Document(s) 5 of 12

Photo credit: NEPED

GEOGRAPHY AND ISSUES

The Indian subcontinent is separated from the rest of Asia by a continuous barrier of mountain ranges. The country is densely populated, with over 1 billion people—nearly one-sixth of the world's population. It is a country with enormously varied cultures, landscapes and history. North-east India is made up of seven states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura) known as the 'Seven Sisters'. They are linked to the rest of India by only a narrow strip of land. This relative isolation lends a distinctive quality to the lifestyles and cultures of the area, which are still predominantly tribal. Remoteness and inaccessibility make the north-east one of the most sparsely populated regions in the country. Arunachal Pradesh has the lowest density, with only 13 people per km2. The tribal people, who constitute the majority, are mostly of Mongoloid ancestry and originated from China, Tibet, Thailand and Myanmar. Nagaland is inhabited by 17 groups of the Tibeto-Burmese tribes who were once 'headhunters'. North-east India is known as a 'hot spot' for biodiversity of natural resources. This region also has a sensitive border zone where India meets Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Modern industries are lacking. Traditional industries are based on handicrafts. Handloom weaving is the major cottage industry in all the hill states, and women are the principal weavers. The forest provides timber and bamboo. Agriculture in the north-east is divided between settled farming in the rice-growing valleys and jhum or shifting cultivation in the hills. More than 70 per cent of the people live off the land and grow rice and maize as their main crops. The region is one of the wettest in the world, yet in many hill towns there is an acute shortage of drinking water as a result of indiscriminate felling of trees. There is potential for hydroelectric power, but it has not been developed yet.

Nagaland has an area of 16, 579 km2 and borders Myanmar in the east (see Figure 3.1). The climate ranges from subtropical to subtemperate with altitudes ranging from 200 to 3,800 m above sea level. Annual rainfall is 2,500 mm. Because of these geophysical characteristics, farmers can cultivate subtropical and subtemperate crops simultaneously

Figure 3.1
The Nagaland Region Showing the Location of the Research Sites

Source: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection.

and in the same location with comparative ease. They are able to produce crops under natural conditions: no external inputs, such as chemical fertilizers, are needed.

Seventeen major tribes reside in more than 1,000 villages. Villages are perched at altitudes above 100 m, and some are in the extreme highlands at over 2,000 m. Nagaland is considered to be the northernmost outpost of the rainforest, providing habitat for all its typical families, especially the Dipterocarpaceae. This habitat is also home to numerous wild and cultivated vegetables. Agriculture, primarily slash and burn, occurs on moderate to very steep slopes. Some tribes, particularly the Angami and Chakhesang, practise terrace rice cultivation on steep slopes. There is immense potential for vegetable production at the village level to feed the growing population in the townships. Demand exists and farmers have the knowledge to produce a large quantity, good quality and wide variety of produce.

Over 70 per cent of the inhabitants of Nagaland practise jhum cultivation, primarily because the terrain makes terracing and irrigation difficult. The jhum system is well suited to the subsistence farmers living in the hills where rice may be intercropped with no fewer than 20 to 60 other species in one field. There is an intimate link between jhum cultivation and crop biodiversity. For example, in the past, 30 types of millet were cultivated in Viswema village; now several varieties have been lost due to the change from jhum to terrace cultivation. Normally, after two to three years of use, fields are left fallow to allow the soil to rejuvenate for five to 20 years, depending on the availability of land.

Unfortunately, forest and soil degradation are major problems. According to the Department of Forest and Ecology roughly 33 per cent or 2,843 km2 of the total 8,629 km2 of classified forests were degraded in 1996–97. Of the total forested area, about 90 per cent is privately owned (this includes village ownership), while only about 10 per cent is owned by the state. In addition, with a growth rate of 6.4 per cent annually, population pressure and scarcity of land threaten traditional food security (Government of Nagaland 2001).

Women are considered to be the primary gatherers of forest resources to meet household needs; they collect wild vegetables (according to informants from one village, more than 50 varieties), non-timber forest products and wood for fuel. Depletion of these resources, therefore, has a direct impact on women, likely increasing their workload and drudgery. It also has a direct impact on the overall livelihood of the people who depend on forest resources not only for their own use but also as a crucial source of family income.

