Building Capacity for Food Justice through Learning Pathways: Women's Group Farming in Kudumbashree, Kerala, India

Autor/in	Mahalingam, Mahalakshmi R.
Titel	Building Capacity for Food Justice through Learning Pathways: Women's Group Farming in Kudumbashree, Kerala, India
Quelle	(2022), (414 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit Ph.D. Dissertation, Arizona State University
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
ISBN	979-8-3635-1209-4
Schlagwörter	Hochschulschrift; Dissertation; Hunger; Females; Agricultural Occupations; Poverty; Nonformal Education; Informal Education; Agricultural Education; Food; Social Justice; Disadvantaged; Cooperation; Capacity Building; Participative Decision Making; Power Structure; Empowerment; Gender Bias; Community Development; Foreign Countries; India + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Thesis; Dissertations; Academic thesis; Weibliches Geschlecht; Agriculture; Occupation; Landwirtschaft; Beruf; Landwirtschaftlicher Beruf; Armut; Non-formal education; Non formal education; Nichtformale Bildung; Informelle Bildung; Education; Landwirtschaftliche Ausbildung; Ausbildung; Lebensmittel; Soziale Gerechtigkeit; Co-operation; Kooperation; Geschlechterstereotyp; Community; Development; Entwicklung; Ausland; Indien
Abstract	Food insecurity is a global concern and is acute in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa as well as pockets in the global North. In the lush green spaces of "God's Own Country", the state of Kerala in India, about 379,000 women are engaged in farming in about 75,800 groups. Spearheaded by Kudumbashree, the State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM) the women farmers, along with women who co-own other micro-enterprises, totaling approximately 4.5 million members in all, are part of a quiet revolution. Through a powerful statewide network of tens of thousands of well-trained community-based educators, SPEM facilitates non-formal education in farming, other livelihoods, and gender-based oppression. Boosted by this non-formal education and abundant informal learning, the women group farmers have taken matters into their own hands. Rather than wait for their male family members to rescue them from economic hardship, the women farmers learn to grow nutritious food both for family consumption and for sale. In the process, they are creating pathways for the practice of food justice in their families, villages, and the entire state. The study focuses on two women's farming groups, one from the highly marginalized Adivasi (ancient inhabitants, or tribal population) and one from the general population. The primary research question is: "How do women in collective/group farming initiatives learn to build capacity for food justice?". The study found the building of a robust set of capacities such as effective leadership, participatory decision-making, and shared power critical to community development, thereby generating income, financial literacy, and a sense of empowerment. The findings also suggest that the women farmers are making steady gains in the arena of women's agency and empowerment in harmony with their families, aided by 50,000 community educators who focus on building awareness about gender-based oppression and ways to combat it. This study pertains to two concerns in community development: 1) The role of the "invisible" learning dimension in capacity building and 2) food justice. The study is relevant to communities everywhere, including food-insecure pockets both in the global south and the global north. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.] (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01