A G R I C U LT U R E A N D R U R A L D E V E L O P M E N T 46162 Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook Gender in Agriculture SOURCEBOOK AG R I C U LT U R E A N D RU R A L D E V E L O P M E N T Seventy-five percent of the world's poor live in rural areas, and most are involved in farming. In the 21st century, agriculture remains fundamental to economic growth, poverty alleviation, and environmental sustainability. The World Bank's Agriculture and Rural Development publication series presents recent analyses of issues that affect agriculture's role as a source of economic development, rural livelihoods, and environmental services. The series is intended for practical application, and we hope that it will serve to inform public discussion, policy formulation, and development planning. Other titles in this series: Sustainable Land Management Sourcebook Forests Sourcebook: Practical Guidance for Sustaining Forests in Development Cooperation Changing the Face of the Waters: The Promise and Challenge of Sustainable Aquaculture Enhancing Agricultural Innovation: How to Go Beyond the Strengthening of Research Systems Reforming Agricultural Trade for Developing Countries, Volume 1: Key Issues for a Pro-Development Outcome of the Doha Round Reforming Agricultural Trade for Developing Countries, Volume 2: Quantifying the Impact of Multilateral Trade Reform Sustainable Land Management: Challenges, Opportunities, and Trade-Offs Shaping the Future of Water for Agriculture: A Sourcebook for Investment in Agricultural Water Management Agriculture Investment Sourcebook Sustaining Forests: A Development Strategy Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook Enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty © 2009 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org E-mail: feedback All rights reserved 1 2 3 4 12 11 10 09 The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply on the part of the World Bank any judgement of the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permis- sion may be a violation of applicable law. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; telephone: 978-750-8400; fax: 978-750- 4470; Internet: www.copyright.com. All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2422; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org. ISBN: 978-0-8213-7587-7 eISBN: 978-0-8213-7588-4 DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-7587-7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gender in agriculture sourcebook / The World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development. p. cm. ISBN 978-0-8213-7587-7 -- ISBN 978-0-8213-7588-4 (electronic) 1. Women in agriculture. 2. Women agricultural laborers. 3. Agricultural laborers. 4. Women in agriculture-- Developing countries. 5. Women agricultural laborers--Developing countries. 6. Agricultural laborers--Developing countries. I. World Bank. II. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. III. International Fund for Agricultural Development. HD6077.G46 2008 338.1082'091724--dc22 2008026383 Cover photos: Michael Foley (Afghanistan and Bangladesh) and Curt Carnemark/World Bank (Burkina Faso and Mexico). Cover design: Patricia Hord Graphik Design. C O N T E N T S Foreword xiii Acknowledgments xv Abbreviations xix Sourcebook Overview 1 Module 1: Gender and Food Security 11 Module 2: Gender and Agricultural Livelihoods: Strengthening Governance 23 Overview 23 Thematic Note 1 Gender in Policy-Making Processes 36 Thematic Note 2 Institutionalizing Gender in the Agriculture Sector 45 Thematic Note 3 Decentralization and Community-Driven Development 52 Thematic Note 4 Gender, Self-Help Groups, and Farmer Organizations in the Agricultural Sector 63 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan: Gender and Governance Issues in Local Government 71 Innovative Activity Profile 2 Côte d'Ivoire: Gender in Agricultural Services Reforms 74 Innovative Activity Profile 3 Sri Lanka: Gemidiriya Community Development and Livelihood Improvement Project 77 Module 3: Gender and Rural Finance 85 Overview 85 Thematic Note 1 Organizational Gender Mainstreaming: Models and Strategies 96 Thematic Note 2 Rural Finance Products: From Access to Empowerment 103 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Andhra Pradesh, India: A Women-Managed Community Financial System 112 Innovative Activity Profile 2 Uganda: Kabarole Research and Resource Centre's Participatory, Self-Managed Microfinance Model 117 Module 4: Gender Issues in Land Policy and Administration 125 Overview 125 Thematic Note 1 Gendered Access to Land and Property 136 Thematic Note 2 Legal Reforms and Women's Property Rights 141 Thematic Note 3 Land Dispute Resolution 147 Thematic Note 4 Gender-Responsive Titling 153 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Nepal: Women Gain aVoice and Greater Access to Resources through the Hills Leasehold Project 159 Innovative Activity Profile 2 Honduras: A Pilot Project Protects Women's Rights to Productive Resources 162 Module 5: Gender and Agricultural Markets 173 Overview 173 Thematic Note 1 Strengthening the Business Environment 184 v Thematic Note 2 Capacity Development for Small-Scale Women Entrepreneurs 192 Thematic Note 3 Collective Action and Market Linkages 200 Thematic Note 4 Supporting Agricultural Value-Adding Strategies 206 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Bangladesh:The Six-Step Marketing Extension Tool 211 Innovative Activity Profile 2 Andhra Pradesh, India: Making the Market Work for the Poor--Community-Managed Procurement Centers for Small and Marginal Farmers 215 Innovative Activity Profile 3 Bangladesh: Linking Poor Women to the International Prawn Market--The Greater Noakhali Aquaculture Extension Project 220 Module 6: Gender Mainstreaming in Agricultural Water Management 229 Overview 229 Thematic Note 1 Gender and Multiple-Use Water Services 235 Thematic Note 2 Gender and Institutional Approaches to Groundwater Development and Management 242 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Ghana: Upper East Region Land Conservation and Smallholder Rehabilitation Project (LACOSREP) 247 Innovative Activity Profile 2 The Gambia: Lowlands Agricultural Development Programme (LADEP) 250 Module 7: Gender in Agricultural Innovation and Education 257 Overview 257 Thematic Note 1 Gender in Extension Organizations 268 Thematic Note 2 Gender and Participatory Research 274 Thematic Note 3 Gender Approaches to Agricultural Extension and Training 280 Thematic Note 4 Labor-Saving Technologies and Practices 289 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Peru: Natural Resource Management in the Southern Highlands 298 Innovative Activity Profile 2 Tanzania: Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Development 302 Innovative Activity Profile 3 Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools: Empowering Orphans and Vulnerable Youth Living in a World with HIV and AIDS 305 Module 8: Gender Issues in Agricultural Labor 315 Overview 315 Thematic Note 1 Gender and Informal Labor 328 Thematic Note 2 Labor Rights and Decent Work for Women Agricultural Laborers 334 Thematic Note 3 Gender and Employment in Labor-Intensive Export Agriculture 341 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Thailand: Cargill's Labor Improvement Program for Sun Valley Foods 350 Module 9: Gender in Rural Infrastructure for Agricultural Livelihoods 361 Overview 361 Thematic Note 1 Rural Transport 372 Thematic Note 2 Energy 383 Thematic Note 3 Information and Communication Technologies 390 Thematic Note 4 Sanitation, Hygiene, and Potable Water 399 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Peru: Rural Roads Project, Second Phase 407 Innovative Activity Profile 2 Malaysia: Community E-Centers 411 Module 10: Gender and Natural Resources Management 423 Overview 423 Thematic Note 1 Gender and Biodiversity 431 Thematic Note 2 Gender Dimensions of Climate Change 438 Thematic Note 3 Gender and Bioenergy 443 Thematic Note 4 Gender and Natural Disasters 448 Thematic Note 5 Gender Dimensions of Land and Water Degradation and Desertification 454 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Gender, Biodiversity, and Local Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LinKS) for Food Security 459 Innovative Activity Profile 2 India: Karnataka Watershed Development Project 463 vi CONTENTS Module 11: Gender and Crises: Implications for Agriculture 475 Overview 475 Thematic Note 1 Risk Management and Preventive Action 485 Thematic Note 2 From Relief to Recovery and Self-Reliance: The Relationship between Food Aid and Agriculture in Complex Emergencies 492 Thematic Note 3 Managing Land and Promoting Recovery in Postcrisis Situations 499 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Food Aid versus Agricultural Support and Sustenance of Social Capital 507 Innovative Activity Profile 2 Niger: Taking Preventive Action with Food Banks 513 Module 12: Gender in Crop Agriculture 519 Overview 519 Thematic Note 1 Gender and Soil Productivity Management 529 Thematic Note 2 Gender in Seed Production and Distribution 538 Thematic Note 3 Gender and Crop Protection 547 Module 13: Gender in Fisheries and Aquaculture 561 Overview 561 Thematic Note 1 Gender-Responsive Institutions for Accessing and Managing Resources 568 Thematic Note 2 Family-Based Systems for Aquaculture Development in Asia 572 Thematic Note 3 Associations for Protecting the Livelihoods of Fishers, Processors, and Traders 577 Thematic Note 4 Gender and Alternative Livelihoods for Fishing Communities 582 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Indonesia: Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program 588 Innovative Activity Profile 2 CARE Bangladesh: Family Approaches in Integrated Aquaculture 591 Module 14: Gender and Livestock 601 Overview 601 Thematic Note 1 Livestock Disease Control and Biosecurity 611 Thematic Note 2 Livestock Marketing, Market Integration, and Value Chains 617 Thematic Note 3 The Development and Use of Livestock Technologies to Improve Agricultural Livelihoods 625 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Chiapas, Mexico: Indigenous Women in Sheep Improvement Research 631 Innovative Activity Profile 2 Maasai Men's and Women's Knowledge in Cattle Breeding 633 Module 15: Gender and Forestry 643 Overview 643 Thematic Note 1 Forests as Safety Nets: Gender, Strengthening Rights, and Reducing Vulnerability 650 Thematic Note 2 Agroforestry Landscapes: Gendered Space, Knowledge, and Practice 658 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Enterprise Development Project: Protected Areas and Ecotourism 665 Module 16: Gender Issues in Monitoring and Evaluation 675 Overview 675 Thematic Note 1 Design of Sound Gendered Monitoring and Evaluation Systems 686 Thematic Note 2 Gender in High-Level Programs, Policies, and Newer Aid Modalities: How Should We Monitor It? 697 Thematic Note 3 Setting Gender-Sensitive Indicators and Collecting Gender-Disaggregated Data 709 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Training Community Members to Carry Out Project Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation 721 Index 729 BOXES 2.1 Gender Budgeting 28 2.2 Gender and Corruption 31 2.3 Institutional Support for Gender Integration in PRSPs 40 2.4 Rwanda: Steps toward Effective Gender Integration in a PRSP 40 2.5 The World Bank's Poverty Reduction Support Credit 43 CONTENTS vii 2.6 Key Elements of an Effective Gender Unit 47 2.7 Sudan: Structure of Gender Units in the Agriculture Sector 49 2.8 Egypt: Integrated Approach to Gender Mainstreaming 50 2.9 Definitions: Decentralization and Community-Based and Community-Driven Development 53 2.10 Indonesia and the Philippines: Gender Targeting 54 2.11 Vietnam: Community-Based Rural Infrastructure Project 57 2.12 Enabling East Asian Communities to Drive Local Development 58 2.13 Vietnam: Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project 59 2.14 Types and Functions of Women's Groups in the Agricultural Sector 64 2.15 India: Example of the Broad Impact of SHGs on Poor Women's Livelihoods and Empowerment 65 2.16 Summary of Good Practices for Implementing Women's Participation in Group Organization for Agricultural Development 68 3.1 Gender Impact Checklist for Rural Finance 93 3.2 Rural Finance Institutions 97 3.3 Institutional Measures Contributing to Women's Empowerment 99 3.4 Checklist: Groups, Participation, and Empowerment 100 3.5 Checklist: Integrating Nonfinancial Services 100 3.6 Increasing Women's Access to Financial Services: Early Consensus 105 3.7 Key Questions in Assessing and Designing Loan Products for Women 106 3.8 Gender Issues in Designing Compulsory and Voluntary Savings Products 108 3.9 Gender and Microinsurance: Key Questions 109 3.10 Gender Issues in Designing Remittance Services 111 3.11 Microcredit Plans as a Tool for Self-Help Groups 113 4.1 Lao PDR: Land Titling, Credit, and Gender 154 5.1 Steps in a Value Chain Analysis 179 5.2 Ghana:Tools for Understanding and Improving Women's Postharvest Roles in the Fishing Industry 180 5.3 Peru: Mapping Distributional Gains in the Thornless Artichoke Chain 180 5.4 Monitoring the Social and Gender Impacts of Trade Agreements in Pacific Island Countries 188 5.5 World Bank­International Finance Corporation Partnership Focuses on Women Entrepreneurs 189 5.6 Niger: New Credit Approaches for Women 190 5.7 Bangladesh:Women in Growth Center Markets 191 5.8 Benefits of Ensuring the Participation of Women Trainers 196 5.9 Bosnia and Herzegovina: Empowering Women through RPOs 201 5.10 Nicaragua and Peru: Chain Partnerships with Women's RPOs 203 5.11 Rwanda: Organizing Women to Enter Chain Partnerships 205 5.12 Afghanistan: Upgrading Women's Poultry Farming 205 5.13 Morocco: Improving Olive Oil Production and Direct Marketing to Consumers 207 5.14 Philippines: Developing New Products 208 5.15 South Africa: Financing Value Addition 208 5.16 Honduras: Improving Women's and Men's Organizational and Marketing Abilities 209 5.17 India:Women without Key Productive Assets Enter Value Chains 210 5.18 How to Set Up a Community-Managed Procurement Center 216 6.1 Pakistan: Socioeconomic Differences in Access to Water for Livestock Watering 236 6.2 South Africa: Inequitable Water Distribution in the Olifants Basin--Options for Redress 237 6.3 Yemen:Women and the Water Crisis 243 6.4 Gender and Water Quality 243 6.5 Nepal: Leadership Development of Deep Tubewell Group 244 6.6 Sample Questions for Project Design 246 7.1 Gender and Knowledge Systems 258 7.2 The Agricultural Innovation System 258 7.3 Peru:Agro-Innovation and Competitiveness Project 261 7.4 Agricultural Policy Strategies That Help to Enable Women 263 7.5 India: Magic Boxes and Market Prices 264 7.6 Chile: Producer Organization for Marketing 266 viii CONTENTS 7.7 Issues for Women in Extension Organizations 272 7.8 Farmers Leading Change: Integrated Rural Resource Management 275 7.9 Peru:Taking Care with Culture-Bound Assumptions 276 7.10 Technology Can Shift Control 277 7.11 Actions to Help Tertiary Education Institutions Recruit, Retain, and Promote Professional Women 283 7.12 Improving Opportunities for Women to Benefit from Their Agricultural Education 284 7.13 Revitalizing the Dialogue on Household Resource Management 285 7.14 Strategies to Address Gender Issues in the Education and Training Components of Agricultural Development Projects 288 7.15 Nepal and Botswana: Labor- and Time-Saving Crop-Processing Technologies 290 7.16 Kenya: Women and Community-Based Water Programs 292 7.17 China and Sudan:Alternative Fuels for Domestic Cooking 293 7.18 West Africa: Women's Role in Innovation 294 7.19 Good Practices for Dissemination 295 7.20 Promoting Gender Equity through Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools 307 8.1 Gender Impact of Trade Agreements 322 8.2 Social Protection Programs 325 8.3 Nicaragua and Guatemala: Improving Information for Health, Security, and Safety 326 8.4 India: National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) 331 8.5 India: Health Insurance Plan for Workers in the Unorganized Sector 332 8.6 Informal Worker Networks 333 8.7 Gender Issues on Plantations 342 8.8 The FINE Criteria 344 8.9 Uganda Code of Practice 347 8.10 Ethical Trading Initiative 348 8.11 Access to the Fair Trade Market Can Significantly Improve Working Conditions 348 9.1 Malawi Forum: High-Level Officials Address Gender Imbalances in Rural Travel and Transport 377 9.2 Lesotho: Mapping Mobility and Access in Rural Areas 378 9.3 Bangladesh: Second Rural Roads and Markets Project 379 9.4 Examples of Gender-Sensitive Rural Transport Results Indicators 381 9.5 Bangladesh: Poor Women Bring Light and Power to the Community of Char Montaz 388 9.6 Topics for Survey Questionnaires 389 9.7 Communication for Development 390 9.8 Brazil: Best Practice--Municipal Partnership for Income, Health, and Environment 403 9.9 India: Best Practice--Policy 404 9.10 Simplified Gender and Poverty Analysis--the "Who" Question 404 10.1 Key Trends in Biodiversity Loss, Climate Change, Bioenergy, Natural Disasters, and Desertification 424 10.2 Current Trends in Biodiversity Loss 431 10.3 Cameroon and Uganda: Indigenous Vegetables 432 10.4 Mali: Changes in Agricultural Production, Gender Relations, and Biodiversity Loss 433 10.5 HIV and AIDS--Rural Women's and Men's Coping Strategies 434 10.6 Gender and Biodiversity in International Agreements 435 10.7 Farmers' Rights--Protecting the Knowledge of Indigenous People and Local Communities 435 10.8 Examples of Projected Negative Impacts of Climate Change 439 10.9 The Potential of the Clean Development Mechanism 442 10.10 General Guidelines for Disaster Management 452 10.11 Linkages between Local Knowledge, Biodiversity, Food Security, and Gender Issues 460 10.12 Tanzania:Traditional Seed Systems 461 10.13 Tanzania:Animal Production and Genetic Diversity 461 10.14 The Relation between HIV and AIDS and Local Knowledge Systems 461 11.1 Sudan: Environmental Degradation Causes Conflict 476 11.2 Gaza: Structural Inequity and Access to Water 477 11.3 Key Principles for Effective Intervention 481 11.4 India: Insurance for Low-Income Workers 487 CONTENTS ix 11.5 India: Including Grassroots Women in Disaster Recovery 487 11.6 IASC Framework for Emergency Response 491 11.7 Summary of Selected Key International Laws and Standards 503 11.8 Sri Lanka:Women's Concerns and the Peace 504 12.1 Shared Views of Agriculture as a Driver of Poverty Reduction and Rural Development 520 12.2 Women in Agriculture and Crop Production: Indicative Statistics 523 12.3 Bolivia:Adjusting Local Agriculture to the Loss of Rural Labor 523 12.4 Africa: Consequences of Unproductive Soils 529 12.5 Ghana: Nuances of Success among Men and Women Farmers 533 12.6 Ethiopia:Women's Innovations in Soil Fertility Management 534 12.7 Malawi: Gender Dimension in Legume-Based Soil Improvement Technologies 535 12.8 Bangladesh: Homestead Vegetable Production 535 12.9 What Is a Seed System? 539 12.10 South India: Seed and Crop Diversity in Women's Livelihood Strategies 539 12.11 Enhancing Local Seed Systems through Community Seed Banks 542 12.12 Increasing Seed Diversity and Local Knowledge through Community Seed Fairs 543 12.13 Decentralized Participatory Plant Breeding 543 12.14 Malawi: Community-Based Seed Production 545 12.15 Southern India:The Role of Gender-Sensitive Policies for Plant Variety Protection and Farmers' Rights 545 12.16 Integrated Pest Management Defined 549 12.17 Farmer Self-Monitoring of Pesticide Use in Cotton in India: A Tool to Create Awareness 552 12.18 Tanzania and Zambia: Testing a Seed Dressing to Reduce Pesticide Problems 553 13.1 Factors within Households and Communities Blocking Women's Participation in New Institutional Arrangements 570 13.2 Tanzania: Strengthening Technical and Marketing Assistance 584 13.3 Bangladesh: Empowerment through Multisectoral Alternative Livelihoods 585 14.1 Sustainable Livelihoods Checklist for Livestock Initiatives 606 14.2 China: Credit, Pigs, and Livelihoods: Improving Women's Access to Resources 619 14.3 Jordan: Engendering Livestock Technology Research, Development, and Extension--The Badia Livestock Extension Project 628 14.4 Mexico: Researchers Listen to Women Tzotzil Shepherds 632 15.1 Firewood, Food, and Medicine: Gender, Forests,Vulnerability, and Rural Responses to HIV and AIDS 652 15.2 Some Tropical Countries with Armed Conflicts in Forested Regions in the Past 20 Years 652 15.3 Rape: The Ultimate Weapon in a Decade-Long Conflict 652 15.4 Gender Analysis in Forestry Programs: Where Is It? 653 15.5 India: The North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project for Upland Areas 654 15.6 India: The Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh Tribal Development Program 655 15.7 China: Household Forestry and Farmers' Self-Help Organizations 656 15.8 El Balcón, Mexico: Building Peace and Governability around Communal Forests 657 15.9 Ethiopia and Niger: Nested Rights to Trees and Tree Products in Gendered Tenure Regimes 659 15.10 Frequency of Trees on Women's Fields in Agroforestry Parklands 660 15.11 Agroforestry Technologies Developed to Enhance Soil Fertility 661 15.12 Women Are 60 Percent of Farmers Piloting Innovative Agroforestry Technologies 662 15.13 Rape:The Ultimate Weapon in a Decade-Long Conflict 652 15.14 Other Features of the Project's Gender Strategy 666 15.15 Maximizing Conservation in Protected Areas: Guidelines for Gender Conservation 667 16.1 A Selection of Methods and Tools Available for Gender-Sensitive Monitoring 676 16.2 Difficulties with Conducting Gender-Sensitive Monitoring and Evaluation Are Found Worldwide 677 16.3 Compliance with a Gender Action Plan Can Improve Gender-Sensitive Monitoring and Evaluation 679 16.4 Mainstreaming Gender and the Implications for Monitoring and Evaluation 680 16.5 Compartmentalization versus Mainstreaming of Gender in Poverty Reduction Strategy Programs 681 x CONTENTS 16.6 The Cost Implications of Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation:Three Examples 683 16.7 Some Difficulties with Scaling Up Monitoring 684 16.8 Linking Gender Outcomes with the Overall Objective 687 16.9 Examples of Program- and Policy-Related Questions 688 16.10 Kyrgyz Republic: Gender Perspectives Reflected in an Agricultural Development Project 689 16.11 Key Questions to Be Asked in Project and Program Design, Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation 694 16.12 How Can Participation Be Measured and Reported Meaningfully? 695 16.13 Mozambique: Strengths and Weaknesses of Gender Monitoring in the Second Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty 700 16.14 Mozambique: Monitoring Gender in a Sector-Wide Agriculture Program 701 16.15 Millennium Development Goals 701 16.16 Summary: Gender Indicators,Tools, and Methods for the New Aid Modalities 702 16.17 Practical Steps Taken in Three Countries to Monitor Gender in Poverty Reduction Strategy Programs 703 16.18 Examples of How Gender Analysis Is Used 704 16.19 Examples of Gender-Specific Topics to Include in Terms of Reference for Joint Review Missions 707 16.20 Designing Conditions,Triggers, and Milestones 716 16.21 Culturally Related Questions for Monitoring 718 16.22 Indonesia: Bringing a Gender Focus to Community Empowerment 723 FIGURES O.1 Sustainable Livelihoods through a Gender Lens 5 1.1 Undernourished People Worldwide 12 1.2 Elements in Achieving Food and Nutrition Security 13 1.3 Rural Employment by Sector of Activity 15 1.4 Roles and Access to Assets by Women and Men in the Agriculture Sector 16 2.1 Demand- and Supply-Side Strategies to Improve Governance 25 3.1 Interplay of Financial Services in Rural Areas 86 5.1 Entry Points of Gender Integration in Value Chains 181 5.2 Percentage of Enterprises Owned by Women in Selected African Countries 186 7.1 Interrelations among the Elements of Agricultural Innovation Systems 261 7.2 Changes in the Focus of Farmer Field Schools 276 7.3 Percentage of Women Students in Higher Education by Developing World Region, 2000­04 281 8.1 Percentage of Women and Men in Agriculture by Region, 2007 316 8.2 Relationship between Women Labor Force Participation (LFP), Poverty, and Economic Growth 316 9.1 The Four Dimensions for Infrastructure Services 362 9.2 Rural Philippines and Vietnam: Households with Business Income 388 11.1 Gendered Impacts of External Factors 482 13.1 Flow Diagram of the Shrimp Value Chain in Bangladesh 564 14.1 Kenya: Dairy Market Chains, 2004 618 14.2 Thailand: Commercial Chicken Production and Supply Chain, 2003 623 TABLES O. 1 The Sourcebook Modules 7 1.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Food Security 20 2.1 Investment Options to Improve Governance 24 2.2 Types of Global Organizations Relevant for Agriculture 33 2.3 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Governance 35 2.4 Representation of Women,Youth, and the Poorest in Decision-Making Positions of Village Organizations 78 2.5 Participation in Village Organization Activities by Selected Groups 78 3.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Rural Finance 94 CONTENTS xi 3.2 Good Practices in Staff Gender Policy 101 3.3 Financial, Economic, and Social Products and Services Created and Delivered by Self-Help Groups and Their Federations, Andhra Pradesh, India 114 4.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gendered Access to Land and Property, Including Legal Rights and Land Dispute Resolution 133 4.2 Gender-Related Activities and Strategies Pursued during Three Stages of the Expanded PACTA Land Access Pilot, Honduras, 2005­07 163 4.3 Measurable Impacts of PACTA 164 5.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Agricultural Markets 182 6.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender in Agricultural Water Management 234 7.1 Comparison of Approaches to Agricultural Innovation and Gender 259 7.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Agricultural Innovation and Education 267 7.3 Ways of Providing and Financing Agricultural Advisory Services 270 7.4 Marenass Project Data 298 7.5 Cost of Conservation Agriculture Implements 303 7.6 Labor Requirements with Conservation and Conventional Agricultural Practices 304 8.1 Men's and Women's Share in Total Employment by Sector, 1997 and 2007 318 8.2 Rural Employment by Sector of Activity and Type of Employment, Selected Countries 319 8.3 Regional Characteristics and Key Issues of Women's Agricultural Labor 320 8.4 Proportion of Women Wage Laborers in High-Value Crops 321 8.5 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Agricultural Labor 327 8.6 Informal Employment in Developing Countries 329 8.7 India:Type of Workers Distributed by Gender 330 8.8 International Law Governing Rights for Women Agricultural Laborers 335 8.9 Principles, Charters, and Codes of Practice for Fair Trade, Ethical Trade, and Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts 343 8.10 Kenya:Wages in Horticulture by Skill Level and Gender 345 8.11 Chile and South Africa: Social Responsibility Matrix for Informal Workers in Horticulture 346 9.1 How Infrastructure Services Affect Rural Populations 363 9.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Rural Infrastructure 370 9.3 India: Difference in Gender Responsibilities Due to Difference in Need and Uses 384 9.4 Energy Issues Demanding Gender-Balanced Participation 386 9.5 India:Women Willing to Use Clean Fuels in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh 387 9.6 Major Factors Regarding Gender Differences in Rural Populations 392 9.7 Ten Steps to Enhance Women's Participation in Projects at the Community Level 405 9.8 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender Equity in Sanitation, Hygiene, and Water 406 10.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Natural Resources Management 430 11.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Crisis and Agriculture 484 12.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Crops 527 12.2 Regional Disparities in Chemical Nutrient Consumption, 2002/03­2003/04 531 13.1 Gender Roles in the Capture Fisheries Value Chain 563 13.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender in Fisheries and Aquaculture 566 13.3 Perceptions about Women Working in Conservative and Less Conservative Areas 573 13.4 Training Related to Gender Issues in COREMAP II's Regional and Project Management Units 590 14.1 General Characteristics of Different Livestock Production Systems 602 14.2 Examples of Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Livestock 609 14.3 Key Gender Issues in Livestock Technology Development 626 15.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Forestry 648 16.1 Monitoring Formats 690 16.2 Sample Monitoring Planning Worksheet 691 16.3 Seven Tools for Gender Budget Initiatives and Examples of Their Use 706 16.4 Indicators from a Rural Development Project in Central Vietnam, at the Result Area Level 714 16.5 Gender-Sensitive Indicators in an Agricultural Sector Program 715 xii CONTENTS F O R E WO R D Three out of every four poor people in developing countries development strategies that capitalize effectively on the live in rural areas, and most of them depend directly or indi- unique properties of agricultural growth and rural devel- rectly on agriculture for their livelihoods. In many parts of opment involving women and men as a high-impact the world, women are the main farmers or producers, but source of poverty reduction. It looks at gender equality their roles remain largely unrecognized. The 2008 World and women's empowerment, and the associated principles Development Report: Agriculture for Development highlights have the potential to make a difference in the lives of hun- the vital role of agriculture in sustainable development and dreds of millions of rural poor. its importance in achieving the Millennium Development This Sourcebook is a joint project of the World Bank, the Goal of halving by 2015 the share of people suffering from Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United extreme poverty and hunger. Climate change and rising Nations, and the International Fund for Agricultural Devel- food prices are reminders of the need to focus on food secu- opment (IFAD). We are grateful to the teams in these organ- rity and agriculture for development; and the material pre- izations for their tremendous efforts to bring over 100 sented in the Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook suggests that experts together and to produce this significant contribu- accounting for the different roles of women and men and tion to our development work. gender equality in access to resources and opportunities is a Juergen Voegele necessary condition for doing so. Director Gender inequalities limit agricultural productivity and Agriculture and Rural Development efficiency and in so doing, undermine development agen- The World Bank das. Failure to recognize the different roles of men and women is costly because it results in misguided projects Marcela Villarreal and programs, forgone agricultural output and incomes, Director and food and nutrition insecurity. It is time to take into Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division account the role of women in agricultural production and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the to increase concerted efforts to enable women to move United Nations beyond production for subsistence and into higher-value, market-oriented production. Rodney Cooke This Sourcebook is a particularly timely resource. It Director combines descriptive accounts of national and interna- Technical Advisory Division tional experience in investing in agriculture with practical International Fund for Agricultural Development operational guidance on to how to design agriculture-for- (IFAD) xiii AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S The Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook was managed by a Holding-Anyonge (Consultant); Module 16--Riikka core team led by Eija Pehu (World Bank), Yianna Lambrou Rajalahti (World Bank) and Pamela White (Consultant). Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Maria Hartl Many other individuals made written contributions International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). to the Module Overviews and Thematic Notes. These The overall coordination was provided by Catherine Ragasa include the following: Jacqueline Ashby (International (Consultant), supported by Chitra Deshpande (Consul- Potato Centre [CIP]); Marilyn Carr (Consultant); Mari H. tant). Excellent overall guidance was offered by Anne Nico- Clarke (Consultant); Suman Gautam (Consultant); Renee laysen (FAO), Annina Lubbock (IFAD), Meena Munshi Giovarelli (Consultant); Jeanette Gurung (Women Organ- (World Bank), and Lynn Brown (World Bank). izing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources The preparation of this Sourcebook involved many people [WOCAN]); Katrien Holvoet (FAO); Leah Horowitz from within several units of the World Bank, FAO, and IFAD, (IFPRI); Eriko Hoshino (Consultant); Natalie Hufnagl and a variety of partner organizations. Many individuals (Consultant); Helga Josupeit (FAO); Leena Kirjavainen played a leading role as the main author or coordinator in (Consultant); Marina Laudazi (Consultant); M. C. Nan- the preparation of the modules. They are as follows: Module deesha (Central Agricultural University, Tripura); Yvette 1-- Lynn Brown (World Bank) and Yianna Lambrou (FAO); Diei Ouadi (FAO); Juan A. Sagardoy (Consultant); Chris- Module 2--Regina Birner (International Food Policy tine Sijbesma (Consultant); Anushree Sinha (National Research Institute [IFPRI]); Module 3--Linda Mayoux Council for Applied Economic Research Council (Consultant) and Maria Hartl (IFAD); Module 4--Malcolm [NCAER]); Nidhi Tandon (Consultant); Barbara van Childress (World Bank) and Susan Lastarria-Cornhiel (Uni- Koppen (Consultant). versity of Wisconsin­Madison); Module 5--Cathy Rozel Many individuals contributed Innovative Activity Profiles Farnworth (Consultant) and Catherine Ragasa (Consultant); of ongoing or completed projects or project components as Module 6--Anne Kuriakose (World Bank); Module 7--Eija follows: Reshad Alam (Danish International Development Pehu (World Bank) and Maria E. Fernandez (Center for Assistance [DANIDA]); Mary Arimond (IFPRI); Shweta Integrating Research and Action [CIRA] at the University of Banerjee (World Bank); Marie-Louise Beerling (RDP Live- North Carolina­Chapel Hill); Module 8--Elena Bardasi stock Services); Lisa Bhansali (World Bank); Paricia Colbert (World Bank) and Kristy Cook (Consultant); Module 9-- (FAO); Christine E. Cornelius (World Bank); Francesca Dominique Lallement (Consultant); Module 10--Carolyn Dalla Valle (FAO); Harvey Demaine (DANIDA); Grahame Sachs (Pennsylvania State University); Module 11--Ian Dixie (World Bank); Hadiza Djibo (FAO); Christian Fauliau Bannon (World Bank) and Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini (Consultant); Dian Fiana (Coral Reef Rehabilitation and (Consultant); Module 12--Sabine Gündel (Consultant); Management Program [COREMAP]); Charles Greenwald Module 13--Christine Okali (Consultant); Module 14-- (COREMAP); John Hourihan (FAO); Sagipa Jusaeva Catherine L. M. Hill (Consultant); Module 15--Christine (United Nations Development Fund for Women xv [UNIFEM]); Vijaysekar Kalavakonda (World Bank); Vijay Bank); Eve Crowley (FAO); John Curry (FAO); Rekha Dayal Kumar (Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty, Hyder- (Consultant); Henri Dommel (IFAD); Samuel Eremie abad); Jan W. Low (CIP); Sitaramachandra Machiraju (IFAD); Katuscia Fara (IFAD); Erick Fernandes (World (World Bank); Ira Matuschke (Consultant); Grant Milne Bank); Ilaria Firmian (IFAD); Nicole Franz (IFAD); René (World Bank); Marietha Owenya (Consultant); Francisco Fréchet (IFAD); Theodor Friedrich (FAO); Neela Gangadha- Pichon (World Bank); Aleyda Ramirez (FAO­Honduras); ran (FAO); Rosalia Garcia (FAO); Zoraida Garcia (FAO); Vanaja Ramprasad (Genetic Resource Ecology Energy Nutri- Michelle Gauthier (FAO); Sophie Grouwels (FAO); Natasha tion Foundation); K. P. Rao (Society for Elimination of Rural Hayward (World Bank); Jennifer Heney (FAO); Peter Hurst Poverty, Hyderabad); Parmesh Shah (World Bank); Mon- (ILO); Mary Kawar (ILO); Kieran Kelleher (World Bank); awar Sultana (Asian Development Bank [ADB]); Mona Sur Siobhan Kelly (FAO); Karin Kemper (World Bank); Sean (World Bank); Mio Takada (World Bank); Arine Valstar Kennedy (IFAD); Josef Kienzle (FAO); Renate Kloeppinger- (FAO); Robina Wahaj (Consultant). Todd (World Bank); Ib Kollavick-Jensen (FAO); Sasha Koo Many other individuals inside and outside the World (FAO); Regina Laub (FAO); Harold Liversage (IFAD); Niels Bank, FAO, and IFAD provided useful inputs to this Louwaars (Nageningen University and Research Centre Sourcebook. They include the following: Festus Akinnifesi [WUR]); Mohamed Manssouri (IFAD); Susan Maybud (World Agroforestry Center [ICRAF]); Keith Clifford Bell (ILO); Anni McLeod (FAO); Kerry McNamara (World (World Bank); David Boerma (FAO); Fatiha Bou-Salah Bank); Robin Mearns (World Bank); Kayoko Shibata Medlin (FAO); Carol Djeddah (FAO); Nora Dudwick (World (World Bank); Ruth Meinzen-Dick (IFPRI); Samia Melhem Bank); Carla Ferreira (IFAD); Ambra Gallina (Consul- (World Bank); Rebecca Metzner (FAO); Victor Mosoti tant); Brian Griffin (FAO); Lenyara Khayasedinova (FAO); Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); Ajai Nair (World Bank); (IFAD); Aichi Kitalyi (ICRAF); Dominique Lantieri Audrey Nepveu (IFAD); Anne Nicolaysen (FAO); Martin (FAO); Annabelle Lhommeau (IFAD); Jens-Peter Oelz (ILO); Clare O'Farrell (FAO); Yvette Diei Ouadi (FAO); Barkenow Lilleso (ICRAF); Sibyl Nelson (FAO); Rasha Sabine Pallas (International Land Coalition); David Palmer Omar (IFAD); Anna Pietikainen (IFAD); Laura Puletti (FAO); Pawan Patil (World Bank); George Politakis (ILO); (IFAD); John Keith Rennie (World Bank); Andrea Rossi Suzanne Raswant (FAO); Melba Reantaso (FAO); Francesco (FAO); Dieter Schoene (FAO); Reuben Sessa (FAO); Iain Rispoli (IFAD); Anne Ritchie (Consultant); Simmone Rose G. Shuker (World Bank); Alessandro Spairani (Consul- (FAO); Antonio Rota (IFAD); Dan Rugabira (FAO); Bill tant); Cristiana Sparacina (IFAD); Silvia Sperandini Saint (Consultant); Daniel Sellen (World Bank); Andrew (IFAD); Vivek Srivastava (World Bank); Miguel Trossero Shepherd (FAO); Susan Siar (FAO); Paolo Silveri (IFAD); (FAO); Dina Umali-Deininger (World Bank); Rosemary Ilaria Sisto (FAO); Jimmy Smith (World Bank); Libor Vargas-Lundius (IFAD); Doris Voorbraak (World Bank); Stloukal (FAO); Laurent Stravato (IFAD); Rohana Subas- Briana Wilson (IFC). inghe (FAO); Ratna M. Sudarshan (Institute of Social Stud- Each Module was peer reviewed, usually by two technical ies Trust); Burt Swanson (University of Illinois); Florence staff from each partner organization and one external Tartanac (FAO); Paola Termine (FAO); Brian Thompson reviewer. The team appreciates the substantive comments (FAO); Catherine Tovey (World Bank); Richard Trenchard and suggestions from the following reviewers: Kaori Abe (FAO); Robert Tripp (Overseas Development Institute (FAO); Moses Abukari (IFAD); Nilufar Ahmad (World [ODI]); Kees van der Meer (World Bank); Steve Wiggins Bank); Harold Alderman (World Bank); Sriani Ameratunga (ODI); Tanja Winther (Oslo University). (International Labour Organization [ILO]); Jamie Anderson In addition to the peer review, several people provided an (IFAD); Jock Anderson (World Bank); Tom Anyonge overall review on the concept note and final Sourcebook draft: (IFAD); Henry Bagazonzya (World Bank); Douglas Barnes Nata Duvvury (Consultant); Indira Ekanayake (World (World Bank); Daniela Battaglia (FAO); Diji Chandrasekha- Bank); Anita Kelles-Vitanen (Consultant); Shyam Khadka ran Behr (World Bank); Rupert Best (International Center (IFAD); Rekha Mehra (World Bank); Gajanand Path- for Tropical Agriculture [CIAT]); Nienke Bientema (IFPRI); manathan (World Bank); Thomas Price (FAO); Nitya Rao Magdalena Blum (FAO); Hubert Boirard (IFAD); Luz (University of East Anglia); Mary Hill Rojas (Consultant); Caballero (World Bank); Karel Callens (FAO); Alice Carloni Deborah Rubin (Cultural Practice). (Consultant); Elizabeth Cecelski (Consultant); Delgermaa The team would like to acknowledge Juergen Voegele Chuluunbaater (IFAD); Bill Clay (FAO); Rudolph Cleveringa (World Bank), Mark E. Cackler (World Bank), Marcela Vil- (IFAD); Patricia Colbert (FAO); Edward Cook (World larreal (FAO), and Rodney Cooke (IFAD), who contributed xvi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS invaluable guidance and support throughout the preparation The team acknowledges the support and guidance of the of the Sourcebook. Poverty Reduction and Economic Management­Gender Technical edits from Kelly Cassaday (Consultant), Mike and Development (PREMGE), under the leadership of Donaldson (Consultant), and Gunnar Larson (Consultant) Mayra Buvinic´ (World Bank). They also acknowledge the improved the readability and sharpened the key messages support and financial assistance from the FAO Investment substantially. Hild Rygnestad (Consultant) and Annu Ratta Centre, especially William Sorrenson (FAO). Thanks also to (Consultant) are acknowledged for their help in shortening the IFAD Technical Advisory Division for both technical and editing the documents. The team is very grateful for and financial support. their patience and attention to detail. Finally, the team recognizes the assistance provided by The team thanks Patricia Katayama (World Bank), Lisa Felicitas Doroteo-Gomez (World Bank), Claudia Escutia Lau (World Bank), and Dina S. Towbin (World Bank) for (FAO), and Simone Zein (IFAD). their assistance in the production. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xvii A B B R E V I AT I O N S ACE civic extension association ACT African Conservation Tillage network ADB Asian Development Bank ADR alternative dispute resolution AET agricultural extension and training AIDS acquired immune deficiency syndrome AIS agricultural innovation systems AL alternative livelihood ALMP active labor market program ANADER Agence Nationale d'Appui au Développement Rural APC Asian-Pacific countries APDPIP Andhra Pradesh District Poverty Initiatives Project APRPRP Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project ASCA accumulating savings and credit association ASNAPP Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant Products ATM automatic teller machine ATMA Agricultural Technology Management Agency AusAID Australian Agency for International Development AWLAE African Women Leaders in Agriculture and Environment AWM agriculture water management B2B business to business BINP Bwindi Impenetrable National Park BLGWIP-III Bhairahawa Lumbini Groundwater Irrigation Project BRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee CA conservation agriculture CATIE Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Enseñanza CBD community-based development; Convention on Biological Diversity CBDP community-based disaster preparedness CBNRM community-based natural resource management CBO community-based organization CeC community e-center CDD community-driven development xix CDF community development fund CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CEM Country Economic Memorandum CGA country gender assessment CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture CIFOR Center for International Forestry Research COHRE Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions COREMAP Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program COVERCO Commission for the Verification of Corporate Codes of Conduct CREPA Centre for Low-Cost Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation (Burkina Faso) CSR corporate social responsibility CWANA Central and West Asia and North Africa DAC Development Assistance Committee DANIDA Danish International Development Assistance DEWA Division for Early Warning and Assessment DFID Department for International Development (U.K.) DLS Department of Livestock Services DOF Department of Forests DPIP District Poverty Initiatives Project DTW deep tubewell EALA East African Legislature Assembly ECLAC Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean EDI Economic Development Institute EFTA European Fair-Trade Association ENAM Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source Food Management ESW economic and sector work FAC farmer advisory committee FAESIS Food and Agriculture Education Information System FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FARC Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARM Farmer-Centered Agricultural Resource Management FEDEV Femmes et Développement FFS Farmer Field School FIAS Foreign Investment Advisory Service FLG functional literacy group FLO Fair-Trade Labelling Organisations International FLS Farmer Life School FRIEND Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises N Development FSVGD Food Security for Vulnerable Group Development Women and Their Dependents FTD farmer training demonstration GAL Gender in Agricultural Livelihoods GAP Gender Action Partnership GBI gender budget initiative GDP gross domestic product GEF Gender Environment Faculty GENRD Gender and Rural Development Thematic Group xx ABBREVIATIONS GGA gender and growth assessment GM genetically modified GNAEP Greater Noakhali Aquaculture Extension Project GNI gross national income GOLDA Greater Options for Local Development through Aquaculture GoSL government of Sri Lanka GOWE Growth Oriented Women Enterprise GRBI Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiative GRTI Gender and Rural Transport Initiative GTZ Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (also German Technical Cooperation) HIV human immunodeficiency virus HLFFDP Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project HPAI highly pathogenic avian influenza IADB Inter-American Development Bank IAP indoor air pollution IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee ICECD International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Development ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ICM integrated crop management ICRAF World Agroforestry Center (International Council for Research in Agroforestry) ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross ICT information and communication technology IDA International Development Association IDP internally displaced person IDRC International Development Research Centre IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IFAT International Federation for Alternative Trade IFC International Finance Corporation IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute IGA income-generating activity IIM Indian Institute of Management IISD International Institute for Sustainable Development IK indigenous knowledge IKP Indira Kranthi Patham ILO International Labour Organization IMF International Monetary Fund IMT intermediate means of transport; irrigation management transfer INCAGRO Peruvian Agro-Innovation and Competitiveness Project INSTRAW International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPM integrated pest management IPPM integrated production and pest management IRAD Integrated Research and Action for Development IRAP integrated rural accessibility planning IRRI International Rice Research Institute JFFLS Junior Farmer Field and Life School JSA joint staff assessment KARI Kenya Agricultural Research Institute ABBREVIATIONS xxi KRC Kabarole Research and Resource Centre KWDP Karnataka Watershed Development Project LAC Latin America and the Caribbean LACOSREP Upper East Region Land Conservation and Smallholder Rehabilitation Project (Ghana) LADEP Lowlands Agricultural Development Programme Lao PDR Lao People's Democratic Republic LARC Legal Assistance to Rural Citizens LCC Land Claims Court LDW local development window LEAF Livelihood Empowerment and Agroforestry LinKS Local Indigenous Knowledge Systems LPG liquid propane gas LSA livelihood support activity LTTE Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam M&E monitoring and evaluation MACEMP Marine and Coastal Environment Management Project MADER Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Mozambique) MAMS Maquette for MDG Simulations MARENASS Management of Natural Resources in the Southern Highlands Project (Peru) MBFO membership-based financial organization MDG Millennium Development Goal ME marketing extension MEA Millennium Ecosystem Assessment MENA Middle East and North Africa MFA microfinance association MFI microfinance institution MIGEPROFE Ministry of Gender and the Promotion of Women (Rwanda) MINECOFIN Ministry of Economics and Finance MIS management information system MOA Ministry of Agriculture MS mandal samakhyas NAADS National Agricultural Advisory Service NABARD National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development NCEUS National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector NCU national coordination unit NERICA New Rice for Africa NEWS Network of European World Shops NGO nongovernmental organization NOPEST New Options for Pest Management NPIU national project implementation unit NPM New Public Management NRM natural resource management NSSO National Sample Survey Organisation NTFP nontimber forest product NWFP nonwood forest product ODI Overseas Development Institute OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD/DAC Development Assistance Committee of the OECD xxii ABBREVIATIONS PA protected area PACTA Proyecto Acceso a la Tierra (Land Access Pilot Project) PAF performance assessment framework PALS Participatory Action Learning System PARIMA Pastoral Risk Management on East African Rangelands PARPA Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (Mozambique) PBAEP Patuakhali Barguna Aquaculture Extension Project PCUWA Policy Coordinating Unit for Women in Agriculture PER public expenditure review PL post-larvae PMU project management unit PNASA Projet National d'Appui aux Services Agricoles PO producers organization PPB Participatory Plant Breeding PRA participatory rapid appraisal PRGA Participatory Research and Gender Analysis PRMT Poverty Resource Monitoring and Tracking PRS poverty reduction strategy PRSC Poverty Reduction Support Credit PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper PTD Participatory Technology Development RCU regional coordination unit RDC rural development society RDI Rural Development Institute ROPPA Reseau des Organisations Paysannes et des Producteurs Agricoles de l'Afrique de l'ouest ROSCA rotating savings and credit association RPO rural producer organization SACEP South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme SADC South African Development Community SAFE Safe Access to Firewood and Alternative Energy SARD Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development SARI Selian Agricultural Research Institute SASKI Sustainable Agriculture Systems, Knowledge, and Institutions SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SEAGA Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis Programme SEI Stockholm Environment Institute SEWA Self-Employed Women's Association SFLP Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme SHG self-help group SIDA Swedish International Development Agency SIEMBRA Servicios Integrales a Mujeres Emprendedoras SIMS sectoral information and monitoring system SLA Sri Lanka army; Sustainable Livelihoods Approach SMC site management committee SMS short message system SOPPEXCCA Sociedad de Pequeños Productores Exportadoras y Compradores de Café SSA sub-Saharan Africa SSDP Seed Systems Development Project ABBREVIATIONS xxiii STFC SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre SWAP sectorwide approach SWOT strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats T&V training and visit TA technical assistance TRIPS Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights UER Upper East Region UN United Nations UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNDAW United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women UNDHR Universal Declaration on Human Rights UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNESCAP United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFF United Nations Forum on Forests UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women UNIMAS University of Malaysia Sarawak UNPF United Nations Population Fund USAID U.S. Agency for International Development UWA Uganda Wildlife Authority VAC vuong/ao/chuong (garden/pond/animal husbandry) VD village development (association) VDC village development committee VFFP Village and Farm Forestry Project VO village organization VREL Volta River Estates, Ltd. VSHLI Village Self-Help Learning Initiative WFP World Food Programme WHO World Health Organization WID Women in Development WIEGO Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing WIN Empowerment of Women in Irrigation and Water Resources Management for Improved Food Security, Nutrition and Health WIND Work Improvement in Neighbourhood Development WOUGNET Women of Uganda Network WRDS women's rural development society WUA water user association WUG water user group WWF World Wildlife Fund Currency is in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. xxiv ABBREVIATIONS Sourcebook Overview griculture is central to the livelihoods of the rural A young adults and farm households left in the hands of chil- poor and in the attainment of the Millennium dren and grandparents with subsequent impacts on agricul- Development Goals (MDGs). Agriculture can be ture. Migration, arising mainly from poverty or prompted by the engine of growth and is necessary for reducing poverty natural disasters or violent conflict, now forms a dynamic and food insecurity, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa force, changing the landscape of the rural population. Remit- (IFAD 2001; World Bank 2007a). Understanding the tances sent back home by migrants form substantial sources dynamic processes of change is crucial to better position the of funds supporting household consumption and productive sector for faster growth and sustained development, which investments in rural areas. Migration shows stark gendered is vital for food and livelihoods security for millions of men differences. In some regions, men more than women are and women worldwide. likely to abandon agricultural work at home and migrate first The rapid changes occurring in the agriculture sector to seek income in other sectors.Women are being left to carry present opportunities and challenges for the sector's central the full burdens of agricultural production, but often with no role in poverty reduction and food security. Markets and legal protection or rights to property ownership. the demand for agricultural commodities are changing Although the changes in agriculture create new sources rapidly, especially for higher-value products. These changes of opportunities for livelihoods and food security, they also may create opportunities for greater market participation pose significant uncertainties. Equity concerns are being for both women and men; however, for women in particu- raised. Poor and small producers, often women, may be lar, to date, equal access to these markets is still limited. excluded from the lucrative high-value markets because Advances in agricultural knowledge and technology that they may not be able to compete in terms of costs and prices accompany the changes in the sector are creating an array with larger producers. Globalization and trade liberalization of new choices for producers, altering what is produced, have opened more market opportunities internationally and where it is produced, and how it is produced. Factors out- have induced greater innovations and efficiencies in many side of the sector, such as widespread environmental cases. But, at the same time, globalization has led to painful change, are also altering agricultural potential throughout transition periods for some economies and has favored the the world. In particular, climate change is now affecting producers who have more resources and the information, water supply and weather conditions and consequently is education, and capacity to cope with increasingly stringent impacting agricultural production. market demands. Thus, these changes may increase the vul- The composition of rural households is changing consid- nerability of individuals with few resources, especially poor erably as a consequence of HIV and AIDS, with deaths of women, who have traditionally had limited access to crucial 1 services and opportunities because of persistent cultural, roles and relations affect food security and household wel- social, and political biases. fare, critical indicators of human development. Last, but not Within the development community, a renewed inter- least, gender equality is a basic human right, one that has est has been expressed in support of agriculture. The value in and of itself. World Development Report of 2008: Agriculture for Devel- In many parts of the world--for example, sub-Saharan opment has helped spearhead renewed thinking about the Africa (SSA) and South Asia--despite women being the main sector, calling for more and better investments in agricul- farmers or producers, their roles are largely unrecognized. ture. Increased investment in the sector is also flowing In Uganda, broadly illustrative of SSA, 75 percent of agricul- from the private foundations (such as the Bill and tural producers are women.1 In other areas, where migration Melinda Gates Foundation). In light of such renewed and HIV and AIDS are affecting rural demographics, agricul- interest and resources, this is an opportune time to ture is becoming feminized as women increasingly become rethink agriculture strategies for better development out- major actors in the sector. Women also play active roles as comes. Concerted efforts are required to use fully the traders, processors, laborers, and entrepreneurs, despite facing strengths and diversity among the rural people and their many obstacles (compared to their men counterparts) in mar- institutions, to manage innovatively the risks and chal- ket access. However, the design of many development policies lenges associated with rapid changes in the sector, and to and projects continues to assume incorrectly that farmers and ensure that growth reaches poor women and men. For rural workers are mainly men (World Bank 2007b). instance, women play a major role in agriculture, but Significant gender inequalities can be found in peoples' these roles are often unrecognized. The design of many access to other key productive assets and services: land, development policies and projects continues to assume labor, financial services, water, rural infrastructure, technol- wrongly that farmers and rural workers are mainly men ogy, and other inputs. Available evidence indicates that the (World Bank 2007b). Failure to recognize the roles, differ- distribution of land ownership is heavily skewed toward ences, and inequalities poses a serious threat to the effec- men. For example, roughly 70 to 90 percent of formal own- tiveness of the agricultural development agenda. ers of farmland are men in many Latin American countries (Deere and Leon 2003), and similar patterns are seen in SSA (Doss 2005; Quisumbing, Estudillo, and Otsuka 2004). Evi- WHY GENDER EQUALITY IS IMPORTANT IN dence also suggests that strengthening women's land rights AGRICULTURE can significantly increase income and families' welfare (for Gender equality is crucial for agricultural development and example, a new law adopted in several countries in SSA cer- the attainment of the MDGs. The definition of gender used tifying women's title to land had a positive impact on in the Sourcebook is the economic, social, political, and cul- women's and household welfare). In many countries, pro- tural attributes and opportunities associated with being viding land titles is not enough because complementary ser- man or woman. The Sourcebook uses the definition in the vices (such as in the Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic and Global Monitoring Report 2007 on gender equality, which the Philippines) also need to be in place (see Module 4). means equal access to the "opportunities that allow people The poor, especially women, face obstacles in making to pursue a life of their own choosing and to avoid extreme their voices heard even in democratic systems and in deprivations in outcomes," highlighting gender equality in increasing accountability and governance reforms in many rights, resources, and voice (World Bank 2007c: 106). areas (World Bank 2007a). For instance, recent studies stress Gender issues must be addressed in development. First, that women's representation and gender integration into gender dimension is crucial for economic reasons and from national plans and agricultural sector strategies remain a the efficiency point of view. This is especially true in the challenge (World Bank 2005b).2 agriculture sector, where gender inequalities in access to and Women face considerable gender-related constraints and control over resources are persistent, undermining a sus- vulnerabilities compared to men because of existing struc- tainable and inclusive development of the sector. Second, tures in households and societies. Property grabbing from equity or distributional issues are related to gender differ- women and children is common, particularly in communi- ences in outcomes. Gender differences, arising from the ties affected by HIV and AIDS. Also, exposure to risk arising socially constructed relationship between men and women, from violent conflicts or natural disaster is different for men affect the distribution of resources between them and cause and women; it is often influenced by existing gender-based many disparities in development outcomes. Third, gender inequalities in the allocation of food within the household, 2 SOURCEBOOK OVERVIEW mobility restrictions, and other sociocultural factors. For 2006; FAO 2007; IFAD 2003; World Bank 2006, 2008). example, in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras Analytical capacity is being strengthened, and data collection and Nicaragua in 1998, women's household tasks and care and analysis have been improved to include gender-specific responsibilities increased to such an extent that they found variables and indicators in these three agencies. The Gender it difficult to return to work. Women's participation and and Development Program of the International Food Policy voice in organizations are limited, they are less likely to Research Institute has contributed significantly toward this receive critical information for emergency preparedness, strengthening of analytical capacity (see also IFPRI 2007a, and they have limited savings or assets to ensure them 2007b; Quisumbing and McClafferty 2006a, 2006b). Capac- against external shocks (see Module 11). ity building of staff has also been implemented (see Module The World Bank (2001) documented that ignoring gen- 2) with the development community, and improvement has der inequalities comes at great cost to people's well-being occurred in the way gender issues and women's empower- and countries' abilities to grow sustainably and thereby ment are addressed throughout the project cycle, starting reduce poverty. Not taking gender issues into account may with project design (GENRD 2006, 2007; IFAD 2003; World result in projects that are technically successful but that neg- Bank 2006). However, studies have highlighted the need to atively affect both women and children and augment social ensure greater continuity between design and implementa- and economic stratification. In SSA the "missed potential" tion to integrate women more fully into mainstream devel- in agriculture is considerable, as evidenced in country stud- opment activities, and the current challenge is to shift the ies by the World Bank (2005a): emphasis toward actual implementation and supervision (GENRD 2006, 2007; IFAD 2003). Burkina Faso: Shifting labor and fertilizer between One of the often-cited reasons for inadequately address- men's and women's plots could increase output by 10 to ing gender is that practitioners lack the tools, know-how, and 20 percent. good practices to integrate gender perspectives in their work, Kenya: Giving women farmers the same inputs and especially now that the sector itself is undergoing profound education as men could increase yields by more than changes. Some cite the abundance of tools, the many avail- 20 percent. able handbooks and toolkits, but often one wonders where to Tanzania: Reducing time burdens of women could start. Others mention lack of training of development prac- increase cash incomes for smallholder coffee and banana titioners in using the tools, lack of accountability in processes growers by 10 percent. to show results on gender equality, and lack of resources: Zambia: If women enjoyed the same overall degree of budget and competent human resources to deliver well- capital investment in agricultural inputs, including land, thought-out design, implementation, and monitoring. as their men counterparts, output in Zambia could Although these concerns can be addressed effectively only increase by up to 15 percent. through concerted efforts, the Gender in Agriculture Source- book is developed to respond to some of these needs. The As is evident from just the few preceding examples, Sourcebook compiles the good practices and innovative activ- efforts to reach the MDGs--especially the goals of halving ities that successfully integrated gender into their project and poverty and hunger (MDG 1) and promoting gender equal- program design for sharing and learning. It synthesizes in ity (MDG 3) and maternal and child health (MDG 4) by one place knowledge, experience, and tools, which are cur- 2015--must fully address and integrate gender into opera- rently scattered in many different places, and it provides an tions in the agriculture sector. Growth and development in up-to-date understanding of gender issues and the complex- the sector simply cannot be done while ignoring women, ities linking gender equality, sustainable livelihoods, and who are the major actors. food security in one volume, especially in the context of the Recognizing the role of gender equality, key development rapidly changing agriculture sector. organizations have engaged in a process of mainstreaming gender into agricultural development. The World Bank, GENDER IN AGRICULTURE SOURCEBOOK Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Interna- tional Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) have The Sourcebook is the outcome of joint planning, continued made some progress in their gender-mainstreaming strate- interest in gender and agriculture, and concerted efforts by gies and have recently embarked on more action-oriented the World Bank, FAO, and IFAD. The purpose of the Source- processes of gender integration (Curry and Tempelman book is to act as a guide for practitioners and technical staff in SOURCEBOOK OVERVIEW 3 addressing gender issues and integrating gender-responsive SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODSTHROUGH actions in the design and implementation of agricultural A GENDER LENS projects and programs.It speaks not with gender specialists on The Sourcebook adopts the Sustainable Livelihoods how to improve their skills but rather reaches out to technical Approach (SLA), popularized by the U.K. Department for experts to guide them in thinking through how to integrate International Development (DFID) to provide a conceptual gender dimensions into their operations. The Sourcebook framework for the complexities and synergies of gender aims to deliver practical advice, guidelines, principles, and equality, livelihoods, food security, and poverty reduction.4 descriptions and illustrations of approaches that have worked The SLA's holistic concept of livelihood strategies--based on so far to achieve the goal of effective gender mainstreaming human, physical, financial, natural, and social assets--is a in the agricultural operations of development agencies. It helpful approach in understanding the livelihoods of the captures and expands the main messages of the World Devel- poor. Livelihoods have been defined as comprising "the opment Report 2008: Agriculture for Development and is con- capabilities, assets (including both material and social sidered an important tool to facilitate the operationalization resources) and activities required for a means of living. A and implementation of the report's key principles on gender livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover equality and women's empowerment. from stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its capa- The Sourcebook focuses on agricultural livelihoods, with bilities and assets both now and in the future, while not agriculture defined broadly as "agriculture, forestry, fisheries, undermining the natural resource base."5 livestock, land and water, agro-industries, and environment," The following factors are the central defining ones in the following the FAO definition.3 The Sourcebook is grounded SLA used by the Sourcebook: in the notion of agriculture's central role in providing rural livelihoods, food security, and broad-based poverty reduction. Assets: Sustainable livelihoods depend on the access to Although the Sourcebook focuses on the agriculture sector, it and control over assets, namely, human, social, physical, is also aware of the fluctuations of agricultural livelihoods so natural, and financial capital. Gender differences in that poverty reduction and rural development require a access to and control over assets dictate power asymme- holistic approach. Both nonagriculture-specific sectors, such tries and negotiating power between men and women as rural finance, rural infrastructure, and rural labor with a within the household and community. reference to agriculture-driven activities, and social protec- Markets: Access to agricultural markets is an important tion policies are addressed in the Sourcebook. source of income, assets, and factors of production and The Sourcebook is targeted to key actors within interna- consumption to sustain the needs of the household and tional and regional development agencies and national gov- welfare of the family. Agricultural markets include prod- ernments, specifically, operational staff who design and uct, input, labor (in agriculture and agribusiness), finan- implement lending projects and technical officers who cial, land, and water markets. In many areas, participation design thematic programs and technical assistance packages. in lucrative markets is often dependent on access to and The Sourcebook can also be an important resource to the control of capital, mobility, and sociocultural factors, research community and nongovernmental organizations. where potential gender asymmetries persist. The Sourcebook is one of a few interorganization part- Risk and vulnerability: Risks include natural hazard nerships to take advantage of complementarities in moving risk, human conflict, human and animal disease epi- toward greater coherence and harmonization of develop- demics, food insecurity, agroecological and geographic ment support, particularly in the area of gender main- factors such as water variability and drought proneness, streaming in agriculture. The Sourcebook capitalizes on the and market and price risks (including trade shocks). comparative strengths of the three organizations to lead the Vulnerability to these risks is a result of poverty and development of the Modules. In addition, it uses the expert- socioeconomic position, influenced by social dimen- ise in each organization for technical contributions, good sions such as income levels, asset ownership, ethnicity, practice selection, innovative project examples, and a series age, class, and gender. of reviews and quality control. The contents are assembled Knowledge, information, and organization: Access to and from across all the geographic regions, with inputs from the engagement in organizations affect access to assets and experiences of the African Development Bank, the Asian markets as well as risk and vulnerability and, thus, impact Development Bank, the Inter-American Development sustainable livelihoods. Gender asymmetries in organiza- Bank, and many other development organizations. tion and information often reinforce or intensify gender 4 SOURCEBOOK OVERVIEW asymmetries in these three areas. Information includes Gender-differentiated distribution of risks and gains market information, information on risks and hazards, along value chains legal rights, and skills to use to develop the rights to access Gender asymmetries in market information, extension markets, improve income, and manage risks. Organization services, skills, and training includes formal and informal forms of collective action, Gender asymmetries in participation and leadership in including the political and governance structures. rural organizations Gender asymmetries in rights, empowerment, and polit- The gender perspective has been structured, using the ical voice SLA, to capture the gender inequalities in these four factors. Gender asymmetries in household composition and labor Gender inequalities in rights, resources, and voice addressed availability (dependency ratios, migration, and disability) in the Sourcebook specifically look at the following: Physical and agroecological risks and their gender- differentiated impacts and vulnerability. Gender asymmetries in access to and control over assets Gender asymmetries in participation and power in land, A simplified framework of analyzing agricultural liveli- labor, financial, and product markets hoods through a gender lens is presented in figure O.1, in Figure O.1 Sustainable Livelihoods through a Gender Lens Policies and Institutions ASSETS · Gender asymmetries in access to and control over social, physical, financial, natural, and human capitals MARKETS · Gender asymmetries in INFORMATION & participation and power in ORGANIZATION land, labor, finance, and · Gender asymmetries in market product markets information; extension services; · Distribution of risks and RISK & and skills/training gains along the value VULNERABILITY · Gender asymmetries in chains · Household composition/ participation and leadership labor availability (dependency in rural organizations ratios; migration; disability) · Empowerment and political · Physical and agroecological voice, especially of women risks & gender-differentiated impacts · Gender-responsive social protection measures Policies and Institutions Sustainable livelihoods Source: Sourcebook task force. SOURCEBOOK OVERVIEW 5 which sustainable livelihoods are conceptualized as influenced of people's livelihoods in relation to development plan- by access to and control over assets, access to markets, access ning, implementation, and evaluation by exploring the to information and organization, and effective management possibilities of unifying different sectors and stakeholders of risk and vulnerability, and by the interaction of these fac- toward a common framework. Emphasizing holistic tors with policies and institutions at the global, national, approaches, the Sourcebook discusses trade-offs accompa- and local levels. nying the different sector changes and varying responses Policies are defined as actions or strategies that directly of stakeholders. Although the Sourcebook reflects on the influence rights and equity as well as prices of goods and various options available to the readers, it attempts to pro- services (World Bank 2005a). Institutions are defined as a vide balanced analysis, guidance, and key principles to set of formal rules (for example, law and regulations) and inform their decisions. informal norms, as well as their enforcement characteristics (North 2005); they also include processes guiding interac- Macro-micro links tions between groups of people. The Sourcebook looks at livelihoods at the household level, and the policies and insti- Development activity tends to focus on either the macro- tutions (at the global, national, and local levels) are dis- or the microlevel. The Sourcebook attempts to bridge this cussed in terms of their impact on the processes affecting gap by emphasizing the importance of macrolevel policy livelihood outcomes. The Sourcebook also focuses on design and institutions to the livelihood options of communities of agricultural projects and programs at the country level, and individuals. It also stresses the need for higher-level although important regional and global issues specific to policy development and planning to be informed through those projects and programs are also covered. Different lessons learned and insights gained at the local level. This forms of support--transformative, mainstreaming gender simultaneously gives local people a stake in policy and perspectives, and targeted project approaches6--are dis- increases overall effectiveness. The treatment of the differ- cussed, explicitly in some cases and implicitly in others. At ent topics and themes aims at comprehensive inclusion by the project level, recommendations and guidelines are made drawing in relevant partners active in rural areas (the gov- on what approaches and strategies can be implemented at ernment, civil society, and private sector; local, national, different stages of the project cycle, and at different levels of and international levels). development support (for example, national, local, and project levels). Building on strengths The Sourcebook focuses on strengths and opportunities, KEY CONSIDERATIONS INTHE CREATION OF rather than on needs and weaknesses. This implies recog- THE SOURCEBOOK nition of potentials, such as strong social networks, access Several principles govern the writing of the Sourcebook: to physical resources and infrastructure, the ability to influence core institutions, or any other factor that has poverty-reducing potential. The Sourcebook provides Focus on people strategies on assisting women to become even stronger The Sourcebook puts people at the center of the discussion. and more effective partners and major players in agricul- This focus on people is equally important at both the tural development. higher levels (when thinking about the achievement of objectives, such as poverty reduction, economic reform, or Timing matters sustainable development) and at the micro- or community level. Assets, resources, markets, infrastructure, and politi- In response to the dynamics of agricultural development, cal structures are discussed in relation to their impact on the Sourcebook includes anchoring the present in past people and their livelihoods. developments, describing the main drivers of change, and providing a vision for the future. This discussion can help in understanding the sequencing of development support. The Holistic approach Sourcebook seeks to understand and learn from changes so The Sourcebook recognizes the importance of an integrated that it can support positive patterns of change and help mit- and multisectoral approach in promoting sustainable igate negative patterns. It explicitly recognizes the effects on livelihoods. It attempts to bring together different aspects livelihoods of external shocks and trends, which are more 6 SOURCEBOOK OVERVIEW predictable than shocks but not necessarily less damaging. on farms and agribusinesses. Occupational segregation by The Sourcebook aims to uncover the nature of complex, two- gender is particularly strong in many countries in South way cause-and-effect relationships and iterative chains of Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, where a high events and to provide feedback mechanisms. prevalence of women in casual, low-paid employment with limited security leads to other abuses (see Module 8). The Sourcebook pays attention to providing options for develop- Context matters ment support differentiated by these groups of rural poor. The Sourcebook also brings forth the diversity and hetero- geneity of the poor. The context--who they are, where they STRUCTURE OFTHE SOURCEBOOK are, and what they do--matters in how effectively gender integration and development goals are achieved. Particular Using the agricultural sector strategies and gender policies attention is paid to regional differences in the Sourcebook. of the three partner organizations, the Sourcebook addresses The policy environment and governance structure are the subsectors and topics that would foster the realization of important determinants of what development support will the development objectives. The Sourcebook addresses agri- work. Projects with gender components will be effective only cultural livelihoods in specific investment or programmatic if current structures are in place. Transformative approaches areas of the World Bank, FAO, and IFAD (table O.1). The and changes in institutions in many instances are necessary Modules are selected based on themes of cross-cutting to break the structural gender-related constraints in soci- importance for agriculture and rural development with eties. The Sourcebook aims to look at modes of providing strong gender dimensions (policy and governance; agricul- support to the rural poor that best fit the specific structural tural innovation and education; food security; product and conditions and development priorities of their area or input markets; rural finance; rural infrastructure; water; country instead of the one-size-fits-all strategies that were land; labor; natural resource management; and crises) and adopted in the past in some cases. specific subsectors in agriculture (crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries). A separate Module on monitoring and evaluation is included, responding to the need to track Heterogeneity of the rural poor implementation and development outcomes. One of the largest groups of the rural poor consists of The Modules use the conceptual framework of agricul- market-oriented smallholders, who have small pieces of land tural livelihoods by discussing assets, markets, information for economic activities but are largely constrained by liq- and organization, and risk and vulnerability in the subsectors uidity, risk, and transactions costs (Berdegue and Escobar and themes. Political economy is intertwined throughout the 2001). With improved market opportunities and greater Sourcebook, especially in Module 2, and the sociocultural support services, many of these farmers can build their asset dimension is captured in all Modules. base, adopt production processes that are more suitable to the environment, and make the transition to commercially Table O. 1 The Sourcebook Modules oriented farming (World Bank 2005a). These groups are 1 Gender and Food Security the ones with the greatest potential for growth; close atten- 2 Gender and Agricultural Livelihoods: Strengthening tion thus must be paid to associating both women and men Governance in smallholders' programs to correct the current bias in 3 Gender and Rural Finance 4 Gender Issues in Land Policy and Administration favor of men. As illustrated by many examples in the 5 Gender and Agricultural Markets Sourcebook, several gender-specific constraints limit 6 Gender Mainstreaming in Agricultural Water Management women's active participation; and assessing and easing 7 Gender in Agricultural Innovation and Education 8 Gender Issues in Agricultural Labor these constraints are vital not only for equity but also for an 9 Gender in Rural Infrastructure for Agricultural Livelihoods efficiency perspective (see Module 5). Another of the large 10 Gender and Natural Resource Management groups, the subsistence-oriented farmers, frequently operates 11 Gender and Crises: Implications for Agriculture in less-favored and marginal production environments with 12 Gender in Crop Agriculture 13 Gender in Fisheries and Aquaculture poor access to markets; this group is made up of a large 14 Gender and Livestock proportion of women. The major development challenge is 15 Gender and Forestry promoting stable production and food security among 16 Gender Issues in Monitoring and Evaluation these people. Another important group consists of laborers Source: World Bank, FAO, and IFAD 2009. SOURCEBOOK OVERVIEW 7 Each Module contains three different types of subunits Sourcebook that need to be more thoroughly addressed in and can function as a stand-alone document: future updates. A Module Overview is intended as a broad introduction THE PROCESS OFTHE SOURCEBOOK to the topic and provides a summary of the major devel- opment issues in the sector, key gender considerations, The Sourcebook is not a primary research product, advocacy the rationale of looking at gender dimensions in the piece, or toolkit; it capitalizes on the real development sector, and a presentation of the framework that guides experiences of task managers and operational staff in the analysis and links different themes, issues, and exam- designing and implementing gender-responsive agricul- ples in the Modules. tural projects. The Modules have undergone an iterative Thematic Notes provide a brief but technically sound process of development and review: guide in gender integration in selected themes within the Module topic. These Notes summarize what has been A review of existing toolkits and checklists on gender: A done and the success and lessons learned from projects preliminary evaluation of existing toolkits on gender and programs. They provide guidelines in terms of key revealed that a few toolkits are available. However, the considerations, checklists, organizing principles, key organizers felt that a distinct need exists for a more oper- questions, and key performance indicators that would ationally relevant, updated, concise reference source to guide the design and implementation of projects. assist task managers and technical officers in their efforts Innovative Activity Profiles7 describe the design and inno- toward greater gender inclusion in agricultural policies, vative features of recent and exciting projects and activi- projects, and programs. A more detailed review of these ties that have been implemented or are ongoing and can existing toolkits was done as part of the Sourcebook be considered for scaling up or replication. Activities preparation to distill relevant information. profiled here have often not been sufficiently tested and Subsector reviews: The Sourcebook examines key gender evaluated in a range of settings to be considered "good issues present across the concerned subsectors at the practice," but they should be closely monitored for conceptual level. It identifies the range of project design potential scaling up. These Profiles provide the impor- emphases and approaches implemented in the sector to tant details about the design and implementation that date. Sources of data and information include the use of have contributed to the budding success of certain activ- secondary sources and the experiences of task managers ities or projects, which technical experts can adopt into and technical officers. Project lessons learned and chal- their operations. These Profiles are aimed at igniting the lenges encountered are also identified. imagination of task managers and technical experts Consultative sessions with technical experts: Although about possibilities that they can explore and adopt in the main sources of information are project documents their project designs. and studies as well as the experience of the Module coordinators, authors, and contributors, consultative The Sourcebook draws on a wide range of experience sessions and discussions were used to draw on the expe- from donor agencies, governments, institutions, and other riences of a wide range of experts in the World Bank, groups active in agricultural development. However, in this FAO, IFAD, and other relevant organizations. This first edition of the Sourcebook, the initial contributions draw process was very useful in identifying and verifying proj- mainly from the World Bank, FAO, and IFAD experiences. ect examples with strong gender components, in docu- The themes and topics covered in the Sourcebook are menting good practices, and in describing the context not always comprehensive and are constrained by both into which these practices and innovations would fit the availability of materials and specialists and experts best in future operations. willing to contribute examples and share experiences. The Modules generally address the priority issues within a LESSONS LEARNED ANDWAYS FORWARD thematic area or areas in which operational guidance is needed, but important gaps exist that should be filled in The Sourcebook is a good practice example of the potential future editions. Migration, rural-urban interlinkages, bio- of interorganization cooperation. The gender and sector fuels, genetically modified foods, agricultural finance, and expert teams in the World Bank, FAO, and IFAD worked food safety are a few areas only briefly mentioned in the very well together. The interest and willingness of over 100 8 SOURCEBOOK OVERVIEW technical experts to provide input and reviews are admirable. (IFAD n.d.) and www.livelihoods.org/info/guidance_ The Sourcebook also witnessed great complementarities in sheets_pdfs/section1.pdf. approaches, expertise, and networks in the three organiza- 5. Robert Chambers and Gordon Conway, "Sustainable tions. The preparation of the Sourcebook encountered diffi- Rural Livelihoods: Practical Concepts for the 21st Century," culty in getting good practice examples that are based on IDS Discussion Paper 296 (1992), cited in www.liveli- sound impact assessment. Not many projects have incorpo- hoods.org/info/guidance_sheets_pdfs/section1.pdf. rated gender-disaggregated impact assessments. Good 6. Transformative programs are designed to transform practices and innovative projects used in the Sourcebook gender relations by tackling the underlying structural causes relied largely on the expert judgment of the authors and and effects of inequality, such as initiatives to change inher- itance laws and related practices (at the community level). thematic experts and on a rigorous review process involv- Mainstreaming gender perspectives in macro- or regular ing experts in the three organizations to check and verify programming and strengthening the capacity of institutions the examples. Intensifying efforts to undertake sound gen- to mainstream gender are crucial in supporting changes in der-disaggregated impact assessment is an area of great policy and legal frameworks. Targeted project approaches importance for further partnership. through agricultural initiatives can be specifically focused The Sourcebook is a living document that provides a good on either women only or men only to redress inequalities start but that remains open to dialogue and new, imagina- and lack of access or skills (see Module 11). tive ways of doing gender-responsive agricultural develop- 7. The selection of the Innovative Activity Profiles was ment. The authors expect the Sourcebook to be expanded largely based on the expert judgment of relevant technical and updated as new experience is gained and new staff in the three organizations on projects and programs, approaches and initiatives arise. Most Module Overviews with a strong gender dimension or component, that and Thematic Notes should be valid for a number of years. worked or has a strong potential of success. These sug- Individual Modules can be used as stand-alone documents, gested projects and programs were then traced, and more and it may be expected that in time some of the Modules information and details were gathered. However, not many of these have good documentation, and only a few will be developed into their own Sourcebook. have gender-disaggregated impact assessments, which To ensure the material in the Sourcebook is updated, a meant that there were not many actual project examples wide dissemination strategy is planned with easy access for for these Profiles. readers to provide updates and experiences from their development projects. The authors encourage readers to REFERENCES update, verify, offer feedback, and, most important, adapt key principles and relevant guidelines to individual agricul- Berdegue, Julio, and Germán Escobar. 