Sustainable development in Nagaland depends primarily on a balanced approach that includes biodiversity conservation, sustainable management of existing lands and forests, the exploitation of new forest resources, and adapting agricultural systems over time. Expansion of the agricultural area into accessible primary forest continues to be a concern.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES, QUESTIONS AND METHODS

In this context, we set out to support women vegetable vendors seeking to increase their income and benefits through better understanding of enabling factors and constraints in the local vegetable markets. The main research questions were:

1. Who does what in vegetable production or collection and sale?

2. What are the perceptions of the various social groups of women vegetable vendors?

3. What is the impact of vegetable selling by women on the family and the community?

4. What are the enabling factors and constraints on women who sell vegetables?

5. How can women overcome the constraints and build on the enabling factors?

We wanted to learn more about the lives of women vegetable vendors and share this knowledge with others involved in or related to this activity. We were also hoping that the vendors would make use of the knowledge to increase their income and other benefits. As researchers, we were looking for ways to play a supportive role and also provide technical inputs to the women. We also intended to enhance the knowledge of all participants about social and gender analysis and make them more sensitive to gender issues in particular. The research contributed directly to the Nagaland Empowerment of People through Economic Development (NEPED) project (see Box 3.1).

The research was carried out by a small team in collaboration with NEPED's Project Operations Unit (POU), women vegetable vendors and their families, the village council, the village development board, community representatives, members of the Kohima Town Committee and chamber of commerce, and the district agriculture and horticulture officers from Kohima.

We used a variety of tools, including questionnaires for both semi-structured interviews and group discussions. We carried out a preliminary systematic sample survey in Kohima, the capital of Nagaland, to

identify villages where women vegetable vendors come from, the number and sources of vegetable species being sold, and the ways in which the vegetables are sold. We employed one field person for this work. From the list of villages, we chose vendors from four villages based on criteria such as accessibility, distance from Kohima and willingness to take part in the research as key informants. The villages and their distances from Kohima were: Khonoma and Tsiese Basa (22 and 18 km, or a moderate distance away), Merema (12 km) and Pholami in Phek district (107 km). The villages can be reached by all-weather roads. They are covered by the NEPED project and, as such, we had already established a rapport with the respondents.

We first visited the selected villages to discuss the purpose of the research with village functionaries and to obtain their consent. Through these discussions we identified women vegetable vendors who would be willing to take part in the research. The vendors were encouraged to form self-help groups and some training was provided. One group member from each village was chosen as 'point person'—the person whom project field staff would contact. These people were given hands-on training in basic research and communication methods.

We carried out semi-structured interviews and held informal discussions with government officials and Kohima Town Committee members. We also encouraged the formation of a consultative committee at this decision-making level to explore avenues for using the research results over the long term. We used several participatory rural assessment (PRA) tools:

1. a seasonal calendar of crops to help us understand when the various vegetables fetch the best price and when various crops glut the market;

2. semi-structured interviews to gain an understanding of the perceptions of producers, vendors and the community regarding how to increase family income and the associated constraints; and

3. a survey of 20 households in the villages of Merema and Tsiese Basa to find out in more detail about the crops being sold, key constraints, production costs, grading and dressing, and the practice of storing unsold vegetables for the next day. The survey was also expanded to 63 households to determine the total cash income from the sale of vegetables during the last three months.

In addition, we used focus group discussions to validate results of other forms of data collection, to elicit group perceptions about the marketing of various crops, and the community's perceptions of enabling factors and constraints. Opportunities and gaps in vegetable production and marketing were also discussed with village functionaries. We interviewed key informants to validate information collected, draw out 'best management practices' that could be emulated by other producers and to learn about strategies to increase production and marketing. We did a transect walk to observe the production of vegetables (noting such features as distance from homes, size of the fields and crops grown). We also made direct observations of collecting, sorting, grading and selling processes.

Most of the regular women vegetable vendors are from Kohima and are descendents of the original settlers of the village. To facilitate group discussions, we contracted a local person, who was able to dissipate some of the vendors' fears and suspicions. Building rapport took less time than expected; however, the vendors were often hesitant to provide complete information. We sensed that they were afraid that the information collected would be used against them. Although we assured them confidentiality of our research findings, we did not manage to validate everything. It is also important to note that most vendors who participated in the study are poor, which may have led to an underestimation of enabling factors and overstatement of constraints. We also had to face unrealistic expectations by some participants in terms of what they thought to gain from the research(ers).

VEGETABLE PRODUCTION METHODS

Farmers have two main sources of vegetables for household consumption and sale: wild and cultivated. Wild vegetables are collected from forests, firewood reserves and jhum fallows. Generally, there have been no restrictions on collection; however, due to overexploitation of these species in recent years, officials in some villages are now imposing a ban on their collection for sale. According to the women vendors, these restrictions are not ecologically sound for some plants, especially the Balsamaceae family. According to the women, these species thrive better when the new shoots are nipped, as this results in branching and spreading. Left alone, they would grow into tall bushes, then die.

Most of the wild vegetables can be easily propagated through seeds and vegetative cuttings, provided the growing conditions in the domestic site are similar to those in the wild. Such sites are available in pockets. Further action research could include a domestication trial using Gajo jotho, a popular vegetable of the Balsamaceae family.

The farmers in the study villages practise an agriculture system that consists of three components: terraced rice cultivation (TRC), jhum and home gardens. Each contributes to the supply of vegetables for sale at a particular time, and together they ensure a constant supply of fresh vegetables in the Kohima market.

