Maria Costanza Torri

Women's empowerment and micro-entrepreneurship in India: Constructing a new development paradigm?

While the contribution of women to the economies of developing countries is critical, women rarely find employment in the regulated unionized sectors of these countries, and are found instead in overwhelming numbers in the sector that is variously termed ‘unorganized’, ‘unprotected’, ‘unregistered’ or ‘informal’. Although producers’ groups and collectives have been considered a way forward in promoting gender empowerment in the informal sector, the process to organize and develop these grass-root initiatives are challenging in a variety of ways, some of the impediments arising from women’s lack of bargaining power with outsiders and lack of internal inclusiveness of its own members. The purpose of this article is to advance discussion on women’s narratives of empowerment by exploring the case of Gram Mooligai Company Limited (GMCL). GMCL is the first female community enterprise in India active in the herbal sector, entirely formed and managed by untouchables. The findings show that GMCL enhances women’s productive capabilities, leadership skills and to some extent social learning abilities, but falls short to confronting marginalization resulting from issues of caste embedded in established patriarchal norms and practices. This case study points to the significance to adopt a more holistic approach, which conceives empowerment as a dynamic, socio-culturally constructed process.

Mainstreaming local health through herbal gardens in India: a tool to enhance women active agency and primary health care?

In the last few years, an increasing attention has been given to home herbal gardens, especially due to a revived interest in food security and sustainable development. The uses of home herbal gardens and their role in the livelihoods of rural poor uses have been analyzed in the literature. Despite this, few studies focus on the role of home gardens for primary health care and their relevance for the household and women’s health. In addition, any analysis has been carried out on the socioeconomic values of home herbal gardens in respect of the medicinal plants. This article wants to bridge this gap by analyzing the role of herbal gardens in the local livelihoods in rural India (Tamil Nadu state). The article also highlights their impact in terms of health for the local communities, with a special focus on poor rural women. Final conclusions on the relevance of home herbal gardens for primary health care and socioeconomic development of lower castes in India are drawn.

Perceptions of the use of complementary therapy and Siddha medicine among rural patients with HIV/AIDS: a case study from India

Allopathic practitioners in India are outnumbered by practitioners of traditional Indian medicine, such as Ayurveda and Siddha. These forms of traditional medicine are currently used by up to two-thirds of its population to help meet primary healthcare needs, particularly in rural areas. Gandeepam is one of the pioneering Siddha clinics in rural Tamil Nadu that is specialized in providing palliative care to HIV/AIDS patients with effective treatment. This article examines and critically discusses the perceptions of patients regarding the efficacy of Siddha treatment and their motivation in using this form of treatment. The issues of gender equality in the access of HIV/AIDS treatment as well as the possible challenges in complementing allopathic and traditional/complementary health sectors in research and policy are also discussed. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of complementing allopathic treatment with traditional medicine for short-term symptoms and some opportunistic diseases present among HIV/AIDS patients.

Indigenous traditional medicine and intercultural healthcare in Bolivia: a case study from the Potosi region.

Indigenous peoples have the worst socio-demographic indicators and the largest inequalities in terms of access to social services and health in the Latin American region, Bolivia included. In the last few years, attempts to implement policies that support indigenous peoples health rights led to the development of intercultural health approaches. Yet, acceptance and integration of indigenous medicine into the biomedical health system presents a major challenge to intercultural health in Latin America. The objective of this article is to analyze the case of a health center in Tinguipaya, one of the first and few examples of intercultural health initiatives in Bolivia. This intercultural health project, which represents a pioneer experience with regard to the creation of intercultural health services in Bolivia, aims to create a network between local communities, traditional healers, and biomedical staff and offer a more culturally sensitive and holistic health service for indigenous people living in the area. The aim of this article is to critically assess this initiative and to analyze the main challenges met in the creation of a more effective intercultural health policy. The extent to which this initiative succeeded in promoting the integration between indigenous health practitioners and biomedical staff as well as in improving access to health care for local indigenous patients will also be examined.

