Negotiating Time, Work, and Food: Indigenous Women and the Changing Food Systems of Nagaland

The North East Region of India is home to many Indigenous communities with rich food traditions and deeply rooted systems of cultural reciprocity. For these communities, meals are more than nourishment, they are woven into the fabric of social life, tied to collective labour, seasonal rhythms, and the forest and land that sustain them. Historically, these communities practice subsistence farming, growing and foraging much of what they ate, with little reliance on formal markets. Each tribe developed its own food system, reflecting the unique ecology and culture of the region.

These Indigenous food systems are now undergoing rapid transformation. With increasing urbanization, market development, and changing livelihoods, dietary and social practices in the North East Region are being redefined. My doctoral research examines how these shifts intersect, more specifically, how women’s time, income, and access to markets influence what people eat, how food is prepared, and how Indigenous practices adapt to new economic and social realities. The research is organized around three interconnected studies: the first explores how income and market access shape diets and nutrition among Naga women; the second examines how women’s time use and labour patterns are changing; and the third investigates how India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) interfaces with Indigenous food systems.

The study was based on a large household survey carried out in two rounds, during the harvest season (September – November 2023) and the lean season (March – April 2024). In total, about 920 women were interviewed in the first round and 420 in the second. The survey employed a stratified random sampling design across four districts of Nagaland, including Wokha, Dimapur, Kohima, and Phek. These districts were selected to capture variation in tribes, occupations, income levels, education, and access to markets. The survey covered cities, towns, villages, and remote hamlets to reflect Naga’s diverse food environments. Along with data on income and livelihoods, the survey collected detailed information on food and snack consumption, cooking fuels, preferences, and experiences with India’s Public Distribution System. We also conducted a market survey of 280 local markets to understand what foods are available, how prices vary, and how access differs across regions.

One of the most unique parts of this research was how we measured women’s time use. Instead of relying only on recall-based surveys, we used a participatory visual toolkit adapted from participatory rural appraisal methods. Women were given illustrated picture cards representing daily activities, such cooking, fetching water, childcare, weaving, selling vegetables going for market work, and were asked to reconstruct a typical day by placing matchsticks next to each card, each representing five or ten minutes. This approach made time visible and allowed women to show not just what they did, but how activities overlapped. It also revealed the rhythm of their days, their work, care, rest, and the countless small tasks that often go unnoticed.

The first paper, Dietary and Nutrition Transitions in Indigenous Communities: The Role of Income and Market Access in Nagaland, India, situates these local transformations within the global “nutrition transition.” Across low- and middle-income countries, diets are diversifying but becoming increasingly “Westernized,” marked by higher consumption of oils, sugars, and processed foods, alongside a decline in traditional staples and wild foods. India reflects this pattern, though progress in dietary quality remains uneven, and micronutrient deficiencies persist despite rising incomes.

Among Indigenous communities such as the Nagas, traditional diets once rooted in foraging, shifting cultivation, and communal exchange are being reshaped by urbanization, migration, and expanding food markets. The study finds that while most Naga women meet the minimum dietary diversity threshold, indicating overall diet adequacy, rising income and greater market access are associated with increased consumption of meats, fats, and oils. Moreover, women in high-access areas show higher Body Mass Index (BMI) levels, reflecting both the benefits and emerging risks of dietary modernization.

The second study- Negotiating Time and Tradition: Market Work, Gender, and Food Practices among Indigenous Naga Women– examines how women’s time and labour are structured around food, care, and market work. Using the participatory time-use approach, the study captures the rhythm of women’s daily lives with remarkable detail, revealing not only how much time is spent on each task but how multiple tasks overlap throughout the day.

The findings show that occupation plays a central role in shaping time allocation. Women in occupation with fixed schedules and commuting, devote the most time to paid work but less to household chores and rest. Farmers’ labour remains intertwined with home and field, allowing flexibility but involving heavy physical work.

Cooking and domestic chores continue to occupy a central place in women’s routines. Even among working women, cooking averages 2.3 to 2.5 hours daily. The trade-offs, therefore, do not lie in replacing domestic work but in reduced leisure, rest, and sleep. These patterns suggest that market participation adds new demands without easing traditional expectations of care. This time transition is also reflected in energy transitions: farmers continue to rely on firewood, while salaried and self-employed women increasingly adopt LPG, a cleaner and faster fuel that symbolizes the monetization of time.

My visual essay, Everyday Lives of Naga Women, based on this study, captures the many forms of visible and invisible work that women perform across farming, cooking, caregiving, and community life. The quantitative and visual narratives reveal how women’s days are organized around overlapping responsibilities, where paid work, household care, and cultural obligations intersect. These portrayals bring to life what the data show, that women’s time is stretched across multiple domains, and yet, their labour remains central to sustaining both household well-being and the cultural fabric of Indigenous life in Nagaland.

The third paper, Understanding how PDS interacts with Indigenous Food Systems in Nagaland, examines how the state’s food security program interacts with into Indigenous food cultures. The Public Distribution System (PDS) supplies subsidized rice and other staples, but its effects vary by income, occupation, and location.

By focusing on an isolated and understudied region, this research provides new evidence on how shifts in income, market access, and women’s time are together reshaping diets, nutrition, and everyday life in Indigenous communities. Policies need to be cognizant of the importance of traditional food systems and the need to balance market integration with cultural continuity.

Ruchira Boss
University of Göttingen
Department für Agrarökonomie und Rurale Entwicklung
Heinrich-Düker-Weg 12, 37073 Göttingen
Tel.: +49 (0) 551/39-20212
Email: ruchira.boss@uni-goettingen.de
https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/667436.html