Terraced Rice Cultivation

Although this type of cultivation is used mainly for rice, in recent years relay cropping with vegetable cash crops is becoming more common. For example, tomato seeds are scattered in the rice fields during September and October when rice plants are flowering. The seeds float in the standing water, but as the water level recedes as harvest time approaches, the tomato seeds come into contact with the soil, well soaked and ready to germinate. By late May they are ready for harvest and continue to be sold in the market until July. The tomatoes produced this way are usually cherry tomatoes; they have a very short shelf-life and do not fetch a good price, although they taste good and are organically produced. Other relay crops include rice beans, grown in the terrace risers, and banana, brinjal, chilli and other assorted vegetables and fruits grown on the margins of terraced fields.

An action point in this area might be to increase the income of producers and vendors by introducing varieties that have a longer shelf-life and develop packaging techniques that increase shelf-life, as a significant proportion of the crop is lost during transport because it is delicate.

Jhum (Shifting Cultivation) Fields

Subsidiary crops are grown in jhum fields. In the past the main crops were maize, jobstear, millets and other cereals. Lately, there has been a significant shift, with cereal crops being replaced by vegetable cash crops, bulky vegetables like pumpkin being replaced by cucumber, and perilla being replaced by Solanum spp. In general, vegetables with a longer shelf-life, higher price and smaller volume are replacing conventional crops with lower economic returns.

Home Gardens

Most vegetables for home consumption and for sale are grown in home gardens, which are usually near the homestead or on the outskirts of the village. Because they are closer to home than the other components of the system, they receive the best care. In these home gardens a mixture of trees, perennials, creepers, climbers and annual crops are cultivated. More than 120 species have been reported growing in Tanhai village in Mon district.

THE KOHIMA VEGETABLE MARKET

Kohima is the capital of Nagaland and has a population of approximately 83,000. It includes people from all the Naga tribes and other Indian communities. The various groups use many different plants and animals in their regular diets and most are available in Kohima markets.

We observed that 90 to 95 per cent of the vendors are women. Women look after the management, cultivation, harvesting, and processing of the crops, although men sometimes help bring the produce to the local market. Although some goods are sold in bulk to regular vendors, others are sold directly to consumers on a temporary site. The four types of vegetable marketing enterprises operating in Kohima are shown in Table 3.1. As a result of their role in trade, women achieve a certain control over household decision making. Most of the income is used to buy essential commodities.

Naga Vegetable Vendors

This group dominates the market; the approximately 340 vendors are clustered in 12 locations, and among them they sell about 60 vegetable species. The produce is mostly organic and comes from neighbouring villages as well as some more than 100 km away. Most of these vendors are producers themselves. They can be divided into two subgroups: regular and part-time vendors. Regular vendors have a permanent space in the market, under a shed roof constructed by the authorities, for which they pay rent. Selling vegetables is their profession. They buy produce at wholesale rates from temporary and part-time vendors early in the morning. Part-time vendors, on the other hand, are occasional sellers. They bring their produce to market when there is a surplus from the field or home gardens or when they cultivate a special crop to sell.

Vendors bring their produce to market on the community bus or by carrying it on their head, depending on the distance and quantity. Regular vendors often make bulk purchases from farmers, but in many cases the farmers choose to sit at a vantage point on the roadside and sell their own vegetables. A kind of love–hate relationship can development between regular and part-time vendors. The former depend largely on the latter to supply them with produce for sale. But when the part-time vendors see that the regular vendors are able to buy their vegetables at a competitive price and sell them at a good profit, they often decide to retail their produce themselves. Regular vendors see the squatters as a threat because they compete for customers, and have asked the Kohima Town Committee to evict them. Often both parties lose and ill feelings result.

Wholesale Dealers

Wholesalers mostly sell vegetables brought in from the foothill plains of Dimapur and Assam by trucks travelling regularly between Kohima and Dimapur. Most of the vegetables they sell have a long shelf-life. They bring in goods in bulk and supply vegetable retail sale shops and home delivery vendors. During the potato and tomato season they sometimes buy from villagers around Kohima and sell these crops to retailers. About 12 wholesalers cater to 120 vegetable retail shops and about 50 home delivery vendors.

Vegetable Retail Shops

The 120 shops in Kohima sell 19 different vegetables at 10 locations. Most of these vegetables are bought from the wholesale dealers on a regular basis, but small quantities are sometimes purchased from the part-timers to supplement the variety of produce for sale in the shops.

Home Delivery Vendors

These vendors buy vegetables from the wholesale dealers and carry them from house to house. They can carry 30 to 40 kg of vegetables on their head.