Linking Small-Scale Commercial Activities and Women's Health: The Jamu System in Urban Areas of Java, Indonesia

Traditional medicine practices are widely documented and analyzed in Asia. Despite this, the interlinkages existing between small‐scale commercial activities based on ethnomedicine and local health have been ignored. This paper attempts to overcome this shortcoming by analyzing the possible synergies existing between small‐scale commercial activities centered on traditional herbal medicine in ndonesia (jamu) and health. The paper shows how the existence of these links in the city of ogyakarta, ava, could represent a valuable basis to increment primary health care and enhance local livelihoods of rural women through commercial activities in the herbal sector.

Therapeutic uses of edible plants in Bangalore city, India: combining health with cooking practices through home herbal gardens

This article examines the therapeutic uses and perceptions of edible plants cultivated in home herbal gardens in the city of Bangalore, Southern India. We suggest that an examination of edible plants within a therapeutic context facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the role that plants play both in the diet and in the health of urban populations such as in Bangalore. We conclude by reinforcing the importance of promoting awareness of the combined value of medicinal and edible plants through their cultivation in home gardens and the role of local health knowledge in health promotion.

Micro-entrepreneurship programs and sexual health prevention among sex workers in Cambodia: is an integrative approach the way forward?

Improving livelihoods through entrepreneurship activities and program implementation are increasingly considered as key drivers for enhancing health of the participants and reducing their proneness to diseases. Combined programs of entrepreneurship and health education have yet to be widely applied to the practice of promoting sexual health. However, there has been the emergence of small projects focused on both financial and educational aspects of sex workers. The objective of these programs is to favor the empowerment of vulnerable groups through skills training in order to decrease sexual risk among them. Considering the well-known structural links between poverty and HIV/AIDS, combined micro-enterprise development and health educational programs have been implemented among sex workers in order to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS among these categories of women. This article aims to explore the potential of these combined programs of entrepreneurship and health education to create new models and strategies to improve sexual health among groups at greatest risk of infection such as the sex workers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Facilitating the entry of communities in the herbal medicine sector: GMCL in India

The medicinal plant sector is on the increase in many developing countries. Despite this, the existing supply chain is unable to improve the livelihoods of the gatherers. This article considers Gram Mooligai Company Limited (GMCL), the first community-based enterprise active in the herbal sector. GMCL promotes a more equitable sharing of benefits in the sector, while also aiming for a more sustainable use of natural resources. The article draws conclusions and lessons about supporting such types of enterprises, reforming the herbal-sector supply chain, and promoting new forms of partnership between ayurvedic firms and communities.

Property rights regimes in protected areas and the development of local communities: what is the way forward? The case study of Sariska Tiger Reserve in India

The property rights regime forms the backbone of India’s national conservation strategy, but its success in social terms has not been always evident. In particular, the consequences of the creation of protected areas, in which forests within these boundaries were nationalised resulted in local populations losing customary access rights. The paper analyses the implications of two approaches to management of protected areas. First, it analyses the current property rights regime for conservation of natural resources and the socioeconomic development of local communities in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India. Second, it reviews an informal community-conservation initiative for a local forest in which local villagers in conjunction with local NGOs, manage forest resources. We draw on this analysis to make recommendations for achieving greater effectiveness in meeting conservation and rural development objectives.

The role of caste in the implementation of herbal gardens in Bangalore

Over the past few decades home garden research has emphasised the promotion of home gardening for nutritional and other welfare benefits for the poor in urban areas. Still, the urban communities who cultivate plants in their home gardens are in general represented as rather uniform groups, and no distinction is made in terms of caste, ethnic groups, or social class. This article asserts that social stratification represents an important aspect that needs to be taken into account while devising educational programmes and community projects for the promotion of home herbal gardens in urban areas.