forest management in Orissa (India)

Smita Mishra

This article explores the indigenous knowledge of women in two indigenous/tribal communities in Orissa (India). Women make an important contribution to the traditional economy (shifting cultivation, minor forest produce economy, communal and homestead lands). Their role in all these different farming systems is well integrated. Women have to cope with the dual problem of a declining resource base and the power structures (gender relations) that prevent them from participating in any kind of decision-making at the community level. Women's indigenous knowledge system is often considered inferior or regarded as non-knowledge. This article shows that the knowledge systems of Juang and Saora women--both practices and perspectives--can be instrumental in putting forward alternatives to conventional development interventions.

Until now, most of the literature has ignored the gender dimension of indigenous knowledge systems. Apart from a few ethnographic and anthropological studies, there has been no systematic attempt to document women's indigenous knowledge. This is due to the androcentric bias displayed by early anthropologists, ecologists and environmentalists, who operated within stereotypes such as 'anatomy is destiny' and 'man is the hunter'. It was not until the mid-seventies, when the myths associated with such stereotypical thinking were unmasked, that feminist scholarship turned its attention to the knowledge systems of women.

Women's indigenous knowledge and ecofeminism
In recent years there has been a growing interest in women's indigenous knowledge systems within the field of gender and the environment. It is increasingly being recognized, by researchers and grassroots workers alike, that in many communities women are the primary natural resource managers, and that they possess an intimate knowledge of the environment. Many related studies have shown that in circumstances of rapid change such as environmental crisis, the outmigration of men, changing economic activities, and government interventions, women play a crucial role in maintaining livelihoods, cultural continuity and community cohesion.

There is a clear link between ecofeminist thinking and women's indigenous knowledge systems. Ecofeminism conceptualizes the relationship between gender and environment in ideological terms. This theme, which emerged in the late eighties, sees women as 'the natural custodians' of the environment.

Ecofeminism has recently been the subject of considerable debate, in particular, the view that women are closer to nature because of their nurturing and caring role (biological determinism). On the basis of empirical evidence, it would be more precise to say that women are closer to nature because of the gender- based division of labour, and their role in attending to the everyday needs of the household. And it is because of this close interaction with their natural environment that the indigenous knowledge of women has become so important, especially with regard to the management of natural resources. At present, however, women's indigenous knowledge base is becoming eroded, as a result of environmental crises and the loss of natural resources. Like gender differences, women's indigenous knowledge is socially constructed, and passed on from one generation to the next. Ecofeminist thinking regards nature as an integrated entity, characterized by an enormous diversity. There is an interrelationship between all the parts, so that a disturbance anywhere in the system throws the entire system off balance. The modern scientific approach is a reductionist one, in which a single component is viewed as a unit and exploited, which ultimately leads to a crisis. For example, in the reductionist paradigm, a forest is reduced to wood for industrial purposes, whereby its regenerative capacities are first undermined and then destroyed.

Here we present an example of women's indigenous knowledge in the field of agriculture and natural resources management.

Juang and Saora in Orissa
Between May and August 1994, a study was conducted in two villages in Orissa, one in Keonjhar district in the north and the other in Gajapati district in the south. The objectives of the study were:

• to examine the impact of forest degradation on the Juang and Saora indigenous/tribal communities from the perspective of gender; and
• to establish how these communities, where forests are viewed as a livelihood resource, have coped with the situation.

Women's indigenous knowledge
The women in both these areas are engaged primarily in activities related to the gathering of minor forest produce, and shifting cultivation, which affords them a subsistence livelihood. Over the years, large-scale forest degradation has placed considerable pressure on the communities, and seriously affected their livelihood. This deforestation has had different effects on men and women. Women are affected because of their role as providers for the domestic needs of the household. The resources affected by forest degradation are part of the traditional household economy, in which women play an important role. Women traditionally had control over these resources, which were crucial to the economy (food, fodder, fuel, and herbal medicines). Although both women and men have become impoverished as a result of economic and ecological factors, women have been hit harder because of increased workloads, poor nutrition and deteriorating health. Other associated consequences affecting women include the change from communal to private ownership of land (this has implications for women, since they are not allowed to own title deeds), and the overall changes in cultural identity.

As a result of the forest degradation, there is large-scale male outmigration from the Saora area. The women are left behind to fend for themselves and their households, and are forced to operate within a situation of scarcity (a declining resource base and the necessity to travel further and further to obtain resources). In such situtions, a renegotiation of gender roles often occurs, whereby women take over roles previously allocated to men. Competing for available resources leads to the breakdown of communities. Individualism creeps in, leading to the overall erosion of the cultural identity of the community.

The natural resources available to women are the hilltops and slopes where the shifting cultivation plots are located; the forests, most of which are on the hilltops; and the homestead and communal lands around their villages. All these different types of land are scattered throughout the hills and forests, and some are quite far from the village. But there is a high degree of integration, and together they form a single ecosystem; the women themselves are able to identify all these locations by name. Local women allocate their time to the various activities related to these locations in quite an efficient manner, making the best possible use of their time.

A closer look at the local traditions reveals the methods by which the cultural and ecological balance is maintained. Culture is defined by the ecological conditions and the traditional institutions that help to sustain the community. This fosters a situation of 'constructive dependence', similar to that of many other local communities in India (Fernandes, Menon and Viegas, 1988:170). Evidence of this is found in the various myths, taboos, rules, and regulations that form part of the local culture and ethos. The Juang and Saora women, for example, never cut trees that have religious or economic value.