2001. "Agricultural tural projects and programs. Knowledge and Information Systems and Poverty Reduction." AKIS/ART Discussion Paper, World Bank, Rural Development Department, Washington, DC. NOTES Curry, John, and Diana Tempelman. 2006. "Improving the 1. "Gender and `Shared Growth' in Sub-Saharan Africa," Use of Gender and Population Factors in Agricultural briefing notes on critical gender issues in sub-Saharan Statistics: A Review of FAO's Support to Member Coun- Africa, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTABOUTUS/ tries in Gender Statistics." Food and Agriculture Organi- Resources/GenderGrowth.pdf. zation (FAO), Rome. 2. See also Elaine Zuckerman,"Poverty Reduction Strategy Deere, Carmen Diana, and Magdalena Leon. 2003. "The Papers and Gender," background paper for the Conference Gender Asset Gap: Land in Latin America." World Devel- on Sustainable Poverty Reduction and PRSPs--Challenges opment 31: 925­47. for Developing Countries and Development Cooperation, Doss, Cheryl. 2005."The Effects of Intrahousehold Property www.genderaction.org/images/PRSPs&Gender-GTZ.pdf. Ownership on Expenditure Patterns in Ghana." Journal 3. See www.fao.org/unfao/bodies/council/cl115/w9751e. of African Economies 15: 149­80. htm. Manufacturing of agricultural inputs and machinery, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2007. "Progress regional and river development, and rural development, Report on the Implementation of the FAO Gender and which are also part of FAO's definition, are not discussed in Development Plan of Action." FAO, Rome. this Sourcebook. Gender and Rural Development Thematic Group 4. For more details on the Sustainable Livelihoods (GENRD). 2006."FY06 Gender Portfolio Review." World Approach (SLA), see www.ifad.org/sla/about/index.htm Bank, Washington, DC. SOURCEBOOK OVERVIEW 9 ------. 2007. "FY07 Gender Portfolio Review." World World Bank. 2001. Engendering Development--Through Bank, Washington, DC. Gender Equality in Rights, Resources, and Voice. Washing- International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2007a. ton, DC: World Bank. "Proceedings of the Consultation on Strengthening ------. 2005a. Agricultural Growth for the Poor: An Agenda Women's Control of Assets for Better Development Out- for Development. Directions in Development Series. comes." IFPRI, Washington, DC. Washington, DC: World Bank. ------. 2007b. Engendering Better Policies: Two Decades of ------. 2005b."Evaluating a Decade of World Bank Gender Gender Research from IFPRI. CD-ROM. Washington, Policy: 1990­99." Operations Evaluation Department, DC: IFPRI. World Bank, Washington, DC. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). ------. 2005c. World Development Report 2006. Washing- 2001. Rural Poverty Report 2001: The Challenge of Ending ton, DC: World Bank. Rural Poverty. New York: Oxford University Press. ------. 2006. "Implementing the Bank's Gender Main- ------.2003."Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in IFAD's streaming Strategy: Annual Monitoring Report for FY04 Operations: Plan of Action 2003­2006." IFAD, Rome. and FY05." World Bank, Washington, DC. ------.n.d."Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA)."IFAD, ------. 2007a. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture Rome. Accessed on April 10, 2007 at www.ifad.org/sla/ for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. about/index.htm. ------. 2007b. "Agriculture for Development: The Gender North, Douglass. 2005. Understanding the Process of Eco- Dimensions." Agriculture for Development Policy Brief, nomic Change. Princeton: Princeton University Press. World Bank, Washington, DC. Quisumbing, Agnes, and Bonnie McClafferty. 2006a. "Gen- ------. 2007c. Global Monitoring Report 2007: Millennium der and Development: Bridging the Gap between Development Goals--Confronting the Challenges of Gender Research and Action," IFPRI Issue Brief No. 44. IFPRI, Equality and Fragile States. Washington, DC: World Bank. Washington, DC. ------. 2008."Gender Equality as Smart Economics: World ------. 2006b. "Using Gender Research in Development," Bank Group Gender Action Plan, First Year Progress Food Security in Practice No. 2, IFPRI, Washington, DC. Report (January 2007­January 2008)." World Bank, Quisumbing, Agnes, Jonna P. Estudillo, and Keijiro Otsuka. Washington, DC. 2004. Land and Schooling: Transferring Wealth across World Bank, FAO, and IFAD. 2009. Gender in Agriculture Generations. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Sourcebook. World Bank: Washington, DC. 10 SOURCEBOOK OVERVIEW M O D U L E 1 Gender and Food Security INTRODUCTION sustainable agricultural development and a cornerstone for economic and social development, and so this Module serves Food Security, at the individual, household, national, regional, and global levels [is achieved] when all people, at all times, have as a road map that indicates how addressing gender in agri- physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and culture development in the other Modules can be optimized nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food prefer- to maximize the impact on food security. Unlike the other ences for a healthy and active life. Modules, it does not contain thematic notes but instead FAO (2001) guides the reader to Modules that provide more in-depth discussions. It also demonstrates the vital and often unac- T oday the world has enough food to feed everyone, knowledged role that women play in agriculture, as well as yet an estimated 854 million people worldwide how their critical role in ensuring sustainable agricultural are still undernourished (FAO 2006) (fig. 1.1).1 development translates into household-level improvements Poverty--not food availability--is the major driver of food in food and nutritional security. insecurity. Improvements in agricultural productivity are necessary to increase rural household incomes and access to FROM AGRICULTURETO FOOD SECURITY available food but are insufficient to ensure food security. Evidence indicates that poverty reduction and food security Agriculture and food security are inextricably linked (see do not necessarily move in tandem. The main problem is fig. 1.2). The agricultural sector in each country is dependent lack of economic (social and physical) access to food at on the available natural resources, as well as on national national and household levels and inadequate nutrition (or and international policy and the institutional environment hidden hunger). Food security not only requires an adequate that governs those resources. These factors influence women supply of food but also entails availability, access, and utiliza- and men in their choice of crops and levels of potential tion by all--men and women of all ages, ethnicities, religions, productivity.Agriculture, whether domestic or international, and socioeconomic levels. is the only source of food both for direct consumption and Gender-based inequalities all along the food production as raw material for refined foods. Agricultural production chain "from farm to plate" impede the attainment of food determines food availability. The stability of access to food and nutritional security. Maximizing the impact of agricul- through production or purchase is governed by domestic tural development on food security entails enhancing women's policies, including social protection policies and agricultural roles as agricultural producers as well as the primary care- investment choices that reduce risks (such as droughts) in takers of their families. Food security is a primary goal of the agriculture production cycle. Yet the production of food 11 Figure 1.1 Undernourished People Worldwide National food security requires both the produc- Latin America/ tion and the ability to import food from global Caribbean 52 markets to meet a nation's consumption needs. Asia/Pacific* Near East and 162 North Africa 38 Household food security is year-round access to an adequate supply of nutritious and safe food to meet the nutritional needs of all household Sub- World members (men and women, boys and girls). Saharan 854 Africa Developing world 206 Nutritional security requires that household 820 members have access not only to food, but also to India 212 health care, a hygienic environment, and knowl- Transition edge of personal hygiene. Food security is neces- countries 25 sary but not sufficient for ensuring nutrition China Industrialized security. (International Fund for Agricultural 150 countries 9 Development [IFAD]) *Excluding China and India Sources: FAO 2006; www.ifad.org/hfs/thematic/rural/rural_2.htm. is not the only goal of agricultural systems that also produce uses of resources. Successful projects are those that invest broadly feed for livestock and fuel (see Module 10 for a more in-depth in improving human capital, sustain and increase the livelihood discussion). Therefore, demand for and policies related to assets of the poor, and focus on gender equality. feed and fuel also influence food availability and access. World Bank (2007b) Staple grains are the main source of dietary energy in Women are crucial in the translation of the products of a the human diet and are more likely to be available through vibrant agriculture sector into food and nutritional security national and international markets, even in developing coun- for their households. They are often the farmers who culti- tries, given their storage and transport characteristics. vate food crops and produce commercial crops alongside Fruits, vegetables, livestock, and aquaculture products are the men in their households as a source of income. When the key to micronutrient, that is, vitamins and minerals, suf- women have an income, substantial evidence indicates that ficiency. However, most of these products are more perish- the income is more likely to be spent on food and children's able than grains, so that in the poorest countries where lack needs. Women are generally responsible for food selection of infrastructure, such as cold storage and refrigerated and preparation and for the care and feeding of children. transport, predicates short food chains, local agriculture Women are the key to food security for their households determines the diversity of diets. Food security can become (Quisumbing and others 1995). a reality only when the agricultural sector is vibrant. In rural areas the availability and use of time by women Other elements are necessary to achieve food and nutri- is also a key factor in the availability of water for good tional security as shown in figure 1.2. These are largely hygiene, firewood collection, and frequent feeding of small assigned to women, who play a key role in ensuring food children. In sub-Saharan Africa transportation of supplies security and are the focus of this Module. for domestic use--fetching fuelwood and water--is largely done by women and girls on foot. In Ghana, Tanzania, and WOMEN'S ROLE IN FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL Zambia women expend most of their energy on load-carrying SECURITY activities involving transport of fuelwood, water, and grain for grinding. Fields dedicated to food crops are often farther Agricultural interventions are most likely to affect nutrition out- from home than those related to cash crops. Because women comes when they involve diverse and complementary processes and strategies that redirect the focus beyond agriculture for must also perform domestic tasks, they must spend a con- food production and toward broader consideration of liveli- siderable amount of time traveling between their home and hoods, women's empowerment, and optimal intrahousehold the fields. This burden, together with other domestic and 12 MODULE 1: GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY Figure 1.2 Elements in Achieving Food and Nutrition Security CARE PRACTICES Childcare FOOD AVAILABILITY Feeding practices (Trends and levels) Nutritional education Food preparation Production Eating habits Imports (net) Intra-household food Utilization distribution SOCIOECONOMIC (food, nonfood) AND POLITICAL Stocks ENVIRONMENT National level FOOD CONSUMPTION Population STABILITY OF FOOD Education SUPPLIES AND ACCESS Macroeconomy (Variability) Energy intake Policy environment Food production Nutrient intake Natural resource endowment NUTRITIONAL Incomes Agriculture sector STATUS Markets Market conditions Social entitlements Subnational level Household characteristics Livelihood systems ACCESS TO FOOD Social institutions (Trends and levels) HEALTH AND FOOD Cultural attitudes SANITATION UTILIZATION Purchasing power Health care BY THE BODY Market integration practices, Access to markets Hygiene, Health status Water quality Sanitation Food safety and quality Source: IFAD, FAO, and WFP 2000. reproductive activities, severely constrains the amount of for crop production but also for fuel and water, and build- time available to women (see Modules 9 and 7, particularly ing these into good environmental management can release Technical Note 4 in the latter). As women's time constraints more time for women to use on income generation, child increase because of engagement in wage labor and other fac- care, and leisure. tors, they will need to build "strategic alliances with men" to Agriculture has an additional impact on food security meet all the needs of the household. In the WIN project through its impact on health. For example, poorly managed (Empowerment of Women in Irrigation and Water Resources irrigation infrastructures may become a breeding ground Management for Improved Food Security, Nutrition and for mosquitoes, and excessive use of groundwater for irriga- Health) in Nepal, one woman trained as a para-veterinarian tion may compromise water sources needed by women to convinced her husband to care for their children and per- ensure good hygiene practices and clean food preparation, form other domestic tasks while she made her rounds.2 without which children suffer more frequently from diar- Changes in the availability of natural resources, due to rhea and compromised growth. the depletion of natural resources and/or impacts of climate Poverty is a major driver of food insecurity, but the two change, can compromise food security by further constrain- are not always linked. Poorer households headed by women ing the time available to women. As discussed in Module 10, have demonstrated that they often succeed in providing water degradation and pollution can force women to travel more nutritional food for their children than those headed farther to collect water, reduce the amount they collect, and by men (Kennedy and Peters 1992). This demonstrates the compromise hygiene practices in the household. Recogniz- importance of gender-based knowledge and roles with ing women's needs for environmental resources, not only regard to food security. Men who lack knowledge about MODULE 1: GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY 13 food preparation may not be able to translate food avail- members. One aspect of utilization is analyzed in terms of ability into nutritional security for their households. distribution according to need. Nutritional standards exist The following sections examine in detail the three key for the actual nutritional needs of men, women, boys, and components of food security and show how women's con- girls of different ages and life phases (that is, pregnant tribution to agriculture and its translation into nutritional women), but these "needs" are often socially constructed security can be promoted. based on culture. For example, in South Asia evidence shows that women eat after everyone else has eaten at a meal and are less likely than men in the same household to con- FOOD SECURITY sume preferred foods such as meats and fish. Food security is essentially built on three pillars: food avail- Hidden hunger commonly results from poor food utiliza- ability, food access, and food utilization. An individual must tion: that is, a person's diet lacks the appropriate balance of have access to sufficient food of the right dietary mix (qual- macro- (calories) and micronutrients (vitamins and miner- ity) at all times to be food secure. Those who never have suf- als). Individuals may look well nourished and consume suf- ficient quality food are chronically food insecure. Those ficient calories but be deficient in key micronutrients such whose access to an adequate diet is conditioned by seasonal- as vitamin A, iron, and iodine. People may live in unhealthy ity are food insecure and are generally called seasonally food environments with inadequate hygiene and sanitation, insecure. Individuals who normally have enough to eat but which results in frequent illnesses and compromised nutri- become food insecure in the face of disasters triggered by tional outcomes despite sufficient food being available. economic, climatic, and civil shocks (war and conflict) are Infants and very young children may have mothers who are transitorily food insecure. The "at all times" element of the so time constrained, particularly at peak times in the agri- food security definition makes risk and associated vulnera- cultural calendar, that they are unable to feed a child as bility an important element of the food security concept. often as necessary to provide good nutrition. Malnutrition The definition of food security is often applied at varying is economically costly: it can cost individuals 10 percent of levels of aggregation, despite its articulation at the individ- their lifetime earnings and nations 2 to 3 percent of gross ual level. The importance of a pillar depends on the level of domestic product (GDP) in the worst-affected countries aggregation being addressed. At a global level, the important (Alderman 2005). pillar is food availability. Does global agricultural activity Achieving food security is even more challenging in the produce sufficient food to feed all the world's inhabitants? context of HIV and AIDS. HIV affects people's physical The answer today is yes, but it may not be true in the future ability to produce and use food, reallocating household given the impact of a growing world population, emerging labor, increasing the work burden on women, and prevent- plant and animal pests and diseases, declining soil produc- ing widows and children from inheriting land and produc- tivity and environmental quality, increasing use of land for tive resources (Izumi 2006). A study of rural households in fuel rather than food, and lack of attention to agricultural Mozambique has shown that an adult death due to illness, research and development, among other factors. which is likely to be AIDS related, reduces the amount of When food security is analyzed at the national level, an staple foods produced by these households by 20­30 per- understanding not only of national production is impor- cent, contributing to household food insecurity (Donovan tant, but also of the country's access to food from the global and Massingue 2007). market, its foreign exchange earnings, and its citizens' con- Policy responses differ according to the underlying deter- sumer choices. Food security analyzed at the household minants of the food insecurity. These responses range from level is conditioned by a household's own food production legal reforms to economic incentives to infrastructure and household members' ability to purchase food of the investment to the provision of insurance instruments. The right quality and diversity in the market place. However, it is following sections will address the specific gender issues in only at the individual level that the analysis can be truly each pillar of food security, drawing out the links to the accurate because only through understanding who con- other Modules of the Sourcebook. sumes what can we appreciate the impact of sociocultural and gender inequalities on people's ability to meet their Food availability nutritional needs. The third pillar, food utilization, essentially translates the Women are key players in the farming sector as shown in food available to a household into nutritional security for its figure 1.3. Their role in agriculture self-employment is 14 MODULE 1: GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY Figure 1.3 Rural Employment by Sector of Activity Agriculture Self-Employment by Sex Agriculture Wage Labor by Sex 60 57 25 54 Female 22 Female 21 Male 50 47 Male 20 39 38 38 40 33 15 adults adults of 30 of 11 25 10 23 9 9 10 20 Percent Percent 13 6 5 9 4 5 10 7 2 1 1 0 0 Asia Asia Asia Asia Africa Africa Pacific al Pacific al Africa Africa N. and CaribbeanSouth N. South and Caribbean and Centr Centr and Asia and Asia and Sub-SaharanEast and and East East Sub-Saharan East America America Middle Europe Europe Middle Latin Latin Source: World Bank 2007c. notable in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and longer fallows are likely to lead to loss of land when tenure North Africa. Women's role in food production within agri- is insecure, but shorter fallows reduce yields as soil fertility culture is even greater. In many societies women supply most is compromised. Goldstein and Udry (2005) demonstrate of the labor needed to produce food crops and often control that those with less political capital in a village have less the use or sale of food produce grown on plots they manage. tenure security and as a result leave their land fallow for However, the asymmetries in ownership of, access to, and shorter periods. Within households, profits per hectare of a control of livelihood assets (such as land, water, energy, maize-cassava intercrop from similar plots vary according credit, knowledge, and labor) negatively affect women's to individuals and length of fallow. Women have less tenure food production. Women are less likely to own land and security and sacrifice profits per hectare with shorter fal- usually enjoy only use rights, mediated through a man rela- lows. The lower production reduces not only women's tive. Studies cited in Deere and Doss (2006) indicate that potential income, but also the availability of food for house- women held land in only 10 percent of Ghanaian house- hold consumption. holds while men held land in 16­23 percent in Ghana; Legal reforms need to take into account multiple-use women are 5 percent of registered landholders in Kenya, rights to land, particularly women's rights, as well as the dif- 22.4 percent in the Mexican ejidos (communal farming ferent means by which women gain access to land, including lands), and 15.5 percent in Nicaragua. On average, men's divorce and inheritance systems (see Module 4, particularly land holdings were almost three times the women's land Thematic Notes 2 and 4). The Lowlands Agricultural Devel- holdings. This compromised land access leads women to opment Projects in The Gambia (see Module 6, particularly make suboptimal decisions with regard to crop choices and Innovative Activity Profile 2) provide a good example of to obtain lower yields than would otherwise be possible if how understanding the way that women obtain land rights household resources were allocated efficiently. affects the design of a successful project. The project Insecurity of tenure for women results in lower invest- resulted in previously landless women obtaining secure ment and potential environmental degradation; it com- rights to land through a land reclamation program. promises future production potential and increases food Agricultural production depends on natural resources: insecurity. In Ghana the primary investment in land, given land, soil, water, and plant genetic resources. Women often the lack of availability of fertilizer, is fallowing. However, have unique perspectives on as well as understanding of MODULE 1: GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY 15 local biodiversity and can be key partners for plant breeders the Junior Farmer Field Life School (see Module 7, in par- as they work to develop adapted and improved varieties. In ticular Innovative Activity Profile 3). Rwanda women farmers have shown they can be more However, adoption of new technology depends on many effective at selecting improved varieties for local cultivation things, including the availability of required assets to imple- than the men plant breeders (Sperling and Berkowitz 1994). ment the technology, how local women and men view the The LinKS project,3 discussed in Module 10 (in particular perceived benefits, the way information is shared, and local Innovative Activity Profile 1), demonstrates how to work gender roles and other sociocultural constraints. Even when with a broad spectrum of stakeholders to promote food women have access to land for food production and access security by understanding local women and men farmers' to improved technologies, they face more constraints than unique understanding of agrobiodiversity. men in accessing complementary resources for success. Agricultural technology transfer capacity development They have less access to credit (see Module 3) and less access is one of the prime policy levers to increase agricultural to inputs such as fertilizer, and they are less likely to benefit productivity. But often women are not targeted because it from agricultural extension services (see Module 7), and is assumed that their husbands or fathers will share the therefore they have less access to improved technologies (see knowledge with them, and often they are supplied with fig. 1.4). Women tend to process their crops more on the technologies that do not meet their needs. For example, farm than men do theirs, but little is invested in technology early dissemination of hybrid maize in Zambia failed to research into on-farm crop processing. recognize that women use the crop for home consumption, These constraints are not only costly to food security but which requires milling. The hybrid that was introduced also to economic growth. If women farmers in Kenya had required hammer mills, but only traditional mills were the same access to farm inputs, education, and experience as available locally. Poorer storage characteristics of the their men counterparts, their yields for maize, beans, and hybrid also compromised women's ability to conserve their cowpeas could increase as much as 22 percent (Quisumbing agricultural produce, so women returned to growing tradi- 1996). This would have resulted in a one-time doubling of tional maize varieties (see Module 12). Involving young Kenya's GDP growth rate in 2004 from 4.3 percent to 8.3 women and men in training opportunities from the start percent (World Bank 2007a). More important, household has proved to be a successful strategy in ensuring food productivity in agriculture and food supplies could often be security and sustainable livelihoods for households, as can increased at no extra cost by reallocating existing resources be seen in the example provided by the approach used in inside the household toward women. Figure 1.4 Roles and Access to Assets by Women and Men in the Agriculture Sector Agricultural Roles by Sex in Kenya Assets by Sex in Kenya 100 100 90 20 30 90 80 50 70 60 80 60 Male 70 50 60 Joint 40 80 Female Percentage 70 30 50 Male 50 20 40 40 Female 10 Percentage 0 30 20 labor labor farms 10 workers manager 0 production production Smallholder to Agriculture Food Crop credit titles registered Roles land allocated Hold smallholders Agricultural Credit Assets Source: World Bank 2007a. 16 MODULE 1: GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY Soil fertility is an important component of agricultural emergency interventions properly requires substantial productivity. As shown in Module 12, particularly Thematic knowledge of the ways in which the agricultural sector Note 2, legumes can be used to improve soil fertility to works, as well as knowing what the sociocultural reality is enhance crop productivity as well as human nutrition. locally and how that dictates who does what, who has what, Recognition and adaptation of this approach in Malawi and who controls what. Because women (and children to demonstrated that women had a preference for a legume some extent) are typically responsible for food production, intercrop production system for their plots. This approach preparation, storage, and marketing, it is crucial to include helped improve soil fertility and increased the productivity them in emergency-related food security planning and of their main crop as well as improved household food secu- decision making as potential change agents and decision rity by providing an additional source of nutritious food. makers, rather than as the "victims" they are often por- trayed to be. A key aspect of program design is to under- stand the differing roles, responsibilities, capacities, and Food access constraints of women and men in the region in question. Access to food can be constrained physically--washed-out This includes understanding the traditional division of roads in a rainy season may cut off access to the nearby mar- labor in the agricultural sphere, as well as any changes that ket town--or, more usually, economically. Ironically, food may have resulted from a crisis. Lessons learned reveal that insecurity has a largely rural face. Despite the fact that the food security interventions and livelihoods-saving strate- majority of food is grown in rural areas, most of the rural gies within an emergency setting are more efficient, cost poor are net food buyers, not sellers, in many countries. effective, and timely when gender-based differences and Hence, economic access to markets, or lack thereof, is a fun- gender-differentiated impacts on the affected population damental determinant of food insecurity. The role of agri- have been properly understood and addressed (FAO 2005; culture in income generation for the poor, particularly see Module 11). women, is more important for food security than its role in The Household Food Security and Nutrition Project in food production (Sanchez and others 2005). Ethiopia illustrates that it is vital that beneficiaries have a The Andhra Pradesh Rice Credit Line Project (Module 3, strong sense of ownership of the project and that the ability Innovative Activity Profile 1) and Niger's Food Bank Project of men and women to assess their own situation and their (Module 11, Innovative Activity Profile 2) are examples of ability to improve their livelihoods are important steps in initiatives in which improved income generation and food- the empowerment process.4 Moreover, identifying gender- linked credit systems for women enhanced household food differentiated opportunities and constraints for improving security and the overall well-being of the family. nutrition and food security during the design phase of a During conflict and crises, food aid and agricultural assis- project often leads to better food security interventions. tance are both necessary components of effective interven- Addressing poverty issues in and of themselves, while tions. The intertwining forces of food aid and agricultural vital, does not necessarily mean that we are addressing food support affect women's and men's food security, nutrition, insecurity. India has been remarkably successful in using health, and livelihoods. During times of crisis, women and agricultural development to foster economic growth and girls are often forced to reduce their intake in favor of other poverty reduction. It has moved from food deficits to food household members, particularly men and boys, which surpluses on the national level. India has a higher gross results in increased incidence of malnutrition among national income (GNI) per capita at $730 than most of sub- women. However, men are at greater risk during famines, Saharan Africa. However, its child stunting rates are high at and in many recorded famines, mortality rates are higher 46 percent. Niger's GNI per capita is just $240, but its stunt- among men than women. Insecure conditions can also limit ing rate is 40 percent. The Gambia demonstrates what can women's mobility and access to humanitarian aid or mar- be achieved despite poverty, with a stunting rate of just kets (see Module 11). 19 percent against a GNI per capita income of $290.5 When crises disrupt agricultural production and distri- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal occupy four of bution, displace populations, and render land unusable, the top five positions in the global ranking of underweight food aid is of critical importance, especially in the short children. Bangladesh and India rank among the highest term. The key to sustainability, however, is to ensure that incidences of low-birth-weight babies, an indicator of the aid provided does not create dependency or harm the maternal malnutrition. Many would argue that the inferior communities and stakeholders it hopes to assist. To plan status of women in South Asia is a key factor in the failure MODULE 1: GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY 17 to translate agriculture-led poverty reduction into nutri- field for women and men in market participation. Greater tional improvements. access to information, organizations, and resources is Welfare improvements at the household level are not important for poor women, who disproportionately lack just a function of increasing incomes for households; they access compared to their men counterparts. Finally, capacity are related to who accrues the income within the house- building is needed for poor women in particular, as cultural hold. In Côte d'Ivoire, significantly more is spent on food and other gender-specific constraints have hindered them and education and less on alcohol and cigarettes when a from greater engagement in markets (see Module 5). higher share of household cash income accrues to women. To achieve the same improvements in children's nutrition Food utilization and health with a $10 increase in women's income would require a $110 increase in men's income (Hoddinott and Having access to food of sufficient quality does not auto- Haddad 1995). matically translate into good nutritional status for individ- Although men often control labor input and the sale of uals. Women's role in food utilization for food security is "cash crops," women often manage production of subsis- perhaps the most critical and outweighs the importance of tence crops, albeit some of the same crops that are sold in their role in food production and how they spend the local markets. Therefore, improving women's productivity income they earn. in agriculture not only increases food availability for the Sixty percent of the calories and proteins consumed by household but also raises women's incomes and enhances humans today come from just three plant species: maize, food security due to women's spending patterns. As dis- rice, and wheat. Seventy-five percent of our food supply cussed in Module 8, public works programs are often used comes from just 12 plants and five animal species (Lambrou as elements of social protection programs to benefit poor, and Laub 2004), but yet dietary diversity is extremely landless households. Cash wages provide flexibility, but important. Diets dominated by cereals lack an adequate women often prefer that these programs pay food wages. In array of micronutrients such as iron, vitamin A, B vitamins a World Food Programme project to improve watershed (niacin, thiamine), vitamin C, zinc, iodine, and folate. Defi- management in Rajasthan, India, women were glad that the ciencies in micronutrients are costly in economic terms and program paid food wages as opposed to cash wages because in terms of people's well-being. Deficiencies in vitamin A, if the program paid cash, then their husbands would partic- iron, and zinc all rank within the top 10 leading causes of ipate, and they would not see any additional resources ded- death through disease in developing countries (WHO icated to household food security.6 2002). In Sierra Leone iron deficiency among women agri- However, women often face constraints to market cultural workers will cost the economy $100 million in the engagement. Cash crops are often collected at the farm next five years (Darnton-Hill and others 2005). gate, whereas food crops need to be transported by the Women are typically responsible for food preparation grower to local markets. In Africa this is commonly done by and thus are crucial to the dietary diversity of their house- women headloading. Studies have found that women holds. Women are generally responsible for selecting food transport 26 metric ton kilometers per year compared to purchased to complement staple foods and to balance the less than 7 for men. This leads some people to argue that household's diet. Even in the Sahel where men control the women account for two-thirds of rural transport in sub- granaries, women are responsible for supplying the "rel- Saharan Africa (Blackden and Bhanu 1999). Hammer mills, ishes" that go with the grains, and it is these that provide the which are needed to grind many maize hybrids, are often bulk of the micronutrients. less common and are centralized at a greater distance The prime sources for micronutrients are fruits, vegeta- from individual households. Given that women bear the bles, and animal source foods, including fish. Animal source transport burden, they may be less likely to adopt hybrid foods are particularly good; they are high density in terms of varieties and continue to favor their traditional but lower- micronutrients, and those micronutrients are also more yielding varieties. bioavailable to the human body (see Modules 13 and 14). Investment in transport and infrastructure is necessary Agriculture is thus a key to dietary diversity, particularly in to support women's market engagement (see Module 9). areas that have less access to markets given the perishable This is an important step toward integrating women into nature of fruits, vegetables, and animal source foods. value chains (see Module 5). Changes in policy and regula- An extensive review of the nutritional impacts of agricul- tory frameworks are also needed to create an equal playing tural interventions, disaggregated into staple crops, fruits and 18 MODULE 1: GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY vegetables, and animal source foods, found that the role of performed by both men and women, focuses on economic women was critical. Studies of the commercialization of staple activities; the reproductive role, almost exclusively done food production determined that those people who increased by women, includes child bearing and rearing; household the share of women's income were more likely to increase maintenance, including cooking, fetching water, and fuel- expenditures on food, although not necessarily improve wood; and the social role or community building, often nutritional outcomes. Interventions focused on fruits and dominated by women, which includes arranging funerals, vegetables were more likely to produce biochemical indica- weddings, and social events. tors of improved nutritional status when they included educa- If sustainable agricultural development is to be trans- tional behavior change designed to empower women.Many of lated into food and nutrition security, then the active the reviewed livestock and aquaculture interventions engagement of women is absolutely necessary. Their resulted in gains in production, income, and food availabil- involvement will require that development agents go ity, and significantly greater nutritional improvements beyond traditional approaches to sustainable agricultural when the interventions were combined with capacity devel- development. Food and nutritional security will mean that opment training that promoted women's empowerment, women are included in crop breeding and selection strate- education, and behavior change (see Modules 13 and 14). A gies so that crops are not selected on their behalf that they good example of this type of intervention is that of the cannot market or process, such as hybrid maize when they introduction of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes in Mozam- do not have a hammer mill, and it will necessitate incorpo- bique. These contain higher levels of provitamin A carotenoids rating women in marketing chains (see Module 5). and when introduced with nutrition education can lead to Food security is not just a goal of sustainable agricul- reductions in vitamin A deficiency.7 Fisheries also offer pow- tural development; it is a right enshrined in the Universal erful opportunities for women, as demonstrated in Module Declaration of Human Rights, and amplified by Article 11 13, particularly Thematic Note 2, which shows how CARE of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Bangladesh introduced a sustainable, high-income fisheries Cultural Rights. Women also have the right to be equal component that improved family nutrition. As discussed in partners in the agriculture sector, and to that end the Module 12, Thematic Note 2, vegetables can be cultivated Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against on the homestead because they require very little land and Women protects women's equal access to land, credit, and do not displace other crops. Women do not need to leave the income. In South Africa (Integrated Food Security Strat- homestead, and so they do not need to violate local cultural egy) and Uganda (Food and Nutrition Policy), govern- restrictions, which would have lowered their participation ments call for a rights-based approach to food security rates in projects. that includes gender equity. Public policies, written from a human rights perspective, recognize the interrelatedness of all basic rights and assist in the identification of those MONITORING AND EVALUATION whose rights are not fully realized. In this way they facili- Disaggregated monitoring of food security is critical. Many of tate corrective action and appropriate strategies to enable the following Modules contain specific information and indi- equal protection for all. Equal representation and active cators regarding production and access to food under different engagement of both women and men in the policy- production systems. Table 1.1 provides examples of indicators making processes are required so that their varying needs that might be used in monitoring the access of women and and priorities are appropriately targeted. More often than their families to food of adequate quality and quantity. not, however, access to the legal system may be more Depending on the country or region, it may be relevant problematic for women than men, but technical and also to consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both financial support is also needed if institutions that as comparative indicators and when collecting data), advance and implement women's rights are to fulfill their because women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usu- mandate (see Module 2). ally in the most disadvantaged situation. This Module has outlined the basic concepts regarding food security and how it may be achieved by addressing gender inequalities in agricultural development. For a more CONCLUDING REMARKS in-depth understanding of how food security can be Women play a triple role in agricultural households: pro- achieved through a specific agricultural sector, refer to the ductive, reproductive, and social. The productive role, relevant Modules or the further reading listed below. MODULE 1: GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY 19 Table 1.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Food Security Indicator Sources of verification/tools Relative contributions of fruits, vegetables, animal products, fish, and · Household survey grains to diet, disaggregated by gender and age · Nutritional survey Change in food consumption by women, men, boys, and girls · Household survey per quarter · Nutritional survey Change in amount of milk, eggs, fish, and animal protein consumed · Child health records by household family members (disaggregated by women, men, boys, · Household surveys and girls) · Rapid nutrition surveys Change in nutritional status of children under age five, before and · Child health records after program activities (disaggregated by boys and girls) · Household surveys · Rapid nutrition surveys Change in birth weight of babies, before and after program · Child health records activities · Household surveys Time spent or distance walked by household members to collect · Household surveys potable water or firewood, disaggregated by gender and age · Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) Percentage of time spent daily in household on paid and nonpaid · Gender analysis activities, disaggregated by gender and age · Time-use studies Uptake of new or intermediate technologies, such as low fuel · Observation stoves, solar cookers, rope pumps, small grain mills, and new types · Sample surveys of food, disaggregated by age and education level · Stakeholder interviews Number of persons accessing credit for food production annually, · Bank records disaggregated by gender · Savings and loan group records Changes in soil, crop, and pasture condition in farmland, before and · Department of Agriculture surveys after program activities (such as nutrient levels and percentage · Farm records ground cover) · Participatory monitoring by villagers/herders In postdisaster situations, number of women with cooking utensils · Sample surveys Changes to livelihood sources (on-farm and nonfarm) among · Case studies resettled or postdisaster men, women (especially women-headed · Community monitoring committees households), and other disadvantaged groups · PRA · Sample surveys Changes in access to food markets, before and after infrastructure · Household surveys, before and after development · Project management information system Changes over x-year period of project activities in household · Household surveys, before and after nutrition, health, education, vulnerability to violence, and happiness, · Project management information system disaggregated by gender · School records Source: Authors, with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. NOTES 2. The project is funded by the United Nations Foundation and implemented by FAO. See e-GAL Sourcebook for more This Module was written by Lynn Brown (World Bank), details on the WIN project at www.worldbank.org. Chitra Deshpande (Consultant), Catherine L. M. Hill (Consultant), Yianna Lambrou (FAO), and Marina 3. See www.fao.org/sd/LINKS/GEBIO.HTM. Laudazi and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants), with inputs 4. Available in the e-GAL Sourcebook, Module 11, Innova- from Anne Nicolaysen (FAO), and reviewed by Deborah tive Activity Profile 3, at www.worldbank.org. Rubin (Cultural Practice); Karel Callens, Bill Clay, 5. Nutrition statistics from State of the World's Children Patricia Colbert, Brian Thompson and Marcela Villarreal 2007 (UNICEF 2006), GNI per capita statistics from World (FAO); Maria Hartl, Sean Kennedy, and Annina Lubbock Development Indicators 2007 (World Bank 2007d). (IFAD); and Harold Alderman and Mio Takada (World 6. Personal communication with Lynn Brown,April 1, 2008. Bank). 7. Available in the e-GAL Sourcebook, Module 12, Innova- 1. Based on FAO's 2001­03 estimates; see FAO (2006). tive Activity Profile 1, at www.worldbank.org. 20 MODULE 1: GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY REFERENCES Kennedy, Eileen, and Pauline Peters. 1992."Household Food Security and Child Nutrition: The Interaction of Income Alderman, Harold. 2005."Linkages between Poverty Reduc- and Gender of Household Head." World Development 20 tion Strategies and Child Nutrition: An Asian Perspec- (8): 1077­85. tive." Economic and Political Weekly 40 (46): 4837­42. Lambrou, Yianna, and Regina Laub. 2004. Gender Perspec- Blackden, Mark, and Chitra Bhanu. 1999. "Gender, Growth tives on the Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Poverty Reduction," 1998 SPA Status Report on and Desertification. Rome: FAO. Poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, World Bank Technical Paper 428, World Bank, Washington, DC. Quisumbing, Agnes. 1996. "Male-Female Differences in Agriculture Productivity: Methodological Issues and Darnton-Hill, Ian, Patrick Webb, Philip W. J. Harvey, Joseph Empirical Evidence." World Development 24 (10): M. Hunt, Nita Dalmiya, Mickey Chopra, Madeleine J. 1579­95. Ball, Martin W. Bloem, and Bruno de Benoist. 2005. "Micronutrient Deficiencies and Gender: Social and Quisumbing, Agnes R., Lynn R. Brown, Hilary S. Feldstein, Economic Costs." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Lawrence Haddad, and Christin Peña. 1995. Women: The 81 (5): 1198S­1205S. Key to Food Security. Food Policy Statement 21. Washing- ton, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. Deere, Carmen D., and Cheryl Doss. 2006. "Gender and the Distribution of Wealth in Developing Countries." UNU- Sanchez, Pedro, M. S. Swaminathan, Philip Dobie, and WIDER (World Institute for Development Economics Nalan Yuksel. 2005. Halving Hunger: It Can Be Done. Research of the United Nations University), Research New York: Millennium Project. Paper No. 2006/115, UNU-WIDER, Helsinki. Sperling, Louise, and Peggy Berkowitz. 1994. Partners in Donovan, Cynthia, and Jaqualino Massingue. 2007."Illness, Selection: Bean Breeders and Women Bean Experts in Death and Macronutrients: Adequacy of Rural Mozam- Rwanda. Washington, DC: Consultative Group on Inter- bican Household Production of Macronutrients in the national Agricultural Research. Face of HIV/AIDS." Food and Nutrition Bulletin 28 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). 2006. State of Supp.: S331­38. the World's Children 2007. New York: UNICEF. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2001. FAO's World Bank. 2007a. Gender and Economic Growth in Kenya. State of Food Insecurity 2001. Rome: FAO. Washington, DC: World Bank. ------. 2005. Breaking Ground: Gender and Food Security. ------. 2007b. "From Agriculture to Nutrition: Pathways, Rome: FAO. Synergies, and Options." Report 40196-GLB, World Bank, Washington, DC. ------. 2006. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2006: Eradicating World Hunger--Taking Stock Ten Years after ------. 2007c. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture the World Food Summit. Rome: FAO. Also available at for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. www.fao.org/sof/sofi. ------. 2007d. World Development Indicators 2007. Wash- Goldstein, Markus, and Christopher Udry. 2005. "The Prof- ington, DC: World Bank. its of Power: Land Rights and Agricultural Investment in World Health Organization (WHO). 2002. The World Ghana." Economic Growth Center Discussion Paper No. Health Report 2002: Reducing Risks, Promoting Health 929, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Life. Geneva: WHO. Hoddinott, John, and Lawrence Haddad. 1995. "Does Female Income Share Influence Household Expendi- FURTHER READING tures? Evidence from Côte D'Ivoire." Oxford Bulletin of Economic and Statistics 57 (1): 77­96. Azad, Nandini. n.d. "Engendered Mobilization, the Key to International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Livelihood Security: IFAD's Experience in South Asia." Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and World Rome: IFAD. Available at www.ifad.org/hfs/thematic/ Food Programme (WFP). 2000. System-Wide Guidance southasia/south_toc.htm. on Household Food Security and Nutrition. Administra- Bamberger, Michael, and Annabel Davis. 2001. Women and tive Committee on Coordination (ACC) Occasional Pol- Rural Transport in Development. Washington, DC: World icy Papers. Rome: IFAD, FAO, and WFP. Bank. Izumi, Kaori. 2006. Reclaiming Our Lives: HIV and AIDS, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2003a. Participa- Women's Land and Property Rights and Livelihoods in East tory Appraisal of Nutrition and Household Food Security and Southern Africa--Narratives and Responses. Cape Situations and Planning from a Livelihoods Perspective-- Town: HSRC Press. Methodological Guide. Rome: FAO. MODULE 1: FURTHER READING 21 ------. 2003b. Trade Reforms and Food Security: Conceptu- Theis, Joachim. 2003. "Rights-Based Monitoring and Evalu- alizing the Linkages. Rome: FAO. ation." Discussion Paper, Save the Children, Bangkok. ______. 2006. The Double Burden of Malnutrition, Case Van Esterik, Penny. 1999. "Right to Food; Right to Feed; Studies from Six Developing Countries. Rome: FAO. Right to Be Fed: The Intersection of Women's Rights and Haddad, Lawrence, and John Hoddinott. 1994. "Women's the Right to Food." Agriculture and Human Values 16 (2): Income and Boy-Girl Anthropometric Status in the Côte 225­32. d'Ivoire." World Development 22 (4): 543­53. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). n.d. IFAD India projects Web site, "Impact of Market- Further information on developing and using food Oriented Production on Household Food Security." security indicators at different levels Available at www.ifad.org/hfs/learning/in_3.htm. Beerlandt, Hannelore, and Stijn Huysman. 1999. Manual for Johnson-Welch, Charlotte, Kerry MacQuarrie, and Sandra Bottom-Up Approach in Food Security Interventions: Bunch. 2005."A Leadership Strategy for Reducing Hunger Analysis of Target Groups. Rome: IFAD. Available at and Malnutrition in Africa: The Agriculture-Nutrition www.ifad.org/hfs/tools/hfs/bsfpub/manual_toc.htm. Advantage."Project report for the U.S.Agency for Interna- Committee on World Food Security. 2000. Twenty-sixth ses- tional Development (USAID), and U.S. Department of sion, Rome, Italy, September 18­21. Available at Agriculture (USDA). International Center for Research on www.fao.org/docrep/meeting/X8228E.htm. Women (ICRW), Washington, DC. Maxwell, Simon, and Timothy Frankenberger. 1992. Mechlem, Kerstin. 2004. "Food Security and the Right to "Household Food Security: Concepts, Indicators and Food in the Discourse of the United Nations." European Measurements." Rome: IFAD. Available at www.ifad.org/ Law Journal 10 (5): 631­48. hfs/tools/hfs/hfspub/index.htm. Patel, Mahesh. 2001. Human Rights as an Emerging Develop- ment Paradigm and Some Implications for Programme Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. Nairobi: UNICEF. Further case studies Rae, Isabella. 2006. Gender Dimensions of the Right to Food. Available via the Innovative Activity Profiles prepared for Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization. the Gender in Agricultural Livelihoods (GAL) eSourcebook Rahman, Osmani. n.d."Food Security, Poverty and Women: available at www.worldbank.org: Module 12 (Gender Lessons from Rural Asia." Rome: IFAD. Available at in Crop Agriculture), Innovative Activity Profile 1 www.ifad.org/hfs/thematic/rural/rural_toc.htm. (Promoting Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potatoes). Roberts, S. L. 2001. "Women: The Key to Food Security." Paper presented at the International Congress on Dietet- ics, Chicago, IL, May. 22 MODULE 1: GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY M O D U L E 2 Gender and Agricultural Livelihoods: Strengthening Governance Overview overnance has taken center stage in the interna- G promotion of community-driven development, public sec- tional development debate. As Kofi Annan, then- tor management reforms, legal reforms, and anticorruption Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), told measures (column a in table 2.1). Second, agricultural liveli- world leaders in 1998: "Good governance is perhaps the sin- hoods can be promoted by governance reforms specific to gle most important factor in eradicating poverty and pro- the agricultural sector, such as strategies to improve agricul- moting development." Good governance has been defined tural policy making and reforms of agricultural service pro- in different ways by development organizations. The defini- vision (column b). As shown in table 2.1, one can further tion offered by the United Nations Development Pro- distinguish approaches to improve governance that require gramme highlights participation, accountability, trans- institutional and legal changes (row a), and approaches that parency, consensus, sustainability, and the rule of law as can be pursued within an existing institutional and legal elements of good governance and emphasizes the inclusion framework (row b). of the poorest and most vulnerable people in making deci- Although all four types of reforms create significant sions about allocating development resources.1 A widely opportunities for improving agricultural livelihoods by used set of aggregate data from a broad range of sources making agricultural policies and programs more effective, compiled by the World Bank Institute measures the follow- one cannot take it for granted that any of these governance ing six dimensions of good governance: (1) voice and reforms will also promote gender equity in the agricultural accountability, (2) political stability and absence of violence, sector. If implemented in a "gender-blind" way, such reforms (3) the rule of law, (4) regulatory quality, (5) government can even increase gender inequalities. Therefore, specific effectiveness, and (6) control of corruption (Kaufmann, efforts are needed to make governance reforms gender sensi- Kraay, and Mastruzzi 2007). tive and to address the specific challenges of gender inequal- Reforms that aim at promoting good governance have ity in the agricultural sector, which have been outlined in the become an important policy area increasingly supported by Sourcebook Overview. One can consider governance reforms international financial institutions and donor agencies. In that are relevant for agriculture to be "gender sensitive" if 2007, 14 percent of the World Bank's total lending was spent they are (1) sensitive to gender differentials, for instance, by on public sector governance (World Bank 2007a). Pro- making sure that women in the agricultural sector do not grams, projects, and investments that support governance lose out in the reform process; (2) gender specific, that is, by reforms are relevant for agricultural livelihoods in two addressing specific needs that differ between men and respects: First, agriculture can benefit from overall reforms women engaged in agriculture; (3) empowering to women, that aim at improving governance, such as decentralization, for instance, by making provisions for affirmative action 23 Table 2.1 Investment Options to Improve Governance Activities supported by investment Agriculture-specific governance projects and programs General governance reforms (a) reforms (b) (a) Governance reforms requiring · Political, fiscal, and administrative · Decentralization of agricultural services institutional and legal change decentralization and functions (transfer of functions, staff, · Public administration and civil service and resources to lower levels of reforms government) · Access to justice reforms · Institutional reforms of Ministries of · Changes in procurement rules and Agriculture (including creation of procedures autonomous agencies and transfer of · Right to information laws management to local groups) (b) Approaches to improving governance · Participatory policy planning and · Promoting participation in agricultural within existing legal and institutional budgeting policy processes structures · Citizen report cards · Improving management systems in · Governance and integrity surveys Ministries of Agriculture · Improved audits, including introduction · Community-driven agricultural of social audits development projects · Leadership training · Support for rural self-help groups' · Civic education producer organizations Source: Authors. and creating more opportunities for rural women's partici- rights that are related to food and agriculture, including rights pation in political processes; or (4) transformative, for to land and the right to food (rule of law). All these dimen- instance, by attempting to change prevalent attitudes and sions of good governance are essential for the improvement social norms that lead to discrimination against rural of agricultural livelihoods, because they make agricultural women. The objective of this Module is to identify and dis- policies and programs more effective and lead to a more cuss opportunities for making governance reforms gender efficient use of the funds invested in agriculture. sensitive, focusing on those reforms that are particularly rel- In figure 2.1 one can distinguish two types of approaches evant for agricultural livelihoods. that can lead to improved governance outcomes. They can be referred to as "demand-side" and "supply-side" strategies, even though one must acknowledge that public service provi- CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK sion does not follow the principles of a functioning market. The following sections discuss several strategies and The term"demand-side"strategies has become widely used to approaches to reform governance. cover strategies that aim at strengthening people's and com- munities' ability to demand better public services and hold public officials accountable, including politicians and the Strategies to reform governance public administration. These strategies capture the"voice and To understand how the gender dimension can best be accountability" dimension of good governance. The term addressed in governance reforms that are relevant to agri- "supply-side" strategies is used to cover all approaches that culture, it is useful to define good governance for the agri- strengthen the capacity of the public administration and cultural sector and to identify the major mechanisms or other public service providers to supply services more effec- strategies by which such reforms attempt to lead to better tively and efficiently and to be more responsive to citizens' governance. Applying the definitions and concepts of good priorities and needs. These strategies refer to the"government governance quoted above, one can derive the following effectiveness" dimension of good governance. dimensions of good governance in the agricultural sector (fig. 2.1): quality of agricultural policies and regulations Making demand-side strategies gender sensitive (regulatory quality); efficiency and equity in the provision of agricultural services and infrastructure (government An important example of a demand-side strategy is decen- effectiveness); reduction of corruption, that is, the abuse of tralization, which holds promise for better service provision public office for private gain, in the agricultural sector (con- by "bringing government closer to the people." One can trol of corruption); and access to justice and enforcement of distinguish between political, administrative, and fiscal 24 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE Figure 2.1 Demand- and Supply-Side Strategies to Improve Governance Nature of the problems affecting the effective engagement of different good fit social groups (such as gender roles, social hierarchies, incentives) Measures to improve voice and accountability: Demand side: Decentralization, Ability of men and participatory planning, women to demand budgeting, affirmative good governance and Good governance in the Contextual action, right to information hold public officials agricultural sector: factors: (elected and nonelected) * Quality of policies * Political good coordination accountable and regulations * Economic * Efficiency and equity * Socio- Measures to improve in providing cultural Supply-side: services and infrastructure public sector capacity: Improving the capacity * Control of corruption Civil service reform, public of politicians and * Access to justice and expenditure reform, administration to be enforcement of rights, outsourcing, public-private effective and responsive including land rights and partnerships to gender-specific needs the right to food good fit Nature of the problems affecting performance of service providers (such as incentives, bureaucratic culture, political capture) Source: Authors. decentralization, depending on whether political authority, important. The design of governance reforms can help to administrative functions and staff, or financial resources are address such problems; but no simple solutions are to be transferred to lower levels of government. If accompanied found. A prominent example is the reservation of seats for by fiscal and administrative decentralization, political decen- women in local government bodies, an affirmative action tralization has considerable potential for making public ser- measure that was introduced together with decentralization vice provision more accountable to rural citizens and more in India, Pakistan, Uganda, and other countries. A consider- responsive to their needs. Other examples of demand-side able challenge to making this strategy work is the fact that approaches include participatory planning and budgeting many men politicians deeply resent the reservation of seats and strengthening citizen's rights to information. Demand- for women. As a consequence, it is a common strategy that side approaches that are specific to the agricultural sector they have their wives run on their behalf, who are then con- include decentralizing agricultural ministries and depart- sidered to be proxies for their husbands. Another challenge is ments, making service providers accountable to locally elected low levels of literacy among women, which limit their effec- governments, using participatory methods in agricultural tiveness as politicians, as studies in India and Uganda have policy formulation and in agricultural advisory services, shown (Jayal 2006; Johnson, Kabuchu, and Vusiya 2003). and using social audits for agricultural infrastructure projects. Women who stand for elections may also suffer from phys- Demand-side approaches are often promoted by civil society ical intimidation and violence (Jayal 2006). One also has to organizations, and they are particularly effective if they are take into account that women do not necessarily advocate driven by civil society organizations' grassroots movements for gender equity once they assume political functions. rather than external interventions (Ackerman 2004). Studies from India suggest that women representatives often To make demand-side reforms gender sensitive, taking align their policy emphasis along caste rather than gender into account that gender roles and existing forms of dis- lines (Vyasulu and Vyasulu 2000). Research from southern crimination against women may prevent them from exercising Africa indicates that women politicians dismissed the idea demand and holding public officials accountable are both to give up party solidarity in support of gender concerns MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE 25 (Geisler 1995). Despite these limitations, evidence suggests provision, for example, through outsourcing of agricultural that reservations may lead to women's empowerment and advisory services, public-private partnerships in agricultural better representation, eventually. Chattopadhyay and Duflo research, devolution of authority for natural resources to (2004) found that local council presidents in three Indian user groups, and privatization (for example, of formal seed states invest more in types of infrastructure directly relevant supply systems). to the needs of their own gender (see further discussion, les- Gender-sensitive supply-side reforms build the capacity sons learned from past experience, and entry points for and willingness of state actors and other public service improved interventions in Thematic Note 3). providers to perform their tasks in such a way that women In participatory planning approaches--a type of inter- are served equally, and that gender equality is one of the vention that can be introduced within existing legal and goals of public management.Awareness creation and training institutional structures--special provisions may be required for men and women staff members remain an important to ensure women's participation in the planning process, approach to reach this goal. Another avenue to make supply- such as holding planning meetings with women's groups side reform more gender sensitive consists in strengthening prior to general planning meetings. Gender-disaggregated the role of women staff members within agricultural agencies. information is a key input in demand-side strategies, because Not only is this a measure to reduce discrimination in the citizens need to know how the state has allocated public workplace for the women employed there, but it also may resources and to whose benefit. Right-to-information legis- increase the capacity of the respective agencies to serve women lation, such as India's Right-to-Information Act, helps to clients better, as the theory of representative bureaucracy improve access to information. Citizen report cards, which suggests. For example, women extension agents may have a are based on surveys among citizens regarding their satisfac- better understanding of the needs of women farmers.Another tion with the quality of public service provision, have important approach is the development of "machineries" become an important approach to increase transparency for the promotion of gender equity, such as special units in (Samuel 2002). Women may have comparative advantages in agricultural ministries that have the task of mainstreaming some types of demand-side strategies. For example, women's gender concerns. To make supply-side reforms gender sen- groups are effectively monitoring food prices in ration shops sitive, one also has to take into account that reforms may in India to reduce corruption (Goetz and Jenkins 2002). affect men and women differently. For example, special pro- Demand-side approaches may lead to repression of citizens visions may be necessary to make sure that women, whose who try to disclose irregularities in the public administra- literacy level is often lower than that of men, can participate tion. Women may be particularly vulnerable to such repres- in agricultural e-governance initiatives, such as Internet- sion. Therefore, ensuring women's access to justice is often based agricultural extension. important to make demand-side approaches work. Going from "best practice" to "good fit" Making supply-side strategies gender sensitive The experience with governance reforms shows that "blue Examples of supply-side reforms include civil service print" or "one-size-fits-all" approaches have limited chances reforms, public expenditure management reforms, the for success. In fact, the reform approaches have to be tailored reform of procurement and audit procedures, training pro- to the context-specific conditions (Levy and Kpundeh 2004), grams for public officials, and improved coordination indicated by the"good fit"arrows in figure 2.1.As highlighted between different government agencies and departments. above, the design of demand-side approaches needs to take Because the agricultural administration is part of the general into account the challenges that different groups, including public administration, such general reforms typically have women, face in exercising voice and demanding accounta- implications for agriculture. Also, however, supply-side bility. Likewise, supply-side reforms need to address the spe- reforms exist that are specific for agriculture. For example, cific problems that prevent public agencies and other service the introduction of new technologies, such as information providers from performing their tasks effectively. Moreover, and communication technologies (ICTs) for agricultural demand- and supply-side approaches need to be coordinated. advisory services or land administration, can help to improve Little value can be found in increasing people's ability to agricultural sector governance. Another supply-side demand better services if the service providers lack the approach consists in involving nongovernmental organiza- incentives or the capacity to respond, indicated by the"good tions and private sector enterprises in agricultural service coordination" arrow in figure 2.1. 26 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE One also needs to take into account that reforming gov- 3. Formulation of plans at the local level. Decentralization ernance is essentially a political process. Experience shows and community-driven development approaches have that it is often necessary to focus on those types of gover- introduced or strengthened planning processes at the nance reforms first for which political commitment can be local level, such as community-action plans and district- created (Grindle 1997; Levy and Kpundeh 2004). Gover- level plans. Integrating agriculture as well as gender con- nance reforms that require a change in legal and institutional cerns into such local plans is important to ensure that frame conditions (table 2.1) typically depend on higher lev- local development efforts improve agricultural liveli- els of political commitment than strategies that can be used hoods in a gender-sensitive way. Moreover, local plans within the existing legal and institutional framework. are important because they are increasingly used to feed into regional and national agricultural and general development strategies. POLICY PROCESSES 4. Development of budget processes. The national and local As indicated above, developing sound policies and regula- budget processes are of crucial importance, as they deter- tions is an important aspect of good governance. In recent mine to which extent policies are actually translated into years, the international development community and civil practice. Gender budgeting, which is now promoted society have placed increasing emphasis on making processes actively in many countries, provides important entry of policy formulation more participatory and consultative. points for gender mainstreaming (box 2.1). One also Because of democratization, the role of parliaments in policy needs to pay attention to the range of policy documents making has been strengthened in many countries too. Like- related to the budget process, such as Medium-Term Bud- wise, democratic decentralization has improved the possi- get Frameworks, Annual Budget Framework Papers, and bilities of locally elected council members to engage in policy Sector Investment Plans. Mainstreaming gender concerns formulation. In terms of the framework above, these trends in these documents is essential for achieving adequate are "demand-side" approaches, which strengthen the ability budget allocations. of citizens to formulate demands by involving them in pol- 5. Development of political processes leading to institutional icy making, directly, through interest groups, and through reforms. Another type of process that deserve attention are elected representatives. These developments have created political processes that lead to the reform of agricul- important opportunities for making policies more gender tural sector institutions, such as agricultural extension sensitive. The contemporary challenge is to seize these reforms or land administration reforms. The content opportunities, as women face particular obstacles of making of such policy reforms is covered in different Modules their political voice heard. With regard to agricultural liveli- of this Sourcebook. The political process of bringing hoods, the following five types of policy processes are of about such reforms is an important entry point for particular interest. gender concerns. This is also true for the political processes by which general governance reforms (such 1. Formulation of general development strategies and plans. as decentralization reforms) are pursued, because National development strategies and plans form an impor- those have important implications for gender and agri- tant basis for economic policies. In many countries, they culture too. take the form of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), which are developed with a strong emphasis on As further detailed in Thematic Note 1, different entry stakeholder participation. Other countries, such as India, points make these policy processes gender sensitive by have five-year development plans formulated by national strengthening the capacity of women and their organizations planning commissions. The way in which agriculture to (1) participate effectively in policy-making processes; and gender are addressed in these strategies and plans (2) conduct relevant analyses, such as gender-specific has far-reaching implications for the formulation of agri- agricultural expenditure reviews and gender analysis of cultural policies and programs. agricultural budgets; (3) use research-based knowledge in 2. Formulation of agricultural sector policies and plans. Most the policy process (for instance, by providing training in pol- countries have specific agricultural sector policies, which icy communication); and (4) analyze the political economy are often developed with support from international of specific policy processes through a gender lens and engage organizations. These policies are an important entry in policy change management, for example, by building point for mainstreaming gender concerns. coalitions and influencing public opinion. MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE 27 Box 2.1 Gender Budgeting Public expenditure analysis can be a powerful tool for gender inequity in a country. They can be sectoral, focus- gender equity when gender-disaggregated analyses of ing on a particular gender-equity issue, or may involve a public budgeting and expenditure expose gender bias in more comprehensive disaggregation of government macroeconomic policy. Public expenditure management accounts. Such initiatives also increase the transparency portfolios conventionally focus on fiscal discipline and of government and discourage the use of public office for good operational management. However, how public private gain, especially in ways that siphon off resources money is allocated and spent is the most concrete repre- that should be of special benefit to women. Civil society sentation of policy priorities in a country, and gender- groups play an important role in gender budgeting. sensitive analyses can be used to hold policy makers The United Nations Development Fund for Women accountable for spending real money to achieve their (UNIFEM) has been supporting gender-responsive political promises. One prominent strategy in this realm budgeting and operates a Web site with resources in sev- is gender-responsive budgeting. Gender-responsive eral languages (www.gender-budgets.org). Although budget initiatives are usually multistep policy analysis gender budgeting has gained increasing importance, a projects that compare the adequacy of policy and bud- need still exists to use opportunities created by this tool getary allocations for addressing the specific nature of more effectively in agricultural budgets. Source: Authors. