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Peer reviewed articles by Joe K W Hill

Journal of Mountain Science, 2017

Farmer-managed irrigation systems (FMIS) in the high altitude valleys of the Karakorum continue t... more Farmer-managed irrigation systems (FMIS) in the high altitude valleys of the Karakorum continue to be managed effectively despite increased pressure on the social arrangements that sustain them. Colonial era records shows that over a century ago government agencies undertook irrigation support projects. In the past three decades, government agencies and the non-government agency Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), which channels foreign funds into the region, have actively engaged in the provision of irrigation support. This article seeks to explore whether such projects support or undermine farmer-managed irrigation systems and the complex institutional arrangements that underpin them. Field research using ethnographic and participatory methods was conducted in spring 2013 in the upper Shigar valley, Skardu district, Gilgit-Baltistan. The findings show that irrigation development is a political activity that involves village-based actors, religious leaders, local politicians, and government and non-government agencies. Government agencies operate in a largely top-down, engineering mode, their larger projects limited to villages suffering water scarcity. The local government provides small funds for renovation work of FMIS, though allocation of funds is highly politicised. Non-government agencies, for a variety of reasons including donor-funding cycles, apply a one-size-fits-all ‘participatory’ model in an attempt to socially engineer rules and institutions. In communities divided by factionalism the use of such external models that stress formation of committees are unlikely to yield positive results, and could instead contribute to undermining the very systems they seek to support. This research argues that irrigation interventions should take care to build upon the rich and complex social arrangements that have sustained FMIS through the centuries.

Jharkhand Journal of Development and Management Studies, 2016

An estimated two-thirds of a million farmers are currently practicing organic farming in India; a... more An estimated two-thirds of a million farmers are currently practicing organic farming in India; a figure which does not include those farmers who are ‘organic by default’. To improve sale of organic produce in domestic markets some form of certification is required, yet third-party certification is too costly for India’s marginal and small farmers. Participatory Guarantee System (PGS), a form of certification, is designed to reduce costs to farmers and provide a satisfactory level of assurance to local consumers. In 2015 over 21,000 Indian farmers were certified organic under the PGS banner. This article presents a case study of Vikas Kendra, a project of Society for Equitable Voluntary Actions (SEVA) located in West Bengal. Vikas Kendra supports 57 PGS groups, each comprising six farmers. Interviews were undertaken with farmers and NGO staff members. The findings suggest that scaling up the total area under organic production remains a challenge, as does creating linkages between rural farmers and urban markets. One promising development is the government’s Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) which in 2016 provided funds to Vikas Kendra to support 100 new organic farmers, organised into two PGS groups. Further research will be needed to understand how such PGS groups work in practice.

Capitalism Nature Socialism, 2015

In eastern India three types of rice seed are nowadays cultivated: traditional, high yielding, an... more In eastern India three types of rice seed are nowadays cultivated: traditional, high yielding, and F1 hybrid varieties. Introduced in the 1990s F1 hybrid rice seed is mostly produced by the private sector, the seed bought each year by farmers, its price increasing. Many farmers are switching directly from traditional varieties to F1 hybrid rice varieties, choosing the seed by trial and error and encouraged by advertising ploys. Looking holistically at what farmers derive from F1 hybrids, however, yields a paradox: farmers purchase and grow F1 hybrid rice even though they do not appear to comprehensively benefit from it. F1 hybrid rice seems to have become popular because it appears to yield well in an agrarian environment bypassed by the earlier Green Revolution, receiving inadequate support and investment from the public sector (in irrigation, institutional credit, extension work etc.), and in which poverty and lack of information are rife. This paper does not aim to question the process of hybridisation per se, but rather aims to present a critique of the effects generated by the introduction of F1 hybrid rice seed to eastern India: it encourages subsistence farmers to adopt a form of cultivation that is unsustainable (e.g. chemical input intensive) and to produce a food grain that is innutritious, it absolves the Indian state of its wide-ranging and long-term failures to support farmers, and it leaves farmers dependent on private, unregulated entities. Assisted by agricultural scientists, the private sector focuses upon generating profit by developing certain proprietary seed types rather than involving itself in the non-profitable business of supporting farmers to improve cultivation practices, hence output. This paper questions the role international agricultural science is playing in India’s rice sector.

Ladakh Studies, 2014

Irrigation is an essential part of agricultural production in the valleys of Baltistan and Ladakh... more Irrigation is an essential part of agricultural production in the valleys of Baltistan and Ladakh, as there is insufficient rainfall. In such farmer-managed irrigation systems, water-users’ tasks include maintenance and operation of infrastructure, mobilisation and administration of resources, and building alliances with government and non-government agencies. Interventions by government and non-government agencies alter water-users’ institutional arrangements, while studies highlight that such interventions should build on, rather than erode, existing arrangements. This paper presents case studies from two villages: Thurgu in Baltistan and Karchay Khar in Ladakh’s Kargil. It first provides an overview of the current irrigation systems in these villages. It then compares water rights and customs recorded in the land revenue settlement re-assessments of the early 1910s, with current practices to highlight change and continuity over the past 100 years. It also presents an overview of irrigation development interventions in both villages, highlighting the agencies involved and their approaches. While these interventions do not directly interfere with irrigation institutions, they do have an indirect impact. It identifies areas for further research, including funds allocation systems and the impact of interventions on various social groups.