MARKET REGULATION: THE EFFORTS OF THE KOHIMA TOWN COMMITTEE

To help part-time vendors sell their vegetables at a profit, the Kohima Town Committee provides infrastructure at three locations and issues directives that the vendors must adhere to. To make things easier for pedestrians and to avoid traffic congestion, vendors coming from different localities are assigned to different locations (Table 3.2).

Only the Super Market and Mao Market locations are being put to full use; Old Ministers Hill (Jail Colony) is partly used and Keziekie and the TCP gate are used for a weekly market. The reasons part-time vendors give for not using the infrastructure are plain and simple: there are no customers there. A lesson can be learned from the initiation of Mao Market, which was started only about five years ago by some elderly people from the Mao community. As the market was for the benefit of one community, the vendors from that community crowded the place to sell their vegetables, and it quickly became a popular marketplace.

The Kohima Town Committee members sympathize with the women vegetable vendors, but they are also concerned about keeping the town in order. They are aware that the rural women vendors squatting at the roadside are poor and may have invested all their savings to buy vegetables in their village to sell in Kohima. From time to time the committee members attempt to enforce the rules by evicting the wayside vendors, but this is only temporary. The vendors simply move to another part

of town and continue to do their business as usual. Shopkeepers, especially those from the mainland, are unhappy with these vendors because they obstruct the entrance to the their shops. Local shopkeepers have more respect for the Naga women and are less likely to assert their rights.

The Kohima Town Committee introduced weekly markets in various locations to woo the part-time vendors. Information about the weekly market day was circulated to all neighbouring villages. However, the committee has done nothing to determine whether the local vendors are benefiting from this initiative. We noted that these locations are mostly used by vendors from the mainland.

Although all four types of vendors are playing important roles in the marketing of vegetables, our research and the following information concentrates on the Naga vegetable vendors (regular and part-time) in the four chosen villages: Pholami, Merema, Tsiese Basa and Khonoma.

PHOLAMI

This village is located in Phek district about 107 km south-east of Kohima, and its inhabitants are Chakhesang. There are 274 households with a population of about 1,250. The road through the village is usable in all seasons, enabling a community bus to travel between Pholami and Pfutsero, the nearest town. In this village there are 34 women vendors who sell vegetables regularly in the four neighbouring towns of Phek, Chizami, Pfutsero and Kohima. These vendors fall into three categories:

1. Those who grow all their produce in their own fields and gardens (15 vendors). These vendors are the main suppliers to the regular vegetable vendors in town. Because they grow the vegetables themselves and sell them in bulk, they are assured a reasonable price and both the trader and producer can profit.

2. Those who grow about half the vegetables they sell, procuring the rest from others (six vendors).

3. Those who purchase all their vegetables from producers (13 vendors).

During December 2003 and January 2004 the total cash income generated by the women from vegetable sales was about INR 110,000 (United States dollar [USD] = 43.6 Indian rupees [INR]). This is a significant amount, as there are virtually no off-farm employment opportunities in the village. The main regular source of cash income in Pholami is the salary of government employees, mainly primary school teachers living in the village.

Enabling Factors

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of women selling vegetables from the village. An elderly male village council member remarked: 'The wealth of the village can be measured by the quantity of vegetables being taken out from the village for sale. The more the quantity, the richer the village.' Several factors encourage the vendors to sell vegetables outside the village. The desire to provide for their children's education and to improve housing and living conditions, among other reasons, have prompted rural farmers to look for income-generating opportunities. Growing and selling vegetables is a way to generate cash in the shortest time.

All vegetable vendors from this village stated that they are able to sell all their produce. However, they also said that at times there is a glut in the market for certain vegetables, which may then have to be sold at throwaway prices.

Factors that enable the farmers to undertake commercial production include favourable growing conditions, support from their families and the community, availability of transportation to market, and avenues to generate income and other benefits.

Favourable Conditions for Vegetable Production.

To estimate the number of varieties of vegetables and fruits produced in the village for sale, a focus group of women vendors of Pholami village was assembled. Table 3.3 indicates that in January, February and March the number of species is lowest, whereas from September to November is highest. The total number of fruit and vegetable species grown for sale in this village is about 50.

The 10 most common wild vegetables are three species of Balsamaceae, three species of ferns, wild pepper leaves, two species of Oenethe and Centella asiatica. Some of these (Balsamaceae and wild pepper leaves) are collected mainly from primary forests; others, such as ferns, are found in secondary forests. Centella asiatica is collected from the rice terraces. There are no restrictions on the collection of wild vegetables even from private land; on the other hand, cultivated vegetables and fruits cannot be taken from someone else's field, although they can be eaten in the field.

Many of the wild vegetables are available all year, especially the most common ones (see Box 3.2). Several cultivated vegetable are also sold throughout the year, especially those that can be consumed wholly.

According to the vendors, men and women collect the wild vegetables jointly. On almost every trip to the market, the vendors bring 50 to 60 bundles of wild vegetables; they have noticed no decrease in abundance of these species.