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC National and local machineries for promoting SECTOR REFORM gender equity Although good policies are important, they are not enough. Since the First World Conference on Women in the mid- To improve agricultural livelihoods in a gender-sensitive way, 1970s, the international women's movement and the donor public institutions must have the will and the capacity to community have pressed countries to establish state institu- implement policies and programs that are targeted at gender tions specifically tasked with the promotion of the status of equity in the agricultural sector. In other words,"supply-side" women. These "national machineries" take many forms, factors must accompany demand-side processes to strengthen including self-standing ministries,gender focal points,gender governance.Understanding the public administration is espe- units or "gender desks" within existing ministries such as cially important to achieve gender-sensitive governance Finance or Agriculture, or a central advisory body within because research has shown that the bureaucracy plays a the Executive Office. Early machineries tended to be isolated significant role in creating gender relations in the broader structures that actually implemented welfare-oriented society. The agricultural administration can maintain existing projects, but it is now generally recognized that the machin- gender relations in the agricultural sector by providing unequal ery should act as a catalyst for gender mainstreaming in all access to social and economic resources, and it can help to areas of policy and administration, rather than as an imple- transform them through recognizing men's and women's menter. As of 2004, 165 countries had established some type different needs and positions in this sector. Moreover, public of national machinery for promoting gender equity. administration staff in frontline service agencies such as Because agriculture is the primary source of women's agricultural extension are often the first, and perhaps the livelihoods in most developing countries, the way in which only, contact that women and men in rural areas have with the the agricultural bureaucracy institutionalizes gender policy state. The implementation of public policy through the agri- and planning functions is particularly important for cultural administration thus determines how policy directives poverty alleviation. Both the International Fund for Agri- developed at a central level are actually experienced on the cultural Development (IFAD) and the Food and Agriculture ground. Agricultural bureaucracies are also gendered in their Organization (FAO) support the establishment of gender own internal cultures--in the relationships of and opportu- units that specifically serve the rural sector as part of a nities for the men and women who work within them. country's broader machinery for the promotion of gender Improving public sector management in agriculture is thus equity. Women's desks or gender focal points in Ministries essential for the alleviation of poverty for rural women. of Agriculture and/or in decentralized district agricultural 28 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE offices can provide guidance to sector practitioners on how on combining public sector reforms with demand-side to mainstream gender in agricultural planning, budgeting, approaches by emphasizing stakeholder participation and and implementation. For example, the Unit for the transparency. The "responsive governance" model of public Strengthening of and Support to Gender Policies at the El sector reform describes this trend. To make this reform Salvador Ministry for Agriculture and Livestock helped the approach gender responsive, it is crucial to involve stake- extension program tailor training to women farmers, thus holders that represent women in participatory processes. enhancing productivity. The Gender Strategy in the recon- Although public sector reforms have potentially far- figured Ministry of Agriculture in Côte d'Ivoire led fully a reaching impacts on agricultural administration, it is impor- quarter of the ministry's programs to have an explicit gen- tant to determine which activities are best addressed through der focus (see Innovative Activity Profile 2). Broad-based sectoral instruments, and which through a more cross- practitioner evidence suggests that separate, small women- cutting approach. Administrative reforms within Ministries specific agricultural and rural development programs are of Agriculture and other relevant government agencies can usually not successful in reaching large numbers of rural be important tools for creating incentives for service women. Instead, it is more effective to design mainstream responsiveness to women-specific needs, as well as those of agricultural programs so that they reach both men and men. Projects focusing on building administrative capacity women. Having dedicated gender staff sit inside sectoral can experiment with innovative incentive systems that ministries increases the gender relevance of their work (see reward the extra effort needed to work for women's advance- further discussion specific to the agricultural sector, lessons ment. Performance reviews and indicators, bureaucratic learned from past experience, and entry points for communication flows, trainings, management techniques, improved interventions in the Thematic Note 2). and informal professional cultures all can be strengthened to value the work necessary to tailor services specifically to the needs of women clients and to help women clients over- Public sector reform come barriers to accessing these. In Chile, for example, the In addition to creating dedicated institutional bodies to public sector Management Improvement Program links advocate for women's issues, gender sensitivity can be inte- performance evaluations to achievement of specific gender grated into the daily operations of the public sector. Periods targets and has led a high proportion of government agen- of reform often provide strategic opportunities to do this. cies and services to incorporate gender. Civil service reform is another area with potentially sig- Reform models. Public administration reforms have been nificant gender impacts. Practitioner evidence suggests that on the development agenda ever since developing countries public sector downsizing often impacts women dispropor- achieved their independence, but with the increasing com- tionately, especially in places where women are overrepre- mitment to good governance, public sector management sented in the secretarial and administrative ranks of the has gained particular prominence. The models that have bureaucracy that are thinned. Gender-sensitive reform proj- guided public sector reforms have changed over time (UN & ects begin with an ex ante analysis of the gender impacts of AF 2005). The New Public Management (NPM) approach, public sector downsizing, such as that conducted by the which replaced the traditional public administration model, World Bank in Vietnam, to understand how the reforms focused on the introduction of private sector management impact the roles of women and men who work inside the approaches in public agencies, emphasizing entitlements, administration. Important positive benchmarks for civil efficiency and results, outcomes, and professionalism. service reforms include whether they diminish job discrim- Treating citizens as "customers" is an important guiding ination, increase equity and opportunities, and give consid- principle in NPM. Creating semiautonomous agencies to eration to issues relevant to women in the workplace such as remove the public administration from direct political sexual harassment and family leave policies. In addition to influence has also been a major approach in NPM. These improving the job quality of women bureaucrats, these gen- principles remain relevant for public sector reform, and der-equity practices in the public administration can they create scope for gender mainstreaming by recognizing improve the quality of service provided by the public sector. the entitlements of women "customers," disaggregating The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that organ- results and outcomes by gender, and introducing gender izations perform their missions more effectively if their mainstreaming as an element of professionalism in public workforces reflect the characteristics of their constituent service. In current reform approaches, a stronger focus lies populations. Keeping women in the public administration MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE 29 means they may be better able to tailor agricultural services Representation of the private sector and civil society in and policies to the needs of rural women. A study of two management boards of public sector agencies: One impor- rural credit and development programs in Bangladesh tant public sector reform approach is the creation of semi- showed that women field workers and managers identified autonomous agencies, which are governed by boards that with some of the problems of their poor women clients and include representatives of the private sector and civil acted as advocates for them within the managers' organiza- society, for example, Guatemala's forest administration tions (Goetz 2001). and Uganda's national agricultural research system (Birner and Wittmer 2006). Public sector reforms by involving the private sector Public-private people partnerships: These partnerships and civil society. Another set of supply-side reforms aims involve civil society organizations, such as farmer organi- at improving public sector governance by involving private zations, along with public sector agencies and private sector agencies, user organizations, and nongovernmental business enterprises. An example is the "Sustainable organizations (NGOs) in the provision of public services. Uptake of Cassava as an Industrial Commodity" project The combination of approaches discussed here that is most in Ghana. Cassava is widely grown by women and tradi- suitable depends on country-specific conditions, as high- tionally viewed as a subsistence food crop. The project lighted earlier ("best fit"): established systems that link farmers, especially women, to new markets for cassava products, such as flour, baking Outsourcing. Contracting, or outsourcing, is suitable for products, and plywood adhesives (World Bank 2007b). functions that require public finance but not necessarily Devolvement of management authority to user groups: public provision. For example, in Uganda's new National This strategy is widely applied in natural resource man- Agricultural Advisory Services system, the provision of agement. Community forestry in India and Nepal is a agricultural advisory services is contracted out to private prominent example. The strategy is also important in sector enterprises, individual consultants, and NGOs that irrigation. The Office du Niger irrigation scheme in Mali compete for the contracts. The approach is combined with is a particularly successful African example of this a demand-side strategy, because committees of farmers' approach (Aw and Diemer 2005). representatives at the subcounty level make decisions on Development of service cooperatives: Formed and owned by awarding the contracts. A quota for women farmers in producers, including smallholder farmers, service cooper- these committees aims to ensure gender responsiveness. atives can be important for providing services helping the Public-private partnerships and privatization: Going poor. In India, for example, dairy cooperatives provide beyond outsourcing, public-private partnerships create livestock services to more than 12 million households. joint responsibilities for financing and provision of services Such mixed approaches create opportunities for involv- and infrastructure, including irrigation infrastructure. For ing women: for example, by involving organizations that services that are not confronted with market failure, pri- represent rural women. Yet it cannot be taken for granted vatization can be a useful reform approach. Veterinary that such opportunities will be used. Special provisions, services, for example, have been increasingly privatized in such as reserving seats in governing bodies for women rep- many developing countries. However, if market failures resentatives, and enabling measures, such as training coach- exist because of, for example, natural monopolies, as with ing and mentoring, may be necessary to make such water and electricity supplies, privatization needs to be approaches gender sensitive. Moreover, strengthening the combined with regulation to ensure that the rural poor, capacity of organizations that represent rural women is including rural women, retain access to such services. Reg- often an important prerequisite to make such approaches ulation can be combined with demand-side approaches, work (see further discussion on civil society and women for example, by making regulatory decisions subject to organizations in Thematic Note 4). public consultations, as they are for electricity regulation in India. Special provisions can help to ensure that women's interests are equally represented in such approaches. Reforms to reduce corruption The emphasis on good governance has stimulated a wide A range of reform strategies represent mixed demand- and range of reforms aimed at combating corruption. Corrup- supply-side approaches because they involve citizens directly tion affects the agricultural sector in many ways. National in public functions such as service provision and regulation. integrity surveys show that land administration is often one 30 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE of the most corrupt government agencies.2 Large agricul- general public sector reform. A successful demand-side tural infrastructure projects, such as those for irrigation, are example is the monitoring of food prices in ration shops particularly prone to corruption, as is water allocation in by women's groups in India, as mentioned above. A study public irrigation systems (Rinaudo 2002). Companies may of strategies to reduce corruption in village road projects bribe regulators, as in biotechnology regulation in Indone- applied a randomized experimental design to compare social sia (BBC News 2005), and pesticide regulation in India. Pes- audits, a demand-side approach, and government audits, a ticides may cause particular health hazards for women, who supply-side approach (Olken 2007). The study suggests often do the planting and weeding work. Reducing public that grassroots monitoring may reduce theft more when sector involvement into input supply and marketing of agri- community members have substantial private stakes in the cultural products may reduce the scope for corruption, which outcome. New technologies, especially ICTs (e-government), is often associated with such interventions (see, for example, can reduce the scope for corruption, as with computeriz- Jeffrey 2002). However, outsourcing and privatization also ing land records in Karnataka. As box 2.2 shows, a vivid create new scope for corruption, and the agricultural sector is debate exists on the extent to which involving women in equally affected by such problems. For example, concerns politics and public sector management will reduce the scope have been expressed that outsourcing agricultural advisory for corruption. services in Uganda has created scope for corruption in the contracting process. DECENTRALIZATION, LOCAL GOVERNANCE, Both demand- and supply-side approaches can over- AND COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT come corruption in agriculture (World Bank 2007b). Public expenditure management reforms and procurement reforms Decentralization--the transfer of political, administrative, are typical supply-side approaches, which are often part of and fiscal authority to lower levels of government--is one Box 2.2 Gender and Corruption Two papers by the World Bank launched women into such behavior, especially if required to create a sustain- the global debate on anticorruption and good gover- able livelihood. nance. In two cross-country studies, Swamy and others These scholars argue that the central question in the (2001) and Dollar, Fisman, and Gatti (2001) found gender and corruption debate is not whether women or that a greater proportion of women in parliament was men are less corrupt as a group, but how to combat associated with lower levels of corruption. Swamy and gender-specific accountability failures. These include others (2001) also used data from the World Values gendered capture, such as when money destined for Survey as well as a survey of business owners in Georgia women's development is more easily stolen by state to show gender differentials in attitudes about and actors because women tend to be less aware of their involvement in bribery. Do these studies show that rights and less willing than men to demand that public women are intrinsically more honest, and thus are a authorities account for missing funds, and gender bias "tool" to combat corruption? in purportedly impartial law and policy, which exacer- Several political scientists who study gender dynamics bates existing forms of discrimination. Women may in developing countries argue no. They suggest opportu- also be more susceptible to "sexual currencies" of cor- nities for corruption are what is gendered, not people's ruption, such as having sexual services demanded in reactions to it. In particular, in socially conservative lieu of money bribes. Because corruption takes the societies, it is difficult for women to become either largest toll on the poor, and women make up a dispro- clients or patrons in the men-dominated patronage portionate share of the poor in many places, the effects networks through which corrupt exchanges occur. of corruption are thus disproportionately borne by Where corrupt acts are condoned by social networks, women. The key question to ask is whether anticorrup- or even required by social convention, women have tion measures equally address the types of corruption been shown to be no less willing than men to engage in faced by women and men. Sources: Alhassan-Alolo 2007; Goetz 2007; Goetz and Jenkins 2005. MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE 31 of the major governance reforms that many developing and they do not necessarily prioritize gender concerns when countries have been undertaking. Eighty percent of all they assume political office. The system of reserving seats in developing countries have experimented with some form of local councils in India aims at addressing both elite capture decentralization (Work 2002). Community-driven develop- and gender-inequality problems, as seats are reserved for ment (CDD) is a related approach. Broadly defined, CDD women and for disadvantaged castes. Efforts to reserve seats gives community groups control over planning decisions for women in state assemblies and the national parliament and investment resources. By mobilizing community have been unsuccessful so far. The challenges involved in the groups, CDD aims at making the rural poor active partners reservation of seats for local council members have been rather than targets of poverty alleviation measures. In early discussed earlier. phases of decentralization, local governments often do not reach down to the community level. However, decentraliza- Community-driven development tion and CDD can go hand in hand by making local govern- ments, rather than higher-level state agencies, responsible for Once a visionary idea, CDD has become a reality on a large the implementation of CDD approaches. scale. More than 9 percent of World Bank lending uses this approach to development (World Bank 2007b). Other inter- national development organizations also use this mecha- Decentralization nism to a large extent. Experience shows that CDD can As indicated earlier, decentralization holds great promise for speed up the implementation of projects, increase cost making public service provision more responsive to the effectiveness, make fiscal transfers more efficient, improve needs of rural citizens, including rural women, by "bringing the quality of infrastructure, and increase income from agri- government closer to the people." With regard to agricul- culture. Considerable experience has been accumulated in ture, acknowledging that this sector is best served by a mix scaling up, but drawing definitive conclusions requires more of centralized and decentralized functions is important. For rigorous impact evaluation (World Bank 2005). example, public functions of strategic relevance--such as As further detailed in Thematic Note 3, experience has ensuring food safety and controlling epidemic diseases-- shown that communities that manage resources under CDD need to remain national responsibilities, even though their programs typically concentrate first on meeting basic needs implementation may require considerable administrative for health, education, and infrastructure. Once they turn to capacity at intermediate and local levels. For applied agri- income-generating activities, however, agricultural projects-- cultural research, agroecological zones may be the appropri- including those that link smallholders to high-value ate level of decentralization. Agricultural extension, however, markets--become an important choice. Community- is often best organized at lower tiers of local government driven projects in northeast Brazil that promote agricul- to be responsive to diverse local conditions and extension tural income generation show that success depends not needs (World Bank 2007b). Decentralization is inherently a only on community capacity but also on market demand, political process that shifts power and authority, and so technical assistance, and capacity building (van Zyl and agricultural ministries at the central level, like other min- others 2000). Income-generating projects in the agricul- istries, often resist the transfer of their fiscal resources and tural sector often provide private goods, such as livestock, their staff to local governments. This resistance limits the seeds, and access to irrigated plots, rather than public possibilities of the elected local leaders, including women goods, such as schools. Such projects need special provi- leaders, to become active players in promoting agriculture. sions to avoid elite capture and to make sure that women Hence, building political support is important to avoid fis- benefit equally. Without such provisions, agricultural CDD cal and administrative decentralization falling behind projects that provide private goods may disadvantage political decentralization. women by one-sidedly increasing the asset base of men. Decentralization also involves the challenge of "local elite Although CDD approaches attempt to avoid market and capture," which implies that local elites use public resources state failure, they may be confronted with the problem of to their advantage. However, whether elite capture is indeed community failure. Therefore, developing accountability is more important at the local than at higher levels depends on an important condition for enabling communities to imple- country-specific conditions (Bardhan and Mookherjee ment agricultural projects. Unlike local governments, com- 2000). The gender dimension of the elite capture problem is munities do not usually have formal structures of authority complex, since women are part of local and national elites, and accountability, and they can be riddled with abuses of 32 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE power, social exclusion, social conservatism, and conflict. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development Where customary traditions deny rights and privileges to (World Bank 2007b) makes clear, action at the global level is women, relying on customary community institutions for essential for successful realization of national agendas to use project implementation can deepen gender inequality (Beall agriculture for development. Even though agriculture is pri- 2005). Therefore, CDD projects need to invest considerable marily a private sector activity, it relies heavily on the provi- resources in changing community practices by encouraging sion of public goods, as well as on the regulation of the more transparent information flows, broad and gender- international commons for sustainable development. Agri- sensitive community participation in local decision making, cultural development is also influenced by the globalization and participatory monitoring of local institutions. Special of the economy, and reducing barriers and transaction costs provisions, such as quorum rules for women's participation in trade requires international coordination. Agriculture is in community meetings, may help to achieve gender equity. increasingly susceptible to transboundary issues, such as One needs to acknowledge that accountability evolves over pandemic animal and plant diseases and invasive species time, and that solutions need to be specific to country that require regional solutions. Progress in agriculture is context. Yet, when associated with predictable resource also essential to meet other great global challenges of our flows, CDD approaches can change community dynamics day, including environmental change, disease, poverty, and beyond the project time frame (World Bank 2007b). security. For all of these reasons, international cooperation through the types of organizations listed in table 2.2 is nec- essary to support strategies for strong agricultural liveli- GLOBAL GOVERNANCE OF AGRICULTURE hoods at the national and local levels. In today's global world, much of the architecture of agricul- Because activities, agreements, and institutions that oper- tural governance is created at a supranational scale. As the ate at an international scale influence outcomes at the Table 2.2 Types of Global Organizations Relevant for Agriculture Nongovernmental organizations and networks, private sector enterprises, and Sector and specialization Intergovernmental organizations organizations with mixed membership Specialized organizations Food and Agriculture Organization Global networks of farmers' organizations (for in the agricultural sector Global Donor Platform on Rural Development example, International Federation of International Fund for Agricultural Development Agricultural Producers and Via Campesina) World Food Program Multinational agribusiness enterprises World Organization for Animal Health (for example, Dow Chemicals and Monsanto) Supermarket chains Consultative Group on International Agricultural Development Cross-sectoral organizations Codex Alimentarius Harvest Plus that include agriculture Development organizations United Nations Development Programme Private foundations and funding agencies (for and funding agencies with World Bank Group example, Gates and Rockefeller foundations) agricultural programs Nongovernmental development organizations (for example, CARE and Oxfam) Specialized environmental Global Environmental Facility Environmental NGOs (for example, Greenpeace organizations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and World Wide Fund for Nature) United Nations Environment Programme International Union for the Conservation of Nature Specialized organizations in United Nations Development Fund for Women Multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology other sectors World Health Organization companies World Trade Organization International Organization for Standardization General global governance G-8 Summit bodies United Nations Secretariat, Assembly and Security Council Source: World Bank 2007b. MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE 33 national and local scales within developing countries, it fol- bring relevant gender concepts to the world of interna- lows that institutions of global governance must be gender tional agriculture diplomacy. In particular, trade capacity- sensitive for their country-level impacts to be gender sensitive building programs should involve significant training in as well. For example, trade liberalization has differential gender analysis, because trade negotiations are particu- effects on women and men when women are disproportion- larly data intensive. Activities such as exchange programs ately employed in industries affected by the removal of tariffs, or study tours for elected officials or diplomats can also such as agriculture or textile manufacturing. Analysis of these expand their awareness of positive gender practices in country-level effects must be available during international other countries. Support programs and investments trade negotiations. Likewise, recent agreements relating to should focus on both government representatives and agricultural inputs, such as the International Treaty on Plant civil society actors. Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (commonly known as the International Seed Treaty), have important gen- der aspects, because men and women are often stewards of MEASURING CHANGE: GENDER-SENSITIVE different crops and species, and the farmers' rights of women MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS need to be equally protected. Hence, it is important to include It is important to be able to measure the impact that gover- gender-sensitive language and concepts in such agreements. nance initiatives have on men and women beneficiaries, Making sure that women are at the negotiating table their families, and communities. Table 2.3 gives some ideas when international agreements relevant to agriculture for indicators and sources of verification, although clear and global governance are written and that gender inter- modifications are required for each program. Further detail ests are represented in international policy and regulatory is also available in Module 16. vehicles is essential for truly mainstreaming gender in Depending on the country or region, it may be relevant agricultural governance. Similar to the programs and also to consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both as investments discussed above in mainstreaming gender in comparative indicators and when collecting data), because national agricultural policy processes, donors and govern- women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usually in the ments can build the capacity of both men and women to most disadvantaged situation. 34 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE Table 2.3 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Governance Indicator Sources of verification and tools Number of women and men actively participating in local-level planning · Citizen's scorecards and policy-setting processes · Community meeting minutes · Participatory monitoring records Number of women and men employed at each level in the public service · Staff records Percentage of women and men in new recruitment in public service at each level · Staff records Percentage of elected women officials (at national, state, and local levels) · Government electoral records Number of women and men (bureaucrats or elected officials) participating · Training records in training per quarter Change in knowledge and attitudes of women and men in public service · Focus groups regarding issues such as sexual harassment, child care access, and family leave · Surveys policies, measured annually · Stakeholder interviews Number of government officials participating in gender training annually · Government records · Training records Percentage of women and men extension workers and project staff · Government agricultural extension and business support services records · Project records Perceptions of incidence of corruption, disaggregated by gender · Stakeholder interviews ·Surveys Percentage of women and men actively involved in committees writing PRSPs, national · Government minutes policies, and so on · Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) records Use or otherwise of gender-disaggregated monitoring in PRSPs, national · Documents: PRSPs, budgets, and others budgets, project logical frameworks, government socioeconomic ·Gender analysis of budgets development plans, and so on ·Public expenditure reviews Satisfaction of entrepreneurs with their access to government services · Average time taken by government (such as land titles and business registration), training, information, and offices to issue certificates infrastructure, disaggregated by gender · Focus groups · Stakeholder interviews Changes in community knowledge regarding government policies, laws, · Focus groups or services, disaggregated by gender · Sample survey · Stakeholder interviews Percentage of time spent daily in household on paid and nonpaid activities, · Gender analysis disaggregated by gender and age · Time use studies Numbers of women and men community trained in group management · Training records and leadership skills Active participation of women and men in community-based rural · Bank account signatories organizations, including holding leadership roles · Organization minutes · Stakeholder interviews Changes over x-year period of project activities in household nutrition, health, · Household surveys, before and after education, vulnerability to violence, and happiness, disaggregated by gender · Project management information system · School records Source: Authors, with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE 35 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Gender in Policy-Making Processes emocratization and the rise of participatory policy D strong emphasis on stakeholder participation. However, making have increased the possibilities for small- recent studies have stressed that representation by women holders and the rural poor to raise their political and the incorporation of gender issues in the PRSP processes voice. Diverse institutional arrangements involving citizens remain a challenge (World Bank 2005; Zuckerman 2002). A directly in service provision and regulation have started to World Bank survey covering the PRSP process in 32 coun- be adopted, including (1) representation of the private sec- tries shows that agricultural stakeholders, especially women, tor and civil society on management boards of public sector are often well represented in the preparatory phases when agencies, (2) public-private partnerships, (3) devolving issues are diagnosed and studied, but their involvement in management authority to user groups, and (4) service coop- actually setting priorities is much weaker (World Bank eratives (see Module Overview). Reforms in the public sec- 2004). In the rural sector, the attention to gender issues and tor and in many agricultural institutions have escalated in follow-through in the recommendations or priorities in the recent years; they also create special opportunities for greater document are even more challenging. In 2004 the World representation and inclusion, especially involving women, Bank conducted a review of rural development aspects of 12 who historically have been underrepresented in processes PRSPs (in 2000­04). Only six PRSPs brought up gender and neglected in policy outcomes. However, it cannot be issues in the poverty diagnosis, and only three included a taken for granted that such opportunities will be used. detailed discussion. Only one PRSP (Rwanda) used gender Increasing voice and accountability in rural areas remains a as one of the criteria for prioritizing actions in the policy challenge even in democratic systems, and rural women face matrix. Gender-related targets are generally absent in the particular obstacles in making their voices heard (World PRSPs, and only two PRSPs (Kyrgyz Republic and Mali) had Bank 2007). This suggests a vital need for a critical look a set of gender indicators. Only three had follow-up in the across countries at the processes of policy formulation, par- instruments for policy changes, in the form of Poverty ticipation of women and men, and the different obstacles Reduction Support Credits, and only two had follow-up in that they face to seize the opportunities presented by recent the lending program of the Bank and other donors (World governance reforms. Bank 2004). Process of developing agricultural sector policies and plans. Most countries have specific rural or agricultural sector GENDER IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF POLICY policies, which are often developed with support from the PROCESSES World Bank or international organizations. In a recent Following the discussion in the Module Overview on the analysis of seven rural development strategies supported by different types of policy processes, we discuss here the level the World Bank (2005­06),2 only three reports included of inclusion of gender issues in various policy documents substantial discussion of gender-related issues including and the equality of participation between women and men specific recommendations (Cambodia, Mozambique, and in the different policy processes. Vietnam). Two of the reports presented country-specific Process of developing national development strategies and findings on the differences between men and women in the plans. National development strategies and plans form an rural sector, with less focus on recommendations (Argentina important basis for economic policies. In many countries and Lao People's Democratic Republic). These strategy doc- they take the form of PRSPs,1 which are developed with a uments most commonly discuss gender issues related to 36 education, nonfarm employment, and woman-headed economic frameworks to link planning and budgeting households. Often focus is given to women's access to health more closely). care, property rights, credit, women's limited access to rele- One challenge is that government ministries responsible vant extension services, and limited participation in local for women's affairs and advocacy groups tend to have lim- planning processes. ited expertise in macroeconomic issues and are therefore at In the seven documents, no discussion is given to the con- a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating gender- sultation processes undertaken before the strategy writing. equitable policies (World Bank 2005). They also often lack However, the Cambodia document recommended increased authority and/or budget allocations for follow-up action. women's participation at the village level, and the Vietnam Political processes leading to institutional reforms. As is the document noted how local planning processes need to case for public system reforms, gender-responsive actions become more transparent and inclusive to ensure that all rarely accompany recent or ongoing general governance groups--including ethnic minorities and women--have a reforms (for example, decentralization reforms) and more voice in the decisions that affect their lives. specific agricultural reforms (for example, national agricul- Budget processes. Gender-responsive budgeting aims at tural extension, land administration). Although the political mainstreaming gender into public finance. Gender-responsive process of bringing about such reforms is an important budgets are not separate budgets for women,3 but instead, entry point for gender concerns, gender-responsive actions general budgets that are planned, approved, executed, are seldom incorporated in such processes. monitored, and audited in a gender-sensitive way. In the aftermath of the Fourth World Conference on Women (1995), gender-responsive budgeting work has been carried WOMEN AS POLICY MAKERS out in more than 60 countries. Schneider (2007) summa- In agriculture, women account for more than 50 percent of rized some successes: the labor force, and they are responsible for three-quarters of food production in sub-Saharan Africa, but the design of Awareness has increased that budgetary decisions may many development policies continues to assume wrongly that have an impact on gender relations and gender equity. farmers and rural workers are men (World Bank 2007). The The capacity to analyze budgets from a gender perspec- rigidities of some gender-blind policies, institutions, pro- tive has increased. grams, and projects are perpetuated by the underrepresenta- In some countries, budget allocations have been reprior- tion of women as policy makers or their limited participation itized in favor of women and girls. in policy and institutional change processes. In some countries, budget guidelines and formats have At the national level, the number of women in parlia- been changed. ments remains low: 17 percent in parliament, 14 percent as Debates on gender issues have taken place in parliament, ministers, and 7 percent as heads of government in 2006 and gender issues have been mentioned in the budget (IPU 2006). Signs of progress have been seen in terms of speeches of ministers of finance. women's participation in parliaments over the years; how- Budget processes have become more transparent. ever, the proportion of women remains low. In addition, The participation of the civil society in the budgetary despite the increasing role of civic society organizations in process has increased. shaping the research and policy agenda, it remains a chal- lenge for these organizations to be representative and inclu- However, Schneider noted that gender budget work in sive of women. many countries was partial in scope. In some cases, the At the local level, women have enjoyed more success at impact was limited because the initiatives referred to a styl- gaining access to decision-making positions in local govern- ized approach that was not suitable for the respective ment than at the national level (UNIFEM 2007).4 These national budget system. Yet gender budgeting work in positions tend to be more accessible to them and have less many countries remained a one-off activity (for example, competition than for parliamentary seats. In all likelihood sensitization workshops, training, and analyses) and was women's decision-making roles in city and community gov- not institutionalized. Moreover, gender-responsive budget- ernment may be more easily accepted because they are seen ing activities were not linked with recent reforms in many as an extension of women's involvement in their commu- countries' public finance systems (for example, a more nity. Yet, in many countries, women's participation in local results-oriented budgeting and establishment of mid-term politics is often undermined by gender inequality within THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER IN POLICY-MAKING PROCESSES 37 families, by an inequitable division of labor within house- past experience and good entry points for investments are holds, and by deeply entrenched cultural attitudes about summarized below. The roles of national governments are gender roles and the suitability of women for decision- crucial in reducing the barriers for greater gender inclusion making positions (UNIFEM 2007). in the policy processes and outcomes, but an important role also is available for the international development community. Effective partnerships and capturing the com- MISSED OPPORTUNITY FROM LIMITED parative advantages of both national governments and the ANALYTICAL WORK international community, along with other stakeholders, Good analytical work can lead to more and better treatment are critical for scaling up activities and venturing other of agricultural issues in policy debates, which in turn can innovative approaches. result in more and better projects and programs. In the agri- culture sector, significant analytical strengthening has Unified policy framework occurred in several organizations. For instance, FAO, IFAD, and the World Bank have made some progress in their Having a unified, national framework guiding general gen- gender-mainstreaming strategies and have recently embarked der policies and mainstreaming gender into agricultural on more action-oriented processes of gender integration policies and institutions is important. Some countries have (Curry and Tempelman 2006; FAO 2007; GENRD 2006, already moved in this direction. For instance, Chile's Equal 2007; IFAD 2003; World Bank 2008). Analytical capacity is Opportunities Plans are the framework documents guiding being strengthened, and data collection and analyses have the country's gender-mainstreaming processes, leading to a been improved to include gender-specific variables and recent success story of effective gender mainstreaming in indicators in these three agencies. The International Food the public sector, including agriculture. Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)'s Gender and Develop- ment Program has also contributed in analytical capacity Representation of women in political institutions strengthening for gender in agriculture (see also IFPRI 2007a, 2007b; Quisumbing and McClafferty 2006a, 2006b). Getting more women in the policy making and research Capacity building of staff in these organizations has also institutions is an important step toward getting gender been implemented (see also Thematic Note 2). However, issues into the focus of national strategies and policies. several gaps still remain. For instance, in a recent review of Political reservations for women are often proposed as a way 130 economic and sector work (ESW) programs by GENRD to rapidly enhance women's ability to participate in policy (2008), at least 50 percent of the reviewed ESW do not making. Quotas for women in assemblies or on parties' can- include any gender-related issues; of the remainder, several didate lists are in force in the legislation of over 30 countries reports include a minimal to moderate level of diagnosis (World Bank 2001). Reservation policies clearly have a of and recommendations for gender issues, and only one strong impact on women's representation; however, this to four ESW programs include detailed coverage. Of the does not necessarily imply that reservation for women has 39 technical assistance (TA) documents, between 63 and an impact on policy decisions. Despite the importance of 76 percent of the reviewed TA reports do not include any this issue for the design of institutions, little is known about gender-related issues; and of the remainder, only one pro- the causal effect of women's representation on actual policy vides detailed coverage of gender issues (GENRD 2008). In decisions (Chattopadhyay and Duflo 2004).5 the IFAD, while the checklist on "prerequisites of gender- In Uganda, women are particularly visible in national sensitive design" is being used widely, application remains politics due to affirmative action, which has also contributed uneven across regions. Opportunities for consultation and to women's participation in regional political decision mak- capacity building with local NGOs or women's groups were ing. Women hold four of the Ugandan representative posi- often missed. tions in the East African Legislature Assembly (EALA) and are two of the five Ugandan members of the African Parlia- ment. The enabling laws derived from the 1995 constitution GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED have seen the need for affirmative action, mainly as a result Some good approaches and examples emerge that can be of women's groups' activism: (1) the Land Act of 1998 pro- scaled up to effect greater gender equity across a broader vides for the protection of the land rights of the poor, spectrum of countries. The different lessons learned from the majority of whom are women, and the (2) the Local 38 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE Government Act of 1997 explicitly states that women shall Increasing women's political participation may not be form one-third of all local councils at all levels. As a result easy. Despite Chile's many successes in its gender main- the proportion of women in local councils rose from 6 per- streaming, political participation of women is the area in cent in the early 1990s to 44 percent in 2003.6 which less progress has been made. The work, led by the At the same time, one needs to recognize that the setup of national "women's machinery" called the Servicio Nacional political institutions (for example, whether or not parlia- de la Mujer (National Women's Service), has found few ments or political parties have quotas) is hardly an entry allies within the public sector, and progress on women's point for donor-funded projects per se, because these are participation in formal politics has been sparse. Thus, it is sovereign decisions that the citizens of a country and their not surprising that studies have recommended continued representatives need to make. However, donor interventions promotion of women's active participation in forums of can aim at strengthening the capacity of women in political citizen's control, strengthening women's organizations, and institutions (for example, women members of Parliamentary piloting quota mechanisms for formal politics. Committees on Agriculture). Capacity building and training In most cases around the developing world, institutional are important for enhancing women's role in decision mak- support is needed to ensure that gender issues are effectively ing, at all policy-making levels, and for providing women represented in the policy processes. For instance, one reason with skills to ensure that they are fully conversant with their why only a few PRSPs have a gender dimension is that they roles and accountabilities. Capacity strengthening of women were prepared based on the assumption that participatory policy makers and administrators has proven to be a pillar of processes would automatically feed into PRSPs. In fact, the Gender Strategy of Côte d'Ivoire's National Agricultural participatory processes have often not fed into PRSPs Services project. A series of data collection processes and (Zuckerman 2002). In Ghana previously disaggregated data staff training to analyze these data have dramatically built were aggregated, obscuring gender differences and inequal- competencies for gender and other staff in analyzing agricul- ities, thereby undermining the potential to challenge gen- tural themes sensitive to specific gender issues at both the der-blind policies (Derbyshire 2002). Other countries have national and regional levels. The presence of the head of the had weaker participatory exercises, and some countries national office for gender issues in all strategic discussions restrict PRSP participation to a very short list of govern- was also key to more effective gender mainstreaming in the ment-recognized NGOs (Zuckerman 2002). Even if agriculture sector (see Innovative Activity Profile 2). women's groups are integrated into participatory exercises, Support can also be provided for activities that support women generally remain marginalized from government, women candidates to run for elections at different levels. In civil society, and grassroots decision making, and women's countries where education levels of women are low, govern- organizations feel removed from macroeconomic debates ments can have a pipeline of well-qualified women candidates central to PRSPs (Derbyshire 2002). However, various emerg- for senior positions in public and private organizations, which ing good-practice examples can be highlighted (box 2.3). would require increased emphasis on women's education, Participatory processes do not guarantee gender integra- including scholarships and cash transfers for the education of tion in PRSPs because of a possible disconnect between girls for vocational and university training in agricultural sci- participants of the consultation processes and writing ence and policy (see also Module 7). teams. In most cases PRSP writers have scarcely integrated participatory inputs into PRSPs; this reflects their lack of commitment to reflecting citizens' inputs and mainstream- Participation of women in political processes ing gender into the PRSP. PRSP writers have consisted The participation of women in political processes is an mainly of government finance and economic ministry staff, important entry point. The rise of participatory policy often men who may lack sensitivity to gender issues (Zuck- making and stakeholder consultation provides important erman 2002). In a few countries, external consultants have opportunities. Projects can aim at strengthening the capac- played key PRSP writing roles, but gender integration was ity of women to participate. Because participatory processes not always guaranteed. The Rwanda PRSP is a good example are often managed by donor agencies, they can place where gender integration was achieved from the consulta- emphasis on an adequate participation of women in such tion and institutional support in writing the PRSP (box 2.4). processes, and a systematic evaluation of such processes Assessments of the PRSPs and other national develop- with regard to the participation of women would be an ment strategies conducted by donor agencies also provide a instrument that donors could use more effectively. good venue to incorporate gender perspective. For instance, THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER IN POLICY-MAKING PROCESSES 39 Box 2.3 Institutional Support for Gender Integration in PRSPs Bangladesh: The Ministry of Women's Affairs with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of support of several donors facilitated the establishment Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), (2) intro- of a "Gender Platform," with representatives from both duction of an employment policy to promote equal government and civil society, which consulted and training and employment opportunities for women, negotiated with the interministerial PRSP task force to (3) continued support for entrepreneurship programs incorporate gender analysis and concerns in the PRSP. for women, (4) greater support for victims of gender- Pakistan: The World Bank conducts a gender dia- based violence, (5) specific rehabilitation programs tar- logue with the government either directly or through geting women affected by conflict, and (6) introduction the Interagency Gender and Development Group of gender sensitization programs for the public and pri- (INGAD) and supports INGAD's participation in the vate sectors. subgroups working on the interim PRSP. This gender Vietnam: The National Committee for the Advance- dialogue is a regular ongoing Bank activity with special ment of Women (NCAFW), together with some focus on political participation, poverty reduction, and donors, established a Task Force for mainstreaming strengthening of institutional mechanisms. gender into the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Sri Lanka: The World Bank supported the govern- Growth Strategy in Vietnam. A group of donors funded ment's Strategy on Gender as part of the PRSP process. and facilitated research on gender-based violence and The strategy includes (1) increased emphasis on the on equality of economic opportunity under Vietnam protection of women's rights in conformity with the law, particularly with respect to land titling. Sources: World Bank 2004a, 2004b. Box 2.4 Rwanda: Steps toward Effective Gender Integration in a PRSP The Ministry of Gender and the Promotion of representatives from a broad range of sectors. Two Women (MIGEPROFE) hired an external gender dynamic civil society activists cofacilitated the work- expert to facilitate the process. The expert analyzed shop. The MIGEPROFE and MINECOFIN ministers in detail the potential areas where gender could be opened and closed the workshop, giving it a high pro- integrated in the IPRSP and suggested specific steps file. Presentations focused on the importance of inte- on how these steps could be done in the Rwandan grating gender into the PRSP to achieve poverty context. reduction and tools to engender the PRSP.Participants The consultant worked with the PRSP writing group practiced using these PRSP engendering tools through at the Ministry of Economics and Finance a teamwork exercise to engender IPRSP sectors, and (MINECOFIN) to ensure its members were com- teams formulated recommendations on how to mitted to mainstreaming gender into the PRSP. engender the interim PRSP text using tools provided. PRSP stakeholders including MIGEPROFE and An interagency PRSP Engendering Committee was PRSP writing team members tried to persuade the established to promote PRSP gender mainstream- participatory exercise facilitators, also headed by an ing. Committee members consisted of the PRSP external consultant, of the importance of ensuring writing team director, the MIGEPROFE Gender and women's as well as men's views. Development Department director, and a represen- MIGEPROFE and MINECOFIN cosponsored a work- tative of Pro-Femmes, the women's civil society shop to promote engendering the PRSP for some 50 groups' umbrella organization. Source: Zuckerman 2002. 40 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE in the World Bank over half of the 17 joint staff assessments part of the Morocco PER, Morocco's Ministry of Finance (JSAs) of PRSPs reviewed in 2003 provided concrete advice and Privatization endorsed the integration of the gender for improving attention to gender inequalities in the sectors dimension in Morocco's budgetary reform process. considered in the PRSP. Almost all JSAs acknowledged the Although no impact assessment has been made to date, treatment of gender inequalities in the PRSP's poverty diag- hopes are high that this will advance the institutionalization nosis or the consultative process or made a general statement of gender considerations in public policy. about insufficient attention to gender in the PRSP. Aside from describing the deficit of attention to gender issues in Strengthening analytical capacity PRSP processes and documents, these JSAs often provide useful recommendations on further steps in diagnosis and Research-based knowledge can play an important role in the sex-disaggregated data collection and monitoring. policy processes. Country gender assessments and gender mainstreaming in economic and sector work, technical assistance, macroeconomic models, and other regular activ- Gender-responsive budgeting ities need to be intensified. Gender analysis of public budgets is an emerging tool for The World Bank's country gender assessments (CGAs) determining the different impact of expenditures on seek to diagnose the gender-related barriers to poverty women and men to help ensure the equitable use of existing reduction and economic growth in client countries and use resources. Although more resources are usually needed, in this diagnosis to identify priority interventions. In 2005 some cases the problem is not allocating more resources, CGAs had been completed for 41 of 91 client countries, and but efficient spending on different activities or better coor- many of them have been instrumental in intensifying gen- dination between sectors. Intersectoral coordination and der inclusion into lending and nonlending activities of the impact monitoring should be strengthened. For instance, World Bank. CGA preparation processes for most countries the objective of increasing girls' completion rates in primary have involved extensive consultations with stakeholders schools will be achieved only if investments are made in including the World Bank, other donors, and civil society transport or water provision. Gender analyses contribute to groups. This good practice has enhanced the analysis and making public spending more effective. The development fostered greater country ownership of the CGA. community can support the capacity to perform regular Gender issues are also increasingly being incorporated into gender analysis in public budgets, and it can strengthen the the World Bank's other instruments for country-level analyt- capacity of the national"women machinery"to identify main ical work,such as a Country Economic Memorandum (CEM). gender issues and coordinate the gender mainstreaming in For example, the Kenya CEM analyzed the linkage between planning and budgeting needs to be built up (see also The- gender inequality and economic growth and advocated matic Note 2 and Innovative Activity Profile 2). reform of succession laws as applied to women as a key ele- Governments and donors should ensure that all tools ment in promoting stronger pro-poor reform.In a recent case used to assess public financial management systems--such using the Downsizing Options Simulation Exercise tool, as public expenditure reviews (PERs), Public Expenditure analysis in Vietnam found that displaced women employees Tracking Surveys, Public Expenditure and Financial benefit more from lump-sum compensation than from Accountability, and Country Financial Accountability standard severance packages.7 Based on this finding, the Assessments--incorporate a gender perspective. Good exam- Vietnamese government modified its assistance package ples include PERs initiated by the World Bank for Bangladesh, during its state-owned enterprise-downsizing program to Cambodia, and Morocco. The Bangladesh PER recommends include substantial lump-sum components. The World Bank using area-based poverty indicators to allocate public funds has an ongoing project to mainstream gender perspective in to social sectors, such as to the Female Secondary Stipends Doing Business, a book widely used by researchers, the private program. This not only helps correct gender disparities, but sector, and policy makers on the status of the business also strengthens the overall impact of public spending. climate and regulations in 175 countries.8 Also, the gender- Cambodia's PER includes gender-disaggregated benefit- disaggregated MAMS (Maquette for MDG Simulations) incidence analysis; identifies the barriers to public service presents a few attempts to mainstream gender into macro- access faced by women and girls, especially in education and economic modeling and planning (Morrison 2007). agriculture; and proposes ways of addressing these issues. Lessons from IFAD-supported projects show that, for Based on the gender analysis of the budget conducted as women's economic advancement to be significant and THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER IN POLICY-MAKING PROCESSES 41 sustained, income-generating activities need to be linked to rural development. Donors must ensure the inclusion of market opportunities. However, also essential is accompa- gender perspective in these instruments. Debate continues nying support for production and marketing with comple- on the relative effectiveness of conditionality. On the one mentary measures that include awareness and confidence hand, the Millennium Challenge Corporation's conditional- building, information and communication, the sensitiza- ity to Lesotho has paved the way for changing the country's tion of men and local leaders, general capacity building (in minority status of women.9 On the other hand, some areas such as literacy, leadership, and management skills), experts believe that policy dialogues between a wide range organizational support, reduction of women's workloads to of participants, both governmental and nongovernmental, enable women to participate more fully, and, occasionally, are likely to prove more productive than donor conditional- social welfare measures. Increased emphasis in IFAD's coun- ity (Elson and McGee 1995) and that they emphasize that try programs on these critical action areas could be at risk in policy reform processes with the highest chances of success view of the fact that borrowing governments are becoming are those which are locally designed and implemented. less inclined to incorporate capacity building and social Although most countries have national gender policies investments in loan agreements. that guide the implementation of the gender-equity agenda Completion of CGAs and other ESWs is an important (and a few more countries are in the process of finalizing element of strategy implementation, but of equal impor- their national gender policies), the greater challenge is the tance is the dissemination and use of research-based find- alignment of the gender policies and approaches to the ings by donor agencies and strengthening partnerships in macroeconomic and trade policies and budget processes in producing and disseminating the findings. Moreover, there the countries. The existing "cultural" divide separating gen- could be more intensified and concerted efforts in bridging der staff from technical staff and economists needs to be the remaining disconnect between the analytical work and narrowed by increasing mutual understanding of the con- actual policy dialogues initiated and projects implemented cepts, priorities, strategies, and instruments deployed by by donor agencies. both groups. Critical to the development of a better collec- Interventions can also aim at strengthening the capac- tive understanding of gender and macroeconomic issues is ity of stakeholders in the countries to conduct relevant interdonor dialogue; and these policy dialogues should be analyses (for example, gender-specific expenditure reviews, centered on key processes, for example, PER, poverty assess- gender budget analysis, and macroeconomic policy). ment, sectoral policy reforms, and market development Strengthening their capacity to use such knowledge in the strategies. As a focus for policy dialogues, a concept of a policy process (for example, training in policy communi- "gendered economy" (Elson and McGee 1995) is important, cation) is also important. in which gender relations are seen as an important social and economic variable at macro-, meso-, and microlevels, rather than viewing the economy as something external and Gender in policy instruments not having an impact on women. A broader understanding Donors have assisted countries in terms of providing finan- is needed, one that recognizes that the issues are both social cial and technical support in undertaking policy reforms. and economic and that matters of efficiency as well as equity For instance, the World Bank and International Monetary are important. It would be crucial to intensify research and Fund (IMF) have lending instruments called Poverty impact assessments that bring into the picture the impact of Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs), a new name for Struc- gender relations on the achievement of policy reforms and tural Adjustment Loans--and the IMF's Poverty Reduction rural development, to complement the existing focus on the and Growth Facilities. In Vietnam the latest PRSC promotes impact of policy reforms on women. gender equity in the labor force and the protection of At the project design stage, donors can focus mainly on women's rights, which has helped facilitate a national the design of the policy reforms. This involves not only employment policy to promote equal training and employ- checking social policy, but also examining particular ele- ment opportunities for women as well as support for entre- ments of the economic policy reform program supported preneurship programs for women. Several examples related by the reform package to see how far they contribute to to agriculture and rural development policies also include influencing gender relations. Improvement in the quality Mali, Rwanda, and Vietnam (box 2.5). These donor policy- and availability of gender-disaggregated data, training that lending instruments are crucial entry points for addressing integrates gender analysis and economic analysis at the gender-related constraints and obstacles for agriculture and national and sectoral levels, and access of women's groups 42 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE Box 2.5 The World Bank's Poverty Reduction Support Credit The Mali Economic Management Credit supports the rural labor market to one national minimum wage and government's efforts to improve women's access to land remove provisions that discriminate against women. and financial services. It has facilitated the preparation of The Vietnam Poverty Reduction Support Credit has an action plan that was included in the overall financial been particularly strong in analyzing the likely gender sector action plan approved in 1998, which resulted in impacts of state-owned enterprise reform and inte- budget support for women's income-generation activi- grating this analysis into the design of safety net provi- ties. The operation has also facilitated and increased sions for displaced workers. The gender analysis for the women's access to land in the Office du Niger region and credit focused on women and men as separate stake- raised public awareness of women's legal rights and the holders on whom the reform might have different benefits of women's participation in the development impacts. It found that men are more likely to be laid process. In addition, the operation has resulted in the off, but that women who are laid off are likely to expe- creation of a Ministry of Women's Affairs. rience a sharper drop in earnings. It also found that The Rwanda Economic Recovery Credit supports leg- men benefit more from compensation packages islation to eliminate discrimination against women. defined as a multiple of earnings, whereas women ben- The credit is designed to promote legal and institu- efit more from lump-sum packages. Informed by this tional changes in the agricultural sector and labor mar- analysis, the Vietnam Poverty Reduction Support ket that will foster economic growth and reduce rural Credit proposes a unified compensation package (not poverty. In this context, amendments will be made to a separate one for women) that has an important the labor code to consolidate minimum wages in the lump-sum component. Source: "Integrating Gender into the World Bank's Work: A Strategy for Action," http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGEN DER/Resources/strategypaper.pdf. to policy-making processes are crucial toward this gen- GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR dered economy perspective. Some donor agencies, such as PRACTITIONERS the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Representation of women in political institutions. The repre- have started on this. To support the implementation of its sentation of women in governments and parliaments is an gender-equity policy, the gender-equity manual and train- important avenue to making agricultural policies more gen- ing that integrates gender and economic analyses have been der responsive. Donor interventions can aim at strengthen- adopted as one of SIDA's gender strategies (SIDA 2005). Peer ing the capacity of women in political institutions, such as review is a tool also used by the Development Assistance women members of parliamentary Committees on Agricul- Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation ture. Support can also be provided for activities that support and Development (OECD/DAC), in which a panel of peers women candidates with a rural background to run for elec- assesses a multilateral agency's evaluation systems and tions at different levels. Reservation policies can be adopted processes. The OECD/DAC has also developed a gender- and promoted; however, reservation should be coupled with equity marker that allows donors to record whether activities capacity building in decision making and negotiations for have the explicit goal of achieving gender equity. The gender- women. Training for women needs to provide them with the equity index, which represents another effort to measure required skills, particularly in countries where education progress or regression in gender equity internationally as a levels for women are low, and to ensure that they are fully result of new aid modalities,10 uses a set of indicators for conversant with their roles and accountabilities. Emphasis which data are available in most countries. Gender audits on women's education, including incentives and scholarships have also been used increasingly as a self-assessment tool for women in science and policy, is important to ensure a for measuring gender equity among institutions, including pipeline of well-qualified women candidates for senior posi- development agencies and NGOs (see Module 16). tions in public and private organizations. THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER IN POLICY-MAKING PROCESSES 43 Participation of women in political processes. Explicit and Capacity building for stakeholders to conduct relevant concerted efforts are needed to ensure the participation of analyses (for example, gender-specific agricultural expen- women and inclusion of gender constraints in the strategies. diture reviews, gender analysis of agricultural budgets, and A truly gender-integrated strategy is critical so as to include macroeconomic policy analysis) is crucial. National genuine participation of women in the consultation process women's machinery needs to be strengthened, along with and gender-sensitive writing teams. Moreover, in most their capacity for negotiation, to have an effective voice in cases, institutional support for women's groups is needed to the budget processes. strengthen their voice in the national and agricultural policy Strengthening analytical support. Many gaps need to be and strategy development process. Projects can aim at explored to understand the obstacles and constraints faced strengthening the capacity of women and their organiza- by women and men. Analytical work on gender issues tions to participate effectively in such processes. should be heightened, and more should be done to Development cooperation strategies, such as country strengthen the capacity of organizations to do gender analy- cooperation strategies, corresponding country plans, and sis and gender impact assessments and improve mechanisms strategies for working in partnership with multilateral to collect gender-disaggregated data to inform policy effec- organizations, are important entry points for a better inte- tively. Strengthening their capacity to use research-based grated gender perspective. In these strategies donors should knowledge in the policy process, for example, by providing be guided by priorities and initiatives expressed in the part- training in policy communication, is also important. ner country's PRSPs, or similar national and sectoral plans, Analyzing the political economy of policy making and and by the international conventions and agendas to which strengthening the capacity for policy change management. the partner country has subscribed. If national priorities Making policies more gender responsive is inherently a and plans do not include gender-equity issues, donors could question of political economy. Powerful interests are likely raise this in the bilateral dialogue and promote further steps to prevent changes, such as the introduction of land titles to be taken. Donors could also promote and support the for women. Interventions can aim at strengthening the capacity of civil society to influence the national plans and capacity of women policy makers and advocacy NGOs to priorities in order to close an existing gender gap. analyze the political economy of specific policy processes Gender-responsive budgeting. Initiatives toward gender- and to engage in policy change management, for example, responsive budgeting should be continued and intensified. by building coalitions and influencing public opinion. 44 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Institutionalizing Gender in the Agriculture Sector etting the right policies is critical, but equally G incorporate gender equity centrally in economic governance important are effective institutions and approaches reforms.4 Governance reforms introducing new accounta- to implement the policies. Gender mainstreaming bility jurisdictions at the regional and local levels provide is often a term that encompasses these institutions and national mechanisms for gender equity with an opportunity approaches.1 The international women's movement and to influence policy making at multiple levels. the donor community have urged countries to establish The emerging new mechanisms (apart from the national national institutions (called national machineries) specifi- machineries) serve as new opportunities to promote the sta- cally tasked for gender mainstreaming.2 The Mexico tus of women, but they also highlight the need for more Declaration and Plan of Action in the 1970s, the first inter- coordinated efforts for more effective gender mainstream- national instrument to introduce the concept of national ing. Some countries have a combination of women's machinery, called for the establishment of national ministry, parliamentary caucus, gender focal points in line machineries for the advancement of women to advocate ministries, an ombudsperson, and a gender-equity commis- for attention to women's advancement, provide policy sion, which is a multistakeholder body with high-level direction, undertake research, and build alliances. As of participation, monitoring, and reporting to top political 2004, at least 165 countries have established national leadership. In India associations of elected women in local machineries.3 A number of world conferences have government are mobilizing themselves across party lines, assessed the status and provided recommendations on voicing their demands, and finding a place in the political strengthening national machineries, and discussions on structure, at a more influential level as they carry political the role of national machineries have been held at the power, votes, and local constituencies (Jain 2005). regional and subregional levels. This Thematic Note reviews the experiences of national Over the last decade, the role of national machineries has machineries and is divided into two subtopics: one at a evolved in many countries. Transformations in global and national level and the other at the level of the Ministry of national systems of production and governance (including Agriculture. Although the focus of the Sourcebook is on market liberalization and governance reforms, the HIV and agriculture, the broader macroeconomic planning and simul- AIDS pandemic, urbanization, new forms of conflict, taneously the coordination of competition among the differ- increased migration, and new communication and other ent structures of the government also affect the agricultural technologies) have intensified in the last decade, with sector. The second part reviews the experiences of selected important implications for gender relations and for the role, countries (Côte d'Ivoire, Arab Republic of Egypt, Morocco, relevance, and impact of national mechanisms for promot- and Sudan)5 in terms of their design and implementation of ing gender equity (see also Sourcebook Overview). These national and agriculture sector-specific institutions to sup- changes pose big challenges, but they also present an impor- port gender approaches. The aim of this exercise is to draw tant opportunity to national mechanisms for gender equity lessons learned from these experiences to inform key princi- to influence reforms to ensure that they promote women's ples and entry points for improved investments toward gen- human rights, market access, and political participation. For der-responsive interventions. That governments learn from example, the shared commitment to meeting the Millen- international success stories in setting up gender units in nium Development Goals (MDGs) presents an opportunity Ministries of Agriculture and other sectoral ministries to to mainstream gender-equity perspectives into key develop- encourage change in what can be a particularly conservative ment goals, and the Monterrey Consensus offers a chance to sector is essential. 