Banni Experience: Conservation, Community, and Gender Crossroads
SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai
How they used Delve
A researcher at the SP Jain Institute of Management and Research used Delve to code 25 in-depth interviews and semi-structured interview transcripts from 12 villages in Gujarat's Banni grasslands, combining inductive and deductive coding to explain why women make up under 10% of participation in grassland conservation.
“The transcripts were imported into Delve software, utilising both inductive and deductive approaches to examine the data comprehensively. Similarly, for in-depth interviews, the transcripts were imported into Delve software, where coding was conducted using inductive and deductive methods. It identified recurring patterns and themes by clustering coded segments, allowing researchers to explore relationships and nuances within the data.”
- Field
- Environmental sociology and gender studies; community-based conservation of the Banni grasslands, Kutch, Gujarat, India
- Data
- 25 in-depth interviews with community members, NGO representatives, and government officials, plus a semi-structured interview schedule administered to 200 respondents across 12 villages in the Banni grasslands of Kutch district, Gujarat
- Approach
- Sequential mixed methods with multi-stage cluster then purposive sampling; qualitative transcripts coded in Delve using combined inductive and deductive approaches, clustering coded segments into recurring patterns and themes, while quantitative interview-schedule data were cleaned in Excel and tested with chi-square
- Data types
- Interviews, Open-ended survey responses
Abstract
This study investigates how the degradation of Banni is socially constructed, interpreted, and challenged by the community, with particular focus on the role of women in conservation, their social position, and the geography of their vulnerability. Employing a sequential mixed-methods approach — combining a semi-structured survey of 200 respondents across 12 villages with 25 in-depth interviews involving community members, NGO representatives, and government officials — the research analyses both quantitative patterns and qualitative narratives. Findings reveal that while 57.50% of respondents are involved in grassland management and conservation, female participation stands at only 9.72%. Chi-square testing confirms a statistically significant association between gender and both involvement and awareness of conservation issues. The paper argues that conservation in Banni cannot be sustainable without the full participation of women and advocates for gender-sensitive policy frameworks.
Citation
Nikita Kaliravana (2026). Banni Experience: Conservation, Community, and Gender Crossroads. Journal of Community Positive Practices. https://doi.org/10.35782/jcpp.2026.1.05