Farmers cultivate different crops at different elevations depending on site conditions. During a transect walk, we observed that vegetables such as cabbage, field peas and potatoes are cultivated in the higher

reaches, whereas ginger, garlic, chilli, beans and taro are cultivated at lower altitudes. Most of the fields are on the outskirts of the village where villagers maintain a kind of sedentary jhum field.

Support from the Family and Community.

Vegetables are harvested a day before the vendors travel to the market. Grading, sorting and cleaning is shared by family members the same evening, making it possible for the vendor to board the bus very early the next morning. Family members also help carry the goods to the bus stand and load.

The community supports vegetable entrepreneurship as well. For example, the community has installed a strong fencing system to keep cattle out of agricultural areas. The system is a great help in terms of agriculture production of winter crops (see Box 3.3).

Pholami community members who are permanent residents of Kohima support women vegetable vendors by providing them with shelter overnight. Thus, the vendors have free lodging and food, making it possible for them to take home all their income from sales. They also receive guidance from these residents. The women vendors receive support and encouragement from the family while they are away; during their absence, for example, the men take care of the household chores.

Availability of Transportation.

A private bus operates regularly between Pholami and the town of Pfutsero, leaving Pholami at about 5 A.M. The bus owner told us that the vendors are often the only people travelling to Pfutsero. During the peak vegetable harvest, competition for space on the bus is so stiff that quarrels among the vendors become common and the bus is often overloaded. Efforts are being made to schedule vendors' travel throughout the week to avoid these problems, although this is complicated because each vendor has her own activity schedule.

Avenues for Generating Income and other Benefits from Vending Vegetables.

With the population in the township expanding due to natural growth and rural-to-urban migration, the demand for fresh vegetables is on the rise. Farmers in the villages are responding by shifting their crops to vegetables that have a higher market value. For example, in the past, ginger was cultivated for home consumption only. Now the ginger fields are expanding so that some of the crop can be sold. (For more about ginger production, see Chapter 2.) Production of mustard leaves, cabbages and field peas is also increasing.

Vendors' purpose is either to generate cash income by selling their own produce or to make a profit in the case of those who retail. Both strategies are relatively successful due to the growing demand for organically produced vegetables in Kohima and other markets (see Box 3.4).

To learn more about how vendors are generating income, we did two contrasting small case studies focusing on the costs and benefits of part-time vegetable vendors.

Because most farmers in the villages practise a mixed cropping system, it is difficult to devise an acceptable way to quantify production costs per unit area. In a jhum field a farmer can cultivate as many as 60 species (Supong 1999). Average jhum fields in the study villages contain about 20 different crops. We were not able to segregate the labour component for each crop, nor for the quantities harvested. The farmers follow a complex cycle of mixed cropping, relay cropping, multiple-cropping and perennial cropping. As an alternative, we estimated the costs and benefits of selling vegetables for two part-time vendors.

Vendor 1 (part-time, few resources) This vendor usually travels to Kohima once a month to sell vegetables. In 2003 she was able to do this only twice as she was nursing a child. She has a relative in Kohima, where she can stay for the night at no cost (there are no public overnight shelters in town). It takes five days to sell her produce. Table 3.4 presents the costs and benefits for one regular trip.

From these numbers it is clear that if the vendor did not have a relative with whom to spend the night in Kohima, she would not be able to generate much profit. This raises the question of whether she would be better off selling her produce to a wholesaler in Kohima. She would save a day in labour costs, but her income would diminish by approximately one third, which explains why vendors prefer to retail the vegetables themselves.

Vendor 2 (part-time, more resources) In contrast with vendor 1, this vendor from the same village has more resources to invest and is making a substantial profit in her venture. She has seven years of vending experience and has learned that specialization is most profitable. Instead of spending time on many items as is usually done, she selects only products and invests as follows (Table 3.5).

Compared with vendor 1, we can see that experience, contacts and the careful selection of and concentration on a few items may make for a more profitable venture. Given that the number of days involved in

preparation, travelling and selling is the same, it is more lucrative to acquire a larger quantity of goods. The vendors report that in most cases the producers will give them vegetables on credit; thus, they do not need to have cash in hand except for transportation. We can also see that marketing bananas is more profitable than selling other produce.

Women vendors squat for long days at the roadside, defying all obstacles such as traffic jams, the ire of the KTC, rain, wind, heat and other discomforts to sell their vegetables. We asked them why they do not sell their vegetables to a wholesaler and return home; on the surface,

this option seems better, allowing both parties to benefit. We discovered that vendors can make three times as much selling produce themselves than they would by selling it to a wholesaler (Table 3.6).

Non-Material Benefits of Selling at Kohima.