45 NATIONAL MACHINERIES FORTHE part of larger ministries with the responsibility for many ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN issues, and gender-equity issues still remain marginalized in the competition for attention and resources. The gender The structure and effectiveness of national machineries vary machineries in many countries also lack coordination, that across countries.6 National machineries take three general is, they are not efficiently connected to each other and the structures: (1) units located at the highest level of govern- other departments. This is in part because of limited human ment, that is, the president's office (for example, in South and other resources allocated to these structures and in part Africa and Zambia); (2) fully fledged ministries responsible to limited clarity on the role and mandate of the national for gender or women's affairs, with additional responsibili- machinery in terms of coordination and monitoring as ties to coordinate other policy issues (Angola, Democratic opposed to implementation of programs, which most national Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, machineries are involved in. The above scenario points to the Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe); and (3) departments need for innovative arrangements and structures for sustained or units within a bigger structure (Botswana, Swaziland). financing, which can be achieved in part by better coordi- Most of these structures have evolved from small struc- nation of gender structures within countries to reduce dupli- tures to their current size, and their mandate has been cation of activities and create synergies to better outcomes. changing, an indication of greater focus being given to gen- With about three decades of worldwide experience, les- der mainstreaming. In general, the mandate, role, and sons have been learned and good practices can be high- responsibilities of the gender structures are clearly defined lighted (box 2.6). to include facilitation, coordination, and monitoring. Experiences by various countries also show that the National machineries in many countries are facilitating structure and institutional arrangements matter in the exchange and sharing of experiences as well as information effectiveness of the national machineries in gender main- and best practices among stakeholders; developing gender streaming. For instance, national machineries of South competency of stakeholders to influence engendering of Africa demonstrate a good practice example in terms of policies, programs, and projects; and lobbying for increased interrelationships between the different components of the measures to address the gender-equity agenda. However, in national machinery (Warioba 2005). The relevant depart- many countries, the mandates of national machineries are ments and even some of the private sector firms are taking quite broad compared to the resources allocated to fulfill the the processes of mainstreaming gender seriously. They have roles, responsibilities, and functions they are assigned. structured relationships between the Office of the Status of Several studies show that national machineries have Women and the other structures, and they have a clear cal- played catalytic roles in facilitating gender mainstreaming endar of events on when they convene planning and moni- as elaborated in the Beijing Platform for Action, particu- toring meetings, how they operate, and when consultative larly by sensitizing different sectoral ministries and meetings are held at the different levels. The role of the agencies to address gender concerns in their policies and Office of the Status of Women in coordination and mon- programs. Many countries have enacted gender-equity laws itoring is clearly visible. The annual gender audits by this and legal reforms and adopted national gender-equity poli- office regularly monitor progress made by its stakehold- cies, action plans, and national strategies. Gender-sensitive ers in addressing the assigned responsibilities and tasks. budgeting has also been introduced in many countries (see Most government departments have developed gender Thematic Note 1). policies to enable gender mainstreaming to happen within The UNDAW (United Nations Division for the Advance- their respective departments. The gender focal points are ment of Women) conference concluded that some national appointed at a very senior level: the director, deputy direc- machineries have had major successes while others have tor, or assistant director levels. Some departments have been constrained by lack of clear mandates, political sup- established structures that are provided with more than one port, and resources and have experienced problems in staff member to coordinate gender mainstreaming and balancing demands for project implementation, including women's empowerment programs. Because of better coor- those from their constituents at a grassroots level, with the dination, the national machineries of South Africa are able need to actively influence policy and program development to influence policy decision-making processes at all levels, at at the national level from a gender perspective. Many national cabinet, national parliament, and provincial levels. Gender machineries are constrained by the lack of expertise and mainstreaming and women empowerment programs in the conflicting demands on their scarce time and resources, par- various sectors of the economy are a living example. South ticularly in cases in which women/gender-equity units are 46 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE Box 2.6 Key Elements of an Effective Gender Unit A clear vision and intellectual leadership that har- Capacity development through training of gov- nesses the knowledge of many relevant partners in ernment officials and other relevant actors to sup- the society port gender-sensitive policy formulation and The development of a strategic plan of action to implementation support policy development and implementation Allocation of adequate personnel and budgetary The utilization of research and data collection, in for- resources to government bodies and other partners mulation and review of policies, programs, and plans to implement the various activities The establishment of alliances with strategic actors Innovative special incentives (such as awards to gen- within government (head of governments, line min- der-sensitive judges or earmarked seed funds to sec- istries, and local governments), parliaments, profes- toral ministries) to encourage further actions sional organizations, academic institutions, civil Establishment of targets, development of appropri- society, community-based organizations, and the ate monitoring tools, and regular tracking of media to create synergies to enhance outcomes progress For effective coordination and collaboration, devel- Regular meeting with partners inside and outside opment and implementation of different types of government to assess progress, identify gaps, and national gender-equity machineries, including joint devise collaborative strategies to address obstacles meeting, plans, and annual reports Mobilization of political will through public The implementation of a package of actions--such awareness programs and broad dissemination of as legislation, gender-mainstreaming action at pol- information. icy and program levels, and pilot projects Source: UNDAW conference (see note 1 in Thematic Note 2). Africa was also able to present comprehensive and detailed in regional political decision making. Women hold four of national progress reports on the implementation of the var- the nine positions of Ugandan representatives in the EALA ious gender-equity instruments to which their country is and are two of the five Uganda members of the African par- partly compared to other countries, in which in most cases liament. The enabling laws derived from the 1995 constitu- the national reports omit much information that could have tion have seen the need for affirmative action, mainly as a been added. result of activism by women groups: (1) the Land Act of Another example is Tanzania: although a structured rela- 1998 provides for the protection of the land rights of the tionship is lacking between the national machinery and poor, the majority of whom are women, and (2) the Local NGOs that are promoting the gender-equity and women's Government Act of 1997 explicitly states that women shall empowerment processes, the Ministries of Finance and form one-third of all local councils at all levels. As a result, Planning Commission and NGOs have been able to estab- the proportion of women in local councils rose from 6 per- lish a working relationship in promoting gender-sensitive cent in the early 1990s to 44 percent in 2003.7 planning and budgeting processes that were initiated through a Gender-Responsive Budgeting Initiative. These GENDER UNITS AND FOCAL POINTS INTHE processes resulted in the establishment of a gender macro- AGRICULTURE SECTOR policy working group that is coordinated by the national machinery and convenes regular meetings to facilitate The Ministries of Agriculture are the main agencies mainstreaming gender in macroeconomic policy frame- responsible for mainstreaming gender into agricultural works, such as PRSPs and Medium Term Expenditure policies, projects, and programs. The first step in the gender Review Frameworks. In Uganda women are particularly vis- mainstreaming in the selected countries was an informa- ible in national politics because of affirmative action. Affir- tion campaign and sensitization of the "gender" and mative action has also contributed to women's participation women empowerment concepts usually initiated with THEMATIC NOTE 2: INSTITUTIONALIZING GENDER IN THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR 47 technical and funding support from international organi- tivity. The Gender Services unit in the reconfigured MOA zations (including FAO, IFAD, and the World Bank). Plans in Côte d'Ivoire led to fully one-quarter of the ministry's of action for the integration of the gender dimension in programs having an explicit gender focus (see also Innova- rural and agricultural development policies and programs tive Activity Profile 2). In most North African countries were also designed, starting with situation assessment (for (including Egypt, Morocco, and Sudan), the gender- men and women) in the agricultural sector and identifying mainstreaming concept was introduced around 1995 gender roles in agriculture, constraints, potentialities (nat- through projects and programs funded in cooperation ural resources, human resources), priorities, needs, and between governments and international or bilateral agen- solutions. A second step was training for trainers and cies. Mainstreaming gender became a prerequisite for the national officers about gender approaches and gender design of development projects and programs, but the analysis, and technical support often came from interna- implementation has started slowly, and little progress was tional agencies. Pilot testing was performed for effective made during the first five years. The initial challenges were adaptation of gender approaches and methodological due to several factors: (1) the concept was new, and the tools to the sociocultural context of the countries. national researchers have not produced the relevant data to A third step was the introduction of gender focal points make the concept more comprehensive; (2) the "new" con- and creation of gender units within the Ministries of Agri- cept has been perceived as a theoretical one without opera- culture (MOAs) to address gender issues in the sector. The tional use; and (3) the decision makers have not been targeted name given to these gender units differs from one country as beneficiaries of information and sensitization sessions: to another (for example, Office for the Promotion of Rural those officials in charge of women's affairs or women's NGOs Women's Socioeconomic Promotion, Women and Agricul- participated in the sessions. However, the situation has tural Development Directorate, Women Promotion Units, evolved, and progress has been made in the adoption of Policy Coordinating Unit for Women in Agriculture, and gender approaches in development policy and program National Gender Service). These gender units and focal design. Gender-sensitive governance is becoming the rule points are either independent units under MOAs or a part in these countries. of the extension services or policy and economic planning But for some countries, similar to the national machiner- units. Donors often partner with gender units to implement ies discussed above, the focal strategy has had limited effec- key programs and projects. For instance, the IFAD sup- tiveness because the often junior women staff who are ported the Lao People's Democratic Republic's Women's appointed are given few extra resources or time for new Union to mainstream gender issues in all project activities. responsibilities, as well as little training, support, and clarity In many countries in Asia (China, Lao PDR, Mongolia), the about their role. Gender desks themselves have often suf- IFAD is collaborating with women's organizations under fered from lack of political will and insecure institutional the Communist Party; these are often the de facto opera- tenure. Crucial lessons and experiences in gender units and tional force for the national machinery and plans to be focal points in the agriculture sector include the following: replicated in Cambodia and Vietnam. In Azerbaijan an Strategic location of gender units and focal points. The loca- IFAD-financed project targeting rural women in the moun- tion of the gender unit is important to ensure that gender tainous areas is being implemented in cooperation with the equity is taken into account when designing, implementing, MOA and the Ministry for Women's Affairs. This collabora- and evaluating agricultural development policies and pro- tion is taking place at the central level as well as local gov- grams. For instance, this approach has been more successful ernment and community levels and is enhancing the in Sudan compared to Morocco and other countries, where national machinery's capacity to address gender inequalities the gender unit was located within the extension directorate through practical measures. (box 2.7). Gender units established and focal points identi- fied within permanent structures for planning had greater access to gender databases in agriculture because their activ- GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED ities are included in the work plan and budget. Others had The effectiveness of these gender units varies across coun- difficulties performing their tasks because the units had nei- tries. For example, the unit for the Strengthening of and ther power nor a hierarchical coordinating role, the units Support to Gender Policies in the El Salvador Ministry for depended on external funds (government or donor), and Agriculture and Livestock helped the extension program they had no relation with universities and research centers. tailor training to women farmers, thus enhancing produc- In some cases the autonomous gender unit stopped the 48 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE Box 2.7 Sudan: Structure of Gender Units in the Agriculture Sector The Ministry of Agriculture established a layer struc- Women Development Units were created in the ture of gender and rural women machineries: rural development projects. At a central level, the Women and Agricultural An important strategy that was adopted was a series Development Directorate is a part of the General of training sessions on gender approach and tools that Directorate of Planning and Agricultural Econom- were organized through international and bilateral ics. It is a coordinating structure that helps decision cooperation programs and projects. The tasks per- makers integrate gender dimension in the design of formed are similar to the ones mentioned here. An the MOA's policies and programs. important lesson from Sudan's experience is that the At a decentralized level, Women Promotion Units location of the gender unit within the policy and eco- were created for the integration of gender dimension nomic planning made the coordination and gender- in the governorate programmes. disaggregated data collection and analysis easier. Source: Personal communication with Fatiha Bou-Salah (FAO), January 18, 2008. activities on completion of the project, when the unit was Unidad de Fortalecimiento y Apoyo en Aspectos de not included in the official chart of the MOA. Género works closely with the gender units in the differ- Networks established that connect different levels of gover- ent projects at the local level not only to provide support nance. Networks connecting the central and local govern- but also to learn about the different challenges, con- ments, private sector, and the community were proven to straints, and opportunities that arise in the project imple- ease the integration of gender dimension at the earliest step mentation process. of the program and project design and during the projects' Political commitment. Securing high-level political com- implementation and evaluation. The gender units can also mitment is important, and the national commitment to and serve as vehicles to connect local agents with national enti- generalization of gender policy making, implementation, ties that could facilitate change in spheres in which rural and monitoring and evaluation through gender units are all development projects cannot intervene directly, for exam- crucial. This should be followed by a clear objective and ple, domestic violence against women and girls. Another quantifiable indicator to measure progress over time effec- area is improvement of health, which, in the case of rural tively. The need is present for defining and applying impact women, is usually neglected because of lack of accessibility indicators to measure how gender-equity measures impact and cultural barriers. In this case the national machinery the lives of women and men in communities. The national can also facilitate contacts with governmental institutions to machinery could be crucial in the dissemination of such make services available. tools and could be very effective when convincing Min- In Egypt the approach for gender mainstreaming in the istries of Finance (which in the case of the IFAD are very agricultural sector through the pilot governorates is said to important) to allocate resources to finance gender-related be innovative since it involves a multisectoral approach budgets and activities. Vargas-Lundius (2007) illustrates the and a wide range of stakeholders to participate in key importance of introducing affirmative actions to reduce the activities and share information related to constraints, gender gap at the community level, as well as the importance needs, priorities, and proposed solutions. The activities of measuring the impact such measures could have in terms involve women and men farmers and agricultural workers, of reducing poverty, generating income and employment, extension agents, rural development specialists, authorities and increasing women's self-esteem, empowerment, and of extension structures, the private sector, and women's economic autonomy. NGOs. To date, the gender-mainstreaming concept in Moreover, gender approaches need to be institutional- Egypt's agriculture sector is said to be integrated in the ized in the governmental planning process and curriculum agricultural research programs (box 2.8). In El Salvador, for planners and statisticians. In Morocco curricula Modules THEMATIC NOTE 2: INSTITUTIONALIZING GENDER IN THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR 49 Box 2.8 Egypt: Integrated Approach to Gender Mainstreaming The women-equity machinery in the Ministry of Agri- The main activities performed by the unit team are culture and Land Reclamation is called the Policy Coor- related to (1) preparation of agriculture and gender dinating Unit for Women in Agriculture (PCUWA). This studies, (2) integration of women in the agricultural autonomous structure is located at a central level. The policies and programs, and (3) promotion of income- unit team is composed of researchers and officers from generating activities in agriculture on old and newly the Agricultural Research and Extension Institutes. Gen- reclaimed lands. Awareness and training sessions on der-related projects also contribute to the funding of the gender approaches and related topics were organized unit expenses. PCUWA works with the technical services with the support of governmental and bilateral or at central and decentralized levels, mainly with extension international agencies through development projects. agents. It cooperates with the rural women's associations, Among the integrated activities, the experience gained particularly in newly reclaimed lands. The unit works in during the last five years in the framework of integra- an integrated approach--involving governorate author- tion of women into the agricultural policy and practice ities, stakeholders, and the local population: rural men project is of particular interest. and women. Source: Personal communication with Fatiha Bou-Salah (FAO), January 18, 2008. on gender approach were integrated into the agricultural Moreover, appointing gender focal points in MOAs with education institutes including the university. This leads to the most extensive knowledge of technical and research approach sustainability and improvement. issues and the authority to encourage change is crucial. Holistic approach. Broad-based practitioner evidence Women should be encouraged to participate at all levels of suggests that separate, small women-specific agricultural the hierarchy, particularly at managerial and technical levels; and rural development programs are usually not successful however, identifying posts or tasks that can be performed in reaching large numbers of rural women. Instead, design only by women does not help the cause. Having dedicated of mainstream agricultural programs so that they reach gender staff sit within sectoral ministries increases the gender both men and women is more effective (Innovative Activity relevance of their work. These staff need to have exceptional Profile 2). Mainstreaming gender in the policies, programs, competencies in mobilizing other partners, have great field and projects requires much more than just a unit or organi- knowledge of the agricultural women producers, and dis- zation, but should be tackled at the different technical divi- play a high university-level education to exhibit recognized sions as well as in administrative, human resources, and technical credibility in front of men directors. They would financial services divisions. also need to have a specific budget to facilitate missions, net- Human and technical expertise. Providing high-quality works, and training. technical support on gender analysis by the main coordi- A need exists to provide support to ensure that MOAs' nating body of the national gender machinery is impor- human resources policies become genderized and introduce tant. Sound analysis of what the MOA and gender units are the necessary measures and incentives to increase the par- currently doing and then the analysis and dissemination of ticipation of qualified women at managerial and technical gendered impacts are very important processes. Crucial to levels. For example, the terms of reference for all staff, par- these processes are the training and support of national and ticularly those for new recruits, ought to highlight their decentralized staff to (1) build gender monitoring and engagement to promote gender equity actively in all their evaluation of their current activities, (2) quantify existing activities and programs. Ministries should also be encour- gender gaps, (3) agree on the necessity of change, and (4) aged to introduce quotas to improve gender balance among build the new strategy and instruments. Effective facilita- technical and managerial staff. tion of a sustainable national commitment is often based Last, looking at and devising incentives are important on solid, credible knowledge of gender issues. strategies. Linking gender targets to economic incentives for 50 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE public sector employees is needed.Presenting gender as a prin- Strengthening the capacity of women machinery, gender ciple of excellence in public sector management, rather than as units, and focal points to undertake gender analysis and an additional burden, can be adopted as an effective strategy. to develop the methodologies and tools needed to play a catalytic role in gender mainstreaming across all sectors of government in collaboration with line ministries GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR Mandatory training on gender mainstreaming for all PRACTITIONERS governmental bodies, including at the local level, to Several entry points for more effective support through ensure understanding of their roles and responsibilities donor programs and projects, in partnership with govern- Developing effective accountability mechanisms, partic- ments and civil society organizations, are the following: ularly through the introduction of gender perspectives and gender-equity indicators in budgetary processes at Capacity building and support to national women all levels of government machinery, gender units, and focal points in critical areas Facilitating the establishment of alliances between such as poverty reduction strategies, MDGs, national eco- women machineries and strategic actors within parlia- nomic planning, statistical systems, budgeting processes, ments, professional organizations, academic institutions, and agriculture sector approaches civil society, community-based organizations, and the Providing women machinery, gender units, and focal media to create synergies points with adequate human and financial resources to Assisting in the effective coordination and collaboration enable them to respond more effectively to the challenges among the different types of women machineries and of changed global and national environments and to gender units, which may include joint meetings, plans, enhance their important monitoring and reporting roles and annual reports. THEMATIC NOTE 2: INSTITUTIONALIZING GENDER IN THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR 51 T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Decentralization and Community-Driven Development s reported in the World Development Report 2008, A also to reduce corruption and misuse, and to increase governance issues are crucial to achieving an agri- transparency and accountability by working directly with culture-for-development agenda to fulfill the communities (Mansuri and Rao 2004). MDGs and reduce world poverty. Although democratic The term "CDD" is widely adopted and assumes a differ- processes and the rise of participatory policy making have ent meaning and connotations depending on which devel- increased the opportunities for small landholders and the opment agency has tried to apply it in practice, but in all rural poor to make gains from agriculture over the last cases, CDD is an approach to reduce rural poverty through 25 years, the complexity and diversity of agriculture require more equitable, sustainable, and efficient use of resources by special efforts to ensure gender equity and accountability (1) establishing an enabling institutional environment for the and inclusion to disadvantaged groups, including women, emergence of robust community organizations, (2) develop- in relation to their access to technology, natural resources, ing community-level infrastructure, (3) supporting the local finance, markets, and nonfarm opportunities. economy at the community level, and (4) diversifying In the last two decades, many large international devel- sources of external support for community-based organiza- opment agencies have turned increasingly to decentraliza- tions (see also box 2.9). The approach supports participa- tion and the use of demand-driven (community-based and tory decision making, self-reliance, empowerment, local community-driven) development approaches to address capacity building, and community control of resources by poverty by involving rural women and other beneficiaries channeling resources to activities proposed by community in choices regarding project activities and resource alloca- groups. Various forms of social fund financing and techni- tion, making use of a special development fund to ensure cal assistance are available from outside the community; delivery of goods and services to rural communities. Social these are usually implemented through decentralized local funds and community development funds (CDFs) are governments. Projects can have low or high CDD content mechanisms used by the World Bank and IFAD to channel depending on the extent of devolution and institutional grant resources to CDD projects; they are currently viewed development at the community level. by many in the donor community as the delivery model An important distinction between the two is that CDD best suited for large-scale implementation of community- has a tendency to reach down to the village level, whereas based, demand-driven development and decentralization decentralization interventions tend to be clustered at a based on their attractiveness to beneficiaries as grants somewhat higher administrative level, municipality, or dis- instead of loans and their flexibility and potential for trict. Complementarities may exist between the two that can poverty targeting. Other agencies, including CARE, the improve the welfare of rural women. U.K. Department for International Development's Sustain- One of the recognized benefits of these approaches is able Livelihoods Program, and the United Nations Devel- their potential to reach goals of capacity building, empow- opment Programme­supported Decentralization Program, erment, and sustainability of community-based organiza- utilize CDD approaches that do not fully meet the strict tions and self-help groups, including those of the most definition of the term because they rely less on a fund marginalized groups, such as poor women, for the develop- mechanism (Gillespie 2006). CDD is believed not only to ment of public goods and services. To varying degrees, lead to better allocation of resources to help communities donor agencies use targeting as an approach to build by building social capital and fostering empowerment, but the capacities of those who have less power, to influence 52 Box 2.9 Definitions: Decentralization and Community-Based and Community-Driven Development Decentralization is the transfer of administrative, community-driven development provides a mechanism political, and fiscal authority to lower levels of govern- to design and implement projects that facilitates access ment to make policy making and implementation to social and physical capital assets for the poor by cre- more responsive to the needs of rural people. It is a ating conditions for the following: political process that shifts power and authority and has been tried in some form in over 80 percent of all Transforming development agents from top-down developing countries. Fiscal decentralization has as its planners into client-oriented service providers goal the improvement of revenue generation while Empowering communities to take initiatives for building accountability of local governments to local their own socioeconomic development taxpayers. Devolution refers to the delegation of Enabling community-level organizations to play a responsibilities and power from a central to a subordi- role in the design and implementation of policies nate level. and programs affecting their livelihoods, including Community-based development (CBD) is an the management of funds umbrella term that refers to projects that actively Enhancing the impact of public expenditure on the include beneficiaries in their design and management; local economy at the community level. Source: Author. decisions, and to participate in development (see examples making systems already in place. Thus, without due atten- from projects in Indonesia and the Philippines in box 2.10). tion to gender issues and without changes in existing power Donor agency policy documents often state that grants structures, women's interests can be harmed both socially-- allocated to CDD programs will go to the very poor and by undermining their decision-making roles and sidelining women, who are perceived as key agents of change (and vic- their priorities--and materially (GENRD 2008). tims of social and economic inequalities) in agricultural production and food security programs. As a result, CDD KEY GENDER ISSUES projects hold out hope as an approach to fortify women's agency and decision making for benefit sharing in the agri- Agriculture requires a mix of centralized and decentralized cultural sector. CDD projects build the capacity of commu- services. Some tasks are best organized at the central level, nity and women's groups (including producer associations, such as food security, whereas the intermediate level is microenterprise groups, credit and savings groups, natural most suited for research, and the local level is best for resource management and common property groups, and extension. In cases where agricultural goods and services groups formed for agricultural extension and adaptive are provided through private services, capture by elites and research purposes), promote an enabling environment exclusion of women are much higher than in development through policy and institutional reform (decentralization, programs that provide public goods, such as drinking water sector policies, and so on), strengthen local governance rela- supplies and schools. tionships (including forging linkages between community- Decentralization has generally been considered a positive based organizations and local governments), enable com- step toward making governments more accountable to the munity-level organizations to play a broader role in the poor by bringing decision making down to a local level. design and implementation of policies and programs affect- Research has shown that where resources are available, ing their livelihoods, and enhance the impact of public decentralization has resulted in the greater participation of expenditure on the local economy at the community level. poor and marginalized groups such as women in decision Yet CDD involves trade-offs between building the capac- making and in monitoring the activities of local govern- ities of marginalized groups, such as poor women, and ments (Baden 2000). However, projects that work through responding to community demands for social and physical existing decentralized public administration to devolve infrastructure, which leaves the process subject to decision- investment authority to decentralized entities at the district THEMATIC NOTE 3: DECENTRALIZATION AND COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT 53 Box 2.10 Indonesia and the Philippines: Gender Targeting The Indonesia Kecamatan Development Program (KDP) CIDSS) is the flagship poverty reduction project of the began in 1998 and is partially funded by the World government of the Philippines. The objectives are to (1) Bank. Its aims are to alleviate poverty, strengthen local empower communities to manage their assets, lives, and government and community institutions, and improve livelihoods; (2) strengthen their social networks and link local governance through the delivery of block grants them up with policy and administrative structures of the to kecamatans (subdistricts) for productive infrastruc- state; and (3) promote representation and accountability ture and social and economic investments identified at different levels of the decision-making pyramid. The through a participatory planning process. From 1998 Midterm Review notes that awareness of KALAE-CIDSS to July 2006, KDP covered 34,233 of the poorest vil- is quite high (75­92 percent) and so is the level of par- lages in 30 provinces (260 districts and 1,983 subdis- ticipation in the preparatory and planning stages (61­90 tricts), approximately 48 percent of all of Indonesia's percent). 71,011 villages. KALAE-CIDSS gave priority to subprojects if they The KDP gender strategy has been developed since target women's participation in all phases of decision its first phase to identify key activities that can promote making. In a few regions participation in the prepara- gender equity, including (1) creation of an affirmative tory phase was slightly higher among women than men action recruitment program for field staff, (2) hiring members. Most of those who did not participate and training of equal numbers of men and women vil- claimed that they did not have spare time, were afraid lage facilitators, (3) opening up subproject menus to a to attend evening meetings, were not properly broader range of options that reflect women's choices, informed, were discouraged, or were not interested. (4) improving opportunities for women's participation Other lessons include the following: (1) lack of confi- in developing proposals and decision making, (5) dence prevents women from contributing during meet- ensuring that a share of block grants goes only through ings; (2) women's capacity to exert their voice and preexisting women's groups, (6) furthering women's interact productively is gradually increasing; (3) con- active roles in project implementation, including trary to what was expected, both men and women are speaking competitions for shy women, and (7) creating partners in terms of work inside their home and in the internships for women engineers. field; and (4) encouraging women's participation in The Kapitbisig Laban Sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive indigenous peoples' communities has proven to be a and Integrated Delivery of Social Services Project (KALAE- long process. Sources: Balisacan, Edillon, and Ducanes 2000; Balisacan and Edillon 2003; Joint Donor and Government Mission 2007; World Bank 2002, 2003, 2007b. level are less likely than community-driven processes at the for poor women to participate, as at any other level. Simi- subdistrict level to favor poor women. Factors that account larly, the shape, structure, and politics of the decentraliza- for this are women's greater accessibility to community- tion program in countries affect both men and women level decision making, less stringent eligibility criteria, and policy makers' ability to wield the power of the state in greater relevance to issues and services that directly impact women's interests (Horowitz 2007). A common constraint is women's private lives. Although in many areas local politics that in many countries decentralized structures of govern- are more suited to women than are national politics ment are created but given very few resources, capacity- (because of restrictions on mobility and lack of experience), building investment, or power actually to enact an agenda patriarchal structures and norms that are often strong at the defined by local citizens. local level and may well be combined with nonaccountable Institution building that could provide sustainable solu- customary or informal bodies and community relationships tions is problematic; innovations and organizational changes mean that in many cases it is even harder for women to exert that facilitate gender equity and women's empowerment are meaningful influence (Baden 2000).1 At the local level, not easily accepted by civil servants and local politicians. inequalities due to class and caste make it equally difficult Without strong external intervention, implementation of 54 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE CDD has been known to revert to conventional ways of used to develop roads, markets, irrigation and water sys- implementing top-down projects, sidelining participation tems, community-based natural resource management, and and empowerment. In part for this reason, some donors income-generating activities. The impact of community adopt a targeting approach: a range of measures that ensure projects themselves on women has been shown to be posi- that the most marginalized social groups are able to claim tive or negative, depending on the type of activities financed their rights to receive an equitable share of the benefits of (boxes 2.10­2.13). development interventions, expand their influence over pub- Yet there is abundant evidence that untargeted CDD can lic policy and institutions, and enhance their bargaining bypass women and the poor. Evidence suggests that infra- power in the marketplace through special enabling, empow- structure investments need to be accompanied by investments ering, and self-targeting measures. in user group empowerment to increase the likelihood that An inherent contradiction exists between traditional the poorest women and men will benefit from the facilities. poverty targeting, which is usually top-down and uses Women's marginalized status within the community ren- quotas or earmarked funds for special groups, and CDD ders their voices less significant than those of men; they approaches that grant resources to community groups best have less access to decision making and to the resources for able to influence decision-making and granting processes. development, and limited time and mobility to attend Women's participation in decentralized processes and meetings that determine women's needs and priorities. In community organizations is hampered by gender inequities some cases CBD/CDD approaches have resulted in more that are particularly acute at the local level. Due to their lack women's participation, but this inclusion has not always of free time, literacy, and language barriers, low levels of translated into active participation and equal access to ben- confidence, and gender norms within households and cul- efits for women. Without additional measures to empower tures, women often are excluded from CDD processes that women to articulate their own needs for technical assis- require them to develop proposals and compete for funds tance or form and strengthen groups, these approaches dif- (IADB 1998). fer little from more traditional top-down approaches to Finally, CDD projects are reluctant to impose gender- community development. However, as noted by Horowitz equity concerns on existing institutions and rarely set tar- (2007), limited evidence exists of this kind of transforma- gets for percentages of women among project beneficiaries, tion in practice. or for women's representation in decision-making bodies or To date, the evidence of the impacts of CDD approaches in user groups for project-supported facilities. No gender is limited; most CDD projects have not yet been subjected earmarking exists for development funds, gender sentiza- to rigorous evaluation (World Bank 2005), and few studies tion, or affirmative action on gender balance in staffing. have attempted rigorous and credible evaluation of their Staff are not assigned responsibility for gender or poverty social impacts (Mansuri and Rao 2004). Existing literature targeting. Going against this trend, World Bank projects in also does not provide a sufficient understanding of how Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam incorporate affir- decisions are made by communities in CDD projects mative action and targeted capacity building to enable gen- (Labonne and Chase 2007), much less an understanding of der equity (box 2.10). the roles and impacts on women. Recent studies have led to a pause in the optimism for women to benefit significantly from CDD approaches and EXPERIENCES, IMPACTS,AND BENEFITS FROM decentralization. The World Bank and IFAD have found GENDER-RESPONSIVE ACTIONS that the link between CBD/CDD projects and social capital Some lessons have been learned from earlier development and community empowerment is weak, and that there is projects, but it is unclear whether women have been able to "mixed and limited evidence on the impacts of CBD/CDD benefit as fully as men in the CDD processes, or whether projects in relation to empowerment and poverty reduc- they have been harmed by the process. A review of IFAD tion." A review of IFAD's experiences (IFAD 2004a, 2006) CDD projects in 2003 revealed that it is difficult to evaluate reported that current information on gender aspects and impacts on women in projects that do not explicitly target impacts in the CDFs is superficial; assessments of CDD and women because of insufficient information. Basic infra- CDFs have not measured gender impacts or participation of structure development projects, which have reported more women in the capacity-building activities. Reports show success than those of capacity building, have a strong poten- that less than half of CDFs go to the targeted poor because tial to benefit the whole community; these are commonly elites favor groups who are more educated, better connected THEMATIC NOTE 3: DECENTRALIZATION AND COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT 55 to information channels, more politically influential--and IFAD projects in Peru and Nepal have provided women better off. Positive impacts on poor women's livelihoods leaders and knowledge holders from within the beneficiary cannot be taken for granted. Investments in supporting groups with contracts to work as providers of extension empowerment initiatives through CBD/CDD projects services and skills in technical aspects of agricultural pro- alone are often insufficient and can even be counterproduc- duction and agroforestry as well as in group formation, tive if the better-off sections of the community gain more bookkeeping and accounting, and leadership, thus con- than the less well-off. The views and priorities of poor tributing to the women's abilities to build local institutional women are likely to remain excluded from collective capacities to address their own needs. decision-making processes. Participation GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED Inclusion of the poorest. A major lesson learned from CDD To date, the documentation and evaluation of decentraliza- projects is the need to avoid assumptions about social homo- tion and CDD on building accountability to rural women geneity of communities and to understand the livelihood and transforming gender relations are extremely limited. strategies of women as compared to men, and as compared Knowledge generated by both the IFAD and World Bank to women of other socioeconomic status. Assumptions by gives some preliminary findings on gender impacts of these project managers about who constitutes the poorest are policy and implementation instruments. often found to be very different from the perceptions of local community members. Even in successful targeting projects, a "middle class effect" occurs, wherein the better-off section of Capacity building the poor benefits as a result of being more able to negotiate Building internal leadership and accountability. Poor women's and communicate their desires. Poor women also face a high participation in publicly visible activities, such as those of opportunity cost by participating, especially if it displaces CDD projects, is severely constrained as well by their own income-earning opportunities (Horowitz 2007). lack of confidence. Experience has shown that building Recognizing the complexity of targeting within CDD women's leadership, capacity, and self-esteem can result in projects, the IFAD has found that a combination of enabling more active participation and benefit sharing. Although and affirmative action measures directed at the poor, rein- women's membership in groups may have been achieved, forced by disincentives for the wealthier, to "mainstream a members may not be the type of people envisaged, or all pro-poor perspective" minimizes the risk of elite capture. In women may not participate and benefit equally. In the case of Peru participatory social mapping and wealth ranking were IFAD's project in Chattisgarh, India, participation in self-help valuable exercises that proved essential to the design of a groups was found to build women's confidence to enable targeting strategy and project activities that included the them to challenge those abusing power. Yet a big constraint is poorest (Peña-Montenegro 2004), although it remains the lead time required to build women's self-esteem, which unclear to what extent their participation was included in ideally should exist before a CDD project is initiated. the later stages of the project cycle. The Indonesia Keca- Training and skill development. Women with low levels of matan Development Program and Vietnam Community- literacy find it impossible to participate in decision-making Based Rural Infrastructure Project selectively target the processes that are heavily dependent on written work and poorest communities (boxes 2.10 and 2.11). agendas, minutes, and reports and are thus significantly disad- Strategies for supporting women's participation in different vantaged under CDD. Their capacity to participate meaning- types of groups and ensuring accountability to them. Within fully in the drafting of microproject requests and participatory CDD projects, project-approved groups are the gatekeepers procurement mechanisms is thus seriously constrained. of the resources and decisions and are therefore more pow- Women members of self-help groups and elected offi- erful than in traditional projects. Existing groups are found cials in local government also require more specific training to have more community credibility, cohesion, and estab- in procedures, group management, and leadership. Women's lished decision-making procedures than newly formed self-help groups as well as NGO-created and -funded groups; by selecting target groups, donors can influence the women's sanghas in several Indian states have served as targeting of benefits to women. There is no strong recom- important training grounds for women to develop and mendation that can be made about trying to achieve high define their leadership skills (Horowitz 2007). levels of homogeneity in these groups, as some groups 56 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE Box 2.11 Vietnam: Community-Based Rural Infrastructure Project The objective of the Community Based Rural Infra- bers of CPCC, 42­51 percent of participants in sub- structure Project (CBRIP) is to reduce rural poverty in projects, and 20­30 percent of operation and mainte- the poorest rural communes in 13 provinces in central nance groups. Vietnam by (1) increasing the capacity for decentral- Lessons learned. The benefits to women were ized and participatory planning and management of particularly recognized in activities including (1) rec- development activities; (2) providing essential small- ognizing women's customary rights in determining scale, community-based infrastructures; and (3) gen- compensation for land and assets, (2) opportunities for erating direct income for the poor through providing practicing training skills in workshops on gender main- construction employment. The project initially targets streaming, (3) revised and improved communication 540 poor communes with a population of about 1.4 content of leaflets and posters focusing on gender million. The communes selected for the project are equality, and (4) separate meetings for men and women defined as "poor," based on nationally established cri- to select subprojects. Women interviewees were very teria. The poor are mostly women and ethnic people. satisfied with their participation from selection, imple- Women's participation has been a key objective and mentation, and monitoring the subprojects. Although successful component of CBRIP, but its full potential women have benefited from new employment oppor- remains to be realized as women make up 50­60 per- tunities, they usually receive low pay for "simple" work. cent of village meeting participants, 20­30 percent of The Vietnam Women's Union has not been fully made participants in training courses, 40 percent of mem- aware of CBRIP and its gender initiatives. Sources: World Bank 2001a, 2006a, 2006b, 2007c. prefer (as in the case of a project with people who own no women of easily identified groups had the desired impact. land in Nicaragua) to have some better-connected members But despite the fact that quotas for women's inclusion in in their groups to perform advocacy or functions requiring recipient groups in projects in India and Nicaragua were more education. met, they were often filled by women who lacked the assets In the case of very poor and overworked women, total to use profitably the technical assistance services provided inclusiveness is extremely difficult to achieve. Contributions (such as women without livestock for livestock-related of cash, labor, and local materials that must be provided by activities). Furthermore, the East Asia Region CDD Flagship communities as proof of commitment and a condition to Report concludes that women's frequent attendance in obtain community-driven funds are often unaffordable by meetings does not always mean that they will be able to women who have few material resources and little time for influence the decision making (box 2.12). labor contributions. In some cases, "artificial groups" form Gender relations within the community groups and to access CDF funds, undermining legitimate groups that community-based organizations that represent their com- exist for credit purposes and collective investments. munities are key to equitable participation and impact. In In India all adult women in villages were organized into some cases, decentralized decision making works more self-help groups by the IFAD to compensate for their exclu- smoothly than in others; success depends on the capacity of sion from project groups. Criteria for group membership the community organizations for democratic decision mak- may exclude the poorest; projects need to understand the rea- ing. Associations such as the Cape Verde community associ- sons for exclusion and encourage nonparticipants to group ations may have a majority of women members, but they themselves on the basis of common interests and affinities. tend to be less informed and active and are led by better- Quotas and earmarked funds have been used to ensure educated men leaders. The number of women in leadership women's representation in decision-making bodies or recip- positions in rural producer organizations, for example, is ient groups. These measures alone have not been fully effec- extremely limited; women in these groups--and many oth- tive in ensuring benefits, however; when transparency was ers--are not always able to hold their representatives--both stressed, as in a project in Peru, the directing of funds to men and women--accountable to their needs. As a result, THEMATIC NOTE 3: DECENTRALIZATION AND COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT 57 Box 2.12 Enabling East Asian Communities to Drive Local Development The East Asia Region CDD Flagship Report refers in women-only meetings. Data show that women in particular to experiences from Cambodia, Indonesia, CDD operations attend decision-making activities the Philippines, and Vietnam. Its main findings related more frequently compared to limited evidence in non- to gender issues include the following: CDD projects. Increased women's involvement. If women, minori- Indicators of women's participation. Project outcome ties, and the poor remain uninvolved, elites are far more indicators should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, likely to retain control within the community. Evidence Attributable, Realistic, and Targeted). By targeted is on the success of CDD operations in promoting partic- meant that the indicator identifies the particular group ipation among these groups comes from Cambodia, the project should impact. An example of a strongly Indonesia, and the Philippines. Analysis shows targeted indicator is "40 percent participation rate of increased women's involvement compared to other vil- women and poorest community members in planning lages where there are no CDD operations. Women in and decision-making meetings." An example of a Indonesia also expressed satisfaction that their voice weakly targeted indicator is "improved social capital was being heard. and organizational development." Outcome indicators Involvement leading to decision-making power. could include "percentage change in the number of Although quantitative evidence points toward fre- women in local decision-making bodies in the targeted quent attendance at meetings by women in Cambodia communities." The facilitators should be able to obtain and Indonesia, women may not influence the actual the necessary information during their first and their decision-making process, which is often because women last visits to the village. For day-to-day management lack capacity or because of their language barriers. purposes, data should be collected, such as percentage Despite these results, evidence from Indonesia shows of poor and women (or any other marginalized group) active participation by women in particular in involved in planning, execution, and maintenance. Source: World Bank 2007e. women's roles are still overlooked by those who fail to inter- poverty and livelihood analyses are necessary before deter- nalize the fact that agriculture is dominated by women mining the menu of the types of goods and services to be through their labor, knowledge, and other inputs at the funded and supported to match the interests and liveli- field level. hoods of women. Even when menus of eligible microprojects are appro- priate, a rigorous analysis of the capacity to deliver such Institutional linkages goods and services and follow-up on implementation is CDD design efforts usually do a good job of articulating frequently lacking. This then leads to unacceptably large the demand side, that is, the processes whereby demands numbers of low-quality microprojects. Effective participa- will be elicited in a participatory manner from local popu- tion may occur, and even a degree of empowerment. This lations. However, they often fall seriously short in analyzing empowerment must, however, be a means to an end of the supply side. To have positive impacts on women, the improved living conditions and higher incomes. To this menu of goods and services available within CDD projects end, a project in Vietnam now aims to improve communi- must include those that are of relevance and interest to cation with organizations such as the Vietnam Women's women. Poor landless women could not gain much benefit Union to facilitate monitoring, dissemination, and training from a project's land improvement activities in India, for opportunities (box 2.12). example; nor could Nicaraguan women without animals The IFAD has found that the process of mobilizing com- benefit from livestock activities (IFAD 2004b). In Vietnam munity demands is often rushed, uninformed, and influ- one project aimed to avoid transferring agricultural tech- enced by either government or NGO actors who often are nology innovations to women farmers if it increases their not representing women's interests. To counteract this ten- already heavy workload (box 2.13). In-depth preliminary dency, the IFAD uses self-targeting by communities to 58 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE (boxes 2.12 and 2.13). Poor women's lack of capacity, Box 2.13 Vietnam: Northern Mountains Poverty information, and knowledge hampers their ability to par- Reduction Project ticipate equally with men in CDD processes. Women often lack information about the process of applying for funds, The Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction as well as the time to attend meetings and the confidence Project's development objective is to help poor to speak up if they do. Class, caste, and other nongender villagers in the northern mountains gain access to aspects of identity also affect women's ability to participate improved and sustainable infrastructure and and the issues that motivate them. In Cape Verde, India, social services. In addition, the aim is to increase the institutional capacity of upland communes and Peru, planners observed that information can ensure and districts. The gender roles are highly unbal- that women (1) know what goods and services they can anced in farm labor, transportation chores, and choose, (2) are able to make informed choices, (3) know household subsistence chores, particularly for the where to go to obtain the necessary forms, (4) are able to Hmong and the Dzao ethnic groups. Women are prepare and present acceptable proposals or seek help to carrying out many of the farm operations but are produce these, (5) understand their responsibilities, and burdened with very heavy workloads, limited (6) know what to do with the goods and services once decision-making power within their households provided, to gain full benefit (IFAD 2004b). Yet a lesson (particularly on reproductive decisions), and low learned is to separate the role of promoter from service access to education and knowledge. As such, one provider, as marginalized groups are often vulnerable to a of the World Bank's recommended priorities for slick "sales pitch." An unclear division of responsibilities poverty reduction is to provide women with between these two has created conflicts of interest at times equal access to productive assets, income oppor- tunities, and basic services. The draft project between profit and non-profit-oriented suppliers who completion report indicates that women make up engage with poor women. nearly half of trained teachers, over 40 percent of In Cape Verde the community facilitators who assist the trained health workers, 22 percent of community promoters are selected by the groups themselves. This was a facilitators, and 24 percent of trained province result of a lesson learned from Peru, where promoters hired and district staff. from outside the community with strong patriarchal atti- tudes affected women's participation negatively. Sources: World Bank 2001b, 2007d, 2008. Sustainability depends on the existence of enabling envi- ronments in which policy and institutional reforms are ori- ented toward increasing control of decisions and resources determine activities and investments appropriate to a spe- by community groups or elected governments. Political and cific group. Adequate identification of target groups and institutional environments often prove unsupportive to the their characteristics in terms of assets and livelihood strate- process of CDD, in part because they lack cadres of compe- gies, conducted through gender-sensitive poverty analysis, is tent facilitators. Sustained community action often rests on a precondition for the design and implementation of an the abilities of external mediators to unlock and activate effective targeting strategy. In the case of a CDD project in local social capital (Mansuri and Rao 2004). Peru, this analysis turned up much more variation in Measures required by project management to ensure the women's livelihood strategies than was initially recognized. participation and benefits to women are new to many gov- Similarly, it was discovered in a project in the Philippines ernments, NGOs, and private sector partners and as such that--contrary to expectations--men and women share the are often slow to be adopted. Resistance is also found where workload in terms of work inside the home as well as in the this approach is perceived as a threat to established ways of field (box 2.10). doing things and the interests of dominating groups. IFAD Networking and communication. Most CDD projects found that men often saw no reason to include women in use both mass media and field personnel such as extension decision making and to target benefits to them. Broad agents, NGOs, and promoters to provide information. A enabling and empowerment targeting measures are found careful communication strategy is needed to ensure that to be easier to apply and more effective than narrow mea- women are provided with full information on what is sures based on eligibility criteria; the concept of inclusion is available from the fund, to whom, and how to obtain generally more acceptable than targeting, which suggests access in a language and at a level that suits their abilities top-down and exclusionary measures. THEMATIC NOTE 3: DECENTRALIZATION AND COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT 59 Financing modalities Project in Peru demonstrated higher levels of self-esteem and more active participation in community decision mak- To date, the effectiveness of demand-driven mechanisms ing through various instruments, including gender main- and funds has been strongly enhanced or undermined by streaming and affirmative action, gender sensitization and the specific procedures for the application for funds and training for both men and women, and the creation of a spe- review and selection of proposals. The complexity and tech- cial fund for support of economic activities undertaken by nical difficulty of preparing proposals, time allocated for women (IFAD 2004b). The Self-Help Learning Initiative of submission, distance to be traveled for submission, criteria the Gemidiriya project in Sri Lanka illustrates how women's and processes for selection of groups--all affect women's participation in decision making and in managing village- abilities to participate and benefit from CDD projects. level financial institutions can be achieved (see Innovative Women with less education and free time and whose mobil- Activity Profile 3). ity is constrained require special assistance by not-for-profit On the supply side, the capacity of service providers to groups such as NGOs or promoters to prepare proposals. respond to the needs of poor women needs to be strength- Investments to build the capabilities of poor women to ened with services and extension methods appropriate for become leaders and to choose good representatives and women, requiring a complete reversal from the established hold them accountable must be supported by governments way of providing assistance as per the decisions and meth- and donors as needed. The process requires full trans- ods of technical staff. Projects in India and Peru demon- parency and publicity in procedures, including selection, strate that inculcating gender sensitivity and commitment signing of agreements, and contracts. within the implementing organizations and service Contributions of cash, labor, and local materials that providers while simultaneously building women's leader- must be provided by communities as proof of commitment ship and capacity was critical to achieve women's substantial and a condition to obtain community-driven funds are participation and accountability to them. There it was often unaffordable by women who have little time for labor learned that existing institutional and policy environments contributions and few material resources to provide. In are often critical constraints and that pro-active measures to some cases artificial groups form to access CDF funds, instill a strong commitment by project management can undermining legitimate groups that exist for credit pur- catalyze positive results (IFAD 2004b). poses and collective investments. Many borrower govern- ments have not been convinced that allowing community control over investment decisions and resources is the best GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR means of engaging communities; they have concerns about PRACTITIONERS local capacities but also feel threatened by devolution of authority (World Bank 2005). Cases of well-designed CBD/CDD projects have taken place, To date, CDD projects have been rarely designed with but most have not taken sufficient account of the limitations sufficient investments to provide the types of follow-up in the enabling environment to achieve gender-equitable support and complementary investments that poor women impacts from these approaches. Specific improvements in require to overcome their multiple constraints and to the design of these projects, based on qualitative analyses of achieve the expected level of benefits (Perrett 2004)--a gender aspects of livelihood strategies, community organi- point that clearly requires mitigation to realize the potential zations, and project partner institutions (as well as those of of CDD and decentralization for gender-equity goals. the donor agencies themselves), could go far in promoting Empowering measures are arguably the most important the success of CBD/CDD approaches to address the needs of ones to increase poor women's bargaining power and their poor rural women. Guidelines and principles used in gender participation in public decisions, as evidenced by the case of mainstreaming are useful references for this purpose. women members of self-help groups in a project in Chattis- Inclusion of the poorest women. To ensure that the poor- garh, India (IFAD 2004b). It is clear that a demand-led est women are able to participate in and benefit from CDD process and the availability of funding are not sufficient to project activities, project management procedures and ensure outreach to poor rural women. Specific empower- policies must mandate the use of tools of gender-sensitive ment measures are needed to enable the poorest and most poverty and livelihood analysis to first identify them, marginalized groups to transform their needs into effective understand their livelihood-related constraints and oppor- demands. Women in communities participating in the man- tunities, and incorporate their views before determining agement of natural resources in the Southern Highlands the menu of the types of goods and services to be funded 60 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE and supported to match the interests and needs of women. procedures, transparency, and accountability mechanisms; All CDD projects--even those that work through existing and (5) facilitate the role of enabling actors in the applica- decentralized public administration--must incorporate an tion of agreed-to enabling instruments. explicit strategy to ensure that the resources reach and benefit Institutional analysis brings stakeholders together to women and men of poor rural households. This implies an examine how best they can make use of the resources and adoption of enabling, empowering, menu-based, proce- authority they will get from CDD and can inform questions dural, and other targeting measures and continuous moni- of linkages and feedback loops between enablers, service toring of effectiveness. providers, and client groups (Binswanger and Aiyar 2003). Enabling policy environments. The presence or absence of The experience of CDD project implementation in West an enabling environment for CDD as an innovation makes and Central Africa suggests that partnerships that join a significant impact on its success. The design of projects together CBOs, local government administrators, civil soci- should anticipate resistance to CDD and include measures ety organizations working for local development, and the targeted at the implementing agencies themselves, such as private sector provide more effective mechanisms to capacity building for gender mainstreaming, to build sup- unleash the development potential of the rural communi- port for the CDD process at all levels. Bringing about ties than do mechanisms that operate exclusively through changes in attitudes and ways of interacting with poor the government administration (Patanali 2007). women builds sustainable organizational and individual Accountability, monitoring, and evaluation. One short- accountability of public and private service providers to coming of many CDD projects is that if one of the primary rural women. goals is to build grassroots capacity, appropriate monitoring As a result of the importance that local governance tools are rarely employed to assess the evolution of this issues assume in the elaboration of a CDD project policy, capacity, but good practical tools exist for doing this. Moni- new tools must be adopted to complement existing method- toring and evaluation (M&E) are especially critical to ensure ologies of project formulation, appraisal, implementation that decentralization and CDD approaches have the monitoring, and performance evaluation. Gender-sensitive intended impacts for women and gender equity. Innovation institutional analysis is a tool that would greatly improve always requires more careful M&E; in this case a careful the understanding of the system within and around com- watch is needed to monitor who does or does not obtain munities and would help to identify enabling and disabling access to funds and decision-making processes, and why. agencies and actors, to properly map implementation arenas, Such monitoring starts with the first process (often informa- and to streamline project organization and management tion dissemination about the project) and should continue arrangements. to the distribution and use of benefits within a group. At the community level, institutional analysis will help to (1) understand the community institutions, the rules of the CHALLENGES game accepted by everyone, and how these can be used to devise self-targeting instruments in favor of women; (2) Further information is needed to answer questions such as acquire insights on how socioeconomic and political factors the following. What are the consequences of decentraliza- affect change and community preferences and demands; tion and CDD for poor rural women, for gender relations in and (3) monitor the reactions to project conditions of households and institutions, and for agricultural productiv- "inclusiveness" and monitor the impact of formal inclusive- ity and food insecurity? Are poor rural women able to ness on the effective role of women in the management of demand accountability, and do they play a significant role in the public affairs of the community. decision making for project activity selection? Do women At the level "around" the communities, institutional and their households benefit substantially from CDD proj- analysis will help to (1) understand the institutional systems ects? Under what circumstances are poor rural women and how they really work; (2) identify enabling and dis- harmed by CDD? Does a CDD approach hold greater prom- abling agencies and actors that can or should work to ise to improve the condition of women than thematic proj- improve the livelihood of members of the rural communi- ect interventions related to issues of particular relevance to ties, their roles, motivations, organizational culture, and women such as microfinance, small-scale marketing assis- behavior; (3) establish a dialogue with both women and tance, and food crop development? men; (4) negotiate enabling instruments, including solutions Is the goal of CDD pro-poor women institutional devel- to the key issues of inappropriate processes and disabling opment or poverty reduction through women's increased THEMATIC NOTE 3: DECENTRALIZATION AND COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT 61 access to infrastructure? What is the likelihood that devolu- In addition, a need exists for a broad search for innova- tion of decision making on public resources to communities tions that have aided women to benefit from decentraliza- will lead to greater equity? What is the likelihood that gov- tion and CDD projects to address the current gap in the ernment will devolve decision making on public resources knowledge of whether or not, as well as how, these processes and use their authority to support women's decision making have significantly impacted gender relations and women's in this? poverty levels. 62 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE T H E M AT I C N OT E 4 Gender, Self-Help Groups, and Farmer Organizations in the Agricultural Sector SOCIAL CAPITAL, EMPOWERMENT, AND sector are rarely formed exclusively by or for women. Impor- DECISION-MAKING AGENCY tant gender issues are therefore related to the inclusion of women and their membership status, and policies that ood governance involves effective collective orga- G enable women to participate in decision making or take lead- nization, and without question this has proven to ership roles in groups. have value for improving the livelihood opportu- This Thematic Note addresses key gender issues that cut nities and empowerment of poor women who depend on across different types of group organization in the agricul- agricultural or rural livelihoods in developing countries. Par- tural sector, following the topical outline that guides all the ticipation in group organization has clear benefits for poor Thematic Notes in this Sourcebook, to synthesize current women in terms of increased assets, income, and gains in knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of group control over decision-making processes that affect their lives. organization for women. Discussion is organized under the Poor rural women form and belong to many types of groups following topics: aspects of experience in group formation related to agriculture, including self-help groups, producer related to the impacts and benefits of groups for women, key associations, and businesses as well as voluntary associations. implementation problems and constraints due to gender Here the focus is on groups that involve agriculture-driven, relations, good practices and lessons learned, and principles joint activities initiated around an economic purpose, where and guidelines for designing and implementing group orga- this includes the production of goods or services or collective nization in the agricultural sector that is inclusive of women. management of natural resources important for agriculture. This focus identifies several types of groups summarized in box 2.14: agricultural cooperatives, self-help groups (includ- GROUP FUNCTIONS, ADVANTAGES, AND ing microcredit and rotating savings and credit groups), user DISADVANTAGES groups for natural resource management, agricultural exten- sion and field schools, and farmer research groups. The last Groups in the agricultural sector have several functions are a specific, agriculture-related case of groups that form in affected by gender relations that, in turn, influence how much the rural sector to provide several kinds of public services, women benefit from participation in group organization. such as sanitation or schooling. Groups may be formal, in A central function of groups is to overcome market failures, the sense of having agreed-on rules and procedures that give cases in which collective action helps members to overcome the group a status that enables the group to own or manage high transaction costs, or risks that increase the vulnerability its assets legally, as in the case of formal cooperatives, or they of the poor. For example, cooperatives and self-help groups may be informal, as is the case with self-help groups, but the facilitating savings and credit for agroenterprise develop- legal status of groups is not a primary determinant of impor- ment are important for overcoming market failure, which tant gender issues. Rural women may be involved in other makes it difficult for women producers to diversify and kinds of interest groups and political organizations with engage in commercial farming. Another function of groups noneconomic objectives, such as advocacy, or that pursue is to produce public goods and externalities associated with different concerns, such as health, education, religion, or nonexcludability, as is the case with common property man- political representation, that are important to rural women agement of natural resources, including water, forests, and but not agriculture driven. In most cases, as discussed in fisheries, that may be of critical importance to women's agri- more detail below, organized groups in the agricultural cultural livelihoods. Groups may also function to advance 63 Box 2.14 Types and Functions of Women's Groups in the Agricultural Sector Producer associations and cooperatives are businesses buildings and health centers, digging and maintenance owned and often managed by farmers to transform,pack- of earthen roads, irrigation, soil conservation works, age, distribute, and market their produce. Agricultural and the provision of piped water. cooperatives encompass several functions or may special- Women's groups in watershed management associations ize in marketing, input supply, or savings and credit. may be traditional groups for collective management of Self-help groups (SHGs) are voluntary associations of common property resources or may be externally cat- not more than 10 to 20 members who are usually poor alyzed by projects for the management of natural people with the aim of solving their common problems resources. They are mainly oriented toward carrying out through mutual help. Typically an SHG promotes inter- soil and water conservation measures, reforestation and nal savings and lending among its members; this capi- forest conservation, training, and conflict resolution and tal eventually may be deposited with a bank. may have specific functions like water users committees, Rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) are forest protection committees, fodder development com- groups of about 6­12 individuals who make regular mittees, or seed distribution committees that represent contributions to a common fund, which is then given as sectoral interests in watershed development. a lump sum to one member in each saving cycle. In this Agricultural extension field schools or farmer way a member lends money to other members through research groups are formed to promote learning about contributions, and members alternate between being production technologies or to contribute to the devel- lenders and borrowers. opment of innovations. Women's groups formed for Women's subgroups in village development associa- these purposes can help to ensure that innovation is tions (VDs) are vehicles for mobilizing local resources, more relevant to women producers, although they especially labor, for projects such as the construction of may also be marginalized into "traditional" semisub- bridges and community halls, renovation of school sistence production. Source: Authors. claims of their members to rights and resources or enforce demand and effect social change, especially when large existing rights important for agriculture: these include land- numbers of groups federate and act together. Women's rights groups, labor unions, cooperatives, and associations empowerment through participation in groups is especially that perform this function. important for attacking root causes of rural women's Gender relations affect the extent to which women enjoy poverty: lack of entitlement to key economic resources, important advantages obtained by membership in groups, drudgery and weak bargaining power within the household, such as economic gains from collective marketing, agropro- domestic violence, and sexual oppression. cessing, or input supply. Group membership helps to build Against the advantages of participation in groups for different kinds of internal and external social capital, soli- women must be considered the low probability of successful darity, and bargaining power, as well as experience with participation in groups by very poor women, especially in democratic decision making and leadership. In all kinds of highly stratified and unequal societies. Very poor women groups, gender relations affect the extent to which women seldom join or form strong, sustainable groups without are included as group members, participate in decision external catalysts to initiate and support group formation making, and exercise leadership, but it is important to keep with long-term training and facilitation. Nonetheless, it is in mind that women's socioeconomic resources and ethnic, also clear that once rural women have had the experience of religious, or caste identity may compound any effect of gen- belonging to a successful group, even the poorest groups can der on its own. One of the most important effects of group produce women leaders who are fully capable of inspiring membership for poor women is the development of self- and teaching other women to form groups. Recent studies esteem, solidarity, and shared identity. The potential to show that building self-esteem and self-worth among poor forge empowering social and political identities for poor women and their organizational skills is perceived by them women makes groups a powerful channel for women to as the most important result of participation in groups and 64 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE may be as or more important than the economic benefits of Box 2.15 India: Example of the Broad Impact of group action. SHGs on Poor Women's Livelihoods and Empowerment EXPERIENCE, IMPACTS, AND BENEFITS FROM GENDER-RESPONSIVE ACTIONS In India the IFAD's North Eastern Region Com- munity Resource Management Project for Upland Rural women's groups and producer associations have Areas has mobilized women's organization into exploded recently in developing countries. In Mali, for exam- SHGs to achieve a wide array of benefits. Women ple, it is not uncommon for a woman farmer to belong to members make weekly savings used for income- four, five, or even six associations. Participation in groups for earning, health, and education needs of the village. mutual assistance such as communal labor or rotating credit The group acquired a rice and maize dehusking and savings associations is a feature of traditional village life mill to save labor and effort on the part of villagers in many rural areas, but recently a dramatic expansion of who had to travel long distances for this. Addition- women's self-help groups (SHGs) has been driven by the ally, the group has revived the local market in Nonglang, which previously opened once a week. microfinance revolution. In 2006 microcredit SHGs numbered Now it opens daily, making the procurement of 2.23 million with approximately 33 million members. These food and other items much easier for all in the vil- groups have proved remarkably effective as a mechanism for lage. SHG members value meeting every week to extending microfinance services to the very poor. Women's discuss common problems. Eradication of illiter- SHGs formed for microcredit, especially in India, have acy has become one of the group's goals. With the expanded vigorously into other development domains, encouragement of the project, the group has including education, water management, housing, sanitation, organized a school for young children, who previ- and disaster prevention, effecting significant changes in ously either did not attend classes or did so only in women's status. In general, self-help groups with microcredit the morning. Now each family sends at least one as their primary purpose have not proved effective for financ- child to this school. Women volunteers teach here. ing agricultural production because of the difficulty they have Members know that the school needs more sup- in providing the relatively large infusions of capital required plies and better resources for the students and are looking at using the group's savings to arrange for for farming at key points in the production calendar, but they these. The most important impact of SHGs has have proved important for group agroenterprise develop- been this mobilization of poor women to assume ment by women producers (box 2.15). responsibility for their own development. The experience of PRADAN,a large rural livelihoods devel- opment NGO reaching over 80,000 poor women in seven of Source: Authors. the poorest states in India, illustrates the empowerment impact of women's SHGs. PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action) targets women in the poorest and most socially marginalized groups with the goal of enhancing The empowerment impact of group organization may be the capacity of women to exercise voice and influence within more important for women, especially poor women, than the wider community, and so it builds secondary-level federa- the direct economic benefits of group membership. tions, networks, or clusters of these groups to improve their Although the intensive support required for financially sus- bargaining power.Federations are developed to function as self- tainable microcredit SHGs may not be profitable for lenders sustaining organizations with a variety of livelihood-focused in the long run, numerous studies find that participation in interventions, which include microcredit for agroenterprise SHGs, notably in India, has assisted the development of development, although this is not the primary objective of women's self-confidence in working collectively to influence group formation. An impact assessment of PRADAN's SHGs change in their communities. An example is the Women's shows that group members have higher levels of awareness Empowerment Program in Nepal, which focused on literacy and knowledge than nonmembers about issues that affect and savings for 6,500 women's groups in which many partic- women's ability to control certain aspects of their lives, such as ipants started businesses and increased their decision-making family planning and government policies. Group members authority in the home. In addition, SHGs have provided a had greater mobility outside the home and a higher propor- platform for the development of women's leadership both at tion kept a portion of household income for their own use.1 the community level and in local politics, where group THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER, SELF-HELP GROUPS, AND FARMER ORGANIZATION IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR 65 members are taking an active role in electoral politics. In deposited their wages into the common fund of their India SHGs have created a role for women in local politics, women's association and used it for collective activities and a growing number of SHG members now fill elected addressing women's priorities (Seeley, Batra, and Sarin 2000). local government positions. Several decades of experience with the formation of pro- Women's SHGs have formed effectively for a variety of ducer associations and agricultural cooperatives for women, purposes that enable them to have an impact on public ser- supported by governments, NGOs, and national women's vice provision, although they often also include group sav- organizations, have had mixed results. Notable examples of ings as an activity. SHGs often evolve from existing women's success are the work of the Self-Employed Women's Associ- organizations that, like the Women's Councils in Maharash- ation (SEWA) and Working Women's Forum in India or tra, India, can provide an important source of leadership for Femmes et Développement (FEDEV: Women's Develop- group formation. SHGs involved in service provision have ment Project) in Mali. SEWA, a registered trade union with successfully expanded women's access to health, literacy, and a membership of 800,000 women, two-thirds of whom are agricultural extension services. Such groups provide an small farmers or landless agricultural laborers, has a strategy important forum for women to access and share informa- of empowering women by improving women's assets and tion from which they are otherwise excluded, a function employment opportunities and has created the All-India that deserves explicit attention in group formation. For Women Farmers Association. Some benefits are clear in example, the Agha Khan Rural Support Program has terms of enhancing the skills, opportunities, and prestige of formed women's organizations that have had the dual pur- women who are active leaders in these organizations. In many pose of income generation and providing a civic forum for cases participation in producer associations or cooperatives social development. A different approach is that used by the has enabled women to break down cultural restrictions on International Development Bank MAG-PAES project in El their mobility and to expand their social and economic net- Salvador, which sets up municipality-level gender commit- works. So long as organizations forming SHGs provide tees (comités de genero) to explicitly address issues of gender long-term, high-quality, nonfinancial support (typically one equity. The committees funnel training and microfinance to or two years) for capacity building, groups have low dropout women's groups, which have launched several of the pro- and turnover rates, reflecting their utility to poor women. gram's more successful agroenterprise initiatives. But the vast majority of women farmers' associations have Watershed development strategies to address land degra- not been able to sustain income generation for members dation and improve agricultural productivity rely heavily on without outside support. decentralization of decision making to farmer groups. The focus of watershed management on land, to which mainly POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES men have title, means that women's groups have been mar- ginalized, even though it is well known that women often Similar implementation problems in forming and sustain- play a key role in managing common pool resources such as ing women's groups are found whether at the small scale of communal forest and grazing. Non-land-based income gen- self-help groups or at larger scales of producer associations eration has been higher on the agenda than land manage- and cooperatives because of the persistent handicaps women ment or land rights for most women's SHGs in watershed experience from unequal gender relations. Frequently in development programs. Women's microcredit SHGs have producer cooperatives or farmer associations, women mem- been mobilized to meet quotas for women's participation in bers have been oriented to compete with traditional many watershed development schemes but seldom have "women's" products in weak markets that often cannot direct links to natural resource management unless an absorb expanded production of these products, or they have explicit effort is made to link women into participatory not been provided with the skills and technology required watershed governance, such as watershed committees. When to compete successfully. Collective organization for produc- women are brought into watershed planning, very different tion has not automatically improved women's status or con- outcomes have been observed. For example, the AKRSP trol over key assets, such as land or capital, or over the income (Aga Khan Rural Support Programme) in Gujarat used gen- generated. Insecure access to land and land tenure remains der sensitization exercises that led men to conclude that a pressing issue for women producers, as does the need for women were contributing about 50 percent of the labor for public policy to support small-scale farming. Poor women watershed improvement and should receive part of the wages still face the problem of adequately establishing user rights that were being paid to men as the land owners. The women allotted to them by law. Thus, even when organized in groups 66 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE and associations, women producers face political as well as Group formation can be seriously hampered by under- economic disadvantages that force them to compete on rel- lying structural