| Abstract: | These case studies pertain to marginal dry land rural areas in developing countries. The evidence suggests that women have shorter rest periods, greater intensity and fragmentation of work, and greater use of multiple simultaneous occupations than men. Macroeconomic policies have increased the work burden for women and for the poorest populations and have contributed to environmental deterioration. This paper focuses on women's use of time as a factor in explaining women's changing gender role under conditions of environmental stress. The women and the environment debate encompasses two philosophical positions. The ecofeminist theory is that women are one with nature and are unlike men, who manipulate and exploit the environment. The other theory posits that women are managers of the environment and should be approached as separate groups. The developmentalist improves on theory by offering the view that there are differences in resource allocation, entitlements, and responsibilities. The case studies deny that women's roles are fixed and generalized. The case study in Sri Lanka reveals that the Mahaweli irrigation and settlement project brought widespread deforestation and forced women to spend more time and energy in seeking fuel wood. Women adjusted to the changes by reducing the number of trips for wood, increasing the amount of the load, and involving men in the process. The number of families who switched to alternative cooking methods increased. During the dry season more of women's time is spent in washing clothes and cleaning the house. Kitchen gardening is only a wet season activity. A Burkina Faso study found that the average daily hours of work for women was 10.6 in the wet season and 12.4 in the dry season in 1991. In the Caribbean, life revolves around crop and no-crop time. Multiple job holding is a common strategy for small farmers. Gender division of labor and time use are determined by household, local context, family structure, and stage in the life cycle. |