For some vendors, selling their produce in Kohima allows them keep in touch with their children, who are at school and college there. When the parents come to the market, they also visit their children and pay school fees. More than 340 Naga women vegetable vendors are going about their business every day in Kohima. Although at first most are strangers, they make friends and learn production and marketing techniques from each other. Some seasoned part-time vendors have built such good relations with regular vendors that they can dispose of their vegetables at a reasonable price at any time of the day. Many new part-time vendors have learned the art of sorting, packaging and quality control by selling vegetables themselves. Spending time in Kohima also allows the women to learn about other town business. They find out where to buy the best priced food and items that might not be available in Pfutsero.

Constraining Factors

Transportation Deficiencies.

The single bus travelling between Pholami and Pfutsero is reliable but often insufficient to meet the demand. It best serves vendors who sell their vegetables at Pfutsero. However, more than 10 vendors sell their vegetables in Kohima and need to travel another 74 km, which means hitchhiking on whatever truck is available. On arrival in Kohima, they have to hire a taxi to transport the vegetable to the spot where they set up business. This journey takes a toll on the vendors. During March, April, May and December (the peak season), on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, there is a mad rush for the bus. Many vendors are unable to get a seat with the result that their produce goes to waste.

Insufficient Production for Wholesale Trading.

Despite the favourable growing conditions described earlier, villagers have difficulty producing or procuring enough vegetables to allow them to venture into wholesale trading, which, according to the women vendors, would be worthwhile. There are several reasons for this difficulty. First, most villagers believe that vegetables are best produced in home gardens. Only a few progressive farmers have tried alternatives, such as growing cabbages and field peas in TRC fields as winter crops. Strong manpower is required to plough fields in November as the ground is heavy with moisture; this is not readily available as many men are busy with other work at this time. Second, continuous cultivation of crops in the same area leads to nutrient depletion and diseases, and farmers have no access to fertilizers and only limited knowledge of soil fertility improvement practices. Third, according to some women vegetable vendors, cultivation could be increased if the men cleared the jungle to create more farmland. They consider the onus for increased vegetable production to be on men, who are clearly failing to respond.

Disputes among Vendors.

Currently, there are many vendors and competition is strong. According to villagers, the number is increasing every season. Key informants reported that some fellow villagers tell producers that the vendors are making a huge profit. This kind of hearsay has prompted several producers to sell their own crops, thus adding to the mêlée. As a result of the competition among vendors, producers have escalated their prices and vendors' profits have decreased.

Challenges Concerning the Sites of Vending Activity.

The KTC has designated specific sites for vendors coming from villages in different directions. KTC members assume that vendors comply with these directives, but part-time vendors are not always aware of them or deliberately ignore them and set up wherever business is good. From time to time, the KTC raids the wayside vendors and seizes their goods. As Kohima's population is increasing, the vendors are finding it more and more difficult to find a place to sell their vegetables. The increasing number of vehicles is also a serious and growing problem.

Intervention Strategies

During the research process, we identified action-oriented strategies to help the vegetable vendors overcome some of the obstacles they face. To address the transportation bottleneck, we held discussions with village functionaries and community leaders to assess both current and potential vegetable production if this barrier could be removed. The community suggested that the problem could be solved by making a public carrier truck available in the village. One progressive farmer-entrepreneur showed interest in this idea, and we are exploring avenues by which the farmer could get a bank loan to purchase a truck.

To address the problem of insufficient supply, we carried out a thematic resource mapping exercise with both men and women in the village. They mapped out what kind of vegetables could be produced where. The participants were very knowledgeable about cultivation of indigenous crops and identified options for increasing production (see Box 3.5 for an example that has already been put into practice). In partnership with four progressive farming families, we provided vegetable seeds and labour for the cultivation of vegetables in TRC fields as a demonstration. The income generated is expected to have a ripple effect in the village.

The farmers know that settled cultivation is only possible if nutrients are added to the soil, but they have no access to fertilizers. To overcome this problem, we initiated a dialogue with a Bio-fertilizer Laboratory (of the Agriculture Department, Government of Nagaland) so that the research team could facilitate the supply of bio-fertilizers in the low quantities that are required.

Group discussions were initiated with the men to make them aware that they need to devote more time to cultivation of winter crops in November. With the researchers facilitating the discussion, we found it was effective to invite women vendors to speak about the benefits that could be accrued from this increased production.

We encouraged the establishment of a consultative committee to look into the problem of marketing sites in Kohima, drawing lessons

from the experience and the success of the Mao Market consultative committee. We also assisted with the creation of an overnight storage area for vendors selling on consecutive days in town (see Box 3.6).

MEREMA AND TSIESE BASA

These two villages are north of Kohima: Merema is 12 km away and Tsiese Basa is 18 km from Kohima. The types of vegetables produced for selling in the two villages are similar. Most are grown in jhum fields and home gardens (see Box 3.7). The jhum cultivation system here is somewhat peculiar; normally, it is used for rice, but here vegetables are grown for commercial purpose, continuously for up to three to four years.