disadvantages and inequities that underpin atively unfavorable terms. the poverty of women. The assumption that participation in An important obstacle to implementation, although the groups assists women in escaping from poverty and evidence is contradictory, tends to be the problem that inequity has been severely criticized for its neglect of the cooperative organization has not led to redistribution of "dark side" of social capital, referring to the possibility that work between women and men in the household, increas- association can lead to the exclusion of women and to ing already heavy demands on women's time and energy. reproduction of existing structures of inequality. Multiple This especially affects poorer women, who find it difficult factors militate against group participation for the poorest to absorb the costs of participation in collective decision women: for example, ill-health and their physical inability making, and are less likely to join groups. In the case of to participate, their inability to afford reciprocal relation- PRADAN, for example, membership in self-help groups did ships and maintain more than "threadbare" social networks, not alter the gendered pattern of decision making about their lack of assets needed to make regular contributions to household resource allocation, which remained very similar group fees and activities, and discriminatory norms that in member and nonmember households. restrict their mobility and relegate them to lower status Another obstacle to implementing successful group within groups.Although groups have clear benefits for some organization is the difficulty of providing incentives to women, entrenched class, caste, and ethnic differences exist group participation that promote the inclusion of among women that groups cannot in and of themselves resource-poor women. The advantages of cooperative overcome. organization frequently accrue primarily to better-off Building coalitions and federations of SHGs and pro- women who are more likely to have the formal education ducer organizations is crucial for sustaining their socioeco- needed for leadership roles. However, research shows that nomic viability. A key gender issue is the extent to which more educated rural men and women alike tend to partici- women can access and undertake leadership roles at differ- pate less in community-level groups, in part because they are ent levels of federated producer organizations or SHGs. more likely to be engaged in nonfarm, income-generating Participatory decision making and the management of activities (these are becoming a major source of income to organizations require special skills that poor women seldom smallholders in developing countries). The cost of partici- have and for which they need special training. Scaling up pation in groups, associations, or cooperatives can be a dis- from small groups to federations requires long-term capac- incentive to those with more profitable ways of investing ity building and mentoring to develop women producers' their time outside of groups. Even so, more educated organizational as well as technical skills at all levels. The women are more likely to fill positions of authority in training of professional social mobilizers and financial sup- SHGs and producer associations alike. This can lead to con- port for them are frequently insufficient for them to provide flicts of interest between them and poorer members over the type of capacity building required to build sustainable the distribution of benefits. federations of women's organizations. Inadequate invest- Even when group participation is broadly inclusive of ment in either members' or facilitators' capacity has led to women with different levels of resources, cooperative orga- the postproject collapse of numerous federations. nization is frequently overly ambitious relative to women's skill base, and corruption resulting from weak leadership or GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED high turnover in management is common. Problems of dis- trust and conflict between members and management are This section draws together some of the more effective prac- frequently cited as reasons for the failure of women's coop- tices derived from learning to overcome several of the main eratives. The so-called middle-class effect of participation problems of implementation highlighted above (box 2.16). can lead to the disempowerment of the majority of poor One of the most important lessons concerns the importance women in a producers association when, for example, of formulating and putting into practice specific policies to patronage resources are arrogated to a select group of alleviate gender inequalities that are widely understood to women from the wealthier families in a community. Mis- be basic constraints to the success of women's self-help trust, class conflict, and limited participation may delegit- groups and producer organizations in agriculture. Few pro- imize a cooperative or association for most of the women grams explicitly include such policy measures, but these are who are nominally members. needed to address the lack of child care and onerous domestic THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER, SELF-HELP GROUPS, AND FARMER ORGANIZATION IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR 67 Box 2.16 Summary of Good Practices for Implementing Women's Participation in Group Organization for Agricultural Development Use group formation strategies that are easily replic- place where the most disadvantaged can develop able (such as the SHG approach) and lead to scaling new skills and empowerment. up and federation of groups. Assess the need for intensive social awareness and gen- Provide long-term, high-quality capacity develop- der sensitization training for women and men to build ment and mentoring over at least one to two years mutual confidence, esteem, and capacity to negotiate. from inception of groups and federations. Include specific policies, such as selective targeting, Include an explicit effort to include women with dif- to enable women to control some key inputs and ferent resource endowments in governance and resources critical to project success. decision making. Ensure groups have mechanisms that include Include specific policies to alleviate gendered work women as well as men in performance evaluation of and power relations unfavorable to women. groups and their leaders, and some enforceable Develop group management and leadership skills as sanctions such as the ability to withhold member- well as technical skills, for women as well as for men. ship fees. In the early stages of group organization, consider Promote inclusive information sharing that creating relatively homogeneous subgroups of enhances women's understanding of their rights women facing similar constraints to create a safe and opportunities. Source: Author. conditions that place heavy demands on women's time spent to provide intensive social awareness training for women's in unpaid domestic work and limit the time they have for group members. In SHGs engaged in microcredit, this type group activities. Evidence suggests that participation in of intervention has had an important influence on the groups, especially if these generate tangible, short-term capacity of women to negotiate change in intrahousehold income under women's control, can improve women's bar- decision making and to transform their groups into actors gaining capacity within the household to negotiate changes in of local institutional change. their domestic workload and responsibilities. An important Development interventions aimed at benefiting women lesson is that to benefit poor women, strategies for their col- need to include policies designed to enhance women's con- lective organization in agriculture need to include explicit trol over all types of development inputs and to target measures to alleviate unfavorable work and power relations in women for this purpose. The expansion of women's self- the home as well as in the wider social context. It is essential help groups in India into multiple areas of intervention, for interventions based on women's participation in agricul- including health, education, domestic violence mitigation, ture-driven group organization to build their confidence and and local politics, is strong evidence of an expressed self-esteem so they can both increase participation in groups demand among women for this type of multifaceted and negotiate for important changes elsewhere in their lives. approach. The strategy of targeting women-only beneficiar- An important lesson is that the heterogeneity of women's ies, validated by numerous rural women's empowerment social class and ethnic differences needs to be factored into programs, has had positive results in terms of helping poor the formation of and support for women's groups, associa- women to overcome their lack of self-confidence and in tions, and cooperatives. A relatively homogeneous class or making socioeconomic and political change, including ethnic composition of small groups may be needed to create expanding women's income generation opportunities. In a safe space for the most disadvantaged women to develop this respect there is some evidence that women's organiza- their skills. Avoiding the "middle-class effect" of participation tions have outperformed men's organizations (for exam- is extremely difficult at larger scales. Gender targeting and ples, see Liamzon 2006). quotas are not enough, because forming women's groups, Project design needs to include a careful targeting strat- associations, or cooperatives will not guarantee that poor egy to enhance women's control over public investments. women reap benefits from membership. A good practice is An example is the Sunamganj community-based resource 68 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE management project in Bangladesh, in which 50 percent of An important lesson is that building capacity for social community organizations were planned from the start to action within each SHG and then clustering or federating have trained women managers, and 50 percent of the land groups at larger scales can increase the capacity of women's made available to the poor was allocated to women-headed groups to advocate for policy change, as well as to take households.2 Representation for active women leaders in responsibility for local development. For example, in decision-making bodies such as watershed committees, village Mysore, India, SHGs with 20,000 members have been organ- associations, and cooperatives that give them voice in plan- ized so that each group includes a small task force that ning processes consistently leads to different outcomes from undertakes to represent village interests and claims with local those obtained when women are excluded. government. In an area of tribal conflict in Tripura, India, Building capacity to represent and negotiate women's SHGs in which women make up 80 percent of membership interests is a priority issue for women producers, while are active in social justice issues, campaigning against alco- recognizing that there is no uniform "women's interest." holism and wrongful arrest. Men-dominated producer organizations in developing Farmer organizations that operate beyond the level of countries that seek to create a policy voice for farmers give SHGs that act as an interface between local communities and a degree of representation to women but seldom have an national and global policy-making bodies sometimes have operational gender-based program. For example, Reseau the capacities and mandates to engage in advocacy activities des Organisations Paysannes et des Producteurs Agricoles at national, regional, and global levels. For example, building de l'Afrique de l'ouest (ROPPA: Network of Farmers' and the capacity of farmer organizations is IFAD's goal. Through Agricultural Producers' Organizations of West Africa) its Farmer Forum, IFAD aims to increase farmer participa- country delegations must include at least one woman rep- tion in policy dialogue with their governments and within resentative, and the top executive committee of 10 mem- intergovernmental bodies and forums, via a bottom-up bers must include two women, but ROPPA did not at the process of consultation and dialogue with small farmers and time of writing have specific gender initiatives. In contrast, rural producers organizations that IFAD and governments the International Federation of Agricultural Producers has convene every two years. Yet in most bodies such as this, a separate committee on Women in Agriculture, estab- whether international or national, as in farmer organizations lished in 1992 to promote the status of women farmers, in general, there is a notable absence of women's voices and empower their participation in farmer organizations at all leadership. To address this, IFAD organizes separate working levels, and advocate women farmer's interests. The forma- sessions and side events with women leaders, from organiza- tion of women-managed organizations for women pro- tions such as the national women's organization SEWA. At ducers is an alternative strategy that has gained ground in the February 2008 meeting of the Farmer Forum, its mem- some countries, notably in West Africa, where there are bers recommended that IFAD support farmer organizations several regional federations of organizations representing to engage their women members in the management and women producers.3 decision-making processes of their organizations, with a Meeting quotas for women's representation or forming minimum quota of 30 percent women farmers in all IFAD women-managed producer organizations and federations programs, events, and initiatives. does not guarantee that the interests of the least-advantaged Other spaces for advocacy by women farmers exist women will be addressed unless mechanisms for accounta- through the UN's mechanism of major groups of civil soci- bility exist, as the Ndulo case illustrated. It is vital, therefore, ety for sustainable development, wherein women have their for these organizations to have the mechanisms that enable own major group that facilitates their participation in the their members to evaluate leadership and monitor how dif- UN Commission for Sustainable Development and the var- ferent types of women benefit from the organization. ious conventions related to agriculture and environment. Accountability requires building capacity for women to take responsibility for monitoring and evaluating activities, GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR whether at the scale of individual SHGs, producer associa- PRACTITIONERS tions, or larger-scale federations. Participation in monitor- ing and evaluating performance is not sufficient, unless Experience shows that a combination of empowering and accompanied by performance incentives and enforceable capacity development measures works best for realizing the sanctions, such as the ability of members to withhold fees. development potential of women's groups, associations, or THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER, SELF-HELP GROUPS, AND FARMER ORGANIZATION IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR 69 cooperatives. This involves combining several measures so Advocacy that they are flexible: for example, quotas to ensure women Farmer organizations that operate beyond the level of SHGs are in key leadership positions and participate as members, acting as an interface between local communities and targeting specific resources and opportunities at the poorest national and global policy-making bodies have the capaci- women, sharing information to make sure women know ties and mandates to engage in advocacy activities at about rights and opportunities, and building beneficiary national, regional, and global levels. Building the capacity of capacity. Long-term support is needed for processes that farmer organizations is a focus of the IFAD: for example, to foster women's involvement in and leadership of democratic increase their participation in policy dialogue with their decision making. Finally, women members need to have the governments and within intergovernmental bodies and means and the authority to undertake monitoring of an forums, particularly through its Farmers' Forum, which is a organization's performance, using well-defined, locally bottom-up process of consultation and dialogue between appropriate indicators of change in women's welfare in small farmers and rural producers' organizations, the IFAD, domestic as well as other domains. and government that convenes every two years. Yet within A key principle for forming and supporting sustainable these meetings, and within farmer organizations in general, women's SHGs and producer associations is to invest a notable absence of women's voices and leadership is pres- from the beginning in skill formation, especially among ent. To address this, the IFAD organizes separate working the least advantaged. Building the skill base for women's sessions and side events with women leaders, including empowerment and leadership development, especially for those of SEWA. At the February 2008 meeting of the forum, the poorest women, requires work in small groups in which its members recommended that the IFAD support farmer self-confidence and self-esteem can develop more easily. organizations to engage their women members in the man- However, up-scaling and clustering into associations and agement and decision-making processes of their organiza- federations is crucial for gaining the bargaining power and tions, with a minimum quota of 30 percent women farmers influence needed for women producers to effect change. in all IFAD programs, events, and initiatives. Planning the long-run up-scaling strategy and its expected Other spaces for advocacy by women farmers exist results from an early stage in group formation is one key to through the UN's mechanism of Major Groups of civil soci- success. Self-replication has occurred on a large scale among ety for sustainable development, wherein women have their women's self-help savings and microcredit groups in South own Major Group that facilitates their participation in the Asia, for example, which highlights the importance for poor UN Commission for Sustainable Development and the var- women in particular of using group formation strategies ious conventions related to agriculture and environment. that are easily replicable (see box 2.16). 70 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan: Gender and Governance Issues in Local Government ecentralization is an important governance reform D informing elected women about council meetings and by that holds promise for making public service pro- not including them in important committees. Moreover, vision more responsive to the rural population by officials of line departments often do not give sufficient bringing government closer to the people. Yet it is a chal- recognition to the women members of local councils. Among lenge to involve women in local governments and to ensure various projects created to address these problems, the "Gen- that the services they require to improve their agricultural der and Governance Issues in Local Government" project livelihoods are met. In Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, (Regional Technical Assistance Project--RETA 6008)-- legislative reforms of local government bodies have led to jointly funded by the Asian Development Bank, Japan Spe- quotas for women. Approximately 12,000 women represen- cial Fund, and Canadian International Development tatives participate in local governments in Bangladesh and Agency) has developed an innovative approach to address more than 36,000 in Pakistan. In Nepal more than 39,000 the multiple problems faced by women representatives in women were elected in 1997. Although these quotas created local governments. space for the participation of rural women in local govern- ments, elected women have faced a range of challenges, PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION especially because many come from poor households and did not enjoy the benefit of schooling. Low levels of liter- The objective of this project was to promote gender and acy, time constraints, lack of confidence, and limited access good governance by assisting women representatives of to relevant social networks restrict the effectiveness of local governments to carry out their roles more confidently women as local politicians. In view of traditional patri- and to serve their constituents, who are mainly poor archical power structures, men members of local councils women, more effectively. The project included the following often restrict women's participation, for example, by not components: Creating an interface among women representatives, poor communities, and government officials that estab- lished the credibility and effectiveness of elected women What's innovative? The project combines capac- ity development, formalizing interactions and and involved officers from line agencies in transparent creating local forums for stakeholders. The and accountable interaction with community members forums provided women representatives with Providing social mobilization of key stakeholders, partic- visibility and status and helped them to establish ularly the poor, elected women representatives and links with government line agencies, NGOs, and women leaders, and officers of line agencies private sector representatives. The forums also Developing the capacity of elected women and men rep- provided support networks and opportunities to resentatives of local government bodies, and of women discuss experiences, problems, and issues and to and men community leaders. plan actions to increase the accountability of both government officers and women members Past experience with poverty reduction and local devel- to their poor and other constituents. opment projects suggests that when only one stakeholder in a complex social environment is provided with training, 71 assets, or resources, the results are often not effective. For men, and in all cases training in gender sensitivity was also example, line officers are often trained to deliver services provided to men representatives, and in some cases to other more effectively, but reaching their target populations is ham- men stakeholders, as well. pered because locally elected officials responsible for provid- ing accurate recipient lists are not involved. Moreover, the BENEFITS AND IMPACTS groups targeted for assistance often are unaware of resources designated for them, miss out on benefits to which they are The combined effects of project activities did much to entitled, and cannot act as pressure groups to hold govern- improve the confidence and ability of the elected women in ment officials and locally elected members accountable. Bangladesh and Pakistan and former representatives of the The project addressed these problems by combining VDCs and community leaders in Nepal to represent the capacity development with the creation of an interface for interests of all their constituents. Creating visible networks stakeholders and with social mobilization. Creating an between women representatives and the officials of line interface implied formalizing interactions among key stake- agencies, including agricultural departments, proved to be a holders involved in delivering services in rural communi- key element in improving the effectiveness of women repre- ties. The project brought together stakeholders in local sentatives. Moreover, gender sensitivity training of men rep- forums on a monthly basis that provided women represen- resentatives of local bodies in the project area increased tatives with visibility and status and helped them to estab- their awareness of the role and potential of elected women, lish links with government line agencies, NGOs, and private which in turn led to better collaboration. sector representatives in all three countries. The forums also The women representatives made significant contribu- provided support networks and opportunities to discuss tions to the well-being of the poor in their constituencies. experiences, problems, and issues and to plan actions to Through the cooperation with government officers and increase the accountability of both government officers and NGOs in Bangladesh, women's forums made it possible for women members to their poor and other constituents. women representatives to provide poor women and young The forums made local people aware of various pro- people with access to extension programs in the fields of grams like development schemes or the zakat (charity agriculture, livestock, and fishery. The forums also increased funds) and community development projects in Pakistan the access of poor women and children to social protection and the poverty and social protection programs provided programs and to other income-generating activities. by union parishads (local government bodies). Local peo- Women local government members were also involved in ple also learned about the agriculture and rural develop- mediating disputes and in mediating cases of woman and ment programs offered by the line agencies and about the child repression, divorces, and theft. microcredit programs provided by NGOs. In Nepal the In Nepal the forums were able to mobilize funds from forums demanded and received funds for development VDC budgets for projects in the fields of agriculture, forest, projects from village development committees (VDCs) and environmental management. Active links were made with and other agencies. government line agencies, NGOs, and community-based Capacity-building training was provided by local NGOs organizations engaged in savings and credit cooperatives, in each country to enhance the knowledge and skills of local health, education, and hygiene. Women's forums promoted women representatives and women community leaders so citizenship certificates and the registration of births, deaths, that they could be more effective in their roles in local gov- and marriages. The women's forums also mediated gender ernment and forums. The goal was to provide women with and social disputes related to domestic violence against basic knowledge about local government (their roles, bud- women, polygamy, and witchcraft and were active in cam- gets, meetings, record keeping, agendas, development proj- paigns against alcoholism, drugs, and child trafficking. ects, monitoring committees; council project funds); about In Pakistan forums in two districts of North West how to run meetings, mediate disputes, and negotiate for Frontier Province have established links with government development programs and local resource mobilization; departments, NGOs, and savings and credit programs and and about gender issues. have implemented a range of development schemes. It was recognized, however, that without the support of Women were also provided with income-generating oppor- their men counterparts, women representatives would still tunities, and some obtained jobs through government, pri- not be able to realize their potential. Therefore, each coun- vate, or NGO sources. As in the other two countries, women try created capacity-building programs for women and were also involved in mediating disputes, including cases of 72 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE land disputes, fights between neighbors, child custody, pro- they face. Hence, gender sensitivity training needs to be vision of education for young girls, and waiving school fees targeted to both men and women representatives, commu- for poor students. nity leaders, and other stakeholders, such as line depart- ment officials. Creating visible interfaces between women representatives LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER and service providers from line agencies and NGOs is a promis- APPLICABILITY ing approach to improve service delivery in rural areas. The Quotas create space for the political participation of women in project showed that regularly held forums can create an local governments, but additional measures are needed to important interface between elected women and service increase the effectiveness of women representatives. The expe- providers and address a number of key constraints that rience in South Asia shows that low levels of women literacy, women representatives face, especially if they come from patriarchical power structures, and blocking access of poor backgrounds: lack of recognition, lack of access to social women from poor households to social networks limit their networks, and lack of contacts with stakeholders outside their effectiveness as local politicians. Project interventions are villages, such as NGOs and the public administration. more likely to be successful if they address these multiple Social mobilization is needed to increase the awareness of obstacles in an integrated way. women about projects and programs that support agricul- Training women representatives is important, but not suf- tural livelihoods. Because the forums promoted by the proj- ficient to increase their effectiveness. Elected women clearly ect involved not only elected representatives, but also the benefit from improved knowledge about local government constituents, they provided an important avenue for social procedures, such as meetings, record keeping, negotiating mobilization. They increased the awareness of the rural for development programs, local resource mobilization, poor, including rural women, about the availability of devel- budget management, monitoring, and dispute resolution. opment programs that support agricultural livelihoods, However, the training of women representatives needs to be thus facilitating their access to such programs. Moreover, combined with strategies to address other challenges they the forums provided an avenue to create transparency and face beyond knowledge and skill gaps. improve accountability. Increasing the awareness of men stakeholders in local gov- NGOs can play an important role in strengthening the con- ernment about gender issues is crucial. The project showed fidence and ability of locally elected women to operate in pre- that efforts to promote gender equity in local governments dominantly men-oriented environments. In all three coun- should not be limited to interventions that target women tries the project showed that NGOs can be important representatives. It is equally important to increase the partners in improving the effectiveness of women represen- awareness of men stakeholders about the role that women tatives in local governments and their commitment to can play in local government and about the obstacles that gender equity. INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: GENDER AND GOVERNANCE ISSUES IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT 73 I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 Côte d'Ivoire: Gender in Agricultural Services Reforms PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION producers organizations (POs) were becoming a key institu- tional element to achieving the project's goals. ANADER t the beginning of 1991, the government of Côte A was built as an autonomous institution: the board led d'Ivoire requested World Bank support to reform ANADER and appointed the general and central directors. the institutions of the agricultural sector. The first The general directorate had full power to manage the five-year phase of the national project was focused on budget, human resources, and strategy only under the con- rationalizing and strengthening all the agricultural exten- trol of the board. The PO's representatives on the board sion services and adaptive research. Plans were to have an were freely elected by the POs for each main agricultural Adaptable Lending Program for 11 years. One of the three production chain area (for example, food crops, livestock, main project components of the Projet National d'Appui coffee, cocoa, cotton, and pigs). In each specific agricultural aux Services Agricoles (PNASA: National Agricultural Ser- production organization, ANADER support was improving vices Project) was designed to help, create, and support the the participation of women to guarantee that PO represen- initial operation of the new National Agricultural Services tatives were efficiently defending women producers' inter- Agency. The strategy aimed at closing the three big public ests. ANADER was implementing (1) agricultural advice administrations for agricultural services and to merge the (extension), (2) adaptive research, (3) PO development sup- selected best staff into one national institution. This new port, and (4) training and information. institution would be semiprivate and have a decentralized structure: the Agence Nationale d'Appui au Développement Rural (ANADER: National Agency for Rural Development). GENDER APPROACH Being a semiprivate institution meant having no civil A pilot Women in Development (WID) stand-alone project servant staff and one board, including an equal number of was closed because of a number of difficulties in imple- representatives from (1) the public administration, (2) the menting activities isolating the support of women from the private sector, and (3) the producers organizations. The global development strategy. The knowledge of the women's role in the agricultural national production was just emerg- ing with the quick transition from a self-agriculture con- What's innovative? The creation of the Gender sumption of food crops to a need to feed an increasing National Services was instrumental to the gen- urban population. To avoid similar problems during WID, der- mainstreaming activity of Côte d'Ivoire. The the national staff supported by Bank staff decided to imple- Service led to fully one-quarter of the ministry's ment a national gender-mainstreaming approach. Three programs having an explicit gender focus. Select- main steps were undertaken. ing a highly qualified and strongly committed head of this Service was crucial to the effective- 1. Speaking about gender issues: At the beginning of PNASA ness of this mainstreaming effort. Staff training, I, the gender-mainstreaming strategy was announced to sound impact assessment and research, and effec- all staff: support to women producers' development was tive monitoring and evaluation were the corner- becoming a mandatory goal for ANADER staff. The stones of this effort. different workshops for managers and field staff demon- strated that they were permanently arguing that women 74 producers were already fully integrated into their farmers. With the creation of ANADER, the inclusion of strategies. However, when monitoring and evaluation women producers' empowerment into the national agricul- started to be more precise, asking for proof of field tural services strategy was made possible as the explicit results, it became evident that the majority of the staff objective in the plan. This objective states that 25 percent of were working only with men producers. The gender technical packages and advisory services respond to the approach adopted earlier was used only to make politi- needs of women. Evaluation of existing practice indicated cally correct speeches for headquarters or international that the actual percentage of women being reached by these visits without specific instruments and obviously with- services was far lower than 25 percent of the total number of out field results. producers. Supervision missions demonstrated that field 2. The creation of the national service for gender policy imple- advisors were mainly using top-down advice and were not mentation: The ANADER general directorate supported responding to the women producers' needs and requests. by Bank staff decided to create a National Gender Service. These findings legitimized the urgent need to look more A woman staff member was selected with a university closely at gender equality. diploma, wide experience, and strong qualifications. She was very committed. However, she was quickly disap- Policy implementation/public administration pointed. The majority of the staff, including those at managerial levels, thought that gender issues and the The results of the baseline study were very clear: women related work were the responsibility of the National staff in the agricultural services delivery were only 1 per- Gender Service and not their own. They continued to cent. ANADER launched an experiment in recruiting five maintain that the gender issue was not a problem: they young women staff just after the end of their economic claimed that they knew what they had to do in the field. study to become PO advisers in the field. Women staff The chief of the National Gender Service sponsored a demonstrated that they could perform the job without number of quantitative studies and organized two large problems. However, the availability of suitable trained regional workshops to demonstrate to all staff the gap women staff was limited, and thus the ANADER strategy between what they were reporting about gender issues has been limited in increasing the number of women staff. and the reality in the field. The necessity for change Gender policy was limited by the low number of girls enter- became evident to everyone. ing into agricultural education and training at the second- 3. The generalization of gender policy making, implementa- ary and university levels. tion, monitoring, and evaluation led by the Gender National Service and the general directorate: Under the leadership Capacity strengthening of the general directorate, the National Gender Service began a general national training program, which aimed Studies and pilot experiments provided reliable data for to provide all staff with tools for analyzing gender issues advocacy and policy change. These data were facilitating the and tools to design and implement gender-sensitive proj- task of the chief of the National Gender Service and other ects. Support from the general directorate was high, and staff in building instruments for policy implementation in an annual budget was provided. Gender issues became a the field. New instruments and new training built solid part of the daily agenda of all ANADER staff. competencies for staff in analyzing agricultural issues sensi- tive to specific gender issues. The positive changes are very evident at the regional and national levels. Credible data and INNOVATIVE FEATURES sound studies facilitated strategic discussions, which trans- formed staff's approaches and knowledge about the gender Several innovations of this project are worth mentioning: issues in the agricultural sector. national strategy change, policy implementation, and capacity strengthening. BENEFITS AND IMPACTS Policy making The objective to have 25 percent of packages advice Mainstreaming gender in the national and subnational strat- respond to the needs of women was almost achieved in egy and policy. The past policies and strategies were aimed 2001, with 21 percent according to an independent field at supporting small associations and groups of women study at the time (World Bank 2003). Sixty-one focal points INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 2: CÔTE D'IVOIRE: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL SERVICES REFORMS 75 were implemented in the different regions. In 2003, 720 tors. He or she needs to have exceptional competencies in groups of producers have been supported, including at mobilizing other partners. The gender unit needs to have a least 26 percent of women producers. The majority of the specific budget to facilitate contact missions, training, and groups were focused on food crop production and trading. other activities. They were receiving support from the new ANADER PO Support sharing of studies and evaluation results. The advisers. At least 100 women group leaders have emerged most important constraint in implementing gender strate- and are playing an increasing role in the POs and conse- gies is changing staff perception at all levels. Staff often quently positively influencing the place of the women pro- believe that they know the problems of women and that ducers in the ANADER board orientations. The proportion they are responding to these needs. Sound and credible of women receiving agricultural advice has increased from research and impact assessments are needed to help staff 8 percent at the start of the project to 30 percent in 2003. At realize the intensity of gender issues in the country. Work- the request of women, new technologies were introduced shops and conferences at local, regional, and national levels and adopted to reduce women's time burden: for example, using the results of those studies can facilitate the change of pedal pumps, oil presses, and solar dryers. The Service perception by staff and policy makers and should be Gender and Development was fully implemented with a included as a regular activity in the project cost. budget, credibility, and support from all members of the Incentives and rewards for staff. Implementation of a win- general directorate. Women staff in ANADER increased win strategy in human resources management is important. from 1 to 14 percent. Beneficiaries' evaluation demon- The staff need to change, but they are the ones who decide strated high women's satisfaction with the project. The whether to change or not. If they expect some benefits from project concluded with a better integration of women's change, the gender strategy will be implemented easily. Gen- needs into the agricultural services policy and investment. der issues need to be part of the daily agenda of all staff and need to be evaluated as an essential part of their job, not as a supplemental activity. Human resources management LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER needs to be gender sensitive. APPLICABILITY Intensified agricultural education and training for girls. Functional national lead unit for gender mainstreaming. The low rate of girls' enrollment in the agricultural schools Gender approach needs a high national commitment. at the secondary level or in the universities is conditioning Although having a gender component at the start of the the opportunity of agricultural services to appoint women project or program is important, more crucial are the staff into the public or private agricultural sector institu- implementation, evaluation, and impact assessment. Train- tions. According to the importance of the sector, affirmative ing and support of the national staff are necessary (1) to actions need to be implemented in numerous countries to build gender monitoring and evaluation of their current avoid this constraint. activities, (2) to quantify the gender-related gaps in access Strengthened the producer organizations. Agricultural to resources and opportunities, (3) to build a consensus for field advisers are all working with groups of farmers. The effi- the necessity to change, and (4) to build a new national ciency of the adviser generally depends on the organization, strategy for gender equality and effective instruments and cohesion, and sustainability of the group. For agricultural tools to implement it. development, technical advice is important but not suffi- Strategic choice of the chief of the gender implementation cient. Technical advice needs to be implemented with an strategy. A highly competent woman or gender-sensitive enabling environment and equal playing field for farmers: man at the director level is needed. He or she needs to have access to land, input, credit, and power to negotiate. Partic- great field knowledge of the agricultural women producers ularly for women farmers, membership in a strong and and needs to have achieved a high university level and/or a well-established group is crucial to gain access to necessary recognized technical credibility in front of the men direc- productive resources. 76 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 3 Sri Lanka: Gemidiriya Community Development and Livelihood Improvement Project PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION between 35 and 60 percent of household income, whereas, on average, they contribute 36 percent of agricultural labor T he Gemidiriya project aims to enable the rural poor and 79 percent of domestic labor. In general, women are not to improve their livelihood and quality of life. In willing to take loans because of the risk. Women's participa- Sinhalese gemidiriya means "village strength." As tion in community-based organizations is high, but their part of a longer-term 12-year program, this 4-year project voice is typically not fully heard and their participation in is implemented in about 1,000 village communities (510 decision making is relatively low. Data also indicate that Grama Niladhari Divisions) in five districts (Badulla, Galle, although women heads of household have lower education Hambantota, Matara, and Moneragala) of Uva and South- than man household heads, their income and consumption ern provinces in Sri Lanka. This covers approximately capacity are at least as good. 150,000 households and is expected to directly benefit The project demonstrates an innovative approach in approximately 700,000 people (about 20 percent of the employment generation and rural poverty through five com- population of the two provinces). ponents: (1) strengthening village organizations (VOs) and Uva Province continues to be one of the most economi- funding priority subprojects; (2) building the capacity of local cally backward regions in the country because of problems and national agencies and support organizations to respond to of accessibility, connectivity, poor infrastructure, and poor community demands; (3) creating an innovative seed fund to quality of economic services. Production of primary com- pilot innovative ideas that need experimentation, learning, modities, mainly seasonal crops and livestock, is the main and incubation; (4) facilitating overall coordination, imple- source of economic sustenance. Access to health and educa- mentation, and management of the project; and (5) creating a tion and other basic services is less than satisfactory. pilot Village Self-Help Learning Initiative (VSHLI). Although the Southern Province shows a remarkable dis- parity between its districts (Galle, Hambantota, and Matara), it has a significantly high average poverty inci- GENDER APPROACH dence along with high adult illiteracy and lack of access to In recognizing that women's empowerment and their par- electricity, safe water, and safe sanitation. The social assess- ticipation in development opportunities will benefit not ment indicates that women in different villages contribute only women but also the entire community of the current and future generations, the project aims to mainstream gen- der in all project-related activities. Gender equity is a cross- What's innovative? Gender equity is a cross-cutting cutting aspect of the project, and measures to establish and aspect of the Gemidiriya project. Measures to estab- sustain gender equity have been set in the entire project lish and sustain gender equity have been integrated design and implementation arrangements. In addition, the in the design and implementation arrangements, project sets gender empowerment and participation as a such as in the leadership of community finance trigger for the next phase. The trigger states that women organizations. In addition, the project sets gender should participate in decision making by holding 30 percent empowerment and participation targets as a trigger of management positions either as members of the VO for the next phase. Board of Directors or as members of VO subcommittees in the first two years of Phase 1. 77 The overall gender goals of the project are threefold: (1) BENEFITS AND IMPACTS social balancing (power balancing) through awareness and The midterm report indicates that as part of the VSHLI sensitization, (2) economic empowerment of women pilot program villages, 60 percent of the decision-making through their livelihood improvements, and (3) promotion positions on the board of directors were women at the end of village-level initiatives toward social issues. of 2006--exceeding the goal of 30 percent set during the The project's Gender Strategy and Action Plan consists of project appraisal. Further, women have broad representa- three components, addressing three objectives: tion and participate in many decision-making positions in the various VO bodies, as shown in tables 2.4 and 2.5. Gender mainstreaming and awareness building In the community-managed microcredit program, most Ensuring women's equitable participation and benefit of the necessary ingredients have been included to achieve sharing the success of a credit project of this nature for the poor, Provisioning of special assistance to the most vulnerable including establishing village savings and credit commit- women. tees through social mobilization, group formation, group decision making, training for skills development to receive Because a risk exists that women may not be permitted to credit, establishment of a credit insurance fund, and regis- participate in key decisions and in operation and mainte- tration of village societies as companies. Finally, the com- nance management, project rules of inclusion dictate their mittees have obtained majority women's participation, and participation. For example, a specific results indicator has women have been empowered to manage these financial been created for the village development component that at institutions--an area previously dominated by rich men. least 50 percent of the decision-making positions should be women and youth at the village level (that is, chairperson or LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER treasurer of various subcommittees). In addition, at least APPLICABILITY 50 percent of the project benefits should go to women. This would be monitored closely and accompanied by gender- Through in-built project rules and targets, participation of specific training and capacity building. women and youth in decision-making positions was Table 2.4 Representation of Women,Youth, and the Poorest in Decision-Making Positions of Village Organizations percent Village organization officials Women Youth Poorest Board of Directors 56 40 11 Finance Committee 60 42 8 Procurement Committee 51 39 10 Social Audit Committee 53 31 8 Subproject Committees 48 40 9 Village Savings and Credit Committees 75 36 5 Source: Project Midterm Review, September 2007. Table 2.5 Participation in Village Organization Activities by Selected Groups Participation in Attendance at Participation in decision-making Participation in Participation in Category meetings planning activities activities monitoring implementation Women 1.60 1.90 2.00 2.11 2.13 Youth 2.75 2.67 2.68 2.79 2.82 Poorest 1.85 2.38 2.50 2.58 2.38 Source: Project Midterm Review, September 2007. Note: Reported value is the mean score. The standard errors of the mean are consistently below 0.125. The five-point scale used: Very high--1, high--2, satisfactory--3, low--4, and very low--5. Sample size = 90 VOs. The lower the score, the better the participation. 78 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE encouraged from the start and reached expected levels. Core Armenia, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Mozambique, and Vietnam. participation of women and youth has injected an important Initial selection was based on whether "Rural/Agriculture level of commitment and energy to community activities. Strategy" is in the report title. This review excludes reports This is also a very important factor for sustainability.An addi- that deal only with specific sectors such as livestock, water, tional outcome is that the status of women in the project cotton--rather than agriculture or the rural sector as a whole. communities has increased. 3. In contrast to the other budget work that focuses on the The earlier pilot villages under the VSHLI have demon- distributional impact of budgets, such as pro-poor budget- ing, gender-responsive budgeting does not treat households strated that a high degree of women and youth participation as a single unit but highlights that the access to and control in project activities also had high positive benefits to out- over resources and bargaining power of household mem- comes and to accountability (for example, through active bers differ. It is carried out by different actors in different and effective Social Audit Committees). countries. Some of the so-called Gender Responsive Budg- Additional benefits of the community-managed credit eting Initiatives (GRBIs) were initiated by the Ministry of program that were not considered initially include the fact Women or Ministry of Finance, some by parliamentarians, that group members--mostly women--have their capacity and some by NGOs. and employability increased through accounting and book- 4. According to a comparative analysis by UNIFEM (2007) keeping knowledge, and committee members are trained in of women in local government in 13 countries in East Asia how to prepare simple business plans. On the other hand, to and the Pacific. overcome a bookkeeping turnover problem, a lesson was 5. The available evidence, based on a cross-sectional com- learned by the project to also target and train as bookkeep- parison, is difficult to interpret because women who are better ers unemployed, senior women members who are unlikely represented in a particular country or locality may reflect the to leave the village. political preferences of the group that elects them. The cor- relation between policy outcomes and women's participation thus may not imply a causal effect from women's participa- NOTES tion (Chattopadhyay and Duflo 2004). 6. G. Bantebya-Kyomuhendo,"The Role of National Mech- Overview anisms in Promoting Gender Equality and the Empower- This Overview was written by Regina Birner and Leah ment of Women: Uganda Experience," background paper for Horowitz (IFPRI) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande, Nata the Expert Group Meeting "The Role of National Mecha- Duvvury, and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Neela Gan- nisms in Promoting Gender Equality and the Empowerment gadharan (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Rekha Mehra of Women," Rome, November 29­December 2, 2004, and Eija Pehu (World Bank). www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/nationalm2004. 1. United Nations Development Programme (1997), 7. See also http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGEN- Governance for Sustainable Human Development­A UNDP DER/Resources/BeyondVietnam.pdf. Policy Document, http://mirror.undp.org/magnet/policy. 8. See the report at www.doingbusiness.org/documents/ 2. See Transparency International India (New Delhi), Women_in_Africa.pdf. "India Corruption Study 2005," www.tiindia.in. 9. Not only is there gender inequality under customary law, but, until recently, married women were legal minors under civil law. The reality was that women could not Thematic Note 1 enter into contracts, get a loan, serve on a board, or This Thematic Note was prepared by Catherine Ragasa engage in other economic activities without permission of (Consultant), with inputs from Regina Birner and Leah their husbands. Horowitz (IFPRI), and reviewed by Nata Duvvury (Consul- 10. Social Watch, "Gender Equity Index 2007," www.social- tant); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Jock Anderson and Rekha watch.org/en/avancesyRetrocesos/IEG/tablas/SWGEI.htm. Mehra (World Bank). 1. In 2005, 49 countries have prepared national PRSPs, and these PRSPs are currently guiding assistance strategies of Thematic Note 2 donor agencies,including the Asian Development Bank,DFID, This Thematic Note was written by Catherine Ragasa (Con- International Monetary Fund, government of Japan, and the sultant), with inputs from Fatiha Bou-Salah (FAO) and World Bank, among others (World Bank and IMF 2005). Rosemary Vargas-Lundius (IFAD), and reviewed by Nata 2. This is based on the review done by Hild Rygnestad. Duvvury (Consultant); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Regina Birner Seven reviewed strategy documents are for Angola, Argentina, (IFPRI); and Rekha Mehra and Eija Pehu (World Bank). MODULE 2: NOTES 79 1. Gender mainstreaming is defined "as the process of of food shortage than nonmembers, had better sources of assessing the implications for women and men of any drinking water, owned more consumption assets such as planned action, including legislation, policies, or pro- radios and bicycles, had 57 percent of children between grammes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy of mak- 5 and 16 attending school compared to 18 percent among ing women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an nonmembers, had a better harvest each year and higher fer- integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitor- tilizer use, and had lower reliance on moneylenders (Kabeer ing and evaluation of policies and programmes in all politi- and Noponen 2005). cal, economic and societal spheres so that women and men 2. See IFAD, "Rural Poverty in Bangladesh," www.ifad.org/ benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ulti- operations/projects/regions/PI/factsheets/bd.pdf. mate goal is to achieve gender equality." See United Nations 3. Examples from West Africa are Reseau des Femmes Division for the Advancement of Women (UNDAW), The Sahéliennes, a regional network of Sahelian women that Role of National Mechanisms in Promoting Gender Equality seeks to develop the capacity of women's groups, the and the Empowerment of Women, Final Report of the Expert Fédération Nationale des Groupements Féminines, Group Meeting, Rome, Italy, November 29­December 2, which includes about 1 million women and aims to 2004, www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/nationalm2004. improve credit and market access for women, and the 2. The term "national machinery for the advancement of Directoire de Femmes en Elevage, with 15,000 mem- women" referred to the mechanisms established by govern- bers, which works on improving livestock production ment to promote and support the achievement of gender and marketing. equality, including through implementation of the commit- ments made in global processes, such as the four world con- Innovative Activity Profile 1 ferences on women. See the UNDAW report cited ibid. 3. See note 1 above. This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Monawar Sultana (ADB) and reviewed by Regina Birner (IFPRI) and 4. Ibid. Eija Pehu (World Bank). 5. The selection of countries was based on the available infor- mation that the authors gathered from existing literature and interviews of experts from FAO, IFAD, and the World Bank. Innovative Activity Profile 2 6. This section draws mainly on the papers presented dur- This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Christian ing the UNDAW Expert Group Meeting; see note 1 above Fauliau (Consultant) and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa and background papers for more details. (Consultant) and Regina Birner (IFPRI). This Profile was 7. See note 6 in Thematic Note 1. drawn heavily from the author's field experiences and knowledge of the project, with consultations on World Bank Thematic Note 3 (1998) and World Bank (2003). This Thematic Note was prepared by Jeannette Gurung (WOCAN), with inputs from Robin Mearns (World Bank) Innovative Activity Profile 3 and Hild Rygnestad (Consultant), and reviewed by Cather- This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Hild ine Ragasa (Consultant); Alice Carloni, Maria Hartl, and Rygnestad (World Bank) and reviewed by Catherine Annina Lubbock (IFAD); Regina Birner (IFPRI); and Eija Ragasa (Consultant); Maria Hartl (IFAD) and Natasha Pehu (World Bank). Hayward (World Bank). This Profile was drawn from 1. A. M. Goetz and R. Jenkins, "Re-thinking Accountability. project-specific World Bank documents: "Project Briefing on the Gender-Poverty-Governance Nexus: Key Appraisal Document" March 2004, the "Midterm Review Issues and Current Debates,"paper prepared for Development Report," September 2007, and the "Progress Report," Cooperation Ireland by C. Server, www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/ Fourth Quarter 2007. reports_gend_gov.htm. Thematic Note 4 REFERENCES This Thematic Note was prepared by Jacqueline Ashby (Inter- Overview national Potato Centre [CIP]), with inputs from Jeannette Gurung (WOCAN),and reviewed by Alice Carloni and Cather- Ackerman, John. 2004. "Co-Governance for Accountability: ine Ragasa (Consultants); Maria Hartl and Annina Lubbock Beyond `Exit' and `Voice.'" World Development 32: (IFAD); Regina Birner (IFPRI); and Eija Pehu (World Bank). 447­63. 1. SHG membership also generated clear benefits for mem- Alhassan-Alolo, Namawu. 2007. "Gender and Corruption: bers' household livelihoods. An impact study conducted in Testing the New Consensus." Public Administration and 2005 found that group members experienced fewer months Development 27: 227­37. 80 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE Aw, Djibril, and Geert Diemer. 2005. Making a Large Irriga- Johnson, Deb, Hope Kabuchu, and Santa Vusiya. 2003. tion Scheme Work. A Case Study of Mali. Washington, "Women in Ugandan Local Government: The Impact DC: World Bank. of Affirmative Action." Gender and Development Bardhan, Pranab, and Dilip Mookherjee. 2000. "Relative 11: 8­18. Capture of Government at Local and National Levels." Kaufmann, Daniel, Aart Kraay, and Massimo Mastruzzi. American Economic Review 90: 135­39. 2007. "Governance Matters VI: Governance Indicators BBC News. 2005."Monsanto Fined $1.5m for Bribery." BBC for 1996­2006." World Bank Policy Research Working News, January 7. Paper No. 4280, World Bank, Washington, DC. Beall, Jo. 2005. "Decentralizing Government and Central- Levy, Brian, and Sahr Kpundeh. 2004. Building State Capac- izing Gender in Southern Africa: Lessons from the ity in Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford South African Experience." Report No. 8, United University Press. National Research Institute for Social Development, Olken, Benjamin. 2007. "Monitoring Corruption: Evidence Geneva. from a Field Experiment in Indonesia." Journal of Politi- Birner, Regina, and Heidi Wittmer. 2006."Better Public Sec- cal Economy 115: 200­49. tor Governance through Partnership with the Private Rinaudo, Jean-Daniel. 2002. "Corruption and Allocation of Sector and Civil Society: The Case of Guatemala's Forest Water: The Case of Public Irrigation in Pakistan." Water Administration." International Review of Administrative Policy 4: 405­22. Sciences 72: 459­72. Samuel, Paul. 2002. Holding the State to Account: Citizen Chattopadhyay, Raghabendra, and Esther Duflo. 2004. Monitoring in Action. Bangalore: Books for Change. "Women as Policymakers: Evidence from Randomized Swamy, Anand, Stephen Knack, Young Lee, and Omar Azfar. Policy Experiment in India." Econometrica 72 (5): 2001. "Gender and Corruption." Journal of Development 1409­43. Economics 64: 25­55. Dollar, David, Raymond Fisman, and Roberta Gatti. 2001. United Nations and Academic Foundation (UN & AF). "Are Women Really the Fairer Sex? Corruption and 2005. "Unlocking the Human Potential for Public Sector Women in Government." Journal of Economic Behavior Performance." World Public Sector Report 2005, Depart- and Organization 46: 423­29. ment of Economic and Social Affairs, New Delhi, and Geisler, Gisela. 1995. "Troubled Sisterhood: Women and United Nations Academic Foundation. Politics in Southern Africa: Case Studies from Zambia, van Zyl, Johan, Tulio Barbosa, Andrew N. Parker, and Zimbabwe, and Botswana." African Affairs 94: 545­78. Loretta Sonn. 2000. "Decentralized Rural Development, Goetz, Anne Marie. 2001. Women Development Workers: Enhanced Community Participation, and Local Govern- Implementing Rural Credit Programmes in Bangladesh. ment Performance: Evidence from North-East Brazil." Dhaka: University Press. World Bank, Washington, DC. Vyasulu, Poornima, and Vinod Vyasulu. 2000. Women in ------. 2007. "Political Cleaners: Women as the New Anti- the Panchayati Raj: Grassroots Democracy in India. In Corruption Force?"Development and Change 38: 87­105. Women's Political Participation and Good Governance: Goetz, Anne Marie, and Rob Jenkins. 2002. "Accountability 21st Century Challenges, ed. L. Hammadeh-Bannerjee, to Women in Development Spending--Experiments in 41­49. New York: United Nations Development Service-Delivery Audits at the Local Level." Draft, Insti- Programme. tute of Development Studies, Brighton and Birkbeck Work, R. 2002. "Overview of Decentralisation Worldwide: College, London, U.K. A Stepping Stone to Improved Governance and ------. 2005. Reinventing Accountability: Making Democ- Human Development." Paper presented at the 2nd racy Work for Human Development. Baskingstoke, U.K.: International Conference on Decentralisation, "Feder- Palgrave Macmillan. alism: The Future of Decentralizing States?" Manila, Grindle, Merilee S. 1997. Getting Good Government: Capac- Philippines. ity Building in the Public Sectors of Developing Countries. World Bank. 2005. "The Effectiveness of World Bank Sup- Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. port for Community-Based and -Driven Development-- Jayal, Niraja Gopal. 2006. "Engendering Local Democracy: An OED Evaluation." Operations Evaluation Depart- the Impact of Quotas for Women in India's Panchayats." ment, World Bank, Washington, DC. Democratization 13: 15­35. ------. 2007a. Annual Report 2007. Washington, DC: Jeffrey, Craig. 2002. "Caste, Class, and Clientelism: A Politi- World Bank. cal Economy of Everyday Corruption in Rural North ------. 2007b. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture India." Economic Geography 78: 21­42. for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. MODULE 2: REFERENCES 81 Thematic Note 1 Schneider, Katrin. 2007. "Public Finance Management, Including Gender-Responsive Budgeting." Draft, UN Chattopadhyay, R., and E. Duflo. 2004. "Women as Policy- Division for the Advancement of Women, New York. makers: Evidence from Randomized Policy Experiment in India." Econometrica 72 (5): 1409­43. Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). 2005. "Policy Promoting Gender Equality in Development Curry, J., and D. Tempelman. 2006. "Improving the Use of Cooperation." SIDA, Stockholm. Gender and Population Factors in Agricultural Statistics: A Review of FAO's Support to Member Countries in UNIFEM. 2007. The State of the World's Children 2007. New Gender Statistics." FAO, Rome. York: United Nations. Derbyshire, Helen. 2002. "Evaluation of Gender Main- World Bank. 2001. Engendering Development: Through Gen- streaming in Oxfam's Advocacy Work on Poverty Reduc- der Equality in Rights, Resources, and Voice. Oxford: tion Strategy Papers." Oxfam, Oxford (Stage 1: Briefing Oxford University Press and World Bank. Paper for Country Case Studies). ------. 2004a. "Implementing the Bank's Gender Main- Elson, Diane, and Rosemary McGee. 1995. "Gender Equality, streaming Strategy: Second Annual Monitoring Report, Bilateral ProgramAssistance and StructuralAdjustment: Pol- FY03." World Bank, Washington, DC. icy and Procedures."World Development 23 (11): 1987­95. ------. 2004b. "A Review of Rural Development Aspects of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2007. "Progress PRSPs and PRSCs,2000­2004."Agriculture and Rural Devel- Report on the Implementation of the FAO Gender and opment Internal Report,World Bank,Washington, DC. Development Plan of Action." FAO, Rome. ------. 2005. "Evaluating a Decade of World Bank Gender Gender and Rural Development Thematic Group Policy: 1990­99." Operations Evaluation Department, (GENRD). 2006."FY06 Gender Portfolio Review." World World Bank, Washington, DC. Bank, Washington, DC. ------. 2007. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture ------. 2007."FY07 Gender Portfolio Review."World Bank, for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. Washington, DC. ------. 2008. "Gender Equality as Smart Economics: World ------. 2008. "Economic and Sector Work and Technical Bank Group Gender Action Plan, First Year Progress Report Assistance inARD Portfolio."World Bank,Washington,DC. (January 2007­January 2008)."World Bank,Washington,DC. International Food and Agriculture Organization (IFAD). World Bank and International Monetary Fund. 2005. "2005 2003. "Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in IFAD's Review of PRS Approach: Balancing Accountabilities and Operations: Plan of Action 2003­2006." IFAD, Rome. Scaling Up Results." World Bank, Washington, DC. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2007a. Zuckerman, Elaine. 2002. "Poverty Reduction Strategy "Proceedings of the Consultation on Strengthening Papers and Gender." Background paper for the Confer- Women's Control of Assets for Better Development Out- ence "Sustainable Poverty Reduction and PRSPs-- comes." IFPRI, Washington, DC. Challenges for Developing Countries and Development ------. 2007b. "Engendering Better Policies: Two Decades Cooperation," Berlin, May 13­16. of Gender Research from IFPRI--CD ROM." IFPRI, Washington, DC. Thematic Note 2 Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). 2006. "Women in Poli- Jain, Devaki. 2005. "Rethinking the Need for and Structure tics: 60 Years in Retrospect." Data Sheet No. 4. Note, IPU, of the National Machineries for Women's Advancement." Geneva, February. Background paper for the Expert Group Meeting "The Morrison, Andrew. 2007. "Does Gender Equality Matter Role of National Mechanisms in Promoting Gender for Shared Growth?" Paper presented for Poverty Equality and the Empowerment of Women," Rome, Reduction and Economic Management-Gender and November 29­December 2, 2004. Development (PREMGE), World Bank, Washington, Vargas-Lundius, Rosemary, in collaboration with Annelou DC, April 25. Ypeij. 2007. Polishing the Stone. A Journey through the Quisumbing, Agnes, and Bonnie McClafferty. 2006a. Promotion of Gender Equality in Development Projects. "Gender and Development: Bridging the Gap between Rome: International Fund for Agricultural Development. Research and Action," IFPRI Issue Brief No. 44, Warioba, Christine. 2005."The Role of National Mechanisms International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, in Promoting Gender Equality and the Empowerment of DC. Women: SADC Experience." Background paper for the ------. 2006b. "Using Gender Research in Development." Expert Group Meeting"The Role of National Mechanisms Food Security in Practice No. 2, International Food Pol- in Promoting Gender Equality and the Empowerment of icy Research Institute, Washington, DC. Women," Rome, November 29­December 2, 2004. 82 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE Thematic Note 3 Patanali, R. 2007. "IFAD's Approach to Community Driven Development in West and Central Africa: Lessons of Baden, Sally. 2000. "Gender, Governance and the Feminiza- Experience." IFAD Paper No. 107, International Fund for tion of Poverty." In Women and Political Participation: Agricultural Development (IFAD), Washington, DC, 21st Century Challenges. New York: United Nations September. Development Programme. Peña-Montenegro, Raquel. 2004. Case Study: Scaling Up Balisacan, Arsenio, and Rose Edillon. 2003."Second Poverty Innovative Project Strategy Approaches for Poverty Reduc- Mapping and Targeting Study for Phases III and IV of tion in the Southern Highlands of Peru. Rome: Interna- KALAHI-CIDSS." Asia-Pacific Policy Center, Quezon tional Fund for Agricultural Development. City, Philippines. Perrett, Heli. 2004. "Review Development Funds in IFAD Balisacan,Arsenio,Rose Edillon,and Geoffrey Ducanes.2000. Projects: Some Emerging Lessons." Unpublished report, "Poverty Mapping and Targeting for KALAHI-CIDSS." Rome, October. Binswanger, Hans P., and Swaminathan S. Aiyar. 2003."Scal- World Bank. 2001a. "Vietnam: Community Based Rural ing Up Community-Driven Development: Theoretical Infrastructure Project." Project Appraisal Document, Underpinnings and Program Design Implications." World Bank, Washington, DC. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3039, World Bank, Washington, DC. ------. 2001b. "Vietnam: Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project." Project Appraisal Document, World Gender and Rural Development Thematic Group Bank, Washington, DC. (GENRD). 2008. "Does Unfettered CDD Hurt Women More than It Helps Them?" Proceedings of the debate ------. 2002. "Kapitbisig Laban Sa Kahirapan--Compre- session during the Sustainable Development Network hensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services Project Week, February 22, World Bank, Washington, DC. (KALAE-CIDSS)." World Bank, Washington, DC. Gillespie, Stuart. 2006. Scaling Up Community Driven Devel- ------. 2003. "Kecamatan Development Program." opment: A Synthesis of Experience. FCND Discussion Implementation Completion Report, World Bank, Paper No. 181, Food Consumption and Nutrition Washington, DC. Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, ------. 2005. The Effectiveness of World Bank Support for Washington, DC. Community-Based and Driven Development: An OED Horowitz,Leah.2007."Getting Good Government forWomen: Evaluation. Washington, DC: World Bank. A Literature Review." Draft report, IFPRI, Washington, DC. ------. 2006a. "Vietnam: "Community Based Rural Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). 1998. The Use Infrastructure Project--Project Process Monitoring of Social Investment Funds as an Instrument for Combat- Consulting Services." Progress Report, World Bank, ing Poverty: Strategy Paper. Washington: IADB. Washington, DC. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). ------. 2006b. "Report on Project Implementation Issues 2004a. Community Development Funds in IFAD Projects: in First Half of 2006 and Outline of Tasks in Second Some Emerging Lessons for Project Design. Rome: IFAD. Half of 2006 of the Community-Based Rural Infra- ------. 2004b. Innovative Approaches to Targeting in structure Project." Progress Report, World Bank, Wash- Demand-Driven Projects. Rome: IFAD. ington, DC. ------. 2006. "Initiative on Community Driven Develop- ------. 2007a. "Strengthening Governance, from Local to ment Regional Workshop Report." Accra, FIDAFRIQUE Global." In The World Development Report 2008, chapter program, IFAD. Also available at http://fidafrique.net/ 11. Washington, DC: World Bank. rubrique282.html. ------. 2007b. "Tracking Progress towards Community Joint Donor and Government Mission. 2007. "Gender in Empowerment and Welfare: KALAHI-CIDSS Midterm Community Driven Development Projects: Implications Evaluation Report." World Bank, Washington, DC. for PNPM Mandiri." Working paper, Report No. 40765, ------. 2007c. "Vietnam: Community Based Rural Infra- World Bank, Washington, DC. structure Project." Progress Report, World Bank, Wash- Labonne, Julien, and Rob Chase. 2007. "Who's at the Wheel ington, DC. When Communities Drive Development? The Case of ------. 2007d. "Vietnam: Northern Mountains Poverty the KALAHI-CIDSS in the Philippines." Working paper Reduction Project." Project Completion and Results No. 43037, World Bank, Washington, DC. Report, World Bank, Washington, DC. Mansuri, Ghazala, and Vijayendra Rao. 2004. "Community- --------. 2007e. "Enabling East Asian Communities to Based and Driven Development: A Critical Review." Drive Local Development: East Asia Region CDD Flag- World Bank Research Observer 19: 1­39. ship Report." World Bank, Washington, DC. MODULE 2: REFERENCES 83 ------. 2008. "Vietnam: Northern Mountains Poverty Quisumbing, Agnes, Jonna P. Estudillo, and Keijiro Reduction Project." Final Report, World Bank, Washing- Otsuka. 2004. Land and Schooling: Transferring Wealth ton, DC. across Generations. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univer- sity Press. World Bank. 2006."Implementing the Bank's Gender Main- Thematic Note 4 streaming Strategy: Annual Monitoring Report for FY04 Kabeer, Nailer, and Helzi Noponen. 2005. Social and Eco- and FY05." World Bank, Washington, DC. nomic Impacts of PRADAN's Self Help Group Microfinance and Livelihoods Promotion Program. Brighton, U.K.: Insti- tute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. Thematic Note 2 Liamzon, Cristina. 2006."Strengthening Capacities of Orga- International Fund for Agricultural Development. 2005. nization of the Poor: Experience in Asia--IFAD's Experi- "Issues and Action Note on IFAD's Experience Working ence in Building and Strengthening Rural Organizations with National Mechanisms in Support of Gender Equal- in Asia." ANGOC/IFAD, Quezon City, Philippines. ity." Background paper for the Expert Group Meeting Seeley, Janet, Meenakshi Batra, and Madhu Sarin. 2000. "The Role of National Mechanisms in Promoting Gen- Women's Participation in Watershed Development in der Equality and the Empowerment of Women," Rome, India. Gatekeeper Series No. 92. London: International November 29­December 2, 2004. Institute for Environment and Development. Thematic Note 3 Innovative Activity Profile 2 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005. Rapid World Bank. 1998. "Republic of Côte d'Ivoire--Second Guide for Missions: Analysing Local Institutions and National Agricultural Services Support Project." Project Livelihoods. Rome: Institutions for Rural Develop- Appraisal Document, World Bank, Washington, DC. ment, FAO. ------. 2003. "Republic of Côte d'Ivoire--Second National International Fund for Agricultural Development. n.d. Agricultural Services Support Project." Implementation "Empowering the Poor by Shifting from a Supply to a and Completion Report, World Bank, Washington, DC. Demand Driven Approach." Available at www.ifad.org/ events/reducingpoverty/peru.htm. Innovative Activity Profile 3 Thematic Note 4 World Bank. 2004. "Gemidiriya Community Development and Livelihood Improvement Project." Project Appraisal Catholic Relief Services. 2007. The Organization and Devel- Document, World Bank, Washington, DC. opment of Farmer Groups for Agroenterprise: Conclusions ------. 2007a. "Gemidiriya Community Development and from a CRS and RII-CIAT Study Tour in Asia, Africa and Livelihood Improvement Project." Midterm Review Latin America. Baltimore: Catholic Relief Services. Report, World Bank, Washington, DC. Cornwall, Andrea. 2001. "Whose Voices? Whose Choices? ------. 2007b. "Gemidiriya Community Development and Reflections on Gender and Participatory Development." Livelihood Improvement Project." Progress Report, World Development 31 (8): 1325­42. Fourth Quarter, World Bank, Washington, DC. Weinberger, Katinka, and Johannes Jutting. 2001. "Women's Participation in Local Organizations: Condi- tions and Constraints." World Development 29 (8): 1391­1404. FURTHER READING Wilson, Kimberly. 2002. "The New Microfinance: An Essay Thematic Note 1 on the Self-Help Group Movement in India." Journal of Norris, Pippa, and Ronald Inglehart. 2000. "Cultural Barri- Microfinance 4 (2): 218­45. ers to Women's Leadership: A Worldwide Comparison." International Political Science Association paper. 84 MODULE 2: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE M O D U L E 3 Gender and Rural Finance Overview RURAL FINANCE AND RURAL LIVELIHOODS: The provision of financial services can effectively comple- INTRODUCTION ment--and provide a means of accessing--different types of training and other nonfinancial services. Rural finance he critical role of financial services in rural livelihood T development is broadly recognized. In recent years providers can also provide a forum for grassroots collective there has been an increasing emphasis on establish- action and advocacy where people meet regularly over a ing an "inclusive financial sector"--in other words, on sup- sustained period to access financial services (as in group- porting the whole diversity of financial institutions that can based microfinance but also in other meetings of people provide funds for pro-poor development.1 "Rural finance" as who obtain finance on a more individual basis). Interest is defined here refers to the range of financial services available also increasing in going beyond the establishment and in rural areas--not only agricultural finance, but also finance expansion of financial institutions per se, to look at the ways for nonagricultural development in rural areas (fig. 3.1). It is in which financial service providers can strategically promote important that gender issues be considered across the entire pro-poor growth--for example, through interventions at dif- range of rural financial service providers. ferent levels of marketing and supply chains--and contribute Rural finance includes the range of retail and wholesale to environmental management. institutions that have the capacity or potential to offer finan- Pro-poor development has many requirements extending cial services to the poor and extremely poor (commonly beyond interventions targeted at alleviating poverty. Interven- referred to as "microfinance"). Beginning in the 1990s many tions are needed at other levels to promote economic growth donors, including the World Bank, International Fund for inwaysthatbenefitthepoor,suchasbyincreasingemployment, Agricultural Development (IFAD), and Food and Agricul- providing consumption goods, and improving markets. The ture Organization (FAO), increasingly focused on the sus- provision of financial services for the poor, therefore, should tainable and large-scale delivery of financial services for the be seen as a complement to, and not a substitute for, the poor, especially small loans for both farm and off-farm activ- provision of financing for larger-scale agricultural activities ities, savings and microinsurance services, and, more recently, and rural development (World Bank 2007a). More attention remittance transfer services. Access to well-designed financial must be paid to providing innovative types of rural finance for services can help poor households build assets, engage more rural development. These innovations can address the effectively with markets, and reduce their vulnerability to shortcomings of earlier agricultural finance programs, with crises, especially when access to services is planned as part of respect not only to economic growth but also to their contri- household livelihood strategies and sustained over time. bution to sustainable development and poverty reduction. 85 Figure 3.1 Interplay of Financial Services in Rural Areas Membership-based financial organizations: These organi- zations include rural financial cooperatives, credit unions, and other village-based entities. Some of these FINANCIAL SECTOR may also lend external funds to members. Integrated rural development programs and multisector RURAL FINANCE nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that offer financial and nonfinancial services as part of integrated development strategies: These programs or organizations may mobilize AGRICULTURAL FINANCE MICROFINANCE rural populations, often through groups of various types, Financing to gain access to financial services, either directly from the small-scale NGO or indirectly through links between rural communi- irrigation ties and other financial institutions. The organizational distinctions and organizational gender Source: Kloeppinger-Todd 2007. policy related to these providers are discussed in more detail in Thematic Note 1. Rural finance covers a range of products, such as the Examples include the provision of larger and longer-term following: loans to commercial farmers, value chain finance, finance for natural resource management, and improvements in the legal Loans of varying amounts, with varying time frames and environment to facilitate the provision of financial services conditions, to pursue a range of livelihood activities (Fries andAkin 2004; Hollinger 2004;World Bank 2007a).The (including both agricultural and off-farm activities) or to development of financial services for the poor also needs to be permit asset-building and consumption placed in the context of debates about corporate social respon- Savings services of different types to meet different sibility and consumer protection. needs, from managing day-to-day household cash flows Rural financial services are currently provided by a range to building assets over the long term of institutions, including the following: Insurance to reduce risk and vulnerability Leasing arrangements for assets Informal private sector providers: Large-scale farmers, Remittance transfer services enabling migrants to send traders,processors,and employers provide credit as part of more of their earnings home for investment in liveli- sharecropping or leasing agreements, putting-out systems, hoods and asset building, for consumption, and for market transactions, or employment arrangements. Retail reducing the vulnerability of family members left behind stores offer consumer goods under credit or lease-to-own Bill payment services arrangements. Moneylenders, pawnbrokers, and informal Pensions to reduce long-term vulnerability. deposit collectors are also included in this group. Informal mutual financial mechanisms: Examples include The gender dimensions of different products are discussed rotating or accumulating savings and credit associations in more detail in Thematic Note 2. (ROSCAs or ASCAs), burial societies for death insurance, Rural finance may or may not differ substantially from cash or in-kind advances, or savings arrangements with urban finance. Many institutions offer services (often the relatives and patrons. same services) in rural and urban areas, and rural and Formal sector providers: Examples include private com- urban areas are obviously on a geographical continuum-- mercial banks, state-owned banks, post offices, insurance there is rarely a sharp division between one and the other. companies, and companies specializing in products such In many contexts, however, rural finance faces specific as leasing, housing finance, and remittance transfers. challenges: Specialist microfinance institutions: These institutions provide financial services to poor and low-income pop- A lack of market development and infrastructure, and ulations. They use either their own funds or funds bor- hence greater limitation in the kinds of livelihoods that rowed from private banks and other sources of funding can be pursued by the rural population, leads to broad- by individuals and/or groups. based "geographical" poverty. 