Description:This volume presents encounters with rural men and women in South Asian and Southeast Asian countries working for local and national governments and for non-governmental organizations. The six case studies-drawn from India, Nepal, China, Viet Nam and Mongolia-highlight a diversity of efforts to integrate social and gender analysis into natural resource management research. They represent 'learning stories' for those involved in farming and livestock interventions in the upland areas of Asia. They point to the importance of local history and to the interlocking of 'local' and 'supra-local' forces. The cases selected present examples of challenges and opportunities, as also successes and disappointments, encountered while integrating social and gender analysis. They also highlight the variety of methods used and adapted in diverse contexts, reflect on what has been done and is being done in terms of capacity development and, most importantly, how this is being done and the enabling and constraining factors that affect the process.