Minor forest produce
Women gather many forest products for food, drink, fodder, medicine, and house-building, as well as for agricultural or other domestic purposes. These products are known collectively as 'minor forest produce' or MFP. There is a seasonal variation in the availability of different products for household consumption. Table 1 shows when the various items are collected. The women of the two communities collect these items every day, in the late afternoon, on their way back from the shifting cultivation plots (Khamana or Bogodo).

Table 1: MFP collected from the forest by women.

Months	Items collected from the forest
April-May	Roots and tubers (Bayam, Jal Ajang, Kalu, Timang and Siadek) and honey
May-June	Fruits (Mango, Teren, Kundui, Bayam)
July-August	Honey and mushrooms
August-September	Greens (Kusur, Bursuni Sag ), maize, mango kernels, cucumbers, pumpkins and gourds
September-October	Greens, cucumbers, pumpkins and gourds
October-December	Greens (mustard), roots and tubers
January-February	Greens, tubers and the pods of some edible trees
February-March	Tubers, Mohua flowers and fruits

Some forest produce, including oil seeds such as Sal (Shorea robusta), Karanja (Pongamic globra), and Kusum (Schleichera trijuga) have to be gathered in large quantities for optimal extraction. Therefore, on certain days of the season women go into the forest in groups. They also gather Mahua flowers (Madhuca latifolia) which are either used for making drinks or sold in the local periodic market. Most of the MFP collected is for household consumption. The women know exactly which type of product to collect, as well as the proper season and time of day. They never overexploit the forest, and are very precise about the time that a particular plant or shrub should be picked, dug or cut.

On certain days of the season (in April, May and December), the women walk in groups to the forest to cut firewood for household consumption. They store the wood on planks in big trees close to the settlement and use it according to their requirements. In this way they make the best possible use of the available time and resources.

Khamana or Bogodo cultivation
In the Juang and Saora languages, swidden or shifting cultivation (SC) is known as Khamana and Bogodo respectively. This type of cultivation is practised extensively on the hilltops and slopes. In the two areas studied this is mainly the task of women, one which involves hard labour throughout the year. The plots are cultivated for 2-3 years and then left fallow for 3-4 years, during which time another piece of plot is cultivated. Certain activities associated with SC are carried out by men, such as selecting plots, cutting and burning trees, sowing and harvesting. The only implements women use for this type of cultivation are the digging stick, or the axe and the sickle. Millets and cereals are grown together, as in multicropping. Only Niger (Guizotia abyssinica) is grown separately. The mixed crops are sown and harvested on the same plots but at different times of the year, and the women know exactly when the various crops should be harvested. The process of chaffing, cleaning and threshing is done by women right on the SC plots, and the harvested stalks are weeded out immediately, allowing the later varieties to ripen. Women have a good knowledge of the weeds and pests which attack crops and the damage they cause, and take appropriate action.

Production on the SC lands (generally minor millets, pulses, oilseeds, and rice) is low in comparison with the settled cultivation lands or the valley bottom lands on which rice is grown. The shifting cultivation plots are ten times the size of settled cultivation plots with comparable yields. Labour input is high in relation to output. Weeding and protecting the Khamana or Bogodo lands from animals and birds is tedious work, which women must carry out all year round. The minor millets (Ragi), pulses (redgram, horsegram), oil seeds (Niger) and cereals produced on these lands are free of pesticides and chemical fertilizers of any kind. When the land is fallow, women grow a kind of citrous plant called Susunap; it provides fibres for making ropes, while the leaves are consumed as part of a gruel which is a regular part of the diet. Thus these products of the SC agro-ecosystem are organically grown and have a higher nutritional value than those grown with the aid of chemical inputs. They tide the people over during the lean months of the year, when rice is in short supply. Rice is grown in the valley bottom lands and terraced lands (settled cultivation) in both the Juang and the Saora areas. In the Juang area, rice is grown on the shifting cultivation plots, along with millets. Not only are these minor millets and pulses a welcome addition to the diet, but at certain times of the year they are also bartered for rice. Fruits and vegetables are grown on homestead lands, alongside certain millets and tobacco. Fruit-bearing trees and shrubs, and those which yield firewood are grown on communal lands.

Learning from women's indigenous knowledge
With the encroachment of the State and the market into autonomous indigenous communities, women's indigenous knowledge now often goes unrecognized, remaining invisible to planners, policy makers and other agents of external change. Such knowledge must be made visible, alongside other knowledge systems, including men's knowledge, and scientific and religious knowledge.

In the Juang and Saora areas of Orissa, as elsewhere, shifting cultivation is slowly giving way to settled cultivation, with the introduction of the plough and the bullock. This is bringing about a gradual change from the informal/communal mode to the more formal/private mode of production. This is the result of State intervention, as the Government feels that it is the local communities that are responsible for forest degradation, due to the practice of shifting cultivation. The position of women has gradually been eroded and the process of subordination begun. The feminist literature has given a great deal of attention to this problem.**1 Moreover, the present research demonstrates that women are quite capable of feeding their households by means of MFP, SC, homestead lands and wet paddy lands, with or without the help of men (notably in areas of male outmigration). Women are not prepared to give up practices such as shifting cultivation and forest gathering, as these farming systems provide food security and meet the subsistence needs of their family and community.

Ms Smita Mishra
Research Associate and PhD Candidate
Gender and Development Studies
Asian Institute of Technology
P.O. Box 2754
Bangkok 10501
Thailand
Tel: +66-2-5245668.
Fax: +66-2-5162126.
E-Mail: HSD927164@rccvax.ait.ac.th

Reference
Fernandes, W., H. Menon and P. Veigas, P. (1988) Forests, environment and tribal economy: Deforestation, impoverishment and marginalisation in Orissa. New Delhi: Indian Social Institute.

Endnote
**1 The scope of this article does not permit a discussion of this issue.