Water governance and gender in the irrigation sector. A case study in Chiapas, Mexico.

Abstract

This article discusses how gender segregation is expressed and recreated in water management in formal decision-making institutions in the Cuxtepeques Irrigation District 101, located in the municipality of La Concordia, Chiapas. The transfer of hydro-agricultural infrastructure to users of the district and the establishment and operation of the Users Association and Water Committee is analyzed in order to identify cultural barriers associated with masculinity that prevent rural women to be considered as farmers and legitimate users. User legitimacy reflects on women´s capacity to be creditors of irrigation water rights and to participate on equal terms in water management processes. Strategies and initiatives taken by rural women to secure their water rights and become visible in the irrigation world, in the face of legal and cultural obstacles, are also reviewed. We conclude that policy changes are insufficient to reduce the gender gap in control over water, and that the strong cultural and ideological association between irrigation and masculinity needs to be challenged; deconstructing the cultural symbols that organize and structure the practices and the representations of the links between gender and water.