Changing Gender Roles in the Production of Vegetables

We observed an important change in the management of home gardens. Traditionally, men considered it 'below our dignity to tend the home gardens'. They were the domain of women. However, this mindset is changing. The community has accepted the fact that men's contribution to the maintenance of home gardens significantly increases the cash income of households. Men's efforts to enlarge home gardens and their sharing of household chores are allowing women more time to sell the produce. It has become common to see both women and men returning home with head-loads of vegetables from gardens far from home. In one discussion an elderly gentleman quipped, 'Women are weak, they cannot bring much quantity of harvest so I do the harvesting and bring twice the quantity she can carry.' Another man told us that harvesting is best done early in the morning or late in the evening and, therefore, it is better that his spouse stays home and does the household chore while he does the harvesting.

To understand the input of men and women into home gardens, we conducted a survey of 17 households in the two villages. In all of these households, both men and women take part in all growing operations, indicating a significant change in the attitude of the men. In the past men would have contributed only to building fences and clearing the jungle. Now they also plough, sow, weed and harvest. The only activity where men remain almost absent is vending; this has remained a women's job.

Main Enabling Factors and Constraints

Compared with Pholami, these villages are much closer to Kohima, both are served by a regular bus and National Highway 61 passes through them. Vendors can collect vegetables the day before marketing them and can return home when their business is finished.

However, while transportation is not a problem, villagers face constraints in terms of production. They find it difficult to grow crops with high market demand, for example, potatoes and cabbages; they could benefit from more technical know-how. Vendors also highlighted the fact that production is affected by pests and diseases, and that management skills could be improved.

The major problem is free-roaming cattle and the very high cost of building fences, especially for the poorer households. This explains why, despite the fact that home gardens contribute a significant if not major portion to household cash incomes, they continue to be small. Their average area is about 30 m by 20 m although some are as large as 80 m by 40 m. Village resolutions and the Cattle Trespass Act passed by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly to control cattle throughout the year have little or no effect because it is the 'elite' of the village who keep cattle and they do not have home gardens. They continue to defy the resolutions and government orders. A number of extreme measures have been resorted to by village functionaries and farmers to change the situation: killing stray cattle, imposing heavy fines on the cattle owner and social fencing. Apparently, these actions have only led to conflicts between village functionaries and the cattle owners. No solutions have yet been found.

Options for Intervention

Table 3.7 summarizes the needs and options that we identified in the two villages. Most of these are interlinked. Producers and vendors are clear about the crops that have good marketing potential. They are also

aware that some crops are in high demand but they lack the production know-how to respond properly and in a timely manner. To enable farmers to increase the production of high-potential vegetables while maintaining their organic production methods, we initiated a dialogue between research laboratories and producers, especially in the context of integrated pest management, bio-fertilizers and bio-compost. We encouraged the sharing of good or innovative practices among farmers based on concrete examples of other farmers in the region, such as the case of potato cultivation in Viswema village.

KHONOMA

Khonoma is 22 km west of Kohima and is inhabited by people of the Angami tribe. There are 391 households with a population of about 2,180 (Cairns 2004). The village is easily accessible and connected to Kohima by a daily community bus. Vegetable vending in Khonoma began with the introduction of the first bus route to Kohima in 1981. Before that, a few women sold wild vegetables, such as banana leaves, when they travelled to town on foot for social visits. The community buses have greatly enhanced mobility. Villagers go to town not only for social visits but also for economic reasons, marketing agricultural or forest produce and buying essential items for the family.

There are 25 vendors who produce vegetables in their own fields and sell them at the market. Sometimes they sell their own produce; when prices are good, they sell to regular retailers. On a typical marketing day a vendor spends about INR 200 to cover expenses and usually makes a small profit. Most vendors said that they are willing to sell their produce in the village at wholesale rates if the prices are reasonable. All women vendors interviewed feel that vegetable selling is still a profitable business. It allows them to supplement the family income to pay for children's education and to buy clothing and other essential household items such as milk, sugar, meat and even rice if household production is insufficient. Most said that bulk production for commercial sale could lead to marketing problems unless better linkages can be established. They also noted that a labour shortage could arise because all the children go to school and do not help in the field (except during vacations).

Potential Interventions

We heard several ideas from vendors for improving their situation. One part-time vendor suggested that the KTC should enforce strict use of designated marketplaces. She said, 'Today, vendor produce is seized, the next day nothing happens. So vendors are encouraged to occupy the footpath again with a bit of risk and insecurity. The public should be disciplined to go to the designated marketplaces and not buy from the footpath.' Another commented, 'The government should provide good quality seed and impart technical know-how of producing off-season vegetables that have a good price.'