Journal of Adivasi and Indigenous Studies (JAIS) , 2014

This article posits that the ecological and food security crisis in present-day rural Jharkhand i... more This article posits that the ecological and food security crisis in present-day rural Jharkhand is caused by privatisation of landholdings, appropriation of village land by the state, and lack of technological and infrastructural investment and support to agriculture by successive governments. In earlier times farming communities created small-scale storage works for the supplemental irrigation of paddy. This development of storage works was later constrained by the rigid private property rights regime initiated in the colonial period, and by state appropriation of village land post-independence. The management of some storage works was affected by the partial land reforms enacted post-independence. Since the 1980s there have been limited efforts by the government and NGOs to develop new small-scale irrigation systems, and even less to support pre-existing systems. To limit further ecological degradation and improve the food security of households, control over natural resources within village boundaries should be returned to village communities.

Mountain Research and Development, Aug 2013

In the high mountain valleys of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, gravity-flow irrigation systems suppor... more In the high mountain valleys of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, gravity-flow irrigation systems support the production of grains, fodder, vegetables, herbs, and fruits as well as wood for fuel and construction purposes. In the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, major changes in the organization of society and agriculture have occurred which, when combined with the effects of population growth and outmigration in recent decades, have fundamentally altered the normative and organizational arrangements that had sustained hill irrigation in the past. This article presents 2 case studies, one from the Alaikuu area of Tar Valley, Osh Province, Alai mountain range, southern Kyrgyzstan, and the other from the upper Shokhdara Valley in Gorno-Badakhshan, Pamir mountain range, eastern Tajikistan. A combination of rights and obligations form the foundation of self-managed offtake systems, the rules for which reflect existing social relationships. The importance of authority to the effective management of these systems is highlighted. Multiple forms of authority coexist at the local level in the Alai and Pamir ranges because of the recent introduction of formal local government and water governance reforms in both countries and the persistence of informal local political institutions, such as the court of elders in Alaikuu and the village headman in Shokhdara. Population growth and diversified livelihood strategies, especially migration, have encouraged a degree of individualism—an attitude that undermines the recognition of authority required for the collective management of hill irrigation systems. An understanding of the heterogeneous role of authority in irrigation management that does not privilege externally created formal institutions is required for government and nongovernment agencies to support hill irrigation and mountain agriculture.

Ecological Processes, 2014

Documentaries by Joe K W Hill

In the valleys of the Himalayan and Karakorum mountain ranges farming communities thrive at some ... more In the valleys of the Himalayan and Karakorum mountain ranges farming communities thrive at some of the world’s highest altitudes by channelling snow melt to their farmland. Without the careful control and management of water resources it would be impossible for humans and their animals to live in this region. In recent decades the lifestyles and expectations of villagers have changed a lot due to political and economic developments and cultural influences. However communities are adapting to these changes while continuing to work collectively to manage their village infrastructure.

The documentary focuses on a village located in the Suru valley, Kargil district. It presents a brief overview of the village’s history, the villager’s livelihoods, and the government programmes supporting the villagers. The systems of water rights that govern the use and management of the village’s irrigation channels closely resemble those of the irrigation rights and customs recorded during the land revenue settlements and re-assessments of the early 20th century. Yet changes are also evident. Two irrigation systems created without governmental support, since Indian independence, are highlighted. Using local materials, water users collectively repair a section of one of these channels, however towards its headwork an irrigation department project is concretising parts of the channel. The irrigation systems serve to highlight the tension that exists between proven traditions and uncertain futures.

This 52-minute documentary film is directed by Dr Joe Hill, using video footage captured during field research in Ladakh, northern India, conducted as part of a post-doc under the BMBF-funded research programme, Crossroads Asia. Patrick Nehls, a PhD student at the University of Bonn, is the film’s editor, and Andi Ruether, a freelance filmmaker, contributed significantly in the post-production stage. The Urdu version of the film was screened and given to the villagers who appear in it. It was also provided to top government officials in Kargil district, Ladakh, and broadcasted on a local TV channel in the district. The English version of the film was premiered in July 2015 at the 17th Conference of the International Association for Ladakh Studies (IALS), and has also been screened at universities in England, Germany, France and India. The filmmakers hope that the documentary’s message will help locals and officials to reflect on developments taking place in the Ladakh region.

