Gender and Politics of Microenterprise Development in Rural Nepal
The propose study intends to make a case study of the largest Microenterprise Development Project in rural Nepal that includes not only women but also men. The project includes gender mainstreaming in its core activities that includes not just 50% but as large as 70% of women with inclusion of only 30% men. The project implemented by Nepal’s government (Ministry of Industry) with donor support from multilateral international donors such as UNDP, AusAid, DFID and NZAid, started in the year 1998 in rural districts of Nepal and has continued to replicate nationally and internationally. It has been cited as a successful project and replication in national and international news and reports. It also boasts of being one of the rarest projects to cover remote areas of Nepal, where microfinance programs had failed to reach in the past. Moreover unlike other projects, it is famous for keeping balance of the gender, ethnic and caste diversity of multi-cultural Nepal. Hence, I find this project a very important site of research to determine the factors affecting the project’s success visavis beneficiaries success of their ventures by asking the main research question: how does the microenterprise development project maintain its popularity as a successful project?
The specific research questions the study seeks to answer are: 1) What are the motives and interests of different stakeholders at international, national and local level 2) How do they influence and shape the project’s activities and outcome? 3) What are the factors affecting the success or failure of both men and women’s microenterprises?
At the initial stage the study will father secondary data through collection of project reports, newspapers and articles. Moreover, it will employ survey method to understand the socio-economic status of respondents and will utilize qualitative research methods such as key informant interviews with the project’s concerned officials and in-depth interviews with the beneficiaries.
