HISB Virtual Brown Bag: “Irrigation Technology and Women’s Empowerment in India" Part 1

HISB Virtual Brown Bag: “Irrigation Technology and Women’s Empowerment in India - A look at the Process from the Ground Up”. Conversations with the working partners in this ongoing project. Peggy Spitzer Christoff Stony Brook University & Jamie M. Sommer, University of South Florida
You are invited to a series of lunchtime conversations with the partners in an ongoing project, Mirroring Hope, which explores how sustainable irrigation technology has improved the livelihoods of rural Indian women farmers. Join us to learn about the evolution of this transformative project.
Following a 2001 earthquake and massive flooding in Gujarat, India, an innovative program, Bhungroo (“straw” in English), used irrigation technology to turn a humanitarian crisis into a powerful opportunity for village women in farming communities. Traditionally, women in India are not permitted to own land; however, the Bhungroo program created a brilliant work-around strategy to give women rights to the irrigation technology that makes the land arable.
To understand the project’s impact on women’s social status in their communities, Stony Brook University researchers interviewed the project creators and traveled to Gujarat to interview farmers in three villages. Their efforts have resulted in a digital collection containing materials from the SBU team’s field research, including: interviews, audio and video recordings, photographs and two related undergraduate research projects. A day-long symposium on the project and digital collection is planned for Spring 2021.
The event is made possible by support from the Faculty in the Arts, Humanities and lettered Social Sciences (FAHSS) Fund, Stony Brook University Libraries and HISB. Recorded October 16 2020