A documentary by Joe Hill and Patrick Nehls
Post-production by Andreas Rüther

In the Lap of the Mountains - Irrigation Systems of Ladakh's Farming Communities (Urdu version), 2015

Reports by Joe K W Hill

Agrarian crisis in Jharkhand: Results of a farmer survey, 2017

This study highlights some of the dimensions of the agrarian crisis faced by Jharkhand’s farmers.... more This study highlights some of the dimensions of the agrarian crisis faced by Jharkhand’s farmers. The report begins with a review of literature that shows how successive governments have failed to address farmers’ needs, such as for irrigation facilities, procurement of produce at a minimum support price, or creation of off-farm employment opportunities in rural areas. Agricultural development is still understood by government agencies and scientists to mean following the path of the earlier Green Revolution, which is a sure recipe for creation of dependency, debt and suicide among farmers, as well as poor health, loss of agro-biodiversity, and damage to the environment. Whereas the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s provided a heavily subsidised seed-fertiliser package to farmers who had assured irrigation, the current private sector led agricultural paradigm includes none of this, but instead forces poor, mostly subsistence farmers into a costly and unsustainable mode of production.

This study, based on a survey of 493 farming households spread across 11 districts, shows that a vast majority of households are happy with farming as an occupation and almost all farmers want their children to continue farming. The majority of farming households grow cereals, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables; and on average a household grows 10-11 different crops. Paddy, maize, and wheat are the most grown cereals, whereas farmers are shunning nutritious millets like maduwa (finger millet) and gondli (foxtail millet). Kurthi (horse gram), urad (black gram) and rahar/arhar (pigeon pea/red gram) are the most grown pulses, and sarso (mustard) and sargunja (niger) the most grown oilseeds. The study highlights how the introduction of F1 hybrid seeds has drastically reduced availability of local seeds across much of the state. For example, half of the study’s households purchase F1 hybrid rice seed both from foreign and Indian multinationals. Many smaller Indian companies are involved in the hybrid business too. Farmers worry about shortage of local seed for all crops, for reasons including cost of hybrid seed, loss of independence, and lack of quality/taste of hybrid produce.

Jharkhand’s agriculture can no longer be said to be by default organic. Due to the promotion of high yielding varieties and F1 hybrid seeds by the government, non-government and private sector, most households have used chemical fertilisers and three-quarters use chemical pesticides on their crops. Farmers apply pesticides without using protective clothing, and often apply the wrong types too. For example, pesticides approved for use on cotton are commonly sold to farmers to apply on vegetables. This sector is unregulated and the retailers too are under-informed or ignore the approved uses and waiting periods of the various pesticides. Much of the vegetable produce reaching consumers’ plates is laced with the residues of toxic, illegally applied pesticides. These and other forms of pollution from industry also pose a threat to the food items households collect from their surroundings, like types of wild saag and fish. The sector needs regulation, and farmers need training and support to reduce their dependence on these chemicals.

53 percent of the study’s respondents are classified as marginal farmers (owning less than 1 ha), 38 percent small farmers (1-2 ha), and 7 percent medium farmers (2-5 ha). This study also takes into account cultivated farmland officially classified as forest land, gairmazrua (g.m.) land, and share-cropped or contract land. In total, these land types add 231 acres to the total area cultivated by the 493 sample households; which is 17 percent of the total cultivated area. On average this translates to almost half an acre per household. Inclusion of these land types brings the average cultivated area from 2.31 to 2.78 acres per household, and increases the proportion of medium-sized farmers (2-5 ha) from 7 to 11 percent of the total. The government would help farmers by giving them the title deeds to the forest and g.m. land they cultivate. The government should make sincere efforts to ensure that only unproductive land, with the permission of gram sabhas and strict adherence to environmental regulations, is allotted to industries and mining.

Only 37 percent of farming households have access to some kind of irrigation. Three-quarters of these households have access to wells, mostly constructed with government funding, and 30 percent of these households have access to the water stored in talabs and bandhs. While well construction has been a success, the scheme targets individuals not communities, so households with larger landholdings, a proxy for wealth, are more likely to avail the scheme than those with smaller landholdings. Indeed, the study shows that over half of medium size farmers, but less than one-third of marginal farmers have access to irrigation water. Agricultural wells cannot irrigate large areas of farmland. The development of small-scale irrigation facilities therefore remains a pressing concern. Instead of centralised programmes that prescribe the irrigation structure to be built in a uniform manner, like the current dobha programme, funds could be provided directly to gram sabhas to allow village communities to themselves renovate old and develop new irrigation facilities. This would mark a break from the engineering paradigm that has hitherto marred irrigation development.