86 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE The means of gaining a livelihood may be seasonal, espe- Activity Profile 1). The first International Women's Conference cially in agriculture but also in cases in which processors in 1975 in Mexico,where theWomen'sWorld Banking network or manufacturers depend on local agriculture to source was established, gave the problem of women's access to savings raw materials or on local incomes to create demand for and credit services particular emphasis. Following the second their products. International Women's Conference in Nairobi in 1985, govern- Interrelated covariant economic risks are present, such as ment and NGO-sponsored programs to generate income for climatic and environmental risks, price and market fluc- women proliferated. Many of these programs channeled sav- tuations, or pests and diseases. ings and credit services through women's groups. Information and transaction costs for service providers Beginning in the 1990s microfinance programs were can be higher in rural areas, where populations are more increasingly directed at women--partly because of evidence dispersed (sometimes very remote), have lower levels of that women's repayment rates were higher than men's but literacy and education, and have less access to the com- also because donors supported microfinance for women as an plementary support that people may need to translate effective gender strategy to increase women's role in produc- access to financial services into improved livelihoods. tion. In contrast to most economic development interven- Rural communities may face different types of social tions, in many prominent microfinance programs women opportunities and risks. Rural communities may be more eventually formed the majority of clients, including programs closely knit, have concentrated local power structures, modeled after the Grameen Bank program and many of the experience sharper ethnic divisions, or may be character- Finca Village Banking affiliates.2 In some cases the emphasis ized by more than one of these. on women clients often continued as microfinance programs Property rights are ill defined and frequently characterized evolved into more formal microfinance institutions. by complex land, crop, and resource use rights and sharing Although the provision of financial services to rural arrangements based on kinship, marriage, or community. women has focused largely on microfinance and poverty reduction, some parties have raised concerns with increasing These factors may make financial services more costly to women's access to financial services at all levels to help them provide in rural than in urban areas, particularly in more increase their incomes as medium- or large-scale entrepre- remote areas or those suffering from particularly severe envi- neurs, exporters, and farmers (World Bank 2006, 2007b). ronmental risks. These factors may also make financial services Gender-responsive action to remove discrimination in less effective unless services are also supported by other inter- women's access to rural financial services is likely to have ventions. Like urban areas, rural areas have a range of target many significant benefits, both for the development process groups that could benefit from financial services and that must and for women themselves. be reached as part of a pro-poor development process. In some First, efficiency and economic growth: Women have been rural areas or for some target groups, the efficient provision of targeted for microfinance programs largely because they financial services may require delivery mechanisms that differ have proved to be more reliable clients than men. Women from those in urban areas, as well as different types of integra- have often proved to be better savers than men, better at tion with other development interventions. repaying loans, and more willing to form effective groups to collect savings and decrease the cost of delivering many small loans. Targeting women may therefore improve the financial BENEFITS FROM GENDER-RESPONSIVE sustainability of rural finance institutions. This benefit is in ACTION: POTENTIALVIRTUOUS SPIRALS addition to the efficiency benefits to the rural economy of Concerns over women's access to financial services and the enabling over half the rural population to save and gain degree to which women benefit from these services are not access to loans, insurance, and other services so that they can new; nor are they part of a donor- or Western-led agenda. contribute to rural economic growth (World Bank 2006). Beginning in the early 1970s, women's movements in many Efficiency and economic growth will also be supported by countries became increasingly interested in the extent to which paying attention to the rapidly increasing numbers of women actually use poverty-focused credit programs and women migrants who require remittance transfer services credit cooperatives, as well as in the lack of secure savings facil- and to the increasing numbers of women left behind in ities to help women increase their control over assets.Both con- rural areas who now bear major responsibility for develop- cerns were fundamental to setting up the Self-Employed ing the rural economy. Attention must also be given to the Women's Association in India (Rose 1992) (see Innovative needs of large-scale women entrepreneurs (such as those in MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE 87 West Africa who control most of the trade in food), women The combination of women's increased economic activity exporters in global markets, and women engaging in cross- and increased decision making in the household can spur border trade (Burjorjee, Deshpande, and Weidemann 2002). wider social and political empowerment. The positive effects Second, poverty reduction: To reduce poverty, specific on women's confidence and skills--as well as expanded attention must be given to women in poor households. knowledge, support networks, and market access for some Women are generally poorer than men. They are more vul- women--can enhance the status of all women within a com- nerable within households because they lack control over munity. In societies in which women's mobility has been very productive assets. Research also indicates that women tend to circumscribed and women previously had little opportunity invest any additional earnings in the health and nutritional to meet other women outside their immediate families, very status of the household and in schooling for the children significant changes have occurred when women have started (Burjorjee, Deshpande, and Weidemann 2002). Channeling to be involved in paid economic activities. Individual women economic resources such as credit or savings facilities to who gain respect in their households and communities may households through women can enable them to play a more become role models for others, which leads to a wider process active role in household decision making--both in address- of change in community perceptions and men's willingness ing risks facing the household and in advocating for to accept change. Particularly in societies in which women do increased investment in family welfare. Increasing house- not already have extensive networks, these empowerment hold expenditure in areas like nutrition and education, par- effects can be enhanced through well-designed, group-based ticularly for girls, may not only benefit children but can also models for financial services. Even individual bank savings improve women's well-being by enabling them to reduce and lending products that are gender inclusive may bring gender inequalities in the household. about change by developing women's confidence in negotiat- Third, gender equality and empowerment: Promoting ing with men staff and initiating wider impacts in their rela- gender equality of access to financial services has been part tions with men in other arenas. of the agenda of the international women's movement since Women's economic empowerment as individuals is 1975, as part of women's economic rights. Evidence indicates potentially significant at both the community and higher that access to microfinance can initiate the virtuous spirals of levels because it heightens women's visibility as agents of economic empowerment, increased well-being, and social economic growth and magnifies their voice as economic and political empowerment of women themselves (Cheston actors in policy decisions. Microfinance groups may form and Kuhn 2002).Women--in some contexts, many women-- the basis for collective action to address gender inequalities show enormous resourcefulness and initiative when provided within a community, including issues such as gender vio- with a loan or the opportunity to save without interference lence, access to resources, and local decision making. Micro- from family members (Kabeer 2001). Most microfinance finance groups have been used strategically by some NGOs organizations can cite instances of women who were very as an entry point for wider social and political mobilization poor before entering the program, started an economic of women around gender issues (see Thematic Note 1). Local activity with a loan, and thereby improved well-being, rela- changes may be reinforced by higher-level organization and tionships in the household, and involvement in local com- lead to wider movements for social and political change and munity activities. Impact studies that differentiate by poverty the promotion of women's human rights at the macrolevel. level often find these benefits particularly for the "better-off These wider impacts are not necessarily confined to the poor" who have some education and contacts to build on for effects of having access to financial services. They could also operating a successful enterprise. be promoted by strengthening women's participation in Women can become economically empowered in several agricultural organizations and cooperatives, strengthening ways by greater access to financial services. Women can individual services to women members of entrepreneurship increase their understanding of and control over household associations to advocate for women's interests, and strength- finances. Through savings, credit, and insurance facilities, ening gender-equitable policies at the macrolevel. women can promote their own economic activities, create and protect assets, enter markets, and diversify their eco- GENDER CHALLENGES: POTENTIAL nomic activities. By strengthening women's economic roles VICIOUS CIRCLES and enhancing respect for women's decision making, access to financial services may also increase women's own share of Despite the considerable potential of rural financial services the benefits from greater household well-being. for women, there is still a long way to go before women have 88 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE equal access to these services or fully benefit from them. These contextual disadvantages are compounded by Achieving both of these goals does not depend only on institutionalized discrimination, which hinders women's expanding financial services per se, but also on the specific access to formal financial services (Anderson-Saito, Dhar, types of financial services that are delivered in different con- and Pehu 2004). Women's use of financial services has texts to women from different backgrounds and by different increased significantly over the past two decades, but con- types of institutions or programs (Mayoux 1999,2008).3 What sidering the types of services they receive and the broader follows in this section should, however, be taken as an indica- spectrum of rural finance as a whole, it is clear that access to tion of the types of issues to be borne in mind in designing financial services is still unequal. The extent to which gender-equitable services and why the points and suggestions microfinance programs are directed at women varies among in the rest of this Module are important, rather than an indi- countries, and the perception that such programs focus cation that rural finance should not be considered as a poten- largely on women is not true everywhere (for example, tially effective and important part of a gender strategy. Pakistan).4 In most financial institutions, women generally The gender dimensions of the constraints to rural receive smaller loans than men, even for the same activities. finance mentioned earlier affect women's access to finance Women are mainly involved in microfinance programs with and the degree to which they benefit: small savings and credit services and some types of microin- surance. Their participation relative to men decreases as Gender restrictions on women's mobility in many cul- financial organizations grow and introduce services for tures and the gender-discriminatory pattern of most better-off clients, often as a way to improve financial viabil- rural development mean that women are likely to have ity.5 It is unclear how much of this trend can be attributed less access than men to markets and infrastructure and to institutional discrimination of the types outlined previ- greater limitations on the types of economic activity that ously, to women's lower demand for larger loans, and to a they can undertake. tendency for better-off households to take loans in men's Most cultures generally view women as bearing the main names.6 It is important to note that women are vastly responsibility for household subsistence. Women thus underrepresented as borrowers and members in many rural may have more interest in seasonally specific strategies to finance programs and cooperatives that focus on larger agri- diversify their livelihoods, decrease household vulnera- cultural production loans. bility, and maintain consumption levels in lean times, Financial indicators of access--such as the numbers of and less incentive and ability to take risks on economic women clients, numbers and size of loans obtained, and activities that may yield a higher income. repayment data--should not be used as stand-alone indica- Women's concentration in a narrow range of activities tors of women's actual use of financial services or as proxy with insufficient resources for investment may make indicators of women's well-being or empowerment. For them more susceptible to climatic and environmental women, as for men, credit is also debt. It must be repaid and risks, price and market fluctuations, and epidemics of thus carries risk when it is taken on by people with fragile pests and disease. Women tend to be at the bottom of the livelihoods and high levels of economic insecurity. Savings, hierarchy in local and global value chains and are thus insurance, or pension premiums and remittance transfers the least protected from fluctuations in employment and are foregone investment or consumption. The extent of the income caused by economic and environmental factors. benefit from financial services, therefore, depends on the Women, on average, have lower levels of literacy and type of service provided and the extent to which it enables education than men in the same area. livelihoods to improve. In addition, specific gender dimen- Women are generally subject to higher levels of "social sions affect the degree to which women benefit. The regis- control" within households and communities and are tration of loans in women's names does not necessarily less likely to have their interests represented by local ensure their participation in decisions about how the loan power hierarchies. will be used, particularly if it is for an economic activity Women often have few formal property rights. The rights operated by a man or by a family rather than an economic they do have may be undermined through land reform activity managed by the woman. Similarly, high repayment and rural development programs that grant property levels by women do not of themselves indicate that women titles to the household head (generally automatically have used the loans. Men may take the loans from women, assumed to be the man) and that do not protect or rein- or women may choose to invest the loans in men's activities. force women's informal rights (see also Module 4). Loans may be repaid from men's earnings or any of the MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE 89 economic activities engaged in by the household, through or that there is any challenge to gender inequalities within women forgoing their own or the family's consumption, or the household. Women's perceptions of value and self- from borrowing from other sources. Although women may worth are not necessarily translated into actual changes in still benefit from accessing finance for the household, this well-being, benefits, or gender relations in the household. outcome can by no means be assumed. In relation to savings, Although in some contexts women may seek to increase insurance, and remittance transfers, there are questions their influence within joint decision-making processes about how far women are benefiting or about whether they rather than seek independent control over income, neither are now expected to use their own scarce resources for of these outcomes can be assumed to occur. Evidence indi- household welfare--resources previously provided by men. cates alarmingly that men, in response to women's The contribution of financial services to increasing increased (but still low) incomes, may withdraw more of incomes varies widely. The degree to which credit contributes their contribution to the household budget for their own to increased incomes for women, as well as men, depends to expenditure on luxuries. Men are often very enthusiastic a large extent on how well the delivery of credit is adapted about women's savings and credit programs because their to the economic activities being financed. Agricultural loans wives no longer "nag" them for money (Mayoux 1999). that arrive late or are not large enough to pay for inputs may Small increases in access to income may come at the cost simply burden a woman with debt that she cannot repay of heavier workloads, increased stress, and diminished through proceeds from the activity she wished to finance. In good health. Women's expenditure patterns may replicate many contexts, only a minority of women use credit and rather than counter gender inequalities and continue to savings to develop lucrative new activities of their own. Evi- disadvantage girls. Without providing substitute care for dence suggests that in some instances women invest in cur- small children, the elderly, and the disabled and providing rent activities that yield little profit or in their husband's services to reduce domestic work, many organizations activities. Although a decrease in household vulnerability report that women's outside work adversely affects chil- may be as important as an actual increase in income for many dren and the elderly. Daughters in particular may be with- very poor women, many women seek to increase their own drawn from school to assist their mothers. Although in incomes significantly. Some women have extremely good many cases women's increased contribution to household business ideas requiring larger loans, but they face discrimi- well-being has considerably improved domestic relations, nation in accessing such loans, with the result that their busi- in other cases it intensifies tensions. This problem affects nesses collapse because they are forced to purchase inferior not only poor women but also women from all economic equipment or materials (Mayoux 1999). Negative impacts on backgrounds, which indicates that the empowerment incomes are not confined to loans. Compulsory savings and process must have effective strategies to change men's atti- insurance premiums constitute a further drain on resources tudes and behaviors. for investment, unless they are designed with the interests of Women's individual economic empowerment and/or the woman in mind and not just to limit risk and increase participation in group-based microfinance programs is not financial sustainability for the financial institution. necessarily linked to social and political empowerment. Clearly, women's choice of livelihood activity and their Women's increased productive role often reduces their time ability to increase their income are seriously constrained by for social and political activities. Earning an income and gender inequalities in access to other resources for invest- finding time to attend group meetings for savings and credit ment, responsibility for household subsistence expenditure, transactions may also take women away from other social lack of time because of unpaid domestic work, low levels of and political activities--and experience suggests that when mobility, and vulnerability--all of which limit women's meetings focus only on savings and credit transactions, access to markets in many cultures. These gender constraints women commonly want to decrease the length and fre- occur in addition to market constraints on expansion of the quency of group meetings over time. Women's existing informal sector and resource and skill constraints on the financial networks may come under serious strain if ability of poor men as well as women to move up from sur- women's own loan repayments or savings contributions, or vival activities to expanding businesses. The rapid expansion those of other group members, become a problem. The con- of loans for poor women may saturate the market for tribution of financial services to women's social and politi- "women's" activities and cause profits to plummet. cal empowerment depends to a great extent on other fac- Women's contribution to increased income for their tors, such as staff attitudes in interacting with women and households does not ensure that women necessarily benefit men, the types and effectiveness of core and other capacity 90 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE building, and the types of nonfinancial support services or the large-scale rural finance programs for agricultural collaboration with other organizations. development and macrolevel policy reform that are being Finally, very little research has been done on the gender given renewed emphasis. impacts of financial services for men. Any financial inter- Women must lead efforts to mainstream gender, given vention available to any household member has the poten- that it is women who are currently most disadvantaged in tial to reinforce or challenge existing inequalities in ways relation to all economic and human development indicators. that may contribute to or undermine both the poverty and First, to promote gender equity, we must also examine the the potential of other household members. As noted earlier, gender dimensions of financial and other services for men to research suggests that financial services targeted to men see to what extent these support rather than undermine contribute less to household well-being and food security. strategies for women. Second, it must be recognized that not When financial services automatically treat men as the all women (any more than all men) have the same needs. head of the household, they may reinforce what are often Considerable diversity exists across regions of the world in only informal rights that men have over household assets, gender differences and inequalities in economic roles, in cul- labor, and income. In other words, they may seriously tural opportunities and constraints,and in the ways that these undermine women's informal rights. As in other areas of factors interact with economic market and institutional fac- development, such outcomes may have consequences not tors. Even in one geographical area, not all women or men are only for the women and households involved but also for in the same position. The financial and other service needs of the effectiveness of the intervention and sustainability of women and men involved in different economic activities and the institutions involved. with different levels of experience and resources, different ethnic backgrounds, ages, marital status, education levels, and so forth will be different. Individual women and men are also GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AN likely to have a diversity of financial needs, which will change INCLUSIVE FINANCIAL SECTOR FOR over time with the life cycle and personal circumstances. The PRO-POOR DEVELOPMENT: GOOD aim must therefore be to develop a diversified, inclusive rural PRACTICE AND CURRENT AREAS OF finance sector in which different types of institutions provide DEBATE AND INNOVATION different and diverse services adapted to the needs of different Given the contextual and institutional constraints, gender women and support men's ability to promote equitable mainstreaming in rural finance requires more than increas- change. This endeavor should not be seen as an additional ing women's access to small savings, loan, and microinsur- burden but as an integral part of any serious strategy for ance programs or to a few products designed specifically for growth and poverty reduction. women. Instead, gender mainstreaming requires the pro- First, gender mainstreaming must promote gender equality motion of gender equality of opportunity across the entire of opportunity and access to all types of rural finance at all range of financial services, including remittance transfer levels, from microfinance directed at the very poor to gender- services, leasing arrangements, and larger loans for produc- equitable financial services for women farmers and entrepre- tive investment, as well as enhanced opportunities to partic- neurs who have moved higher up in the value chain. "Access" ipate in natural resource management and value chain means more than just physical proximity; it means removing development initiatives. direct and indirect gender discrimination in the design, To mainstream gender in an inclusive financial sector, promotion, and delivery of all services. It is important to providers must go beyond access alone and consider how establish graduation procedures so that women do not access can enable women and men to challenge and change remain entrenched and confined to small savings and credit gender inequality as well as household and community schemes. These women need clear avenues for upward mobil- poverty. This task requires not only attention to product ity through the financial sector as their needs and skills evolve. design but also attention to the organizational mechanisms Economic growth and poverty reduction both require the employed to deliver services and the ways in which finan- gender-equitable development of economic sectors employing cial services are integrated with or complemented by other large numbers of women, along with strategies to help women types of support from the same or other local organiza- enter new sectors. It is crucial that current debates about agri- tions. Finally, gender mainstreaming in an inclusive cultural and value chain finance, remittance transfers, and financial sector requires innovative thinking about how commercialization incorporate gender equity in their strate- women's access and gender equity can be incorporated into gies for economic growth and poverty reduction. MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE 91 Second, gender mainstreaming must ensure that women and governance affect women's access to rural financial ser- not only access but also benefit from the use of these services vices and the empowerment outcomes for women. It contains in terms of their well-being and empowerment. Ensuring that an additional discussion on internal gender policy. financial services actually benefit women clients, members, Thematic Note 2, on financial products, describes types and other intended beneficiaries is not only a concern for of products, discusses the issues involved in product design, donor agencies and governments seeking to comply with and describes innovations to increase women's access. It also organizational gender mandates and international agree- discusses the likelihood that women will be able to use ser- ments. It must be a concern of any financial service vices to benefit their economic activities or households and provider that obtains funds from these donor agencies and increase their own status and control over resources and of any commercial providers with claims to corporate decision making. social responsibility and ethical standards. Corporate social The Innovative Activity Profiles illustrate many of these responsibility and ethical standards are becoming increas- points through case studies: ingly important in relation to environmental protection and child labor, but they need to be extended to address Indira Kranthi Patham in India has supported the cre- international agreements on gender equity and women's ation of self-managed grassroots institutions of poor human rights. women, helped to expand and diversify their livelihood Third, gender mainstreaming will require action, advocacy, base, sustained food security among poor households, and linkages with movements that address the underlying bases and enabled participants to discover and influence mar- of gender discrimination, which affect both women's access to ket mechanisms for sustaining growth and equity. opportunities and the degree to which they are able to bene- The Kabarole Research and Resource Centre in Uganda fit. Particular areas of concern include property rights, sex- has developed self-managed microfinance associations ual violence, and political participation to increase women's under a gender policy to promote women's leadership. It voice in economic and rural policy. has also developed a sustainable, gender-mainstreamed The most cost-efficient and developmentally effective participatory action learning system for training. strategies for mainstreaming gender equality of opportunity and for promoting women's empowerment will differ, GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS depending on the type of financial institution, local context, FOR PRACTITIONERS and capacities. However, some things can be done by rural financial institutions of all types--from banks, insurance Specific recommendations in regard to different aspects of companies, and remittance transfer agencies to specialized rural finance are provided in the Thematic Notes. Broad microfinance institutions, member-based financial organi- guidelines are listed below. zations, and integrated rural development programs and At the national level: NGOs with savings and credit components. Moreover, although some of these strategies will require a different way Ensure that gender experts and women's organizations of "doing business" and some shift in priorities for resource are involved in designing financial regulations to ensure and funding allocation (possibly including the use of "smart that regulations do not inadvertently exclude women subsidies"), gender mainstreaming is likely to increase (for example, through definitions of ownership) and that rather than undermine sustainability. all regulations comply with and promote gender equality Most of what is discussed in this Module is not concerned of opportunity in fulfillment of international women's with "women's empowerment projects" as optional add-ons, human rights agreements. The aim must be to promote although these projects can also have their role if they are a diversified sector, spanning the range from commercial well designed. We are concerned with mainstreaming gender enterprises to NGOs, that caters to the needs of all and empowerment throughout the financial sector--not women as well as men and does not impose unnecessary only to benefit women but in the process also to improve the regulations and blueprints that favor particularly power- longer-term financial and organizational sustainability of ful financial lobbies or networks. financial services themselves and the sustainability and Promote and support the collection of gender-disaggregated dynamism of the rural economy in general. data on access to financial services across the sector, as Thematic Note 1, on models and strategies for institutional well as cross-institutional research into the reasons, and gender mainstreaming, discusses how institutional structure potential solutions, for any gender differences identified. 92 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE Promote networks of practitioners and gender experts and the degree to which affirmative gender strategies who can work together to identify, develop, and moni- may be needed. tor good practices and innovation for increasing To ensure that women have equal access to financial ser- women's equal access to rural financial services and vices and benefit from them, avoid simplistic replication increasing the extent to which they benefit from these of models from elsewhere. Design services and structures services--bearing in mind that credit is also debt, and based on a sound understanding of the local context, the that there is danger in selling financial products inap- target group and their financial needs, and any needs for propriately to vulnerable people. complementary support for livelihood development and Appraise the national training programs for bankers, agri- gender equity. culturalists, rural development staff, and other government Identify contextual gender constraints and consider how development staff and assess and improve the integration they can be addressed through interorganizational col- of gender and participatory gender planning skills. laboration, collective action, and lobbying the financial Promote linkages between the financial sector, rural sector or government. development planning, and other agencies promoting gender equity, particularly in relation to property rights GENDER INDICATORS AND CHECKLIST and women's participation in economic decision making. Detailed checklists for conducting gender assessments of different types of institutional structures and product At the intermediate level: designs are given below. Box 3.1 lists general questions that need to be asked in assessing the gender impact of rural Facilitate and support collaboration between different finance development interventions. In each case it is impor- rural finance providers in an area so that they can tant to conduct a thorough contextual analysis rather than work together to (1) promote innovation in financial make assumptions about existing forms of gender inequal- services for different target groups and ensure that ity, to assess the magnitude of change, and to determine the women from different economic and social back- degree to which changes are caused by better access to grounds are included, (2) reduce the costs of providing financial services or by specific aspects of the services, orga- complementary support for livelihoods and gender- nizational structure, or nonfinancial services rather than equity strategies, and (3) advocate and promote gender other contextual factors. Table 3.1 provides sample moni- equity at the local and national levels. toring and evaluation indicators. At the local level, for practitioners: Depending on the country or region, it may be relevant to also consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both Conduct a gender audit of their organization's structures as comparative indicators and when collecting data), as and practices to assess the degree to which gender equal- women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usually in ity of opportunity is present across the range of services the worst situation. Box 3.1 Gender Impact Checklist for Rural Finance How far and in what ways has women's access to rural and reasons for any differences? Has access to these financial services increased? Is there gender equality of sources changed since the intervention? If so, what opportunity? and why? What informal and formal financial services (such Does the institution or intervention track gender- as credit, savings, insurance, and remittance transfers) disaggregated data?What gender differences appear in the exist in the area? Which financial services did women data with respect to access to different financial services? normally use before the intervention? Which ones did If differences exist in numbers of women and men men normally use? What were the gender differences using different financial services, what are the reasons (Box continues on the following page) MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE 93 Box 3.1 Gender Impact Checklist for Rural Finance (continued) for this behavior? Differences in aspirations and education? Freedom from violence? Did gender motivation? Explicit or implicit institutional gender inequality with respect to these characteristics change discrimination? significantly or only a little following the intervention? How far and in what ways have rural financial services What have been the impacts of financial services on increased women's economic empowerment? women's own nutritional and food security, health, What economic activities did women already pursue? education, vulnerability to violence, and happiness? What economic activities did men pursue? What have been the impacts on the nutrition, How were assets, income, and resources distributed health, education, vulnerability to violence, and happi- within households? Did women and men have differ- ness of other women household members--girls and ent degrees of access? Different degrees of control? the elderly? Have financial services enabled women to increase What have been the impacts on the well-being of incomes or production from their economic activities? To boys and men? enter new and more profitable or productive activities? How far and in what ways have rural finance pro- To increase assets? To decrease economic vulnerability? grams contributed to women's social and political How far do women control this income or these empowerment? assets? For what do women use the income? Invest- Did women have personal autonomy and self- ment in livelihoods? Or consumption? confidence before the intervention? Did they have Has women's market access increased? In existing freedom of mobility or social and political activity? If markets only? In new markets? Has vulnerability to not, in what ways were they limited compared to men? market fluctuations decreased? How far and in what ways did access to financial Even if women do not use the income for their own services or rural finance programs increase women's economic activities, has their role in household decision self-confidence and personal autonomy? making and their control over household income or How far and in what ways have financial services or assets increased? rural finance programs extended and strengthened How far and in what ways have rural financial ser- women's networks and mobility? vices contributed to increased well-being for women and How far and in what ways have financial services or their families? rural finance programs enabled women to challenge What was the extent of gender inequality in and change unequal gender relations? In property well-being before? Food security? Health? Literacy and rights? Sexual violence? Political participation? Other? Source: Author. Table 3.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Rural Finance (continued) Indicator Sources of verification and tools Percentage of women and men among officials and staff trained in leadership and · Financial institution records management, systems, and procedures Percentage of women, men, and other disadvantaged groups sitting on management · Administrative records boards and committees · Project management information system Number of men, women, and ethnic minorities who received training in household · Financial institution records budgeting and SME financial management · Training records Number of men, women, and ethnic minorities who received training in loan application · Financial institution records procedures · Training records Number of men, women, indigenous people, and ethnic minorities who accessed financial · Financial institution records services per quarter · Project management information system · Savings and loans group records (Table continues on the following page) 94 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE Table 3.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Rural Finance (continued) Indicator Sources of verification and tools Payment defaults, disaggregated by gender, per quarter · Financial institution records · Savings and loans group records Among surveyed beneficiaries in target group, at least x percent of both women and men · Interviews with beneficiaries in target rate their access to rural finance as having improved during the period covered by the groups; ideally the interviews should be program or project conducted before and after any project/program activities Changes in on-farm or enterprise earnings of women-headed households and other · Case studies disadvantaged groups as a result of access to financial services and training support · Gender analysis · Sample surveys Percentage of new investments in nontraditional businesses (that is, not basic food crops · Interviews or selling merchandise) · Project records Changes over x-year period of project activities in household nutrition, health, education, · Household surveys, before and after vulnerability to violence, and happiness, disaggregated by gender · Project management information system · School records At least x percent increase of annual household income compared with baseline, · Household surveys measured at end of project period · Project management information system Source: Inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE 95 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Organizational Gender Mainstreaming: Models and Strategies ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS AND such organizations under their rural development programs. DIMENSIONS OFVARIATION Some programs targeting women were introduced by private banks such as Barclays Kenya. Public and private rural ural finance is probably as old as the rural cash econ- R finance mechanisms have often been inadequate and unsus- omy itself. Money lending and the provision of tainable, however, with very low repayment rates, especially credit in kind under varying terms from relatives, in the public sector. More recently some commercial traders, employers, and patrons for centuries if not millennia banks--aided by improved technology and infrastructure-- have been important means for farmers and households to have become interested in rural areas, in part in response to make investments and address seasonal or extraordinary government lending requirements that give priority to income and consumption demands. Despite their notoriety, poverty alleviation and in part because they perceive these money lending and patronage systems may be relatively well sectors as potentially profitable and wish to establish an adapted to balancing needs, risks, and costs (Rutherford early commercial advantage. For example, ICICI Bank in 1999). They offer immediacy of loan disbursement, small India is exploring how to place automated teller machines loans, flexible repayment schedules, and minimal and flexi- (ATMs) in rural areas for individual lending at normal bank ble collateral requirements because the borrower and lender interest rates, significantly lower than microfinance institu- are known to one another. The transaction costs are low tions (MFIs); how to link with MFIs and membership- because of the proximity of the borrower and lender. In based financial organizations (MBFOs); and how to many cultures indigenous systems of mutual assistance, such upgrade entire value chains by providing financial services as rotating savings and credit associations and accumulated for enterprises at specific points in the chain. Remittance savings and credit associations, enjoy a very long history.1 In transfer services have become crucial for capturing the some regions, particularly West Africa, very sophisticated increasing volume of overseas transfers and linking them to informal systems are common for both economic and social local development in rural areas that are the original home purposes. In designing rural finance services, the full range of many migrants. of existing informal services must be fully understood, taken The "microfinance revolution" of the 1980s and 1990s into account, and complemented rather than undermined by saw the rise and expansion of new organizations such as providers if informal services already address some of the Grameen Bank and microfinance networks such as Acción intended clients' financial needs. and Finca. These organizations aimed to provide financial Beginning in the 1950s many newly independent govern- services on a large enough scale to reduce poverty signifi- ments set up credit programs in agriculture and industry as cantly on a financially sustainable and even profitable basis. a major aspect of poverty alleviation and development Most are still confined to urban areas, but some, like strategies. In South Asia subsidized or low-interest credit Grameen Bank, are based in rural areas. Some MFIs origi- was extended through some state banking systems to small- nated as integrated development NGOs that saw themselves scale farmers and producers. In Africa resources were as pioneers of participatory development for the poor. mobilized for development through the stimulation of tra- The MBFOs also have a long history. Credit unions and ditional credit and savings groups and their formalization financial cooperatives were set up in many countries into cooperatives and credit unions. In the 1970s and 1980s, under colonial rule and as part of burgeoning cooperative multilateral and bilateral aid agencies increasingly supported 96 movements. In some African countries, missionaries set the poor. Like cooperatives, MBFOs should follow a savings- up savings clubs for rural households to cope with the agri- first approach, but this approach takes time, and quick cultural cycle. Small-scale informal systems and self- results in terms of loans disbursed should not be expected. managed federations, based on rotating systems and self-help As with cooperatives, external capitalization may damage groups, were more frequently set up, particularly for women, these organizations, especially if external loan funds are beginning in the mid-1980s. In some countries, such as India, injected before groups have organized and operated suc- various government programs widely promoted these organ- cessfully using their own savings. Relationships can be izations; elsewhere, they have been promoted by rural developed with banks if they are located within a reasonable development programs. In some cases the groups have been distance of the MBFO and if members are interested. This self-replicating (for example, the Women's Empowerment relationship may start quite modestly with the opening of a Program in Nepal). Many are developing more sophisticated bank account, but even that simple step can be empowering methods in scaling up, diversifying their products, and for people, especially women, who have never had access to accessing services from banks and large MFIs. a bank account (see also Ritchie 2007). An MBFO can operate cost effectively in rural communi- Box 3.2 outlines broad distinctions between rural finance ties in which banks and professionally managed MFIs do institutions, which are generally required to conform to leg- not exist, cannot be attracted, or are uninterested in serving islative norms, although significant differences in the legal Box 3.2 Rural Finance Institutions Formal sector providers include commercial banks and implicit costs of formal borrowing and reduce the state banks with rural development or poverty portfo- bank's costs and risks of lending to the poor). lios. Banks can either deliver services directly to rural Membership-based financial organizations include areas and poor people (individually or in groups) or financial cooperatives, credit unions, and self-help provide services through retail microfinance institu- groups, as well as their apex organizations and federa- tions, such as agricultural development and rural tions. These registered membership organizations are banks, development banks, postal banks, post offices governed by different types of state legislation. They are that capture savings and offer transfer services, com- formed and owned by members who (in theory at least) mercial banks (such as ICICI Bank in India), and make the main decisions, and they may be managed on remittance transfer providers (such as Western Union). a day-to-day basis by elected officers or salaried staff. Specialist microfinance institutions provide financial These MBFOs may supplement the funds available products to poor and low-income populations. This from members' savings through linkages with banks or category encompasses many organizational types, such arrangements with donor agencies. as Grameen Bank affiliates, trust banks (such as the Integrated provision of financial services through Opportunity network), and"village banks"(such as the rural development programs and NGOs can include Finca model). Some MFIs originated as catalyst, inter- very large rural development programs, such as those mediary, or parallel programs operated by NGOs and funded by the International Fund for Agricultural then officially registered as MFIs or banks. Depending Development, Food and Agriculture Organization, on national regulations, registration lets them collect and the World Bank, as well as small, local organiza- deposits and offer insurance and other financial ser- tions that provide basic financial services as part of a vices as well as loans. They have professional staff and broader development agenda. These programs may aim at reaching very large numbers of poor borrowers work with any of the institutions described earlier on a financially sustainable basis. Some MFIs may serve and directly mobilize small savings and credit groups, the nonpoor to subsidize services for the poor. Some often as networks or federations or by linking groups act as retail intermediaries for banks to their clients as to the formal banking system or microfinance institu- individuals or as groups, providing referrals, helping tions. Such programs seek to be cost effective and with loan applications, and offering training, technical have a development impact but not necessarily to be assistance, and guarantees to lenders (which reduce the financially sustainable. Source: Author. THEMATIC NOTE 1: ORGANIZATIONAL GENDER MAINSTREAMING: MODELS AND STRATEGIES 97 framework for each type of institution will affect how each is A conflict is often perceived between empowerment established and develops. For example, national legislation strategies and institutional sustainability. In particular it is (which differs among countries) affects the kinds of products often asserted that gender strategies are inappropriate in that an institution can develop and offer. The same institution banks, and hence irrelevant to the rapid expansion of com- may combine one or more organizational forms in different mercial or large-scale rural finance, including profit-oriented areas, for different target groups, or for different programs or or financially sustainable MFIs. projects funded by different donors. For example, a registered Gender mainstreaming should not be seen as a diversion bank or MFI may serve one area with individual lending, but from the serious, "hard-nosed" business of banking but as in another area self-help groups may be linked to government an integral part of all good business practice. The perceived rural development programs. The ways in which particular opposition between sustainability and empowerment over- organizations operate also depend on whether and how they looks the ways in which systemic change, rather than attempt to comply with legal requirements and donor increasing programs, can help increase gender opportunity guidelines or adapt them to their aims. Some MBFOs, MFIs, of access and women's empowerment. It also overlooks the and NGOs are in transition from one legal category to another ways in which such changes contribute to financial sustain- as a result of changes in donor requirements, growth and ability in addition to development and organizational sus- internal change, and change in the regulatory environment. tainability. Women at all levels of society are an underserved It is important to recognize that the distinguishing fea- market and--apart from extremely poor women--an tures of each model and organizational form have become underdeveloped and potentially profitable market.2 Women blurred as particular models (such as the Grameen model or (like men) who are confident, make good livelihood and cooperatives) have been adapted to different contexts. The household decisions, have control over resources, and can parent models themselves have evolved to adopt promising use larger loans effectively to increase their incomes are innovations and address emerging challenges. Some com- potentially very good long-term clients. They can contribute mercial banks increasingly look to microfinance to fulfill substantial amounts of savings and use a range of insurance government requirements or for its potential profits. NGOs and other financial products and can pay for services that have increasingly adopted elements of the financial sustain- benefit them. The task for all rural finance providers is ability approach. As mutual and self-managed organizations therefore to ensure that their systems are women friendly grow, they more often employ staff to manage operations, and contribute as far as possible to women's economic and members' participation in decision making may empowerment and well-being, providing avenues of become more limited. upward mobility and support for the benefit of both women Organizations nominally following the same model can and the provider. Even commercial banks can contribute to differ significantly in their governance and in the products women's social and political empowerment through and services they offer. Some rural finance is directed at par- changes in institutional culture and collaboration with ticular groups (large- or medium-scale farmers, women, the other development organizations. poorest, or particular social groups). The details of group structure and decision-making procedures vary, as do levels ORGANIZATIONAL GENDER MAINSTREAMING: and conditions of external funding (national and interna- GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED tional). All of these differences can further or hinder the potential for change. The most cost-effective means of maximizing contributions to gender equality and empowerment is to develop an insti- tutional culture that is women-friendly and empowering, KEY GENDER ISSUES AND BENEFITS OF that manifests these traits in all interactions with clients, GENDER MAINSTREAMING: EMPOWERMENT and that addresses the institutional constraints (box 3.3). VERSUS SUSTAINABILITY Most of these measures have a minimal cost but expand The variations among organizational models can significantly the numbers of women clients, which in turn expands out- influence gender outcomes and have implications for the most reach and increases the pool of reliable, successful, and (in effective ways in which gender can be mainstreamed. Some most cases) profitable clients. These measures, therefore, service providers in all categories described in box 3.2 mainly would enhance rather than detract from financial sustain- or exclusively target women or have a written or an informal ability. The best way of integrating gender policy with exist- gender policy, or both. ing practices and contexts can be assessed through a gender 98 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE Box 3.3 Institutional Measures Contributing to Women's Empowerment The institutional culture is expressed in the way inequalities in power and control in the household the organization chooses to promote itself. What for both women and men.3 sorts of images and messages does it send through A sectoral focus can include activities in which the images in its offices, its advertising, and the women are concentrated and can look at ways of consistency of its gender aims in the community developing such activities through marketing and with its internal gender policy? The institution's supply chains. routinely issued promotional leaflets, calendars, Extension services and business advice sections can and advertising are a very powerful means of ensure that they recruit staff members who can presenting alternative models and challenging work with women as well as men and thus increase stereotypes. No extra cost should be needed in women's participation even in activities normally ensuring that promotional materials achieve these dominated by men. goals. It is just a question of vision--and of ensur- Even in basic savings and credit training and group ing that the designers of promotional materials mobilization, it is possible to integrate empowerment understand that vision. concerns. Many issues within the household and The application process for products or other ser- community need to be discussed for women to antic- vices involves asking questions about the applicant's ipate problems such as repayment and continuing background and capacities. Without increasing the membership. Discussions need to equip women to time needed to answer these questions, they could devise solutions that also address the underlying gen- be reworded or adapted to promote a vision of der inequalities that cause the problems in the first empowerment, help applicants think through their place. Men, including some progressive men leaders, financial planning, and help them challenge can also be invited to these meetings. Source: Author. audit, a simple gender SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, oppor- equality and mutual respect has important benefits, includ- tunities, threats) analysis, or a well-designed participatory ing greater work satisfaction, less stress for women and men process.4 This effort would entail an initial cost that is likely employees, and good work relations that make it more likely to be recouped within a short period through better out- that all staff members give their best. reach to good women clients. The evidence clearly links levels of women staff in a Underpinning this women-friendly and empowering financial services organization with women's access to ser- institutional culture are four main dimensions of a strat- vices and the organization's contribution to women's egy for mainstreaming gender equality and women's empowerment. Evidence also exists that women in senior empowerment: (1) staff gender policy (discussed below), management positions provide valuable perspectives for (2) mainstreaming gender concerns in product develop- product design and implementation, rural finance opera- ment (Thematic Note 2), (3) structures for participation tions, business plans, marketing strategies, and policies. (box 3.4), and (4) effective integration of complementary Gender-aware men staff members are central to contacting nonfinancial services and collaboration with complemen- men within the community and changing their attitudes. tary service providers (box 3.5).5 When men staff members have good relations with women clients, they can increase women's confidence in dealing with men's hierarchies and break down cultural barriers. IMPLEMENTING A STAFF GENDER POLICY: Gender policy is likely to require quite profound changes BENEFITS, COSTS,AND GOOD PRACTICES in recruitment criteria, organizational culture, and proce- It is extremely difficult for an organization to promote gender dures (see table 3.2). These internal changes are consistent equity externally if it practices gender discrimination inter- with financial sustainability; in fact, mainstream banks are nally. A clear and agreed-on staff gender policy that pro- sometimes far ahead of NGOs in implementing staff gender motes gender balance within the organization and fosters a policies (examples include Barclays in Kenya--dating back culture in which women and men interact on a basis of to the 1980s--and Khushali Bank in Pakistan).The promotion THEMATIC NOTE 1 ORGANIZATIONAL GENDER MAINSTREAMING: MODELS AND STRATEGIES 99 Box 3.4 Checklist: Groups, Participation, and Empowerment Does group size increase women's collective strength? Are women equally represented in group structures Are groups too large? Too small? at all levels of the program, particularly beyond pri- Does group composition extend or merely replicate mary groups? women's existing networks? Do groups undertake collective action for change Do groups discriminate against particularly disad- (for example, collective action in relation to sexual vantaged women (very poor women, younger violence or women's political representation)? women, women from particular ethnic groups)? Do savings and credit groups link with other ser- Are there ways for men to be involved to build sup- vices for women and with movements challenging port for women's initiatives but not dominate the gender subordination? proceedings? In relation to all of the above, which women are Do groups facilitate information exchange? participating? Does the group structure increase women's decision- making and negotiating skills? Source: Linda Mayoux, "Sustainable Microfinance for Women's Empowerment: Report from International Mutual Learning Workshop, Centre for Micro-Finance Research," www.genfinance.info. Box 3.5 Checklist: Integrating Nonfinancial Services What complementary nonfinancial services are exchange, cross-subsidy, or integration with deliv- needed by these particular target groups to use ery of financial services? Through interorganiza- financial services effectively? tional collaboration? What nonfinancial services are already provided by What contextual factors will affect the relative costs the organization or in the area? How far do women of different levels of integration? Which, if any, have equality of access? How far do the services needs can be most effectively and cost efficiently empower women? met by the financial service staff? Which, if any, What gender-specific services might women need? needs can or should be met through a separate sec- What gender-specific services might men need? Can tion of the same organization? Which, if any, needs these be mainstreamed, or do they need to be a sep- can or should be met through collaboration and arate intervention? other means discussed above? How can nonfinancial services be provided most cost effectively? Through mutual learning and Source: Author. of diversity, of which gender is one dimension, is a key ele- A profound actual change in organizational culture ment of best business practice in the West. and systems, requiring that the issue be raised of staff Many of these strategies, such as recruitment, promotion, participation in decision making--a key tenet of best and sexual harassment policies, cost little. Although a gender business practice policy may entail some costs (for parental leave, for example), A shift in the norms of behavior for women and men the cost should be compensated by high levels of staff com- Willingness and support for change at all levels: among mitment and efficiency. Unhappy and harassed staff members field staff, midlevel staff, senior management, and donors. are inefficient and change jobs frequently, and training new staff is costly. This is not to say there are no serious challenges, It is important to stress that these elements can be inte- potential tensions, and some costs. Mere formal change is not grated into all forms of rural financial services in some way, enough. Real change requires the following: including commercial and state banks as well as MFIs, 100 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE Table 3.2 Good Practices in Staff Gender Policy Practice Example Recruitment and promotion Include gender awareness in job descriptions and as key criterion for recruitment and promotion. Advertise employment opportunities through channels likely to reach more women. Adopt proactive hiring and promotion strategies to recruit women into senior management positions until gender balance is reached. Rights at work Review all norms and job descriptions from a gender perspective. Give equal pay for equal work. Guarantee freedom from sexual harassment (women and men). Establish rights and responsibilities. Establish structures for all staff to participate in decision making. Family-friendly work practices Provide flexible working arrangements: flexi-time, flexi-place, part-time work, and job sharing encouraged at all levels, including senior managers. Develop maternity and paternity leave policies. Provide childcare and dependent care leave and support. Training Provide ongoing training for all men and women staff in participatory gender awareness, sensitization, planning, and analysis. Provide follow-up training with specific tools and methodologies. Provide training for women to move from midlevel to senior positions. Implementation structure and An adequately resourced gender focal point coordinates gender policy; at the same time, a incentives mainstreaming process is implemented throughout the organization. Gender equality and empowerment indicators are integrated into ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Staff targets and incentives are established for achieving gender equality and empowerment. Sources: Linda Mayoux, "Not Only Reaching, but Also Empowering Women: Ways Forward for the Microcredit Summit's Second Goal," www. genfinance.info; benefits of women in senior management from Cheston, "Just the Facts, Ma'am: Gender Stories from Unexpected Sources with Morals for Micro-Finance," www.microcreditsummit.org. MBFOs, and integrated development programs. Commer- could provide loans to women who complete training in cial banks increasingly have gender or equal opportunity enterprise and business development services provided by policies to encourage and retain skilled women staff. Some another organization, or they could link clients with legal aid offer child care facilities and have implemented proactive services for women or reproductive health services. This col- promotion policies for women staff to attain greater diversity laboration can take the form of formal partnerships or merely in the organization and better develop new market niches. In consist of having literature on these services available to many social settings, increasing the number of women staff clients while they wait to see bank staff. is essential to increasing the numbers of women clients. Banks may or may not engage in macrolevel policy advo- Banks generally use individual rather than group-based cacy, although most are likely to make sure they are involved lending and unlike NGOs cannot be expected to have par- in policy decisions that will affect them. A clear vision and ticipatory empowerment strategies. Some commercial commitment to gender equality and women's empower- banks conduct market research, however, and as an integral ment should be integral to the sorts of policy changes they part of good management have been at the forefront of par- advocate. As mentioned earlier, their promotional materials ticipatory product innovation. Some also lend to groups may not only attract women clients but also change atti- formed by NGOs or producer organizations over whom tudes toward women's economic activities and social roles they have some influence (Thematic Note 2). in the community.6 As noted earlier, financial institutions lacking the scope to introduce nonfinancial services can promote a vision and INDICATORS AND CHECKLIST commitment to equality and empowerment through the questions asked during the application process (Innovative Although variation can be found in the form of gender Activity Profile 1).Another way forward is to collaborate with mainstreaming and the full range of empowerment strate- other service providers. For example, financial institutions gies, and although services must be tailored to the needs of THEMATIC NOTE 1: ORGANIZATIONAL GENDER MAINSTREAMING: MODELS AND STRATEGIES 101 particular groups, some common questions can be asked of only small loans, or are they also obtaining large loans? Is all rural finance institutions to assess whether they are this difference caused by implicit or even explicit making their full potential contribution to gender equality discrimination in how specific services are designed, or and women's empowerment:7 by differences in demand? Are any services directed explicitly at women? What Is there a gender policy? What is its nature and scope? In underlying assumptions are being made about gender other organizational documents, apart from the official difference and inequality? Are these strategies likely to gender policy--for example, in operating and staff train- consign women to a "women's ghetto," or will they help ing manuals or articles of incorporation--what are the women to diversify and move to higher-level services? underlying assumptions about gender difference and How far and in what ways are the needs of the poorest inequality (as expressed, for example, in the language or and most disadvantaged women taken into account?8 terminology used)? Are any services explicitly directed at men? What Are statistics on the use of different services disaggregated underlying assumptions are being made about gender by gender? Do these indicate equal use of all services by difference and inequality? Are these likely to increase women and men, or do they point to significant gender or decrease gender inequality? Do any strategies differences? Do these differences in use also indicate dif- targeting men explicitly attempt to redress gender ferences in benefits? For example, are women obtaining imbalance? 102 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Rural Finance Products: From Access to Empowerment inancial products are essentially "means by which . . . F management, or they can be increased indirectly by gen- people convert small sums of money into large lump erating income to purchase these assets. sums"and may take many forms (Rutherford 1999: 1). Increasing access to markets: Access to financial markets Loans allow a lump sum to be enjoyed now in exchange for a themselves can increase, or savings, loans, pensions, or series of savings to be made in the future in the form of repay- remittances can be invested in new or existing economic ment installments; these may be short-term loans or term activities; this makes it possible to access other financial finance. Savings allow a lump sum to be enjoyed in the future markets or improve bargaining power in markets for in exchange for a series of savings deposits made now. inputs, products of economic activities, and labor. Insurance allows a lump sum to be received at some unspeci- Reducing vulnerability: Vulnerability is reduced within fied future time if needed in exchange for a series of savings the household and community when loans, savings, deposits made both now and in the future. Insurance also insurance, and pensions help to protect livelihoods; con- involves income pooling to spread risk among individuals on tribute to income diversification; smooth incomes for the assumption that not all those who contribute will neces- consumption; and provide a safety net in times of need, sarily receive the equivalent of their contribution. Pensions including crises within the household or community. allow a lump sum to be enjoyed at a specified and generally Increasing information and organization: Information distant future date in exchange for a series of savings deposits and organization increase, not only through group made now. activity, but also through economic activities gener- In addition, remittance transfer services enable migrants ated, application and access processes, and improved to invest more household income in livelihood strategies, to financial literacy. build assets, and to reduce the vulnerability of families they have left behind. Leasing arrangements permit the lease- The combined effects of increased assets, market access, holder to pay a regular rent or lease for use of equipment or reduced vulnerability, and improved information and orga- other property while legal title to the property remains in nization can initiate an upward spiral of economic gain and the hands of the renting institution. Because collateral (the empowerment for poor women as well as their families. In leased equipment) is readily available, leasing may be an combination with the potential for groups to engage in easier product for rural financial intermediaries to provide collective action and exchange information (Thematic than loans to purchase larger assets.1 Products may also be Note 1), the multiple effects of financial products can con- combined, for example, with combined savings and pen- tribute significantly to community empowerment and sions, or combined loans and insurance. local economic development. The following products significantly help to improve Yet financial services do not necessarily yield these posi- livelihoods and make them more sustainable: tive outcomes for the following reasons: Increasing physical, financial, natural, and human capital Credit is also debt. If credit is badly designed and used, assets: Assets can be increased directly through loans, the consequences for individuals and programs can be savings, pensions, or remittances used, for example, for serious. Suicides have increased in some places where land, housing, jewelry, education, and natural resource farm households have become deeply indebted. 103 Savings and pension installments are foregone consump- most debates on product design focused on issues of finan- tion and investment. In many contexts, particularly in cial sustainability: interest rates on loans, the desirability which inflation is high, depositing cash with financial of mobilizing savings, and the need for insurance products institutions may not be the best use of poor peoples' to reduce microfinance programs' risk of default. A wide- resources compared with investing in other assets or spread consensus, based on women's poor access to resources directly in livelihoods. and power and the particular physical and social assets they Insurance premiums may be lost. As well as representing could contribute to programs, developed about how to foregone consumption and investment, insurance pre- increase women's access to financial services (box 3.6). Prod- miums may be lost when a crisis prevents poor people ucts were very limited to simplify management for field from continuing with the payments. staff, generate predictable cash flows for program managers, Remittance transfers reduce the funds available to and be comprehensible to clients. Many programs had only migrants. These transfers in the host country may also one loan product, with compulsory savings as a condition distort local markets in the recipient country (for exam- for accessing loans and in some cases compulsory insurance ple, marriage and land prices) without leading to local for the assets.2 economic development. These measures increased women's access to financial services but often had a limited impact on incomes. Loans were too small, and repayment schedules inappropriate, for KEY GENDER ISSUES activities with a lag time between investment and returns. The outcomes of programs to provide financial services Although suited to trade in urban areas and small livestock, depend to a great extent on whether products are appropri- the loans were ill adapted for agriculture, large livestock ately designed for particular client groups and contexts, on enterprises, or new and more risky economic activities. how products are delivered, and on the organization Where savings and insurance payments were compulsory, responsible for delivery. This section focuses on the details problems with household financial management ensued. of product design, which are rarely gender neutral and Recent innovations in information and delivery technology which inevitably--for good or ill--affect household and and systems now permit greater product diversification and community relations. Product design may either reinforce client-centered product development. This is particularly the or challenge the prevailing gender inequalities that shape case where clients also have some experience with financial women's needs and priorities, women's access to different services and an increasingly sophisticated understanding of types of services, and the degree to which they benefit. For their financial needs and financial management.Some of these example, women have fewer and different resources to use innovations have significantly improved both the extent to in accessing financial products. Women's different balance which women benefit from financial services and efforts to of opportunities and constraints affects how and how much reduce poverty and foster local economic development. they benefit from different products. Finally, women's gen- der role and gendered expectations affect their expressed CREDIT: GOOD PRACTICES AND INNOVATIONS short-term practical needs as well as their longer-term strategic needs to build assets, access markets, decrease vul- As indicated by research on patterns of credit use among nerability, and increase information and organization. poor women and men and by the experience of numerous An equally important point is that products targeted to clients after many loan cycles, women's credit needs are men may have potentially negative impacts because they are more diverse than the initial focus on small group loans designed without considering gender inequalities in house- would indicate: holds and communities. Products for men may reinforce or challenge gender inequalities through the implicit or Women need longer-term credit to build assets--to con- explicit assumptions made about men's and women's roles struct houses, buy land, and lease land, either under their and power relations within households and communities. own names or at least jointly. They also need credit to Consequently, the products' potential contributions to purchase or release from pawnbrokers and moneylend- poverty reduction and local economic growth are affected. ers "women's assets" such as jewelry, thereby transferring Research on women's access to finance in the 1970s and general household wealth into assets that they can easily 1980s focused mainly on the lack of credit as a constraint to access and control and that grow in value and provide economic activity. In the 1990s, with the rise of microfinance, some security. 104 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE Box 3.6 Increasing Women's Access to Financial Services: Early Consensus Loans rates charged by moneylenders and by women's sav- Offer small loans so that women can invest in small ings and other groups assets or in income-generating activities that yield quick returns, because of women's aversion to risk, Savings inexperience with large-scale income generation, Direct programs via savings to increase thrift and and time constraints women's financial management in the household Target loans to productive activity Initiate regular repayments as soon after loan dis- Insurance bursal as possible, to instill financial discipline Use insurance to reduce the risk from livestock and Relax collateral requirements to include social col- from other loans lateral or women's property (jewelry) Make services accessible; locate them where women Group-Based Delivery are located Use to reduce costs and increase empowerment Set interest rates high enough to cover costs; such rates are still beneficial because they are lower than Source: Otero and Rhyne 1994. Women need access to credit for off-farm economic women's preferences and requirements, the particular prod- activities, but to invest in viable, profitable activities they uct that should be offered in a given context should be often require larger amounts than are available. Larger decided on the basis of market research. Six examples of sums are also needed for women to diversify out of interesting innovations include the following:4 (1) client- "women's" activities or expand their range of products, focused loans (Grameen Bank, Bangladesh), (2) loans for especially where local markets are saturated with such assets registered in women's names (Grameen Bank, products and skills. Bangladesh), (3) large loans for bigger profits (South Indian Households that sell their agricultural labor, as well as Federation of Fishermen Societies, India), (4) loans for ado- farming households, need consumption loans to avoid lescent girls (Credit and Savings Household Enterprise, resorting to moneylenders in slack and"hungry"seasons. India), (5) consumption loans for men as well as women Providing such loans to men as well as women would (Area Networking and Development Initiative, India), and reduce the alarming trend for men to take less responsi- (6) loans for services benefiting women (Learning for bility for household well-being when they perceive that Empowerment Against Poverty, Sudan). women have access to additional cash. The loan products available in rural areas are likely to Households need loans to pay for children's education change significantly over the next few years with advances in and to meet social obligations that are essential for main- technology and the increasing entry of commercial banks taining social capital and the well-being of children, par- into microfinance. Banks such as ICICI in India currently aim ticularly daughters after marriage. Again, giving men as to give universal access to loan products and other services. well as women access to such loans would strengthen This strategy would consist of many elements: rolling out men's responsibility for children and not place the entire credit cards and ATMs in villages to give everyone individual burden on women. access, building and maintaining individual credit histories through credit bureaus, basing credit decisions on scoring Gender issues in designing loan products are discussed in models (risk-based lending), moving from group-based to detail elsewhere (Mayoux 2008).3 Box 3.7 lists specific ques- individual lending, and tracking clients through their life tions to address in designing loan products for women. cycle to offer customized products for life-cycle needs. Some very interesting innovations in loan products have These developments could significantly increase the scale been introduced recently, but given the variation in of outreach. They promise credit and other services on THEMATIC NOTE 2: RURAL FINANCE PRODUCTS: FROM ACCESS TO EMPOWERMENT 105 Box 3.7 Key Questions in Assessing and Designing Loan Products for Women Eligibility and collateral requirements Gender question on loans for men: Do repayment Women's access questions: Do collateral requirements schedules, grace periods, and other loan characteristics accept women-owned assets, such as jewelry and uten- require men to divert resources from the household or sils? Do they include social collateral? Do they enable their wives' incomes? women to apply without a man's signature? Are loan Large versus small loans histories and credit ratings based on the types of Women's access question: Are loan amounts tailored to records and activities in which women are involved? the size of the economic activity so that women have Women's empowerment question: Do collateral the confidence to apply? requirements encourage registration of assets in Women's empowerment question: Do women have women's names, or at least jointly? equal access to loans of all sizes, particularly loan Gender questions in loans for men: Do collateral amounts large enough to enable women to increase requirements for men make unquestioned assump- incomes significantly or invest in key productive assets tions about the control of resources within the house- in their own names without undue risk? hold?: (1) Do they treat men as the household head Gender question in loans for men: Are men required with rights over all household assets? or (2) Do they to move up the same ladder from small to larger loans challenge these views by, for example, requiring the to instill financial prudence? wife's signature for loans for which household prop- erty is used as collateral? Loan use Women's access question: Are loans designed for the types Application procedures of economicactivitiesinwhichwomenwishtobeinvolved Women's access questions: Are application forms and or women's human and social investment priorities? the location and advertising of services appropriate to Women's empowerment questions: Do loan packages women's literacy levels and normal spheres of activity? enable women to enter nontraditional and more lucra- Are credit and savings disbursed by women in women's tive activities, which studies have shown to be feasible centers? for women to pursue with existing labor allocations Women's empowerment question: Do application within the household and without excessive risk? Are procedures encourage women to improve financial lit- loans available to increase women's ownership of assets eracy and extend normal spheres of activity by increas- such as houses and land? ing their understanding of how to use savings and Gender questions in loans for men: Are loans for credit or by giving experience in negotiating with men household consumption, girls' education, and family officials in men's public spaces? health care available to men as well as women to allow Gender questions in loans for men: Do application pro- women to use their own loans for production? Do cedures for men make unquestioned assumptions about these loans encourage housing to be registered in the distribution of power within the household: (1) Do women's or joint names? they treat men as the business owner in household enter- Individual versus group loans prises with the right to make all decisions about labor Women's access questions: Are groups the only mechanism and resources in the household? or (2) Do they challenge through which women can access credit, or can women these views by devising business plans that develop and obtain loans individually? Which women have access to strengthen the wife's position in household enterprises? individual versus group loans? Which do women prefer? Repayment schedules and interest rates Women's empowerment questions: Do loan groups Women's access questions: Are repayment schedules extend or merely replicate women's networks? Do they appropriate to the income available from women's eco- strengthen women's networks or weaken them? Do nomic activities or their household cash flow patterns, individual loans enable women to develop networks or thereby allowing borrowers to repay their loans on prevent them from doing so? time? Can women pay the interest rates specified? Gender questions in loans for men: Do men have access Women's empowerment question: Do repayment to group loans in ways that also permit them to network? schedules, grace periods, and other loan characteristics How can these networks be used to challenge and change allow women to maximize their productive invest- gender inequalities, as in the Community Development ments from the loan? Centre's work with fishery workers in Bangladesh?5 Source: Author. 