We suggested that an appropriate marketplace be provided to vendors for a nominal fee. Vendors think that the old Nagaland State Transport (NST) complex, currently occupied by cobblers, would be a good location. However, when we communicated the vendors' idea to the administration, they disagreed and argued that such a centrally located place for vegetable marketing is unacceptable from a hygienic and sanitation point of view. Further research is needed on this option.

Another suggestion we put forward was to establish a collection centre or storage facility in the village from which the produce can be taken to wholesalers in Kohima by self-help groups or cooperatives. Farmers could expand the area under vegetable cultivation and produce in bulk for commercial purposes.

Another option is to organize more experience-sharing tours among progressive farmers to exchange more information about good practices. Successful farmers could be duly acknowledged and given small incentives—in cash or kind—by government development departments.

Asked if men could sell vegetables to overcome the harassment being faced by women when they are loading and unloading produce, one of the vendors responded:

It is a role not expected of men to do because traditionally men and women have specific assigned roles. Men would instead do cane and bamboo work, stone work or carpentry for household use or earn additional income to the supplement family income. They may not have the patience to sit on the roadside the whole day selling 'pity' [seen as of low value] vegetables or may not know how to sell. They may not earn anything at all. Even if they manage to sell all vegetables, men may not know what items to buy back home. Marketing cash crops in bulk is, however, done by men as it is to be sold at distance market places like Dimapur. Men are more mobile and can be away for a longer period of time unlike women. Loading and unloading bulk produce is also easier for men to handle than women.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study of the diverse vegetable production and marketing practices of women vendors points to a number of enabling factors. Soils, rainfall, geographic location and elevation allow Nagaland farmers to grow numerous crops simultaneously in the same location with comparative ease. They can produce crops under natural conditions without irrigation or chemical fertilizers. The vegetables they sell in Kohima are of two sorts: wild and cultivated. Wild vegetable are mostly collected from the primary forest, whereas cultivated ones have three sources: jhum fields, TRC fields and home gardens. The many varieties offered suit the tastes of various customers well. Most women vendors have good support from their family and community. While they are away (selling), men take care of household chores. The community provides support through the system of social fencing. Although vendors and vending are formally regulated by KTC staff by means of regulations and standing orders (for example, evacuations), in general they receive sympathy from these important decision makers.

However, marketing is not without hardships and constraints. The common constraints are limited production to attract wholesale dealers from towns and cities, and insufficient quantities of vegetables brought to Kohima to venture into wholesale trading by part-time vendors. Merema and Tsiese Basa face the problem of roaming cattle and the inability of producers to pay for fencing. Vendors from Pholami village are hampered by poor transportation facilities. More (research) efforts should go into finding alternative marketing chains to deal with these multiple problems (see Box 3.8).

The issue of marketing sites continues to plague all stakeholders. The KTC has prepared the infrastructure for vegetable vendors, but the vendors do not use it. They prefer to squat at any convenient place and carry on their business freely, causing inconvenience to pedestrians, traffic and shopkeepers. The vendors argue that the infrastructure provided is useless because no customers come to buy vegetables in this area. This seems to be a 'chicken and egg' problem.

To deal with the constraints, we are exploring a number of intervention strategies adapted to the local context. In the case of Merema and Tsiese Basa we have encouraged more rigorous enforcement of the Cattle Trespass Act and village resolutions prohibiting cattle from 'free-grazing' during winter. In Pholami we increased motivation and awareness of the benefits of producing and selling vegetables. We also encouraged a community initiative to secure a truck to travel between the village

and the nearest town. We provided or suggested technical and material support for farmers to cultivate vegetables that are in demand, but for which they lack knowledge; for example, the farmers of Tsiese Basa and Merema, who want to cultivate potatoes organically but lack the management expertise. Integrated pest management training in this area would augment production.

The Mao residents of Kohima initiated the Mao Market Complex. They observed the Mao women vegetable vendors coming from villages with their vegetables and having trouble eking out a livelihood. They discussed their observations in their own community in Kohima, which then purchased a building in a centrally located place. This market complex is vibrant with women vendors from the Mao community and has solved the problem of location for the women of the tribe. Learning from this success, we created an informal forum of town decision makers to draw up a plan for a site for vegetable vending. A start has been made in this direction, but more time is needed to produce a fruitful outcome.

REFERENCES

Cairns, M. (2004). Fuel and Fertility: Alder's Role in Land Use Intensification. Presented at Panel Discussion on Shifting Cultivation (Jhum): Policy Imperatives for North East India, 7 July 2004. (Reproduced by LEAD-India in Partnership with ICIMOD.)

Government of Nagaland (2001). 2001 Statistical Handbook of Nagaland. Kohima: Directorate of Economics and Statistics.

Supong, K. (1999). Farmers' Knowledge of Shifting Cultivation in Nagaland. Report submitted to IDRC, Agriculture Research Station, Mokokchung, Nagaland.

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