Very few farming households’ access financial support from the government’s various schemes. Two-thirds of farmers self finance, and 60 percent engage in exchange labour. Just 10 percent have taken loans from Self Help Groups, 8 percent from Kisan Credit Card (KCC), 12 percent from banks, and only two households have taken a loan from a government cooperative society. 19 percent take loans from their family, and 9 percent from money lenders. In total 44 percent of farmers said they’d taken a loan for farming, of a median average of 8,000 rupees. 61 percent of households sell some of their produce, earning a median average of 10,000 rupees per year. Only 21 percent of respondents said they knew the meaning of MSP – Minimum Support Price. The MSP for paddy is set at 16 rupees/kilo, but of 76 farmers who sold paddy in 2016, 93 percent sold it at between 10 and 12 rupees/kilo. 85 percent of respondents’ crops have been damaged by the weather in the past, with an estimated median average loss of 16,000 rupees. Only 12 households were compensated by the government for their losses. 28 percent of the surveyed farmers said they had crop insurance; less than the 42.5 percent of farmers said by the government to have been covered by September 2016.

The agrarian crisis is essentially caused by the government’s long-term neglect of agriculture. The private sector led petrochemical-based farming model that has filled the void left by government inaction has failed to increase the food security of farmers. This is evident from Jharkhand’s 2017 ranking as first among India’s states in terms of both proportion of underweight under-5s (48%) and prevalence of wasting (weight for height) in under-5s (29%). In particular, the unregulated misuse of pesticides poses a grave threat to the health of the soil and the environment, as well as to farmers and consumers. There is an urgent need to support farmers to conserve in-situ whatever traditional seeds are still sown in the state. To complement development of agriculture, creation of meaningful off-farm employment opportunities, educational facilities and healthcare facilities in rural areas is required. This would reduce the number of out-migrants from Jharkhand, and the flow of population and resources from village to town. To this end, Jharkhand requires its own agricultural policy, designed with wide civil society consultation, to support farmers to shift towards a sustainable, productive and remunerative form of agriculture that can produce healthy food that suits the culture and traditions of the people, and agro-ecological conditions of the region.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India and the School of International Development, UEA, Norwich

The report aims to understand the nature of vulnerability and recovery of selected coastal commun... more The report aims to understand the nature of vulnerability and recovery of selected coastal communities in Odisha since super-cyclone of 1999. With intensive fieldwork in eight sites across coastal Odisha, the report takes a detailed look at livelihood trajectories, processes of housing reconstruction and access to community-based NGOs and state assistance.

Opinion pieces by Joe K W Hill

Proceedings by Joe K W Hill

PhD thesis by Joe K W Hill

Working papers by Joe K W Hill

This paper aims to show how and why the concept of mobility is central to our investigations into... more This paper aims to show how and why the concept of mobility is central to our investigations into development processes, practices and discourses. Section two discusses notions of development, ending with a discussion on how we conceptualise mobility in its various forms. Section three discusses the way the mobility of ideas or discourses surrounding development, notably ideas of modernisation, or of being modern, impact upon people. Section four explores how forms of spatial mobility interrelate with development processes, and section five explores the inter-relations between social mobility and social differentiation with development. Section six considers the way in which social mobilisation relates to the control and access over resources. In section seven, we include a discussion on the methodological implications of this conceptual approach, and section eight summarises the paper’s argument.

Book reviews by Joe K W Hill

Social Anthropology, 2014

Papers by Joe K W Hill

Introduction: Many conservation initiatives for managing social-ecological landscapes factor in t... more Introduction: Many conservation initiatives for managing social-ecological landscapes factor in the best available
biophysical information. However, insufficient consideration of social aspects can render such initiatives ineffective.
By incorporating stakeholders' perceptions and values, and by involving stakeholders (transparently) in
decision-making processes, conservation plans and efforts can better achieve desired goals and targets.
Results: In this paper, we present and analyze three case studies within different ecological and land use contexts.
Each case study uses different participatory approaches to elicit stakeholders' perceptions and values, while seeking
to involve stakeholders in the decision-making process. The case studies are the following: (1) participatory scenario
planning for a protected area in Doñana coastal wetland in Southwestern Spain; (2) assessment of ecosystem services
trade-offs and social responses on rewards for agro-biodiversity in the rubber agroforest landscape in Jambi, Indonesia;
and (3) socio-cultural evaluation, through visual stimuli, of ecosystem services provided by transhumance cultural
landscapes in Central Spain. We discuss how stakeholders perceive and value their environments and to what extent
participatory approaches are useful for capturing information relating to land use and ecological processes.
Conclusions: Social-ecological systems are inherently complex, having a variety of interacting actors with different
types of ecological knowledge, interests, and values. Different participatory tools or approaches are appropriate for
various and specific contexts and objectives. Determining and integrating the various types of knowledge and values of
different actors can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of social-ecological systems.
Keywords: Actors; Ecosystem services; Ecological knowledge; Social processes; Socio-cultural valuation; Values