106 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE terms far better than any currently offered by MFIs because ity for the household may decline. In designing savings of economies of scale arising from their large investment in facilities, many key issues must be considered, all of which technology. The extent to which women will have equitable have gender dimensions (box 3.8). access to these services and benefit from them remains to be Several recent innovations in savings products can make seen, however. These innovations will have to consider the a significant contribution to women's empowerment gender questions mentioned earlier, particularly in relation including Grameen Phase II in Bangladesh, flexible individ- to collateral requirements and ways in which credit histories ual savings in Bangladesh, and children's savings cards in can be built up. Mexico (Dowla and Barua 2006). Pensions--which are Also important is ensuring that gender issues are main- essentially a long-term savings product--have received far streamed in current debates about larger-scale rural finance less attention than other instruments such as insurance. and leasing arrangements for agricultural development and Pensions are potentially a key component of empowerment, value chain upgrading. Questions similar to those in box 3.2 however, because they offer women security for their old age must be answered for all loan and leasing products. and have many other implications (for example, reducing Enabling women to have equal access to such products also women's vulnerability in the household or influencing fam- requires attention to women's property rights. ily size decisions). Some pension products for women exist in India, but pensions are an area in which much more thinking and work are needed. SAVINGS AND PENSIONS: GOOD PRACTICES In remote areas, mobilization and intermediation of AND INNOVATIONS member savings are crucial first steps before accessing Debates on extending the reach of microfinance to the very external loan funds. Many studies have observed that poorest people increasingly focus on savings facilities. For savings-led groups perform better than credit-led groups many women, including very poor women, savings facilities (Allen 2005; Murray and Rosenberg 2006; Ritchie 2007). are essential to increasing the amount of income under their For instance, Indonesia's Agricultural Development control and building assets. In many parts of Africa, for exam- Projects and Sri Lanka's Northeast Irrigated Agricultural ple, where in-laws are likely to take the wife's as well as the Development Project have not performed as well as MBFOs husband's property when he dies, women's ability to have con- using a savings-led model (examples include savings-led fidential savings accounts is a crucial and necessary means of self-help groups and their federations in India and security for the future. Compulsory savings systems are one of Gemidiriya in Sri Lanka; see also Innovative Activity Profile the few ways for some women to protect income against the 1; Ritchie 2007). demands of husbands and other family members. If savings Savings give poor people a buffer against unforeseen are only voluntary, women may be less able to oppose the expenses, thus lowering their household risk; small, regular demands of other family members to withdraw them. savings help to develop financial discipline; and intermedi- Nevertheless, women may already have effective ways ation of savings into loans by MBFOs enables borrowers to of saving. Savings programs offered by financial service establish creditworthiness before external credit is intro- providers may be less efficient for women, particularly if duced. Recent experience in Andhra Pradesh, India, but- savings are a condition for getting loans. Savings pro- tresses this viewpoint that external capital can overburden grams may also divert resources from indigenous savings the poor with debt. Over the last several years banks in India groups, which often provide a safety net for very poor have lent considerable funds to MFIs for onlending to poor women (in Cameroon and other parts of Africa, for clients. The resulting stiff competition among MFIs enabled instance, some revolving savings associations maintain a many poor women to receive loans from several lenders at "trouble fund" for times of crisis).6 Savings also have to the same time, often irrespective of their existing debt and come from somewhere--often from foregone investment repayment capacity. Many poor rural clients could not repay or consumption. Badly designed savings products, partic- their loans. On the other hand, poor women who save and ularly compulsory savings, may therefore harm women's lend to each other in small groups in the Gemidiriya ability to increase profits and, among very poor women, program in Sri Lanka cite easy availability of loans for may be detrimental to their nutrition and health. Savings emergencies as one of the main benefits of participation. facilities may increase women's control over household The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee's Income income, but, as mentioned earlier, when savings are Generation for Vulnerable Groups Development Program regarded as "a women's affair," men's sense of responsibil- is an instructive example of how grant-based approaches THEMATIC NOTE 2: RURAL FINANCE PRODUCTS: FROM ACCESS TO EMPOWERMENT 107 Box 3.8 Gender Issues in Designing Compulsory and Voluntary Savings Products COMPULSORY SAVINGS Confidentiality Access question: Do levels and conditions for compulsory Empowerment questions: Are women's savings confi- savings exclude women from access to other services? dential to protect them from predation by husbands Empowerment questions: Are compulsory savings and other relatives? Or are they public, to give women required by women themselves to increase their ability high status in the community? to retain control over their own income or leverage Accessibility of provider and transaction costs household income to put into long-term savings as an Access questions: Are savings providers located conve- asset in their names? Or are they merely an insurance niently for women? Are transaction costs reasonable? device for the institution? Empowerment question: Are savings providers VOLUNTARY SAVINGS located in places that enable women to visit new places Minimum entry-level deposits and get more experience outside normally accepted Access question: Are entry-level deposits low enough for "women's space"? poor women to take part? Returns to savings Flexibility of deposits Empowerment question: Are returns to savings suffi- Access question: Are deposit requirements flexible with cient to enable women to build up assets over time, or respect to women's patterns of access to income? are they comparable to returns available from other Empowerment question: Do savings deposit require- savings channels? (Assessment of the level of risk needs ments give women authority to retain control over sav- to be included in this calculation.) ings in their own accounts? Gender questions for men Liquidity of savings and ease of withdrawal Do savings facilities for men exist to encourage them to Access question: Are withdrawal requirements flexible save and provide for their families (for instance, for with respect to women's needs for income? girls' education or marriage)? Are these products pro- Empowerment question: Do withdrawal conditions moted by staff to reinforce men's sense of responsibil- protect women's savings from predation by husbands ity in these areas? and other relatives? Source: Author. and financial services can be complementary (see World insurance, weather-index crop insurance, and property Bank 2003). insurance. Microinsurance is one of the most rapidly grow- ing, specialized, and contentious areas of innovation. Important advances have been made in agricultural and INSURANCE: GOOD PRACTICES AND health financing as well, particularly in some MBFOs.7 INNOVATIONS Despite the clear need for insurance products and their Most people engage in various forms of "self-insurance," great potential to contribute to the development of such as diversifying their livelihood strategies, savings of the rural sector, the viability and desirability of special- different types, building assets, and investing in social capi- ized microinsurance institutions for the poor have been tal that can be called upon in times of hardship. Some com- questioned. Much concern has been expressed over badly munities have collective forms of informal insurance such designed microinsurance products being foisted on vul- as burial societies. Although savings and loan products from nerable people, particularly as a condition for getting a financial service providers can reduce vulnerability to crises loan. In some cases microinsurance providers have and shocks, they generally do not enable people to accumu- collapsed, taking all the premiums with them. Several late sufficient funds to cope with major crises. Over the last private insurers, particularly in parts of Africa, have decade, an increasing number of MFIs have developed become profitable by selling a good volume of policies to microinsurance products to address various sources of vul- poor households. In many cases the new policyholders did nerability. These products include compulsory insurance not understand what they were purchasing or how to against loan defaults, health and life insurance, livestock make a claim, and they did not benefit (Brown 2001). 108 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE Wider questions emerge over whether poor people can or to understand policy conditions and pursue claims should be expected to spend scarce resources insuring unless these factors are taken into consideration. They themselves against all the risks of poverty caused by bad may be deceived into taking up policies that are not to governance, poor state health systems, and environmental their advantage and may be less able to take advantage disasters arising from climate change and global warming. even of good insurance policies without considerable An inevitable mismatch exists between the range of follow-up by insurance providers. hazards against which very poor people need insurance Insurance policies often explicitly exclude health concerns and the level of premium they are able to pay, which that apply to large numbers of women (pregnancy is one undermines the potential of insurance provision (Brown example) because they present too great a risk for insurers. 2001). Debates about insurance also have specific gender dimensions (box 3.9). Women are vulnerable in different Insurance is useful only as part of a broader program to ways, gender inequality affects how women relate to insti- address the underlying causes of risk and vulnerability fac- tutions of all types, and women face specific risks because ing poor women and men. Insurance is in high demand and of gender discrimination or cultural norms: some programs have been successful among the better-off poor (such as LEAP [Learning for Empowerment Against Unequal control of property makes women extremely Poverty] in Sudan),8 but it is doubtful whether insurance vulnerable in cases of divorce or widowhood. can focus only on the needs of very poor people and remain Women's lower incomes make them less able to invest in financially sustainable. There is an inevitable trade-off risk-reducing technology or services, such as disease- between comprehensiveness of coverage and levels of pre- resistant strains of livestock, reliable equipment, or mium. The keys to success are the scale of outreach and the veterinary care. diversity of clients and risks across the rural population. Women's responsibility to care for the sick means that ill Some programs, rather than attempting to provide insur- health of their children and partners affects their own ance themselves, have linked with state insurance providers ability to earn. and the private sector and have lobbied within the larger Women are more susceptible to certain diseases, including system for better insurance provision to women. HIV and AIDS, and to the complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Box 3.9 Gender and Microinsurance: Key Questions Women's physical vulnerability makes their property particularly vulnerable to theft and crime. Women's high preponderance in informal sector enter- Access questions: Are insurance conditions suffi- prises makes them particularly vulnerable to harassment ciently inclusive to be relevant to women's needs? by the authorities (for example, their property may be For example, how do they treat women's assets, confiscated and market stalls destroyed). women-specific health problems and reproductive complications, divorce, and abandonment? Are the premiums within women's capacity for payment At the same time, the following situations exist: (in terms of amount and regularity)? Are payment and claims procedures accessible to women in Women's lower incomes make them less able to afford terms of location and comprehensibility? insurance payments. Although it may be very important Empowerment questions: Do insurance condi- for women to contribute to life and health insurance tions challenge or reinforce existing roles within schemes for themselves and their husbands, insurance the household? Do insurance providers offer may not be the best solution where marriages are unsta- financial education as part of the application ble. Women pay premiums--maybe out of their own process? In what ways does insurance decrease consumption and investment funds, maybe to ensure women's vulnerability? Does it increase the powers loans that are used by men--and they risk forfeiting of negotiation within the household? these premiums if they cannot maintain payments Question for men: Does insurance for men give following divorce or if they make unsuccessful claims their wives financial security in the case of their illness or death? following the death of their former partners. In many cultures women are less literate and physically Source: Author. mobile than men, and women may therefore be less able THEMATIC NOTE 2: RURAL FINANCE PRODUCTS: FROM ACCESS TO EMPOWERMENT 109 REMITTANCETRANSFER SERVICES: GOOD Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) found that women PRACTICES AND INNOVATIONS represented almost half of the international migrant popu- lation.10 Women made up 70­80 percent of all migrants Remittance transfer services can contribute very signifi- from some countries, notably the Philippines. The amount cantly to poverty reduction and livelihood development. of money sent to households by migrant women and men, Remittances from migrant laborers, men and women, how it is sent, and how it is used are determined not only by between regions within countries as well as internationally the market but also by the gendered power relations within have become a force for wealth creation, particularly in households and economies. poorer regions. In 2005 it was estimated that at least $232 For migrants: billion9 would be sent home globally from approximately 200 million international migrants--a sum that is three times the amount of official development aid. Even these Although this is not universally the case, women high figures understate the importance of remittances, migrants (particularly independent migrants) direct because they do not capture remittances sent through most of their remittances to their families' basic needs, informal channels, which may be twice or three times this whereas men spend more on nonnecessities. figure, or remittances sent from migrants between regions Women have fewer employment options in the host of the same country. Nor are they an accurate predictor of country, are often limited to badly paid "women's" jobs, potential remittances if safe and cost-effective remittance and therefore are likely to earn lower incomes than men services were available. and have smaller amounts of income to send. Many observers now generally agree on the importance of Some countries place considerable pressure on women to developing cost-effective, formal services to transfer remit- migrate to support their families, which, coupled with tances through secure channels such as banks. The remit- limited employment opportunities, can lead to abuses tance industry consists of formal and informal fund transfer such as sex trafficking and domestic slavery. agents, ranging from a few global players, such as large Some countries have placed remittance requirements on money transfer operators (Western Union, MoneyGram) women migrants. For example, until recently, women and commercial banks (Bank of America and ICICI Bank in migrants from the Philippines were required to remit 50 India), to credit unions (including the World Council of percent of their earnings. Credit Unions) and hundreds of smaller agencies serving Even where both spouses migrate, they frequently send niche markets in specific geographic remittance corridors. remittances independently and for different purposes. Transfer charges vary widely and often greatly surpass actual Migrant associations may seek to control women or dis- costs in markets with little competition. A range of measures criminate against them. have been proposed or implemented to improve remittance services by money transfer operators, banks, and others. On the more positive side, when women send remittances Microfinance and other smaller institutions generally have to home, they may significantly improve their standing in their enter into relationships with commercial banks because of families and communities; and when migration is predomi- regulatory constraints--for example, on transactions involv- nantly by women, men in the families left behind may be ing foreign exchange and access to national payment sys- forced to take on women's care and work roles. tems. No such constraints exist for remittances between For recipients: areas in the same country, however. In India, for example, MFIs and NGOs have developed many types of remittance Some women left behind may be highly dependent on arrangements. Technological advances such as mobile men's earnings and face high levels of material and emo- phones also make cost-effective remittance services for the tional insecurity as well as an increased workload. poor more of a possibility. Other women become acting heads of the household, Remittance flows are not gender neutral. Women are an with much increased control over household resources increasing proportion of migrants, and in most destination and decisions, and assume productive roles previously countries their numbers are growing faster than those of carried out by men. men. Box 3.10 lists gender issues to consider in designing Women may have a very limited voice in, or be com- remittance services. A recent study by the United Nations' pletely excluded from, decisions about how to invest International Research and Training Institute for the community migrant funds. 110 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE Box 3.10 Gender Issues in Designing Remittance Services Issues for migrants: Are remittance services easily Issues for recipients: Are remittance services secure? available in the locations where women migrants are Are the offices easily accessed by women so that they working? Are the terms and conditions easily under- can collect money securely? Are any programs in place standable, given that women migrants are likely to to facilitate local investment of remittances to benefit have lower literacy and English skills? Are services women--for example, are there links between remit- adapted to women's remittance levels and payment tance service providers and programs promoting capacities? women's productive activities? Source: Author. RECENT INNOVATIONS IN PRODUCT especially by emphasizing privacy, ethical behavior, and DEVELOPMENT treating consumers with respect--potentially offer sub- stantial protection to women as well as men, particularly Many recent innovations promise to make product develop- if guidelines are combined with gender training for staff ment sustainable and increasingly client based. First, within the organization. technological advances--mobile phones, rural information A critical part of ensuring that these protection princi- centers, computerized services, and others--promise ever- ples become a reality is to introduce financial literacy so more accessible and accountable services in rural areas. To that clients know their rights and understand the informa- ensure that these services and technologies do not leave tion given to them. Many organizations, including the women behind, women's groups can manage rural informa- Microfinance Opportunities with Freedom from Hunger, tion centers, communications enterprises can be set up in Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), Servicios villages (such as Grameen's mobile phone initiatives), and Integrales a Mujeres Emprendedoras (SIEMBRA), and computer programs and material can be made accessible to Womankind Worldwide, have developed manuals for people who cannot read and write. financial literacy.13 Other methods are being developed to Second, it is now generally accepted that participatory help illiterate women become not only financially literate market research and "knowing your clients" is good busi- but also capable of making their own financial plans, which ness practice (Woller 2002). The services provided through microfinance program staff can use to help in analyzing self-employed women's associations in India have always loan applications. Financial literacy principles and guid- been based on consultation with clients. Grameen Bank has ance can also be integrated into the application process, as just undergone a four-year reassessment and redesign based indicated in the Freedom from Hunger and Accíon Inter- on extensive client research, which has significantly national consumer protection guidelines.14 increased outreach and sustainability. ICICI Bank in India So far, financial literacy programs have been developed conducts participatory market research and funds in-depth mostly for women. Training for men, if it were to incorporate research on the needs of microfinance clients by supporting gender-equitable household financial planning principles the Centre for Micro-Finance Research in Chennai. Many (for instance, if it promoted men's discussion of financial microfinance organizations have been trained in Microsave's planning with their wives and equal participation in financial market research tools and use one or more of them; the decisions), could contribute significantly to changing men's tools can be adapted to identify gender dimensions of prod- attitudes and behavior. If such training were a condition of uct design.11 access to loans, it is more likely that men would attend such As products and competitors proliferate in the microfinance courses rather than generic gender training. market, a third concern is consumer protection: do peo- None of these recent developments is necessarily gender ple know what they are signing up to do, and how can sensitive, yet there are ways for them to take gender dimen- they be protected from abuse? Since at least 2003 many sions into account. If the current gender innovations are microfinance networks have been developing and implemented on a wide scale, they could substantially foster implementing consumer protection guidelines such as the sustainable gender mainstreaming in product development. ones from Freedom from Hunger.12 These guidelines-- THEMATIC NOTE 2: RURAL FINANCE PRODUCTS: FROM ACCESS TO EMPOWERMENT 111 TNHNEOVATI CVN OT ET I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 I M AT I E AC Andhra Pradesh, India: A Women-Managed Community Financial System he vast expansion of India's banking network since T World Bank and International Development Agency: the the 1970s largely bypassed the rural poor, especially Andhra Pradesh District Poverty Initiatives Project women. Banks did not recognize women as business (APDPIP) and the Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduc- clients and rarely served them beyond token participation in tion Project (APRPRP), implemented in South India since government-sponsored credit programs. 2000. The IKP pursues a threefold strategy. First, it helps to create self-managed local institutions of poor women, with thrift and credit services as the core activity. Second, What's innovative? A vibrant, extensive network it helps to expand and diversify women's livelihood base. of women's groups at the community level and Third, it helps the poor discover and influence market higher delivered a full range of financial, social, mechanisms as a means of sustaining growth and equity. and economic services in rural areas; engaged large By the end of March 2007, following its strategy to cre- numbers of the poor in the formal economy; and ate a hierarchy of interdependent institutions of poor transformed the prospects for formal banking people, the IKP had mobilized 8 million women into institutions to operate successfully in remote and about 630,000 self-help groups consisting of 10­15 underserved areas. women each from poor households in Andhra Pradesh. The groups were federated at the village level into 28,282 Poor rural women have traditionally shown good financial village organizations (VOs), which in turn formed 910 discipline in managing the household economy, often setting confederations at the mandal (subdistrict) level, called aside small sums to meet specific needs, such as schooling, mandal samakhyas (MSs: subdistrict confederations). weddings, and debt redemption. Poor women and men ini- Group members deposit small amounts of money into a tially use credit or savings for smoothing consumption and common pool from which loans are provided. The then expand their asset base gradually before building up women take collective decisions, closely supervise how the entrepreneurial ventures. Banks--being averse to risk--did loans are used, and pressure members to make deposits not offer products that met poor people's needs for liquidity, and repay loans promptly. Each VO is registered formally ease of access, smoothing consumption, or even investing in as a cooperative federation of self-help groups to super- livelihood strategies. In Andhra Pradesh, India, when savings vise and build capacity through community professionals. and credit were channeled through community-based By taking the initial risk for lending to the groups, VOs women's groups and used to meet their specific needs, rural cultivate awareness among self-help groups on how to financial services underwent a dramatic transformation and leverage and assimilate external resources. The core successfully catalyzed capital formation, asset accumulation, microfinance function of an MS is to lend capital over the and increased market participation by the poor. long term to VOs and supervise microfinance activity over all tiers of the institutional hierarchy. The MSs provide seed money and venture capital to newly formed VOs, PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION invest in VOs' new business initiatives, extend hand- Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) subsumes two community- holding support, and build incentive structures to driven rural poverty reduction projects supported by the encourage good performance. 112 INNOVATIONS INTHE PROJECT Leverage of external finance by self-help groups from VOs (as explained in box 3.10) or from local commercial Over the years the self-help groups and their federations banks, based on each group's financial position deter- have expanded the scope of their services and now offer mined by the Micro Credit Plan, Critical Rating Index, economic and social services in addition to financial ser- and group assets. vices. Services have evolved mainly through incremental Monitoring by loan recovery committees at the VO level innovation by community institutions. The innovative of the end use of funds and forming a community-based elements of community institutions and the "microfinance recovery mechanism by supporting local banks in main- plus other services" approach they developed are described taining the standards of their microfinance portfolio. in the following sections. 2. The "microfinance-plus" approach. Aside from provid- 1. A community-managed financial system includes ele- ing finance, the IKP three-tier institutional structure ments such as the following: offers a range of other products and services (broadly Social mobilization, as reinforced within the self-help summarized in table 3.3) that support the livelihoods of groups, VOs, and MSs through their transparency, dem- the poor. This livelihoods approach to reducing poverty ocratic governance, and inclusive decision making. differentiates IKP from other microfinance programs The thrift and credit system, through which self-help with their minimalist approaches. Following the princi- groups direct their residual capital into the local econ- ple of institutional subsidiarity, each tier specializes in omy. The groups prepare microcredit plans (box 3.11) as the creation, aggregation, or channeling of those ser- a tool for efficient fund management and to leverage vices that make economic sense (based on efficient external resources from the VOs and MSs. delivery, economies of scale, transaction costs, and A management information system based on simple other criteria). books of accounts often maintained by a paid book- keeper such as a group member or a woman from the BENEFITS AND IMPACTS local community A quality assessment system for women to review their The IKP's community-driven approaches and institutional performance through a Critical Rating Index (developed model have catalyzed women's entrepreneurial spirit and in consultation with NABARD)1 leadership. Their self-managed rural finance system has had The capitalization of self-help groups and their federations many impacts at the macro-, institutional, and household as they invest interest earned and fees collected. Profits levels. Traditional perceptions of gender roles have also are invested in further loans, and the groups' assets changed markedly as women's status, authority, and dignity increase steadily. have grown. Box 3.11 Microcredit Plans as a Tool for Self-Help Groups A microcredit plan is a simple list of investments that Exercise due diligence in assessing household self-help group members would like to make. Micro- investment plans credit planning is an iterative process with several Consolidate and order loan requests according to steps: the priority determined by the group Mobilize financial resources to support the micro- Engage families of group members in developing credit plan and to apply future cash flows (from household investment plans thrift, bank loans, and other sources) to support Finalize parameters for determining the socioeco- members in order of priority nomic status of members Develop terms of partnership with borrowing mem- Conduct an appraisal of socioeconomic status and bers that specify how assets will be acquired, asset participatory wealth ranking insurance, repayment schedule, interest rates, and penal provisions for noncompliance. Source: Author. INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA: A WOMEN-MANAGED COMMUNITY FINANCIAL SYSTEM 113 Table 3.3 Financial, Economic, and Social Products and Services Created and Delivered by Self-Help Groups and Their Federations, Andhra Pradesh, India Financial services on Nonfinancial economic Facilitation services Institution own account services on own account (agent/aggregator) Self-help group Compulsory thrift; short-term n.a. Food security; agricultural (Clients: individuals) loans for social needs; input supply medium-term loans for investment Village organization (Clients: Regular thrift from self-help Rice Credit Line; agricultural Insurance for assets, life, self-help groups for financial groups; medium-term loans input supply; commodity and health services and individuals for to groups for onlending marketing; fodder nonfinancial services) cultivation; milk collection Mandal samakhya (Clients: Long-term loans to VOs for Economic infrastructure for Insurance for assets, life, village organizations) onlending to self-help aggregating goods and and health; private/ groups; short-term loans to services produced by poor; NGO partnerships; VOs for seasonal operations bulk milk coolers; contract farming; such as agricultural input warehousing marketing contracts; supply and commodity job-oriented training; marketing; medium-term retailing; labor supply loans to VOs for Rice Credit Line operations Source: Authors. Macrolevel impact Percentage of group loans recovered 95+ Women make markets work for the poor in several ways: Number of participating banks 44 First, by building a pro-poor financial sector. In mobi- (100% of those having rural presence) lizing poor women and helping them build responsive, Number of partnering bank branches 3,850 self-reliant, and financially sustainable institutions, (90% of rural and semiurban branches) the IKP project shifted long-held beliefs in the Number of poor with banking system. The women manage a corpus of access to insurance 500,000 $1 billion, which includes their own thrift of $349 mil- lion. Over six years, they leveraged a cumulative Third, by utilizing the emerging coproduction model in rural $1.2 billion from commercial banks, which made IKP finance. The traditional prefinance function of commercial one of the world's largest microfinance and financial banks in extending loans to the poor is externalized to inclusion efforts. women's self-help groups. Second, by widening and deepening access to finance. Fourth, by bringing a livelihood focus into microfinance to Microfinance now figures prominently in the corporate promote enterprise among the poor. The incremental asset strategy of several banks, and overall lending to women base of the poor supported by IKP now stands at $1.3 bil- has increased multifold since the project started. A major lion. These assets cover a range of livelihoods and are share of this expansion can be attributed to the good expected to generate significantly higher business credit performance of women's self-help groups: turnover, leading to higher incomes for the poor. Banks have become interested in introducing new products for Percentage of poor with access emerging opportunities. to financial services 90 Fifth, by making financial literacy a strategic by-product. Percentage of self-help groups Perhaps the most lasting impact of the women-managed linked to banks 74 rural financial system will be financial literacy among Savings per group ($) 450 poor women. The training has developed 98,000 book- Bank credit accessed keepers, 3,000 microcredit planning experts, and 3,000 per group ($) 1,500 bank linkage experts from among these women. 114 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE Institutional impacts By initiating a virtuous cycle of increasing incomes and prosperity. Continued access to loans has helped poor women Significant gains are made to women's institutions and their accumulate productive assets at the household level. The partners: impressive credit histories of many women not only enhanced their creditworthiness but also increased the flow Benefits of leveraging bank finance. Extending bulk of credit for diverse purposes.Average assets per family have finance to self-help groups dramatically reduced the tripled to $2,974 between 2000 and 2006. Over the same transaction costs for financing agencies to extend credit period, growth and diversification of productive assets to poor women. At the same time, self-help groups are helped annual household incomes rise by 115 percent to encouraging financing agencies to make increasingly $1,041. A significant share of this increment comes from higher credit commitments--ultimately benefiting both the income stream attributed to women-run enterprises. the groups and the banks. By being regarded as creditworthy. Banking statistics cor- Profits for commercial banks and restraints on informal roborate that the overall repayment climate has improved credit markets. The recovery of loans to women's self-help since the women's self-help groups were established. groups and their federations is around 95 percent, mainly Although banks remain reluctant to make large loans to because of good community oversight and follow-up men, women are regarded as valued clients, and banks are mechanisms implemented by the women. Reduced trans- not averse to extending large loans to women and their action costs and a good recovery climate have improved families through the groups. the profits of rural bank branches, and in local informal By gaining business skills and initiative. The management markets for credit, interest rates have softened, and of rural financial services by women not only promoted unethical practices have been curbed. leadership but also served as good training for developing Access to markets by the poor and stimulation of private institutional management and negotiation skills. Experi- participation. The group structure and hierarchy ential learning helped women participate in markets and helped poor women to access commodity markets and negotiate market positions, which greatly enhanced their form local partnerships with the private sector, thereby business confidence and enterprise. improving their participation in the wider economy. By promoting consensual decision making at the household The aggregation of large groups of suppliers and con- level. Because men and women were both involved in sumers has attracted such global partners as Olam microcredit planning, men came to see women as part- International, ITC, Pepsico, fair trade companies, and ners in earning a livelihood. others. By helping men regain business confidence. Women- Women's networks as social service providers. The dili- managed interventions to provide critical livelihood gence shown by women's networks in delivering support support services, such as supplying agricultural inputs services to the poor has encouraged several development and marketing commodities, not only increased access agencies to work with them on such programs as old age to credit but also increased the direct participation of pensions, midday meals for children, and health care and poor men in markets. ambulance services. LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER Household impact APPLICABILITY Women bring home credit and gain skills and confidence in Poverty reduction projects are generational investments and several ways: require resource commitments over extended periods. Sus- tained outcomes depend on the sequencing and integration By making savings productive and reducing the debt of investments in social mobilization of the poor; engaging burden. The internal accretion of capital in self-help the banking system for capital formation; providing liveli- groups accrues to all members in proportion to their hood support services; and enabling the poor to participate individual savings. Access to credit at convenient terms in markets. has significantly lowered the cost of debt. On average, The astute use of human capital can greatly reduce the time self-help groups have reduced the high cost of debt per and cost of institution building. Using community profes- family by $75. sionals in social mobilization and capacity building is a INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1:ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA: A WOMEN-MANAGED COMMUNITY FINANCIAL SYSTEM 115 feasible, low-cost strategy for building strong institutions at WAYS FORWARD the grassroots level (for example, engaging women group Consolidate the institutional systems for expanding the products members as bookkeepers, microfinance professionals, bank and services offered by federations through process and product linkage experts, and social auditors). innovation. Commercial banks have initiated serious efforts in Using donor contributions as revolving funds in community this direction in partnership with women's groups as part of IKP. institutions has strategic advantages. It encourages commu- Develop next-generation and alternative credit linkage nity ownership of donor funds, as well as transparency, vig- models. These partnerships could take several forms: for ilance, and social accountability. The initial funds encourage example, the MSs could play the role of "business corre- investment in sectors in which banks are reluctant to partic- spondents," extending a full range of savings, credit, and ipate; ultimately, a record of success attracts mainstream insurance products to the poor on behalf of the banks, or lenders and releases capital to support the next level of the VOs could act as "business facilitators" to widen and innovation. The recycling of funds supports extended deepen the reach of bank finance. investment at the household level, and returns from invest- Consolidate the women-run rural financial institutions ments help community institutions achieve financial sus- under a state-level apex to form a community-owned, main- tainability faster. stream financial institution. The apex could be promoted in The banking system must view the poor as coproducers of collaboration with NABARD, major commercial banks, and financial services and not just as credit clients. This perspec- other private firms that would facilitate the integration of tive will facilitate the provision of a full range of financial women-run, community-managed rural financial systems products at significantly lower cost to banks and the poor. with mainstream financial markets. 116 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE TNHNEOVATI CVN OT ET I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 I M AT I E AC Uganda: Kabarole Research and Resource Centre's, Participatory, Self-Managed Microfinance Model he Kabarole Research and Resource Centre's T sustainable organizations that help poor women and men (KRC's) self-managed microfinance association create wealth, challenge gender inequality, and reverse envi- (MFA) model of rural finance is innovative in its ronmental degradation. In the context of the KRC's wider promotion of independent, self-managed groups as well as mission of civil society development, the MFAs also aim to its fiercely participatory decision-making structure. The develop participatory and organizational skills and link KRC has successfully integrated gender into sustainable with other networks for development. The program is sup- livelihood training for women and men, under a program ported by the McKnight Foundation, the Humanistisch run by the KRC and offered to MFA members. The KRC Instituut voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, the Rabobank was instrumental in developing the Participatory Action Foundation, and the Deutsche Entwicklunsdienst. Learning System methodology, which is fully integrated As of June 2006, the program had supported and signed into MFA training and planning. By linking the MFAs with contracts with 17 MFAs and was closely monitoring 17 Rural Information Centres, the KRC also points to possible other emerging MFAs. These associations represent more ways of linking rural finance for the poor with civil society than 400 community groups in the five districts in the development. Rwenzori region, with total membership exceeding 10,000 people. The target is to have 35 contracted and 10 emerging MFAs, each covering a subcounty in the Rwenzori region, by What's innovative? Self-managed microfinance the end of 2008. associations operate as independent, self-managed groups with a fiercely participatory decision-making structure. The associations also benefit from sus- ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENTS AND tainable livelihoods training and grassroots action IMPACTS learning methodologies in which gender perspec- This section discusses the KRC program's components and tives have been integrated. impacts to date. ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES AND The MFA model DESCRIPTION Each MFA is independent, self-managed, and member The KRC, an NGO founded in 1996 in Uganda, has a holis- owned and is made up of 10­25 groups in a specific geo- tic approach to civil society development. Its interlinked graphical area. Most groups had come together for savings and mutually reinforcing program areas focus on research and credit or other development projects before joining the and information, civil peace building, microprojects, KRC program. Internally groups are subdivided into mutual human rights, and microfinance. solidarity subgroups of four to seven people to act as group The KRC started its Micro-Finance Associations Pro- collateral for loan repayment to the mutual fund. Each gram in 2002 for rural farmers, particularly women and group elects its own leaders, collects and records members' poorer farmers. The program's role is not simply to provide savings and shares, and compiles individual loan applica- financially sustainable financial services but also to establish tions into a group application to the MFA. Regular group 117 meetings are held to discuss issues that group leaders will facilitators, who are mandated to train and conduct follow- take to the MFA monthly meetings and the annual general up activities in the community on behalf of the KRC. These meeting. When any member of the group wishes to obtain facilitators must be people of high integrity who are trusted credit, he or she applies to the group. The group leader for- by the community. Although most of them lack any higher wards the application to the MFA and follows up on it. education, they speak English and are willing to learn and to The MFA membership owns, manages, and uses the ser- train others. vices offered by the MFA. Ownership is based on purchases Gender is mainstreamed in this training on the premise that of shares. Each group must have a minimum of 20 shares, "without a sustainable household you cannot have a sustain- and no group can have more than 25 percent of the total able agriculture."Every training session includes a discussion of shares of an MFA. The groups also pay annual subscription relations in the household, the division of labor, and access to fees and deposit their savings with the MFA. Each MFA is and control of resources. This approach has contributed signif- expected to construct offices for its operations. icantly to women's empowerment in several ways: All key decisions regarding services are taken through member representative structures. As the MFAs develop, they Increased confidence and sense of self-worth: Because the are able to employ at least one full-time worker per association training helps them earn income, women realize that to coordinate the activities of all groups and mobilize new they can accomplish many different tasks, including groups. Each MFA also has a board and supervisory commit- those previously considered "men" tasks. tee composed of elected members who provide advice and ser- Increased control over income and decision making in the vice on a voluntary basis. The main decision-making forum is household: In general, women said they controlled the the annual general meeting, attended by group representa- income from group activities and from assets gained tives. Ongoing discussions and management within individual through the group, such as crops and livestock. They also MFAs occur through monthly meetings between the MFAs said there had been a positive change in decision making and group representatives. Cross-dissemination of experience in the household following integration of gender aware- and ideas between MFAs takes place at bimonthly meetings. ness in sustainable agriculture training, particularly The money that is raised is used to provide credit to the when men had also been involved in training. groups and to meet operational expenses. For any group to Increased confidence and ability to participate in public receive a loan from an MFA, it must have deposited savings discussions: This took place as a result of the training and worth at least 20 percent of the loan value. group activity. The MFAs operate under a code of conduct stipulated in the MFA rules and the cooperative by-laws of Uganda. The There also appear to have been significant changes in KRC provides initial financial support and supports train- men's attitudes toward women's work, helping women, ing at the MFA and group levels through community train- women's decision making in the household, and women's ers and community process facilitators. After a five-year capacities in general, as well as a decrease in alcoholism in contract period, the MFAs are expected to meet all of their men and violence after these problems were raised publicly operational costs, including training and the salary of the and discussed among men and women. microfinance officer/manager. These developments, in turn, had a significant positive The KRC MFAs have had a positive contribution to impact on household well-being. The changes that occurred women's empowerment (Kasente and Hofstede 2005) and over the course of such a short training period resulted not have established many innovations that contribute to only from the content of the training but also from the orga- women's empowerment through the MFAs and are linked to nizational context in which it occurred. What was actually KRC's Human Rights Program: Gender Mainstreaming in learned in the training and any issues raised were subsequently Sustainable Agriculture Training, the Participatory Action followed up in group meetings and further reinforced in Learning System, and Rural Information Centres. monitoring by the KRC (Mayoux 2005). Gender Mainstreaming in Sustainable Agriculture Participatory Action Learning System The KRC conducts sustainable agriculture training, which The KRC has also spearheaded the Participatory Action many MFA members receive, usually at the request of a Learning System (PALS), an innovative methodology to community. Training is provided by community process increase the effectiveness and sustainability of its core and 118 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE other training.2 PALS builds on a long-established tradition process to identify the actual costs and benefits and the best of grassroots participatory action research. However, PALS ways forward. is distinctive in the way it attempts to systematically sequence use of participatory processes and diagram tools Rural information centres into an integrated and coherent empowerment process. PALS aims to avoid becoming another extractive participa- Information is a key tool for women as well as men farmers tory methodology by focusing on reflection and analysis at to improve their own enterprises, make informed decisions, the individual level and helping people think through, plan, and improve livelihoods through information and knowl- document in diagrams, and then track their own goals and edge on human rights, gender issues, conflict management, strategies. Methods have been developed to help people who health, hygiene, education, and democratic processes, which have never held a pen to start drawing and developing plans have strategic roles in sustaining and maximizing benefits to achieve goals that they determine. These plans are then from their agricultural enterprises. tracked over time on the drawing as an ongoing learning In 2003 the KRC considered and directly implemented its process. This individual analysis is then shared, following first information and communications technology initiative simple, inclusive, and participatory guidelines, in a group through a pilot project, the Bwera Information Centre in Kas- process for mutual learning that yields trackable plans for ese District. Supporting the establishment of Rural Informa- collective action. The individual responses, expressed in tion Centres opens space to provide development-oriented either private interviews or public meetings, are likely to be information services to local communities in an appropriate much more reliable than spontaneous responses in large and sustainable manner. The local community is involved not group meetings. The PALS methodology is not taught in a only in receiving but also in contributing information, and, stand-alone training session but is used as the base method- just as important, it must raise the resources to make the cen- ology for various types of training--for example, enter- ter socially and financially sustaining. The particular informa- prise, gender, or organizational training--to make it more tion services available from Rural Information Centres depend effective for people who are not literate. An independent on the farmers and the particular rural context. study of three community-based KRC partner organiza- The centers are legal bodies owned and managed by civil tions concluded that PALS had resulted in impressive levels society organizations within the threshold of a political of self-confidence, full participation of all members (literate county. Representatives from civil society organizations make and illiterate, rich and poor, women and men) with no lead- up the executive body with management functions; the daily ership dependency, effective self-evaluation of progress, running of a center is done by the caretakers, who should be increased collaboration, and unity in the group and within knowledgeable and can be trained to deliver services. households. The methodology had also led to viable solu- tions being implemented for problems at the individual, LESSONS LEARNED, PROSPECTS FORTHE household, and group levels. FUTURE,AND ISSUES FOR WIDER A further development of PALS, the Poverty Resource APPLICABILITY Monitoring and Tracking model (PRMT), builds a Commu- nity-Based Monitoring and Information System that enables This section sums up what can be gained from the experi- information to flow through many supportive structures at ence of this project. different levels in the local government, up to the national stop center (the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics, in this Lessons learned case), and to flow back through the same structures. The PRMT model empowers the community to participate The experience of the KRC has shown that people in rural actively in planning, implementing, and monitoring of devel- communities, given appropriate support and methodologies, opment programs up to the macro- and policy levels. can develop their own financial institutions. Over time this Careful consideration needs to be given to the levels and self-managed model will be more cost effective in the context types of decisions for which women's participation is in which KRC operates than many other models, because it needed for empowerment, who should participate, and the does not require high levels of expenditure on fuel and trans- types of participation that can be most empowering (see port, as would be the case in programs that use credit officers. box 3.11). It is important to be clear about the potential The KRC experience shows the value of mainstreaming costs and benefits for women and to have a participatory gender in "mainstream" training efforts such as sustainable INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 2: UGANDA: KABAROLE RESEARCH AND RESOURCE CENTRE 119 agriculture training. It also demonstrates the feasibility of presented at the 2006 Microcredit Summit, Halifax, Canada, setting up strong participatory learning processes to com- www.microcreditsummit.org. plement financial services. It points to ways in which rural 6. During field research in Malawi for a World Bank study finance can help strengthen civil society through the institu- on social outcomes of rural finance, it became obvious that tions it sets up--especially if rural finance is part of and the number of women borrowers was vastly understated, linked to a wider development strategy. because only single women had loans in their own right. All other loans granted to families and households were auto- matically in the name of the man "head of household." Offi- Prospects for the future cially, only 15 percent of borrowers were women, whereas household surveys indicated that for many of the loans issued The KRC is now at the point of spinning off some of the to men, women still decided how the loan was to be used. MFAs as financially sustainable and independent entities, networked with the other MFAs. It is also ready to scale up the PALS process and the Rural Information Centres. Thematic Note 1 This Thematic Note was written by Linda Mayoux (Consul- tant) and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa (Consultant); Issues for wider applicability Jennifer Heney (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Henry The KRC model is especially viable in more remote and Bagazonzya, Renate Kloeppinger-Todd, Rekha Mehra, poor rural areas where community cohesion is sufficiently Meena Munshi, Ajai Nair, and Anne Ritchie (World Bank). strong. It requires sufficient funding to set up the MFAs and 1. Informal systems for pooling savings and relending to develop the grassroots training structures, as well as members in turn as a lump sum of credit (the rotating sav- patience to let them develop on a confident and participa- ings systems) or relending to savers (accumulated savings tory basis. Once this is done, however, the model promises systems) vary in the size of their membership and amounts to be more cost efficient as well as developmentally effective of money involved. Credit allocation may be by agreement, than other models in similar contexts. lottery, or auction. For details of women's use of ROSCAs in different cultures, see Ardner and Burman (1995). 2. See note 4 above. NOTES 3. For example, the wording can treat women as individu- als who can make their own decisions, eliminating references Overview to--and automatic, often erroneous assumptions about-- This Overview was written by Linda Mayoux (Consultant), men heads of households. Some microfinance institutions and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa (Consultant); Jennifer that require husbands' signatures for their wives' loans also Heney (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Henry Bagazonzya, require wives' signatures for their husbands' loans. Others Renate Kloeppinger-Todd, Rekha Mehra, Meena Munshi, do not require a spouse's signature for any loan and accept Ajai Nair, and Anne Ritchie (World Bank). women as well as men guarantors. 1. For an account of what is meant by inclusive finance, see 4. Effective gender audits applicable across the range of United Nations (2006). rural finance providers are still to be developed, but 2. See www.grameen-info.org and www.villagebanking. sources that could be adapted can be accessed through org. www.genfinance.info. 3. See also R. Arunachalam, "Microfinance and Innovative 5. Both these issues are discussed in more detail in a forth- Financing for Gender Equality: Approaches, Challenges and coming IFAD report. Strengths," www.thecommonwealth.org; L. Mayoux, "Not 6. For example, these goals have been achieved for the Only Reaching, but Also Empowering Women: Ways environment and for cultural diversity in the advertising Forward for the Microcredit Summit's Second Goal," paper that HSBC Bank uses to convey its international image. presented at the 2006 Microcredit Summit, Halifax, Canada, 7. See Mayoux, note 4 above. www.genfinance.info. 8. Banks and MFIs will never focus solely on the very poor. 4. M. Hussein and S. Hussain, "The Impact of Micro What they can do, alongside their other core business, is to Finance on Poverty and Gender Equity: Approaches and develop products for these groups and develop partnerships Evidence from Pakistan," www.genfinance.info. with NGOs working with these groups. In this way, over the 5. S. Cheston, "Just the Facts, Ma'am: Gender Stories from longer term as very poor people move up, they do not Unexpected Sources with Morals for Micro-finance," paper encounter barriers to further upward mobility. 120 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE Thematic Note 2 (World Bank); and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa (Consul- tant); Jennifer Heney (FAO); and Renate Kloeppinger-Todd This Thematic Note was written by Linda Mayoux (Consul- and Anne Ritchie (World Bank). tant) and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa (Consultant); Jennifer Heney (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Henry 1. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Develop- Bagazonzya, Renate Kloeppinger-Todd, Rekha Mehra, ment (NABARD) is an apex development bank that intro- Meena Munshi, Ajai Nair, and Anne Ritchie (World Bank). duced the Self-Help Group Bank Linkage Program in India. 1. For further general discussion on leasing, see Nair and Kloeppinger-Todd (2006); Nair, Kloeppinger-Todd, and Mulder (2004). Innovative Activity Profile 2 2. This was the case with MFIs and where NGOs were legally permitted to collect savings. This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Linda Mayoux (Consultant) and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa (Consul- 3. See also L. Mayoux, "Microfinance and the Empower- tant); Jennifer Heney and Yianna Lambrou (FAO); Maria ment of Women--A Review of the Key Issues," www.ilo.org. Hartl (IFAD); and Renate Kloeppinger-Todd, Eija Pehu, and 4. List based on L. Mayoux, "Sustainable Microfinance for Anne Ritchie (World Bank). Women's Empowerment: Report from International Mutual 1. For details of PALS, see www.palsnetwork.info. Learning Workshop, Centre for Micro-Finance Research," www.genfinance.info. 5. See www.codecbd.org. REFERENCES 6. See note 20 above. Overview 7. For the most recent information, see the MicroFinance Gateway (www.microfinancegateway.org) and International Anderson-Saito, Katrine, Arunima Dhar, and Eija Pehu. 2004. Labour Organization (www.ilo.org). For a compendium of "GENRD Operational Notes for Task Managers to Integrate case studies, see Churchill (2006). Gender into Rural Projects." Operational Note 4, Gender 8. See note 21 above. and Rural Finance, World Bank, Washington, DC. 9. A billion is 1,000 million. Burjorjee, Deena M., Rani Deshpande, and C. Jean Weide- 10. C. Ramìrez, M. Garcìa Domìnguez, and J. Mìguez mann. 2002. Supporting Women's Livelihoods: Microfi- Morais,"Crossing Borders: Remittances, Gender, and Devel- nance That Works for the Majority. New York: United opment" (Santo Domingo: United Nations International Nations Capital Development Fund. Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Cheston, Susy, and Lisa Kuhn. 2002. "Empowering Women, 2005), www.un-instraw.org. Women through Microfinance." In Pathways Out of 11. For details of the original tools, see www.microsave.org. Poverty: Innovations in Microfinance for the Poorest For gender adaptations, see L. Mayoux, "Gender Questions Families, ed. S. Daley-Harris, 167­228. Bloomfield: for Product Market Research," www.genfinance.info/ Kumarian Press. MktResPALS/Gender%20Sensitive%20Product%20Mar- Fries, Robert, and Banu Akin. 2004. Value Chains and Their ket%20Research.pdf. Significance for Addressing the Rural Finance Challenge. 12. See particularly the SEEP Network's "Consumer Protec- Washington, DC: United States Agency for International tion Principles in Practice: A Framework for Developing Development, Accelerated Microenterprise Advance- and Implementing a Pro-Client Approach to Micro- ment Project. finance,"SEEP Progress Note 14, www.seepnetwork.org, and Hollinger, Frank. 2004. Financing Agricultural Term Invest- an overview of the October 2006 discussion on MicroLinks ments. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization. (www.microlinks.org). Kabeer, Naila. 2001. "Conflicts over Credit: Re-evaluating 13. For details on Womenkind Worldwide, see www.wom- the Empowerment Potential of Loans to Women in Rural ankind.org; for Siembra, see www.siembra.org. Bangladesh." World Development 29: 63­84. 14. For details, see Freedom from Hunger, www.ffhtechnical. Kloeppinger-Todd, Renate. 2007. "Financing Small-Scale org; Accìon International, see www.microfinancegateway.org. Irrigation (SSI), Water and Sanitation." Presentation for the Water Week on Water Futures: Sustainability and Growth, March. World Bank, Washington, DC. Innovative Activity Profile 1 Mayoux, Linda. 1999. "Questioning Virtuous Spirals: This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Shweta Micro-Finance and Women's Empowerment in Africa." Banerjee, Sitaramachandra Machiraju, and Parmesh Shah Journal of International Development 11: 957­84. MODULE 3: REFERENCES 121 ------. 2008. Reaching and Empowering Women: Gender Nair, Ajai, and Renate Kloeppinger-Todd. 2006. "Buffalo, Mainstreaming in Microfinance. Rome: International Bakeries,and Tractors: Cases in Rural Leasing from Pakistan, Fund for Agricultural Development. Uganda, and Mexico." Agriculture and Rural Development Rose, K. 1992. Where Women Are Leaders: The SEWA Move- Discussion Paper 28, World Bank, Washington, DC. ment in India. London: Zed Press. Nair, Ajai, Renate Kloeppinger-Todd, and Annabel Mulder. United Nations. 2006. Building Inclusive Financial Sectors for 2004. "Leasing: An Underutilized Tool in Rural Finance." Development. New York: United Nations. Agriculture and Rural Development Discussion Paper 7, World Bank. 2006. Gender Equality as Smart Economics: A World Bank, Washington, DC. World Bank Group Gender Action Plan (Fiscal Years Otero, Maria, and Elizabeth Rhyne, eds. 1994. The New World 2007­2010). Washington, DC: World Bank. of Microenterprise Finance: Building Healthy Financial ------. 2007a."Module 8: Investments in Rural Finance for Institutions for the Poor. London: IT Publications. Agriculture." In Agricultural Investment Sourcebook. Ritchie, Anne. 2007. "Community-Based Financial Organi- Washington, DC: World Bank. zations: A Solution to Access in Remote Rural Areas." ------. 2007b. Gender and Economic Growth in Kenya: Agriculture and Rural Development Discussion Paper Unleashing the Power of Women. Directions in Develop- 34, World Bank, Washington, DC. ment. Washington, DC: World Bank. Rutherford,Stuart.1999.The Poor and Their Money. Manchester: Institute for Development Policy Management. Woller, Gary. 2002."From Market Failure to Marketing Fail- Thematic Note 1 ure: Market Orientation as the Key to Deep Outreach in Microfinance." Journal of International Development 14: Ardener, Shirley, and Sandra Burman, eds. 1995. Money-Go- 305­24. Rounds: The Importance of Rotating Savings and Credit World Bank. 2003. "Rural Financial Services: Implementing Associations for Women. Washington, DC: Berg. the Bank's Strategy to Reach the Rural Poor." ARD Ritchie, Anne. 2007. "Community-Based Financial Organi- Report No. 26030, World Bank, Washington, DC. zations: A Solution to Access in Remote Rural Areas." Agriculture and Rural Development Discussion Paper 34, World Bank, Washington, DC. FURTHER READING Rutherford, Stuart. 1999. The Poor and Their Money. Man- Overview chester: Institute for Development Policy Management. Lacoste, Jean-Paul. 2002. "Livelihood Strategies of Poor Women in Zimbabwe." Ph.D. thesis, University of Thematic Note 2 Geneva, Switzerland. Mayoux, Linda, and G. Mackie. 2008. "Making Stronger Allen, Hugh. 2005. "CARE's Village-Based Savings and Links: A Practical Guide to Mainstreaming Gender in Credit Programme: Successful Financial Intermediation Value Chain Development." International Labour Orga- in Rural Africa." HA Consulting. nization, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Brown, Warren. 2001. "Microinsurance--The Risks, Perils Wenner, Mark, Sergio Navajas, Carolina Trivelli, and Alvaro and Opportunities."Small Enterprise Development 12 (1): Tarazona. 2007. Managing Credit Risk in Rural Financial 11­24. Institutions in Latin America. Washington, DC: Inter- Churchill, Craig, ed. 2006. Protecting the Poor: A Microinsur- American Development Bank. ance Compendium. Geneva: International Labour Organisation. Thematic Note 1 Dowla, Asif, and Dipal Chandra Barua. 2006. The Poor Always Pay Back: The Grameen II Story. Bloomfield: Arunachalam, Ramesh. 2007. "Microfinance and Innovative Kumarian Press. Financing for Gender Equality: Approaches, Challenges ------. 2008. "From Access to Empowerment: Gender and Strengths."Available at www.thecommon wealth.org. Mainstreaming in Microfinance." International Fund for Otero, Maria, and Elizabeth Rhyne, eds. 1994. The New Agricultural Development, Rome. World of Microenterprise Finance: Building Healthy Finan- Murray, Jessica, and Richard Rosenberg. 2006."Community- cial Institutions for the Poor. London: IT Publications. Managed Loan Funds: Which Ones Work?" Consultative Rose, Kalima. 1992. Where Women Are Leaders: The SEWA Group to Assist the Poorest, Washington, DC. Movement in India. London: Zed Press. 122 MODULE 3: GENDER AND RURAL FINANCE Innovative Activity Profile 2 For more information about PALS, a copy of the original draft manual for KRC can be obtained from www. Kasente, Deborah, and Gerry Hofstede. 2005. "KRC Micro- lindaswebs.org.uk or from Linda Mayoux at l.mayoux finance Program: Gender Sensitivity Study." Available at @ntlworld.com. For more about PALS diagrams, see www.krc.or.ug. L. Mayoux, "Thinking It Through: Using Diagrams," Mayoux, Linda. 2005. "Evaluation of KRC Microfinance Pro- paper produced for the EDIAIS Web site, available at gram for Hivos and Rabobank."Available at www.krc.or.ug. www.enterprise-impact.org.uk. For more information about KRC, see www.krc.or.ug. MODULE 3: FURTHER READING 123 M O D U L E 4 Gender Issues in Land Policy and Administration Overview O ver the last few decades, many donor and imple- reform. Upon request by United Nations member countries, menting agencies, including the World Bank,1 FAO provides technical assistance for mainstreaming gender International Fund for Agricultural Development in agricultural policy and planning, usually by developing (IFAD),2 and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),3 strategic policy documents in collaboration with ministries of have expanded their programs and activities in land policy agriculture and ministries responsible for gender issues. IFAD, and administration. Land policy and administration projects as stated in its 2003­06 Plan of Action, aims to expand can contribute inadvertently not only to gender inequality but women's access to and control over fundamental assets (capi- also to more general social inequality by supporting individu- tal, land, knowledge, and technologies); strengthen women's als who are already advantaged by wealth, power, or custom to agency, including their decision-making role in community the disadvantage of those who are poor and vulnerable. Gen- affairs and representation in local institutions; and improve der inequity can be diminished when women's rights are well-being and ease workloads by facilitating access to basic explicitly taken into account and when women participate in rural services and infrastructures. designing and implementing land policy and programs. In many cases increased gender equality can also lead to IMPORTANCE OF GENDER IN LAND POLICY increased economic equality (Meinzen-Dick and others 1997). AND ADMINISTRATION The World Bank, IFAD, and FAO have increasingly recog- nized the importance of women's land rights and the failure of Gender is a basic determinant of social relations and rights land administration programs to protect them. In its recent in households and rural communities.4 Together with class, Policy Research Report on land (Deininger 2003), the World ethnicity, and caste, gender determines to a great extent a Bank recognizes that past initiatives often failed to discern person's opportunities, aspirations, standard of living, access how control of assets, particularly land, is assigned within the to resources, status in the community, and self-perception. In household. The Policy Research Report argues that strength- addition, women's rights to resources influence their ability ening women's land rights is important both for potential and to produce and their behavior as producers. gains to agricultural productivity and for household-level In most developing countries, land is a critical asset, espe- human capital investments, such as nutrition and child cially for the urban and rural poor. Land rights--whether schooling. It advocates legal measures, education, and capacity customary or formal--act as a form of economic access to key building, as well as preferential treatment of women in public markets, as well as a form of social access to nonmarket insti- programs, such as those dedicated to land titling and land tutions, such as the household relations and community-level 125 governance structures. In addition to economic and social women with property ownership are less vulnerable to access, rights to land also often confer rights to other local domestic violence in some parts of India. However, careful natural resources, such as trees, pasture, and water. program design, planning, and implementation are needed Depending on the norms governing intrahousehold because possible responses to the empowerment process are decision making and income pooling, however, women may domestic violence and community reprisal toward women not fully participate in these benefits if they do not have who seek independent rights in many countries. independent or direct rights over household land. There is Land rights may also empower individuals to participate evidence that improvements in women's independent prop- more effectively in their immediate communities and civil erty rights have positive economic benefits. Comparative society at large. Facilitating women's greater participation in analysis of data from Honduras and Nicaragua, for example, extra-household institutions diminishes men's dominance of suggests a positive correlation between women's land rights community-level decision making and builds women's orga- and their overall role in the household economy: women nizational skills, social networks, and social capital. Women gain greater control over agricultural income, gain higher with land rights are more likely to be active members of their shares of business and labor market earnings, and more fre- communities, and, as a result, community institutions them- quently receive credit (Katz and Chamorro 2003). selves are more likely to be responsive to women's needs. Land is a particularly critical resource for a woman in the event that she becomes a de facto household head as a result GENDER EQUITY ISSUES AND LAND POLICY of migration by men, abandonment, divorce, or death. In both urban and rural settings, independent real property The basic gender policy within the context of land adminis- rights under these circumstances can mean the difference tration should promote secure access to land and other natural between having to depend on the natal or husband's family resources for women, independent of men relatives and inde- for support and forming a viable, self-reliant, women-headed pendent of their civil status. Such a policy stance is the basis for household. Women's land rights within marriage may afford identifying and establishing instruments that eliminate, or at them greater claims on the disposition of assets upon divorce least decrease, gender bias with regard to natural resource or death of their husband, as Fafchamps and Quisumbing tenure in land administration programs, including titling and (2002) found in rural Ethiopia. Moreover, for widows, control registration, privatization, and natural resource management. over land may be one of the few ways that elderly women can Two sets of legal framework and institutions govern elicit economic support from their children, in the form of access and ownership issues for community and private either labor contributions to agricultural production or cash land: the formal and the customary systems. and in-kind transfers. In the absence of other forms of social security, the elderly rural population relies heavily on inter- Formal legal framework and institutions generational transfers for their livelihoods; children are more likely to contribute to their parents' well-being if the latter Over the last few decades, many nations have reformed their retain control over a key productive resource such as land constitutions and civil codes and have either incorporated (Deere and Leon 2001). As HIV and AIDS increase the num- gender-neutral language (favoring neither men nor women) ber of women-headed households, a widow's ability to make or explicitly recognized women's rights and prohibited a claim to her husband's land becomes more urgent. discrimination based on gender. Many nations have also Rights to land and natural resources increase a woman's modified land and property laws and regulations so as to bargaining power within the household, which results in guarantee women's equal property and inheritance rights. increased allocation of household resources to children and Thus, most Latin American nations passed legal reforms women as well as increased household welfare (Katz and during the 1980s and 1990s to remove discriminatory Chamorro 2003; Quisumbing and Maluccio 2003). Quisum- clauses in codes applying to family (marriage, divorce, and bing and Maluccio also find a positive relationship between marital property) and inheritance.5 They also modified land the amount of assets (including land) that a woman possesses allocation laws and regulations (for example, for agrarian at the time of marriage and the shares of household expendi- reform and land titling programs) to recognize and give tures devoted to food, education, health care, and children's women equal land rights explicitly. Similar movements to clothing. Women's rights to land and natural resources can reform legislation occurred in Africa and Asia. impact women's empowerment as well, not only household The formal institutions that establish and maintain land welfare. Panda and Agarwal (2005) have indicated that tenure systems (by establishing and enforcing rules for 126 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION accessing, using, and controlling land) include the land discrimination. Although land titling programs may have registry, cadastre, titling agency, and land use agency.6 These no gendered requirements, and national laws uphold gender institutions provide information on legal norms and regula- equality, the "custom" of titling only household heads effec- tions regarding land rights and land use, as well as specific tively discriminates against women and may actually deprive information on the holders of land rights. Institutions them of customary access and other rights. that issue titles and record transfers can play a particularly Finally, even when legislation and state programs specif- important role in securing women's rights to land; land ically address women's land rights and attempt to address stuuse agencies may become involved in natural resource constraints in programs, such as land reform and land management interventions. titling, resistance from program implementers and partici- However, passing formal legislation is usually not suffi- pant populations can derail the "good intentions" of state cient. Many laws recognize and protect women's rights to programs, which results in token observance of women's land (such as property and land ownership rights, equal legal land rights. Examples can be found in Bolivia (Gio- inheritance rights for daughters and sons, and marital prop- varelli and others 2005) and Nicaragua (Lastarria-Cornhiel erty rights for women), but enforcement of these laws is and others 2003), where, despite very positive and specific sporadic, and attempts by women to have the law enforced language in the land titling legislation regarding women's can be painfully difficult. and men's equal land rights, the implementation of the Reasons for this failure of enforcement include conflic- titling program resulted in the great majority of the land tive legislation, institutional weakness, and the pervasive being titled to men (see Thematic Note 4). influence of gender bias. It is not uncommon that although some laws may guarantee gender equality with regard to Customary norms and institutions related to land land rights (for example, a land law), other laws, such as access and rights family or personal laws, may be based on patriarchal norms and undermine or directly contradict the concept of equal As mentioned earlier, formal law and state institutions often land rights by not giving wives equal rights to marital prop- have limited effectiveness beyond major urban areas. erty or daughters equal inheritance rights. On the other Because of the difficulties state institutions encounter when hand, if formal law is not culturally sensitive and does not administering and managing land and other natural build on local practices that are positive for women, the pri- resources, awareness has grown that management of land ority of gender equity may be ignored. Another frequent and other natural resources, management of land conflicts, problem with land legislation and regulations is that rights as well as administration of land rights may be realized more and obligations may not be defined clearly. effectively by local authorities and customary institutions.7 Even where legislation is generally positive toward As a result, policy makers in some nations are formally rec- women's land rights, in many countries the state and its ognizing and utilizing customary institutions and local institutions, including the judiciary, exert only a weak pres- authorities. Local authorities may be community-recognized ence beyond major urban areas. Institutional structures, authorities or formally appointed by government.8 In sub- capacities, internal coordination, and attitudes are also Saharan Africa, a growing number of countries explicitly rec- often weak. All too frequently, the state lacks, or is unwilling ognize customary tenure systems and rules. In many Asian to commit, resources to advocating, promoting, enforcing, countries, personal or religious law, or both, is recognized and protecting women's rights to land and property. In the and has been in effect for many years. These personal laws absence of state institutions to enforce equal rights for have a great impact on inheritance and marriage practices women as well as other laws, such as land use laws, local cus- regarding land and property. Customary institutions have tomary norms and practices predominate. important implications for women's rights to land. Land Another difficulty with some gender-equal legislation administration programs, therefore, require a deep knowl- can be traced directly to patriarchal values and attitudes that edge and clear understanding of customary tenure systems hinder the implementation of legislation and state pro- to know how they will both affect and be affected by cultural grams in a gender-equitable manner. Most common is "gen- norms and practices. der-neutral" legislation and programs that, because they Cultural or local prohibitions against women's owner- ignore the normative and practical constraints women face ship of land are often more powerful than written laws that in obtaining land rights, are in fact biased against women. allow women to own land. These norms may determine Land titling programs are a good example of this type of which rights to land a woman can exercise freely: for MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION 127 example, women may have the right to use a parcel of land group ranches caused widows to receive less-than-average or the right to gather fruit from it but not the right to parcel allocations, despite women's representation, in bequeath it through inheritance, a right limited to their the statutory committee.9 Women may not only lose the use brothers and husbands. A woman's land-related rights are rights to their husband's land but will also most likely be usually tied to her place in her ancestral family and her hus- unable to claim temporary use rights to birth family land band's family; here rights to land are viewed within the because their brothers will claim individual and private context of the distribution of wealth within the extended rights to the land they inherit from their fathers (see also family. Legislative intervention alone cannot provide Thematic Note 3). women with independent and effective land rights if they Communities or lineages allocate land to their con- are not accepted and enforced culturally and socially. stituent families; that land, in turn, is allocated within the Land rights in societies in which customary social struc- family and handed down to heirs through marriage and tures and practices are predominant are generally determined inheritance. These allocation and transfer practices are gen- by sociocultural and religious institutions, such as inheri- erally determined by kinship systems. Patrilineal kinship tance, marriage, and community land authorities. These societies trace the family line through the paternal side, customary tenure systems are diverse and encompass a large whereas matrilineal kinship systems trace the family line variety of social relations and rights related to land and through the maternal side. other natural resources. