A Gender Approach to Sustainable Rural Development of Mountains

Abstract

In the context of mountain development—eg in the Indian Central Himalayan Region (ICHR)—the role of micro-enterprises in poverty eradication and extending employment opportunities with very low capital is self-evident. Micro-enterprises have been well established in promoting equity-based participatory development in rural areas in the ICHR. Women play a vital role through collective entrepreneurship in mountain regions for achieving socioeconomic equity and ecological sustainability. The Rawain Women's Cooperative Federation (RWCF) established in Yamuna valley, Uttarakhand, in the western part of the ICHR, has emerged as a role model of sustainable rural livelihoods. The diversification of agriculture in mountain regions according to the RWCF pattern has played an important role in ensuring participation of women in policy making, community-based interventions, and institutional support. With this experience women have been capable of visualizing and realizing the opportunities offered by globalization.