Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

In this master’s thesis, I have investigated gender dynamics within a village called Batudulang on the Island of Sumbawa in Indonesia. It is qualitative research, based on observations, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. The villagers are practising agroforestry systems, where candlenut trees are one important crop for the preservation of nature as well as the villager’s income. Many of the nodes in the value chain of candlenut are concentrated in this village and there are possibilities for development of processing technics so that the villagers can get more income from the nut. In terms of existing research, there are studies on the candlenut value chain from this area, but not with a gender focus. I have therefore concretized my gender analysis of the community with a gender analysis of the candlenut value chain. In order to get an understanding of how gender dynamics are created, I have used concepts of Gender system, Nature-culture division and Gender contract. Investigating gender dynamics in the community and in the value chain can be a base for further analysis of social change, where women can be targeted in order to increase decision power and access to resources. Access to resources, decision making agency and collective action are three empowerment factors that I have investigated in this thesis. I have found that there are some divisions between women and men in the candlenut value chain, but compared to many other studies on gender dynamics in value chains, women in this value chain tend to have more power and be involved in value-adding activities. In the community, I have highlighted where women have less access to resources and decision making agency, which is a general analysis of women’s situation in order to understand how interventions can be gender sensitive. Some of these inequalities in access to resources and agency are affecting women’s possibility to participate in and benefit from the candlenut value chain, while others are less visible.