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, land ownership rights are often vested in a community or Inheritance practices. Inheritance practices are patrilineal, other corporate structure such as a lineage or clan. A signif- matrilineal, or bilateral. In patrilineal inheritance, land is icant proportion of the land is not controlled by individuals generally handed down from father to son; if a man does not but rather by a group and managed according to commu- have any sons, his brother, nephew, or another man relative of nity rules. Land allocated to individuals or households on a his lineage often inherits his property. Daughters do not long-term basis tends to be parcels for producing food, inherit land from their fathers, even though they are of the building a home, or raising animals; rights to these parcels same lineage. The cultural norm is that daughters leave their are generally inheritable. How this land is initially allocated birth community and family when they marry to live in their to households depends on the local customary system. Most husband's community. Because wives are under the land parcels under individual or household control are responsibility of their husband and family, it is believed that if transferred through inheritance, not the market. they inherited land, their husband's family and lineage would Members of the community have different types of rights obtain control over it. to land and natural resources depending on their lineage, Inheritance practices in matrilineal societies are more ethnicity, status, gender, and marital status. In most soci- diverse. In matrilineal communities in South and South- eties, women, particularly married women, are not full and east Asia--for example, in some communities in Indiana active participants in customary institutions. As secondary (Agarwal 1988) and some in Malaysia (Stivens 1985)--lineage community members, their rights to land are generally and landed property are traced through the mother's line, derived from a man relative or husband. In many countries, and land is passed on from mother to daughter. In other cultural if not legal norms dictate that men are the owners matrilineal communities, as in Malawi and Mozambique, of land and that women have access to land only through although lineage and property are traced through the their relationship with a man relative, such as a father, hus- mother's line, normally only men can clear land, which gives band, brother, or even brother-in-law. them control over this resource. Once land is in the lineage, Although customary tenure systems often do provide it is handed down to a young man from his maternal uncle. women with some basic security in situations when they are In other African matrilineal communities, such as those in not living with a husband, this same system also favors men Ghana, even though family land is usually handed down when control over land is determined (for example, through from uncle to nephew, a woman can also inherit and acquire the allocation of community land for agricultural produc- land in her own right within her own matriliny (primarily) tion or through inheritance practices). Because the men in and her community (secondarily). A woman often inherits the community usually control land allocation, they are able from a woman maternal relative (aunt, mother), although to claim individual rights when land scarcity converts the she can also inherit from her father. She retains this right land into an asset and when family land becomes private even if she moves to another village (for example, if she goes property. In Kenya, for example, the subdivision of Maasai to live with her husband's family). 128 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION In addition, rights to land and other resources in matri- Marriage practices. Marriage practices in customary lineal communities are more diffuse.10 Land and other societies include marital residence (where the couple lives wealth tend to be distributed and redistributed among line- after marriage) and asset transfers (dowry and brideprice); age members through the mechanism of inheritance. This both sets of practices determine how family land is allocated inheritance and wealth distribution pattern may be the and who has rights to family land. In most patrilineal result of the extended family nature of matrilineal societies. societies, residence after marriage is patrilocal (the couple As the market economy exerts its influence by making pro- and their children live in the husband's community), and duction practices more labor intensive and market oriented, family land is handed down from father to son. Women who there is a tendency for matrilineal families to become less marry into the community do not have rights to their extended and more nuclear, for property rights to become husband's family land or community land. When a woman less diffused and more concentrated, and for families to has the right to inherit from her birth family, the move to adopt patrilineal inheritance practices. her husband's village reduces her ability to manage Bilateral inheritance practices, such as those found in inherited land; this is one reason daughters give up their Indonesia and the Lao People's Democratic Republic, tend to inheritance rights in favor of their brothers. Separated and treat sons and daughters equally and sometimes to favor divorced women leave their husband's house with no claim daughters who stay in the family home to care for elderly par- to any of his property. A widow, particularly if she has ents. A woman can count on inheriting part of the family children, is generally permitted to stay on and work her assets whether or not she marries and even if she leaves her dead husband's land until her sons can assume its birth community. Societies with bilateral inheritance systems management. tend to be more gender equal with regard to land and power Customary tenure systems based on matrilineal kinship relations. In bilateral inheritance communities in Ecuador, systems generally, although not always, practice matrilocal for example, both wife and husband bring resources, includ- residency. A husband lives in the wife's village and is given ing land, into the household, acquire resources together land by her family to farm, but he has only use rights to this during marriage, and contribute their individual and joint land. A new son-in-law is expected to pay what is often resources to household productive and reproductive activities called brideservice, which normally consists of working for and goals on an equal basis. Because daughters and sons the bride's father, mother, or uncle for a period of time. inherit land equally from their parents, women as well as men After he has fulfilled his obligation, either a husband will are able to enter into marriage, set up a household, and make stay in his wife's community--where the couple will set up decisions on an equal footing (Hamilton 1998). their own household, and the wife's uncle or father may Muslim inheritance norms are also bilateral, recognizing allocate a piece of land for the husband to cultivate11--or he daughters' rights to family property (albeit a fraction of the may move back to his own matrilineal community, where he share their brothers inherit). Where the customary tenure can acquire or inherit land from his matrilineage. system is strongly patrilineal, however, Muslim norms may be ignored and strictly patrilineal inheritance practiced. In Current tendencies. As inherited family land becomes the Mossi communities of Burkina Faso, for example, scarce, and communities are no longer able to allocate although the majority of families are Muslim and in theory land to new households, couples are more apt to purchase daughters inherit land, this practice is not observed. It land. Is this land considered jointly owned marital would appear that the patrilineal Mossi practice of daugh- property? Customary societies have different practices ters not inheriting land prevails over Muslim norms. Only with regard to property acquired during marriage. The sons inherit land from their birth family, and daughters are exclusion of daughters and wives from rights to family or given at most temporary use rights to their father's land if lineage land may be part of the belief that women are they leave their husband's home because of widowhood, incapable of owning land. When land is acquired by a divorce, or separation. Single daughters with children also couple, therefore, the husband assumes sole ownership, have temporary use rights. Once women marry, their birth excluding his wife from any ownership rights. This family relinquishes responsibility for them (Platteau and customary practice may also be applied to other others 2000). A similar practice is found in Muslim com- noncustomary acquisition of land, such as state programs munities in other African countries (such as Senegal) and of agrarian reform and resettlements. in some countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Alba- In those customary societies in which women and men nia, Macedonia, and Uzbekistan, for example). both own land, joint ownership of marital property is more MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION 129 likely to be practiced. For example, in Java, where sons and preferences to have long-term social support from brothers daughters inherit family land, it is customary to regard land and other family members rather than secure an asset that acquired during marriage as belonging to both husband and may not provide long-term economic security. wife. If one spouse dies, half of the property remains with Women themselves may be reluctant to become publicly the surviving spouse while the other half is inherited by involved in political activities and community organizations their children (Brown 2003). for several reasons: inexperience in public speaking and par- In market economies, the question of gender equity ticipation, a lack of basic education and knowledge about within marital property has been a contentious issue how social and legal matters function, and domestic respon- because of prevailing patriarchal norms and values. In some sibilities that no one else will assume. Other more structural market-based societies with legal systems based on common constraints include women's low literacy (including legal law, the recognition of both spouses' contribution to the literacy), lack of skills in the dominant language, and lack of acquisition of property during marriage has been difficult. identity papers. In contrast, where legal tradition has recognized commu- nity property between spouses, the acceptance of marital IMPLEMENTATION OF LAND ADMINISTRATION property and coownership has had less opposition. Landed PROGRAMS property acquired during marriage is generally regarded as marital property with both spouses having equal rights. Customary norms frequently do not give equal ownership of land and other assets to women and are typically resistant to change these power equations. Legislation to address this Sociocultural difficulties with women exists in most countries, but there are several limitations to exercising land rights implementation, including conflicting legislation, inadequate Women's secondary status, lower socialization, undervalued regulatory and management systems, inadequacy of institu- productive work, and illiteracy in many communities often tions to implement changes at the local level, staff and com- make them reluctant to claim legal rights and participate in munity antagonism to women's equal rights, and lack of will those institutions and activities seen as men's domains. and resources to address gender bias. Women often do not In addition, women incur significant social costs for possess the financial resources, knowledge, and capacity to going against cultural norms; these costs include social go against social norms and may not exercise their legal ridicule and the possible loss of social benefits. In some rights. Formal land distribution and titling programs may cases a backlash of domestic violence occurs against also ignore the need for gender equity if it is not an explicit women who claim their land rights. The extended patriar- objective of the programs. chal family generally provides a structure for the lifelong The attainment of gender equity with regard to land basic welfare of all family members and for assistance in rights consequently depends not only on legal recognition times of social or economic crisis. This is particularly sig- of those rights but also on overcoming social and cultural nificant for resource-poor rural women with young chil- constraints. Some useful instruments include regulations dren. As observed in Macedonia and Uzbekistan, daughters for implementing formal land, property, and family legisla- do not inherit any land, in spite of Muslim norms that enti- tion in ways that address gender bias with regard to land tle them to inherit some family land. Daughters concede access and land rights, legal education programs for women their rights to brothers to avoid conflict and maintain sup- and men, legal assistance programs, gender training for pro- port from the extended family. Wives and daughters may gram implementers and program beneficiaries, and, last not insist on having their names included on the title to (but most important), participation by women in design- household land because of potential conflicts with hus- ing, planning, and implementing programs. Customary bands or their family. In Brazil, for example, few women are biases often mean that women will not have the ability to aware of whose name is on the land title and do not request exercise their land rights until there is a shift in the thinking, that joint titles be issued. In Bolivia focus group discussions attitudes, and understanding of men and women as well as revealed that some men were titling land in their sons' officials and local authorities (see Thematic Notes for more names, stripping their daughters and wives of legal land on specific project and program design). rights (Giovarelli and others 2005). Moreover, even when Gender issues should be addressed at all phases of women have rights under the law, such as inheritance programs that deal with land rights and natural resource rights, women may not claim the rights because of their management: (1) conceptualization of the problem(s) that 130 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION the program addresses, program design, and objectives; informants as well as focus groups of potential men and (2) implementation and program activities; and (3) moni- women beneficiaries with respect to land tenure norms and toring and evaluation of project activities and objectives. practices. Detailed information regarding variations in, for Although legislative reform programs, land distribution, example, multiple land-use rights, inheritance, and marital or titling programs have a more direct impact on land owner- property can then be a valuable input to meeting the objec- ship by women, other programs, such as community tive of strengthening women's land rights within the target resource management, agricultural production and market- area's sociocultural context. ing development, and enterprise and credit development, Several types of training and for several populations need to use a specific gender lens to improve land owner- will be critical elements in the success of gender-equity ship and access for women. interventions--to increase the awareness and sensitivity of beneficiary populations, program staff, and land administration institution staff; to change social attitudes; Program design and planning to increase the participation of women in the system (in It is crucial that gender analysis be incorporated (1) from relevant institutions and support organizations); to the very beginning of program design, (2) in the conceptu- increase the participation of women as beneficiaries; and alization of the land administration issues, and (3) within to provide tools for implementing the interventions. Both the program's objectives. Otherwise, a risk exists that the women and men should always be included in training to different social relations determining rights to land and prevent gender issues from being marginalized to women other natural resources will not be understood. Attempts to staff and beneficiaries. incorporate gender analysis once a program's design and Cambodia's land titling project provides an example of objectives are in place often result in unproductively forcing successful information campaigns that include gender issues gender issues into a framework that may not accommodate at the local level. The educational activity includes both men them. Throughout the process planners should examine and women and is careful to ensure that illiterate women are whether women or particular groups of women are being provided with appropriate information. All related materials included or excluded from the program and why. Are are posted in a public place in the villages, literature on land women excluded because of the expense and time involved rights and titling procedures is provided in pictorial form, in including them? Does the program target mainly men meetings are held in local schools or community centers, and because it is simpler to deal only with heads of households? titles are issued locally. Involvement of both men and women Or are men predominantly targeted because local power field staff helps emphasize gender inclusiveness. structures make it more difficult to approach and include Apart from training of staff and beneficiaries, land admin- women? Assumptions need to be examined and questioned: istration projects would also benefit from social audit by inde- is it assumed that the household head speaks for household pendent NGOs so that program designers and implementers members and is knowledgeable about all individuals' are held accountable for delivering the promised outcomes. A activities and resources and that resources and benefits are social audit is particularly for land distribution programs and equitably distributed to household members through the could even be part of outside monitoring and evaluation. household head? Given information and attitude biases and the sociocul- Program implementation tural and time constraints faced by women, concerted efforts and imagination need to be employed in obtaining women's Once the implementation of major land policies or legisla- points of view and thoughts on their needs and in integrat- tion begins, the objective of including women's participation ing them into objectives. in land programs should remain a priority. Programs can Much of this information, and participatory methods for reduce many of the procedural barriers women face by mak- acquiring it, should be incorporated into the social assess- ing program activities and benefits available at the lowest ment undertaken during the design phase. Legislation and possible level and by training staff at all levels to be conscious customary norms surrounding land ownership and use are of the obstacles women face. The increased presence of usually very complex and location specific. The social women within the system--within the relevant government assessment for any land-related project, in addition to institutions and boards and among project staff and support reviewing literature on local land tenure systems, should institutions (such as advocacy groups)--will go a long way include community-level interviews of men and women key in increasing access for women beneficiaries. MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION 131 In addition, activities that specifically target women how land rights are distributed between different groups of must be integrated into implementation. For example: women and men, and what effects differentiated land rights have on gender equity and on women's capabilities. Plan- If the project deals with improved access to land and nat- ners should collect information such as (1) when a land ural resources, such as land distribution or leaseholds, do administration project is being prepared, to guide project project activities explicitly seek out and include women design and establish a baseline for further evaluation of pro- as beneficiaries, whether as individuals or as a group? gram objectives; (2) when the project is implemented, to If the project deals with resource conservation or assess whether gender objectives are being attained; and (3) resource management, are women specifically consulted when the project is completed, to assess impacts. The best about which communal resources need to be protected method to gather these data is to collect gender-relevant and and how? gender-disaggregated data in the baseline, follow-up, and Are women targeted to participate in natural resource impact evaluation studies. project activities, such as reforestation and agroforestry? Detailed information gathered during project prepara- If the project seeks to increase agricultural production, tion regarding variations in, for example, multiple land do women have secure access to land and other produc- use rights, inheritance, and marital property can be a tive resources, participate in factor and product markets, valuable input for developing gender-specific indicators and have access to technological assistance and credit to measure the program's differential impact on men's programs? and women's rights to land, natural resources, and other Are projects such as technology transfer courses and community resources. credit programs organized so that women who have Once a land administration program is under imple- access to land but may not own it are able to participate? mentation, it is appropriate to collect gender-disaggregated If producer or other associations (such as cooperatives) information at the household level. This information can are to be established, are women who may have indirect serve the dual purposes of consultation for eventual adjudi- tenure rights allowed and encouraged to join? cation and establishing baseline data for project monitoring Is the option of women-oriented activities--such as and evaluation. As resources allow, the baseline survey women's cooperatives, women's credit programs, or women should be administered in areas targeted for intervention, as agricultural extension agents--considered? well as in similar areas not targeted. At the project level, information on project participation At the local project level, a potential impediment to and benefits should be disaggregated by gender, including women's participation as beneficiaries is men's resistance to such things as personnel statistics and attendance at public policies and activities that directly benefit women. This information and training sessions, as well as participation in resistance is based not only on the fact that men may want other activities and events that will benefit participants. At the benefits of these projects for themselves and often take the community level, key informant interviews and benefi- them over, but also because participation in the project may ciary focus groups along the lines of those recommended give women a greater sense of independence. Thus, in addi- for the social assessment can provide qualitative feedback to tion to foreseeing and avoiding differential project impacts based on gender, constraints that flow from gender norms project managers about the perception of project impact and practices also need to be considered. and men and women beneficiary satisfaction. Finally, land projects should administer at least one midterm and one project completion household sample Monitoring and evaluation survey to be able to track gender-specific changes against The collection of appropriate gender-disaggregated data is a the baseline data. If designed properly and if sufficient time concern for all land administration projects and should be a has passed to permit change, such information can allow the priority, given the sizable investments in the land sector. quantitative assessment of the impact of land policy reform Reviews of land programs and projects reveal that very little and land administration projects on women's economic information and data are systematically collected to clarify opportunities, women's empowerment, and intrahousehold the effects on women and their land rights. Many land bargaining power (see also Module 16).12 Some examples of titling programs, for example, do not even track the number indicators are provided in Table 4.1. of titles issued to men, to women, and jointly to husband Depending on the country or region, it may be relevant and wife. The knowledge required includes information on to also consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both 132 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION Table 4.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gendered Access to Land and Property, Including Legal Rights and Land Dispute Resolution Indicator Sources of verification and tools Percentage of women and men actively participating in land- · Committee meeting minutes allocation committees · Interviews with stakeholders · Program or project records Percentage of women and men actively participating in natural · Committee meeting minutes resource management committees · Interviews with stakeholders · Local traditional authorities (such as a chief or local council) · Program or project records Over a set period, an increase of x percent in incomes from land- · Household surveys based activities (such as agriculture or forestry) among women- · Socioeconomic data from statistics office headed and man-headed households in program areas Changes over x-year period of project activities in household · Household surveys, before and after nutrition, health, education, vulnerability to violence, and · Project management information system happiness, disaggregated by gender · School records Among surveyed women and men in target group, x percent rate · Interviews with women in target groups (for instance, a sample their access to land, and land titling and dispute resolution of women in the defined area); ideally the interviews should be procedures, as having improved during the period covered by conducted before and after any project or program activities the program or project Number of women with joint titles to land (either measured before · Land registration department records and after the intervention or measured as a proportion of the total number of land titles issued over a set period) Number of women with individual titles to land (either measured · Land registration department records before and after the intervention or measured as a proportion of the total number of land titles issued over a set period) Number of training sessions provided to relevant authorities for · Land registration authority records gender-sensitive land mapping and titling and for dispute · Project or program records resolution processes Number of women and men receiving legal literacy training · Program or project records · Training records Change in number of cases of women accessing legal advice · Legal authority records regarding land claims (measured over a set period before the · Records of paralegals project intervention and compared with a set period after the project intervention) Number and percentage of total of disputes resolved in favor of · Interviews with stakeholders women's and men's land rights over a set period · Land registration department records · Legal Office · Local traditional authorities (such as a chief or local council) Changes in legal norms regarding access and control of land with · Land registration department records regard to gender over a set period · Legal Office: statistics and interviews with key informants · Local traditional authorities (such as a chief or local council) Change in knowledge in sample group (the general community, land · Group interviews or focus groups titling and administration staff, or legal tribunal staff) regarding · Interviews, before and after women's and men's land rights and land titling and dispute resolution procedures Community satisfaction (disaggregated by gender and poverty · Group interviews or focus groups ranking) with changes in land access, titling, and dispute · Interviews, before and after procedures Source: Authors, with input from Pamela White, author of Module 16. MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION 133 as comparative indicators and when collecting data), of women with legal land rights. When a titling program has because women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usu- the proper procedures and the political will to implement ally in the most disadvantaged situation. joint titling, the number of women holding title does increase (Giovarelli and others 2005). Joint ownership by married couples, however, is applicable only to land and NEW AND EMERGING DIRECTIONS property acquired by couples during marriage, such as pur- Based on past experiences, program evaluations, and new chased land or land acquired from the state. Many potential and modified priorities, land policy and land administration complexities influence whether individual or joint titling is programs are attempting to focus on social equity as well as most likely to improve and protect married women's rights economic growth. Participation by communities, local stake- to land. Where women are unlikely to acquire land on their holders, ethnic minorities, and women, although not yet own through inheritance or purchase, and where norms do generally the norm, is being discussed among policy makers not include marital property, the allocation of state land and program officials, and attempts to articulate policy and (under land reform or resettlement programs, for example) implement programs with such objectives are being made. should include mandatory joint titling. Consideration of Several new mechanisms to increase local participation and local inheritance and marriage institutions, agricultural social equity include community-based natural resource production practices, and the participation of women in the management, joint titling, and community titling. design and planning of land programs will help sort out Participatory natural resource management (or commu- these complexities. nity-based NRM) has emerged out of decentralization pro- Community titling is a process to legalize rights to land grams as well as efforts to increase local participation. Com- (and other natural resources) that belongs to a community munity-based NRM can be, and should be, a good vehicle and to which community members have access rights. Com- for participation by women, who are major users and munity titling is often implemented where there is the risk knowledgeable caretakers of natural resources. that influential persons, corporations, or other communities To prevent "elite capture" of community programs by may claim that land as their own. This process is innovative local influential persons, such programs must consciously in that the state legally and formally recognizes a group's (a and continuously focus on the less powerful groups, such as community's) communal rights to land. The boundary of women, so that their interests are not ignored. For these the community land is defined, the community is assigned groups to participate actively and effectively, programs the title to that land, and the title is registered in the regis- should be designed to (1) include women in program activities tration system. Parcels within the community, such as those and committees and (2) target women for gender training held by individuals and families, are not generally surveyed and education. Women should be explicitly and consciously and registered. Examples of community titling can be found included in the community and program activities sur- in Bolivia and Mozambique. Very real concerns exist, how- rounding program implementation. In this way women ever, that women's rights to land and other resources may appropriate the program as meaningful to their lives and not be recognized. Program officials and local authorities may be able to counteract the patriarchal and gender-biased need to take steps to involve women fully in the community practices that exclude them from decision-making activi- titling process. ties. This type of local appropriation also ensures that land- In concluding this Overview, it is important to bring up related programs continue despite changes in government. two difficult issues--difficult because of their complexity and In terms of monitoring and evaluation, it is important to because they are rooted in the local context. First, when is tracking community and household dynamics, particularly titling of individual land parcels appropriate? At what point is conflict, because this may be an important early warning a customary tenure system no longer able to allocate and sign of potential failure of the program. Asset distribution administer rights to land and other natural resources fairly impacts directly the power balance between classes, groups, and efficiently? When does the legal formalization of land households, and household members, and early signs or rights become the appropriate mechanism for improving indicators would be essential to ensure that project benefits access, and what might be lost in the process? These interre- are not cornered by an elite section of the beneficiaries (see lated questions need to be approached not only from eco- Table 4.1). nomic and legal viewpoints, but also from social and cultural Titling programs have recently taken up the mechanism viewpoints. Thematic Note 4 addresses the issue of women's of joint titles for spouses in an effort to increase the number rights to land within land titling programs more fully. 134 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION The second issue is related to women's rights within cus- together include campaigning for changes in customary tomary tenure systems. What can be done to improve practices through education and advocacy programs and women's access to land and to secure those rights in soci- introducing formal legislation that provides wives and eties, such as patrilineal communities, that systematically daughters with rights to land that the established system deny wives and daughters property rights? Gender relations does not give. An effective program will very much depend in general and land rights in particular need to be addressed on the local context and on full participation of the local simultaneously. Some mechanisms for addressing them population, both women and men. MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION 135 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Gendered Access to Land and Property and tenure systems consist of the social relations L proposing and implementing gender-sensitive policies and that are established around natural resources, partic- programs. Depending on a country's historical development ularly land, water, and trees; they determine who can and current socioeconomic and political conjuncture, one use what resources and how they are to be used. Gender, set of institutions is generally more important than the together with class, ethnicity, and caste, is one of the most others in determining land rights. All three sets of institu- important determinants of land rights in households and tions, however, influence and interact with each other in rural communities, including land tenure relations. It is use- determining the specific tenure relations of a society. In all of ful to distinguish between different tenure rights, particu- these institutions, it is important to understand the gender larly between control of and use of land and other natural differences in land uses and priorities, what rights men and resources. Control of land and resources is the command an women claim, and women's needs. individual or group has over them and over the benefits derived from them.1 Use rights allow a person to use land or Sociocultural institutions resources for particular activities. Use rights may include In societies in which customary practices and traditional some decision-making power over the production process social structures are predominant, rights to most land are and use of the resource but do not necessarily include enjoy- generally determined by sociocultural and religious institu- ing the full benefits derived from the resource. Those who tions such as inheritance, marriage, and community alloca- control access to land also tend to control and benefit from tion. These customary tenure systems are diverse, with a large the labor of those who use the land. variety of property relations and rights. Particularly in places Programs that seek to improve access to land vary from where land is relatively abundant, as in some areas of sub- programs recognizing communal land tenure systems (with Saharan Africa, primary land ownership rights are often both individual and common property) to those seeking to vested in the community or other corporate structure such as formalize land rights into freehold ownership rights. Given a lineage or clan. Community authorities allocate some of these varied options, an important initial question to ask this communal land to individuals and their families (gener- when considering land access programs is: when is legal for- ally for cultivation with long-term rights), and other land and malization the appropriate mechanism for improving resources are held as common property.A significant propor- access, and what might be lost in the process? tion of the land and the natural resources may be common land, controlled not by individuals but by the group and KEY GENDER ISSUES managed according to community rules.2 In regions where Women and men have three general mechanisms for obtain- land is quite scarce, such as Southeast Asia, very little arable ing rights to land: (1) through social and kinship relations at land is available for allocation by community authorities; the local level, (2) on the land market, or (3) from the state. most community land is held by individuals and families. These mechanisms are embedded in institutions that cre- The community determines access to communal land, ate, modify, and influence land tenure systems: sociocultural forests, pastures, and water sources; generally, the basic institutions, state institutions, and market economy. An criterion is membership in the community. Besides fam- examination of how they influence land tenure systems is ily or lineage considerations, gender is another member- useful in understanding gendered rights to land and in ship element. Access rights to common land and its 136 natural resources tend to be more broadly distributed Allocations from the state throughout the community. Land-poor households make The state, through various agencies, allocates land to its cit- much use of resources found on common lands: for izens through redistributive land reform programs, resettle- example, they may gather firewood and collect water, ment programs, leasehold arrangements, market-driven gather forest products, collect fodder for animals, or land reform, land privatization programs, and antipoverty graze their animals. Because women in many societies programs. These rights can range from use rights to lease- depend on their husbands or a man relative for access to hold to private individual ownership rights. Even where the household land, access to common land and resources is legal norms for these programs do not explicitly discrimi- particularly important to them. nate against women, traditional norms and attitudes of pro- Land allocated to individuals on a long-term basis tends gram officials and participating populations work against to be parcels for producing food, building a home, or rais- considering women as equal participants and as property ing animals; rights to these parcels are generally inheritable. holders. For example, access and use rights to state forests How this land is allocated initially to households depends are very important for women for gathering firewood, fod- on the particular customary system. In spite of individual der, water, food, and medicinal plants. State officials, how- control over these parcels, however, in many societies the ever, vary enormously in how they treat women and men. In community retains some rights, such as the right to gather some areas, women are harassed or denied entry. On the firewood and water, or gleaning rights to gather grain or other hand, in the Mabiru forest in Uganda, forestry officials pasture animals after the harvest. These rights are important work with women's craft groups to identify forest products for women. that can be sustainably harvested. Land parcels under individual or household control are Redistributive land reform has been carried out across the generally transferred though inheritance, not the market. globe and, recently, particularly in Latin America and Asia. With few exceptions, it is men who inherit land. For exam- The distribution of land in most cases has directly benefited ple, in The Gambia, Mandinka women, like most women in men household heads by adjudicating land to them and ignor- sub-Saharan Africa, do not inherit land, nor are they gener- ing wives and, in some cases, even single women household ally able to receive land allocations from community heads.3 Recently, some land reform programs have attempted authorities. When a woman marries, her husband gives her to integrate gender equity into their efforts.In India,for exam- cultivation rights to a plot of land; she cultivates the land to ple, some states (Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal) have provide food and other goods for herself, her children, and made concerted efforts to allocate land to women (Brown, husband, but she does not have other property rights to it, Ananthpur, and Giovarelli 2002). In Brazil the land reform such as the right to pass it on to heirs. In addition, she is agency in August 2000 finally acknowledged the legal norm of obligated to work her husband's crops in exchange for these joint property established in the 1988 constitution by cultivation rights. announcing that it would include the names of both spouses Customary tenure norms provide women with some on property documentation (Deere 2003). In South Africa, basic security in situations when they are not living with a although national agrarian reform policy and offices articulate husband, but the reality is that many customary tenure sys- the importance of and need for gender equity, district and tems are no longer capable of ensuring that households and local level offices do not have the mechanisms and tools to women have access to sufficient land and other resources. A implement this gender policy (Walker 2003). number of factors, including a growing market economy, The resettlement of communities and households often increasing poverty, and commercial agriculture, are con- occurs as a result of land improvement programs such as verting land into an asset, accentuating land scarcity, and land reclamation and water control projects (irrigation, privatizing (and individualizing) land rights. Within these flood control, and so forth). Land administration issues situations, vulnerable women such as widows and divorced, related to these projects include the allocation of previ- separated, or abandoned women are unable to access land. ously noncultivated land or newly improved land to farm- When family or lineage land becomes privatized as a result ing households and the conversion of customary rights to of market economy development or state action (such as private individual rights as land is increasingly considered titling), opportunities arise for land policy and programs to a productive asset. A frequently used mechanism for allo- promote women's equal ownership rights. Unfortunately, cating or titling improved land is to revert such land to the privatization has often led to women losing any rights they state and subsequently allocate parcels to eligible farmers, may have had. THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDERED ACCESS TO LAND AND PROPERTY 137 either as leasehold or as private individual property escapes the restrictions and limitations placed on customary (freehold). As land is improved and becomes more valu- land by men-dominated family and lineages. In addition, a able, women may lose their traditional use rights to land. woman's daughters may inherit this land, because it is not In addition, program officials and technicians generally considered family or lineage land. focus their communications and beneficiary activities on Within the process of market formation, however, the men household heads. increasing privatization of land rights generally has a nega- Privatization involves changing land rights from collective tive effect on women's traditional rights to access land. Cus- or communal rights to private individual rights. In Eastern tomary societies find it more difficult to enforce their rules Europe mass privatization of state farms, collectives, and and practices for allocating community resources, such as cooperative farms took place during the 1990s. In sub- land, based on the need to provide resources to community Saharan Africa privatization of communal land has been and households for their welfare and sustenance. During this continues to be the result of both market forces and state transition period, what is regarded as customary norms and efforts (such as tenure reform and land titling). As with other practices begins to change as social actors adapt their behav- state programs, such as agrarian reform and resettlement, the ior to changing conditions, often at the cost of groups, such practice has been to privatize land to men household heads. as women and minority ethnic groups, who are considered When Albania, for example, privatized and distributed collec- secondary members of the community. tively owned land, the state followed patriarchal norms and titled land intended for the family overwhelmingly to men POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES household heads (Lastarria-Cornhiel and Wheeler 1998). The same pattern of granting land rights to men and ignoring The basic issues that affect gender-responsive outcomes in women's rights can be found in state leasehold and market- programs dealing with land access are found in two areas: pro- assisted land reform programs. gram implementation and the participant population. These programs have generally tended to direct their activities and communication to men household heads in the belief that the Land market household is a unified group whose members have the same Market economy institutions also play a significant role in goals and interests and that other household members and allocating land rights. Market economies are generally based producers, such as women, will obtain benefit through the on private property rights and the marketability of these man household head. rights. Consequently, land rights are usually acquired In addition, policy makers, program planners, and proj- through the market (for example, by buying, selling, and ect implementers are influenced by their own values and leasing) at market values. attitudes concerning women's abilities and rights. In Capital (either savings or access to credit) is required to Zimbabwe in 1998 the senior minister in charge of the land purchase land on the market, and thus the ownership of resettlement program rejected women's demands that land assets is crucial. Women who wish to participate in the certificates be automatically registered in both spouses' market, particularly those from landless and smallholder names. He also did not permit that land earmarked for families, are unlikely to have such assets. If they engage in redistribution be offered to women heads of households wage work, their earning power is generally insufficient to and single unmarried women. The minister maintained that accumulate savings. The productive work they perform in such moves would cause families to break up because they their household is usually unremunerated. Men family would accord women too much freedom.5 members will most likely control the few assets that low- The norms, values, and practices of participating popu- income households own. In addition, women often lack lations also influence how land access programs are imple- information on the land market, such as the availability of mented. Land allocation programs that attempt to include parcels for sale and land prices. For these reasons, women women may encounter resistance from community author- find it more difficult than men to participate in the land ities and other adult men. Control over land is a significant market and programs such as market-driven land reform.4 source of status and power in rural societies, and those who On the other hand, for those women who are able to hold that power are often loath to share it. Program officials acquire capital, the market is one mechanism for acquiring and implementers may also find that women themselves are land that is generally not influenced by cultural bias or state reluctant to participate because of illiteracy, inexperience, or policies. Land acquired by women on the market often fear of ridicule and reprisal (see Overview). Project actions 138 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION to overcome these constraints on the part of both women training, and detect problems. By working within groups, and men include informational and training activities for women have also been able to increase their human capacity the participating population (both women and men), local and their ability to increase productivity both in domestic authorities, and local land administrators. and productive work (see Innovative Activity Profile 1 for Where land reform programs are market based, small- more details). holder women are constrained from participation by lower access to capital as compared to men. Community-based natural resource management in Namibia GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED Initiated in 1993, a project in Namibia sought to devolve Although no single land-access project has had unqualified rights over wildlife and tourism to local communities.7 One success in allocating land to women and men at equitable of the project's main objectives was initially to increase ben- levels, some projects have been able to increase the number efits to Namibians from sustainable local management of of women participants and beneficiaries. In addition to natural resources. One of its specific objectives was to facilitating women's individual access and rights, programs increase the number of women participating in officially rec- that promote collective land rights for women, such as pro- ognized management bodies over natural resources. By 1998, grams that help them to purchase or lease land as a group, 22 percent of the members of these management bodies were can be a very beneficial option (Agarwal 2003). women. Social surveys, as well as organization and training provided by community resource monitors, provided a mechanism to integrate women into community-based Rice land inThe Gambia management. Income generation activities based on the use An agricultural development program in The Gambia had a of renewable natural resources also benefited women. land component that combined land improvement and land Unfortunately, the project lacked tools for participatory reform.6 Planners made the decision to reclaim degraded development and socioeconomic and gender analysis. As a lowland areas during the design phase of the project using result, gender and social equity objectives were not sus- participatory methods that involved community members tained. A midterm review found these deficiencies and rec- and authorities. The communities that wanted to partici- ommended steps to remedy them through research and pate in the reclamation activities formally requested assis- training. A gender assessment in 2005 found that great tance, and community mobilization teams visited them to strides were made in the program's gender balance at the establish site management committees. Again, all these national level, in a greater number of women standing for activities utilized participatory rural appraisal methods. election in the conservancy management committees, as The project devolved ownership of the land from indi- well as in women's benefits from capacity development vidual landowners to the community, and the community and training. provided labor for the reclamation activities. After reclama- tion, the community redistributed the land, on an equal Homestead land purchase program in India basis, to those who had provided labor for reclamation. The majority of reclamation workers were women and made up Programs that help landless families in rural India to pur- 90 percent of the land beneficiaries (22,216 women from chase small plots are one way of providing secure housing different ethnic groups). for the rural poor and, assuming the plot is large enough, some land for home gardens or another household enter- prise.8 These productive activities provide supplemental Leasehold of forest land in Nepal income and may improve household nutrition and food A project in Nepal granting landless households access to security. They also provide space for productive activities forest land demonstrates successful efforts to include under women's control. The experience in India has shown women. Currently, 25 percent of the participants are that participation by beneficiary communities and house- women; in addition, there are 74 all-women groups and 112 holds in all aspects of the program, from identification of women group leaders. The project also employs local suitable land to land development plans, contributes to women group promoters to organize and attend group successful implementation and to satisfaction by benefici- meetings, promote the project, organize groups, give ary households. THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDERED ACCESS TO LAND AND PROPERTY 139 An innovative feature of many of these programs in natural resources, modifications in family structures, India is that the land titles (patta) are issued jointly to both growth of commercial agriculture, and other changes are wife and husband, sometimes with the name of the wife modifying social relations and cultural norms around com- listed first. In some cases, land title is issued to women only. mon property. Under these conditions, women's rights to This practice is attributed to greater gender awareness and these resources may become more tenuous. Programs sensitivity on the part of community authorities and com- should seek to preserve and improve women's rights to mittees (panchayats). access these resources. This objective means that programs must have an understanding of how different groups within the community relate to common property resources. GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS Natural resource management programs should conse- FOR PRACTITIONERS quently consider what role gender plays in access to and Guidelines for increasing women's participation in land control of community resources and consider how to ensure access programs will be somewhat different for individually women's participation. Issues that should be considered owned land than for common property. Women tend to include the following: have more equitable access to common property, and their rights to use common land, depending on local rules, may Gaining explicit awareness of women's different interests not be challenged. The principal guideline is to include in accessing land, trees, forests, water, and other common women's voices and interests in natural resource management resources, as well as of their level of control over these programs. For programs that allocate land as leasehold or resources private property, the principal guideline is to allocate land Ensuring that program objectives and activities do not equitably to both women and men. reduce women's access to common property (for exam- ple, because of privatization or concessions) Recognizing, during program design, women's particular Common property constraints (in law and norm and in practice) in access- Programs that deal with common property must recognize ing and managing land and other resources, and putting women's access rights to common land and natural forward activities to reduce these constraints resources. Women's rights should be the same rights that During project implementation, monitoring women's other community members enjoy. When, for example, pro- access to common property and women's involvement in grams are established to title community land, care should managing these resources. be taken to recognize the women in the community (both married and unmarried) as members of the community Allocation of land as private property having the same rights as men community members. Programs that affect access to and management of com- Programs that seek to facilitate access to or allocate land as mon property, such as natural resource management pro- private property, whether owned individually or by a group, grams, should recognize women's dependence on these have slightly different guidelines. Women's rights to landed resources and accommodate gender-differentiated manage- property may be contested within the community and the ment practices. Increasing shortages of resources, changing household, and there will be a tendency to allocate land values (from use value to market value) for land and other rights to men household heads (see also Thematic Note 4). 140 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Legal Reforms and Women's Property Rights KEY GENDER ISSUES vulnerable. It is at this point of change that individual J oint titling and inheritance are most often cited as the legal and customary rights to land within the household main issues when considering women's legal rights to become important. land. Do married women have a legal right to the land This Thematic Note focuses specifically on women's legal that is owned or used by the household? Do women have and customary rights to land and how to effectuate them. the right to inherit land from their husbands and fathers? Although these legal questions are critical, inheritance and joint titling must be considered as part of a much greater CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK web of issues, both legal and customary, if a complete pic- Four categories of legal rights to land affect women: (1) ture of women's property rights is to emerge. To paint a the rights women hold in marriage (shared tenure); (2) more accurate picture of women's property rights, the fol- the right to land when the marital household changes lowing issues are crucial: through polygamy, divorce, or abandonment; (3) the right to receive land through inheritance; and (4) the right to 1. Do women have the legal right to own land or hold long- purchase land. These are affected by both formal and cus- term use rights to land? tomary law. 2. Do women have the customary and socially accepted Scholars and service providers have taken two main right to own or control land? approaches to these legal issues--a rights-based approach 3. Do women's current legal property rights make sense, and a more gradual, institution-building approach (Tripp given the culture in which they live? That is, could or 2004). A rights-based approach focuses on formal legal would the majority of women claim their legal rights? reform as the key to women's property rights. This approach 4. Do the answers to these questions change if women are gives particular attention to the constraints imposed by married, single, divorced, widowed, or in a polygamous customary laws and practices and to problems in imple- relationship? menting antidiscrimination laws. The philosophy behind 5. Do women know and understand their rights? the institution-building approach is that customary law and 6. Do women have any means to enforce their rights? institutions should be supported. Formal law is viewed as a It has become clear in the last 10 years that men's catalyst to expedite a process of change, but the actual abil- rights to land do not necessarily translate into the house- ity of formal law to bring about change, especially in the hold's rights to land. One primary reason for this situa- household arena, is considered limited. The institution- tion is that households in rural areas of developing building approach asserts that legal reforms undermine nations are not nuclear families functioning as solitary local systems of adjudication and create a rigidity in cus- units. Rather, these households generally include the tomary laws that prevents them from being modified and parents of one of the spouses and operate within a larger used flexibly (Gopal,1 cited in Tripp 2004). family system, which often uses ancestral land and some- These two approaches are not as divergent as they seem times tribal land. Moreover, when these households break at first. They differ in their starting points only; neither down and change, women whose property rights exist approach would advocate ignoring the other. Each recog- only through their husbands immediately become very nizes that legal reforms must be accompanied by legal 141 education for women, education for officials and those have. In other cases, marriages are religious or customary who implement or enforce laws and customs, and the and therefore do not include the rights reserved for mar- inclusion of women in technical services, access to credit, riage under the civil law. and policy making. 4. Is there a mandatory registration requirement for joint titling? Even where the law presumes that married cou- ples hold their land in joint ownership, often mandatory POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES registration of that joint ownership is not required. With- Getting the right legislation and effective implementation out joint registration of land, one party may have to go to and judicial enforcement are crucial. Discussed here are leg- court to exercise her right--a difficult and unlikely step. islations on shared tenure, polygamy, divorce, abandon- ment, and inheritance and conditions in the land market that affect women's access to land and property. Polygamy, divorce, and abandonment In most non-Western countries, polygamy exists in one Shared tenure form or another, whether it is legal or illegal under formal "Shared tenure" is a broad term that includes land co- law. Polygamic practices affect women by affecting house- owned within a household and may also include communal hold income; even if the two wives do not live together in ownership of land.2 The substantive issue for women is one household, their husband must support two families. whether they have a right to share land tenure with their The livelihoods of first wives are threatened when their hus- husbands or communities, and, if so, what limits are placed bands take second wives. Additional children require more on that right. Formal legal rules for joint titling have to take of the household income. Even without additional children, into account the following issues: already tight resources are distributed to the second wife-- and often these resources include a plot of land. 1. Which property is jointly owned? Inherited land? Pur- Laws against polygamy are rarely enforced and have little chased land? Land distributed by the state? In many effect on behavior. In fact, where polygamy is illegal, women countries ancestral land is excluded from joint property may be more vulnerable; often second wives have no rights (in formal law or under customary law), and most land under formal law if polygamy is not recognized.4 Legal pro- that belongs to the household is ancestral land. tections for first wives, even those who are formally mar- 2. Who will manage the marital property? Managing the ried, are rare. In most instances the husband is not formally community property can be as important as formally married to either wife, placing the first wife in serious eco- owning it, because it may include mortgage or sale of the nomic jeopardy when her husband takes a second wife. property. Joint management requires the spouses to act The existence yet illegality of polygamy is tricky when jointly regarding the community property; sole manage- considering rules for joint titling. If a man actively supports ment allows one spouse the sole power to manage jointly two households, in whose name should the land be regis- held property; and equal management gives either tered? If joint titling is allowed only for formal marriages, spouse, acting alone, the power to manage the whole of but a first wife provided resources and sweat equity for land, the property that is jointly titled (UN­HABITAT 2005). should that land be titled to the second wife if that marriage Most countries have adopted a combination of manage- is formalized? What if the first marriage was formal, but the ment rules, the application of which depends on the two spouses have been separated for years (although not nature of the property at issue. For example, one spouse formally divorced), and each now maintains different rela- can make all decisions except those related to the house tionships? To whom should the land be titled? and land, which require the agreement of both spouses (Deere and Leon 2001).3 Inheritance 3. Do consensual unions trigger the joint titling rules and protections? Do religious or customary marriages trigger A woman might inherit land in two main ways: as a daugh- them? Many women are not legally married, especially ter from a parent or as a wife from a husband. Inheritance where customs and traditions predominate. Legal mar- of land by daughters or widows is often the main way riage can be expensive and time-consuming and may through which women acquire ownership rights to land. require residence documentation that women do not Many pluralistic legal systems allow the marriage to determine 142 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION the inheritance regime that applies. For example, if a person sustain a livelihood, but this participation may be limited. marries as a Muslim in India, the inheritance rules are dif- Because of traditional gender roles and a lack of independent ferent than if a person marries as a Hindu. financial resources, women in many countries rarely Very often, although formal law provides daughters with purchase land, either independently or jointly with their the right to inherit land, they will not inherit in fact, or they husbands. Land ownership is economically empowering for will not enforce their right to inherit. In patrilocal societies, women; thus, women's land ownership can be threatening daughters move from their parents' home and land to live to men. For example, under Muslim personal law in the with their husbands, so the land they may inherit is of little Philippines, a woman must have her husband's consent to use to them. Often the family is responsible for a dowry or acquire any property by gift, except from her relatives other expenses related to marrying their daughter, and those (Giovarelli 2006). expenses are considered her share of the wealth of the fam- It may be easier for women to lease land than to purchase ily. Under customary law in many countries, inheritance of land, and land market programs should not focus exclu- land by daughters is directly related to marital residence and sively on ownership markets. Leasing land is less psycholog- to the customary means of distributing wealth.5 In focus ically threatening than purchasing land and requires fewer group interviews in rural areas of Karnataka, India, and the entry resources. Of course, it should be noted that leasing is Kyrgyz Republic (two countries where inheritance by less psychologically threatening to the status quo for the daughters is mandated by law), most women stated that very reason that it does not create long-term secure property they would not request land from their families even if they rights in the borrower/lessee. In Burkina Faso, for example, were legally entitled to it. the increased and changing market value of land has had the Inheritance of land by spouses is even less likely to occur surprise effect of creating avenues outside traditional channels than inheritance by daughters in patrilineal and patrilocal for women to lease land over the long term, anonymously societies. Ancestral land is closely guarded in most commu- (Bruce and others 2006). Men landholders who have excess nities around the world. Wives, with no blood relationship land are more willing to lease to women because women to their husband or his clan or community, are often given cannot claim permanent rights to land. Husbands generally use rights to the house and land but not the right of owner- support this borrowing of land by their wives, and women are ship. Sometimes those use rights exist only if the widow has therefore better able to cultivate land independently, even had children with the deceased partner. Depending on the though they do not own it (Giovarelli 2006). depth and breadth of these use rights, they may be a worth- while compromise. In countries such as Burundi or Implementation Rwanda, for example, where land is extremely scarce and most, if not all, communities are patrilineal, the division of As stated earlier, legal solutions are effective only if they are ancestral land between children and their mother may not socially accepted and enforced. Changing the law can be dif- be feasible and realistic. Long-term use rights to the land, on ficult, and sometimes it takes years to win one small battle. the other hand, may be much more politically feasible. If the Changing people's attitudes toward a new law once it passes use rights include the right to mortgage or lease out the can also be difficult. Many examples exist of legal efforts that land, and if widows have control over how the land is used, were ineffective in helping women gain rights to land, as well these use rights will not differ substantially from ownership. as some examples of legislation that even caused harm. At its Additionally, in many societies, although children but not best, legal reform is a necessary prerequisite for change, but, mothers inherit land, the inheritance comes with the even then, legal reform alone is never enough. A review of responsibility to care for the mother, an arrangement pre- two World Bank Land Titling Projects (in Bolivia and Lao ferred by many women in the Krygyz Republic, for example. PDR) found that although formal law that mandated joint On the other hand, land grabbing of widows' land (by sons titling and registration was in place, women did not gain or brothers of the deceased) is a major problem in Uganda equal rights to land. The unequal outcome was related to cul- and other African countries that cannot be ignored. tural practices and biases, lack of information, or nonen- forcement of legal rules. The number of titles issued to women or in joint ownership increased only after each of Markets these issues was addressed (Giovarelli and others 2005). Ancestral land is often not available to women, and so par- Perhaps the most critical point to be made regarding for- ticipation in the land market is critical to women's ability to mal legal solutions is that legal solutions must be part of a THEMATIC NOTE 2: LEGAL REFORMS AND WOMEN'S PROPERTY RIGHTS 143 larger effort to provide education, training, and other written procedures, and his name appears on these types means of raising awareness about women's lack of land of documents. rights and the consequent impact on the larger economy, Beyond what the law or custom requires and what regu- well-being of the family, and position and viability of lations allow, for a law to be enforceable, women need legal women's livelihoods. awareness (knowledge of what is legally possible), legal Before addressing the institutions that enforce law, two information (specific and detailed knowledge of how to points must be made about the laws themselves. First, record land rights and engage in land transactions), and gender-neutral language can be gender biased in its inter- legal empowerment (the social and institutional ability to pretation. For land legislation to be inclusive of both assert claims and secure land rights). Women must also men and women, at a minimum it must explicitly recognize understand the complexity of land issues, the relationship women's and men's equal rights to land. In Bolivia, for between different laws and practices, the options available, example, the law that establishes the legal basis for the cur- and the limitations of the legislation and the implementing rent titling program specifically states that in the distribu- bodies. Knowledge of both formal systems and informal tion, administration, tenure, and use of land, equity crite- systems for exercising land rights is critical in most parts of ria will be applied in favor of women and independently of the world, and the legal situation can be quite complicated. their civil status.6 The last phrase is important because it An important, and often missed, step toward making does not require that a woman be the head of the house- women's land rights secure and sustainable is providing hold or married to be eligible for land rights. The most use- awareness, information, and enforcement mechanisms to ful provision to date is Article 28[g], which makes the those who implement or enforce those land rights. Other INRA (state land agency) director (and the provincial household members, local leaders, judges, and land profes- INRA directors) responsible for ensuring that legal gender sionals must all understand the law and its implications and rights are observed in implementing the INRA law. how to use and follow the law. The rule of law is more likely Much of the explicitness will be found in the regula- to have value if there are many people who understand the tions to the major laws, rather than in the laws them- land law and rely on it to protect their rights. selves. Regulations, which lay out the details of how a law Effectuating major legal change requires a sustained will be implemented, rarely go through the checks and effort to implement the changes, including sensitizing the balances of the legislative process. Rather, they are prom- public to the changes and eventually gaining public sup- ulgated by state agencies and approved by one person-- port. Although workshops, training materials, and mass for example, the Minister of Lands or the prime minister. media campaigns can alert the public to new laws, they This practice can cause problems in many different ways. can do little to change attitudes or actions unless they are For instance, the law can generally or even specifically augmented by the efforts of local people who both under- favor equal rights for women, but the regulations may not stand and support the legal changes. Combining a mass require the names of the husband and wife on the land media effort with the sustained presence of knowledge- title, as occurred in Indonesia. The registration law and able people at the village level will have a much more last- accompanying regulations are silent on the issue of joint ing effect. titling, and some registration officials were not certain Judicial enforcement of land rights is also critical and can that land could be titled jointly (Lastarria-Cornhiel and save or harm women's property rights. In Tanzania the Land others 2003). Act and constitution are progressive and mandate equality The registration process itself can create barriers for for men and women. In support of these laws, the Tanzan- women to own land. In Brazil the registration regulations ian High Court invalidated customary norms preventing required that personal documents such as proof of mar- women from selling land. In Kenya the land registration riage, proof of citizenship, or identity cards be presented program was carried out during a time when gender was to register land, but women lacked this documentation not part of the development agenda. At that time, land adju- and were not registered. In Lao PDR women have a diffi- dication committees were men dominated and lacked the cult time proving ownership of property because many skills and time to carry out their duties properly, which families, particularly in rural areas, do not have docu- included registering all rights (primary and secondary) to mentation of ownership or other land rights. If documen- land. Women's secondary rights often went unregistered. In tation is required for taxation, for example, the man head a later case, however, the court ruled that when the husband of the household traditionally deals with these formal and was registered as sole owner of property and the property 144 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION was acquired during the subsistence of the marriage, evi- Keep consistent gender focus through all stages of a program. dence of co-ownership may be given under the Married In the World Bank's Land Administration Project in the Women's Property Act of 1882 and Section 126 of the Philippines, the gender-mainstreaming plan encompassed Registered Land Act (Giovarelli 2006). the whole project cycle, from influencing legal reforms to Uganda granted judicial capacity to local councils at the vil- installing gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation systems. lage, parish, and subcounty levels in an attempt to encourage Include men and not just women. The Philippine project inexpensive, expedient, and culturally appropriate justice. The struggled to balance its efforts to include women and its local councils share concurrent jurisdiction with magistrates' need to include and train men as well. At one point the proj- courts but also are connected to customary law as they are lay ect focused more on women than men, also to the program's judges and make their decisions based on local norms and detriment. If men are to be "brought along" and included in social ties.The local councils also hear cases related to land dis- making cultural changes, they must also be involved in putes. Such courts should have been more accessible to training and in the design of the project. women, but it was more difficult for women to get justice in Attend to legal regulations. Regulations have a major these courts, because women could neither pay for legal ser- impact on how the more general land laws are implemented vice nor effectively fight against their basic position as out- and must be considered along with formal and customary siders in the men-dominated community. Women often laws. For example, it is critical to understand whether the choose to go to magistrates rather than the local councils. documentation required for land registration is available or Informal justice does not have the legal authority and leverage common to women. If not, the requirements should be of state power and has wide discretionary powers to define revised so that women and men have equal opportunity for custom. In this instance the local councils have little ability to registering land. make dramatic pronouncements about women's rights to Use existing law to its best advantage, regardless of custom- land, and at the same time lack authority to enforce formal ary law. The Guayape Valley Agricultural Development laws, which may favor women's rights (Giovarelli 2006). Project in Honduras, funded by the Canadian International Legal assistance or legal aid for women is also critical to Development Agency, worked proactively with the Hon- enforce their rights to land. Legal aid centers provide ser- duras Titling Agency to use the limited gender-related legis- vices to women while simultaneously feeding back informa- lation that already existed to its fullest extent in order to tion to policy makers on land issues that affect women and include wives on land titles. The project was very effective in policy changes that are required. titling wives, despite strong inheritance and marital prop- erty practices that excluded women, because the project held gender training programs for project staff, government GOOD PRACTICES, LESSONS LEARNED,AND titling staff, the beneficiary population, and local authori- GUIDELINES FOR PRACTITIONERS ties. The project also reviewed titling procedures to make Implementation efforts and changing attitudes and knowl- them more accessible to and inclusive of women. edge of beneficiaries and communities as well as institu- Train all implementers of the project on women's land tional agents and project staff are critical for success. Partic- rights. Although beneficiaries were trained in a World Bank ipation of women in all stages of the project, as well as land project in Panama and one in the Philippines, training among institutional and project staff, is another factor. Such of project staff was limited or lacking completely. In both efforts may include the following: projects the lack of gender training for staff led to less effec- Talk to women. Some legislative and social changes may tive implementation of the gender strategy. On the other be more readily accepted than others, by both men and hand, in a U.S. Agency for International Development women, and part of the process needs to involve listening to (USAID) Natural Resources Project in Namibia, a full-time women to understand what legal rights are most valuable to gender trainer was hired for two years to work with staff and them and the impact of various legal situations. beneficiaries, leading to a very positive result in terms of Take family law into account. Land projects that incorpo- women's involvement in the nature conservancies. rate legal reform must consider family law as well as land When possible, encourage the legal norms that provide law to have an impact on women's rights. Yet family law is women with access and control over land rights. For example: rarely considered as part of land administration projects, usually owing to lack of funds for the legal review or lack of Co-ownership of land and property is the presumption for awareness of the issues. land acquired during a marriage or consensual union. THEMATIC NOTE 2: LEGAL REFORMS AND WOMEN'S PROPERTY RIGHTS 145 Registration regulations include specific direction as to husband would have only his share to distribute to his registration of married couples and those living in con- new wife and children. sensual unions. Widows' rights to the use and control of land needs to be Legislation requires both husband and wife to consent to established as a priority policy issue when developing a transaction involving land acquired during the mar- property system legislation. riage or cohabitation, regardless of whether the land is registered in the name of both or only one partner. Provide legal services to women to help them enforce their For countries where polygamy is practiced, even if it is rights to land, once those rights are established. Enforcement illegal, legislation states that when a second wife is taken of legal rights or customary rights to land often requires all property belonging to the first marriage or consensual legal advocacy, especially where women lack information or union will be partitioned and divided. In this case, the are poorly educated. 146 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Land Dispute Resolution he management of land disputes involves the T woman to make a public claim for what she believes are her review of land tenure rules and the behavior of land rights. In the Kyrgyz Republic, for example, women landholders with regard to these rules. As such, have rights under formal law to the household's land and land dispute management is part of the justice system of any house when the household unit breaks down, yet it is regime (whether formal or customary) and should be fair, shameful to assert individual rights within Kyrgyz and other equitable, and accessible to all. In many areas, especially Central Asian cultures. In most cases divorced or separated rural, the formal justice system is not only inaccessible but women no longer have access to the land, which customar- culturally alien. Where the formal justice system is mini- ily belongs to their husband's family. In addition, because mally present because of distance, weak state institutions, or women generally have no possibility of paying the fees scarce resources, customary and informal (alternative) dis- required by the formal system, they rarely apply to court pute management processes are the most appropriate. (Giovarelli and others 2001). Both formal and customary tenure regimes increasingly Given this context, the main gender issues in land dis- recognize and use nonjudicial, alternative procedures for pute resolution include (1) the recognition of women's managing disputes. In reality, formal, customary, and alter- rights to land by formal judicial processes and officials native dispute resolution procedures are not exclusive. and by the community and customary land authorities and (2) women's access to dispute resolution institutions. Resolving these issues involves a shift in perception, in KEY GENDER ISSUES which women's rights and claims to land cease to be Women as a stakeholder group have great difficulty gaining regarded as a private, intrahousehold issue and are recog- recognition for their disputes around land rights for two nized as a public, societal issue. If this shift is to occur, it reasons: status and identity. The lower status of women in will require programs and actions that extend beyond leg- many societies has already been discussed. In addition, suc- islation, including gender training and education for judi- cessful mobilizations around land conflicts generally occur cial officials as well as officials at state institutions. It will along class or ethnic lines, because class and ethnicity are also require gender training and information dissemina- public identities. Gender is not easily perceived as a collec- tion for local populations involved in land programs. tive identity, particularly for women in rural areas, because Finally, the facilitation of women's access to institutions they have minimal power, authority, and public action. that resolve land disputes (whether formal or customary Land conflicts that involve a claim by a woman are often institutions) will require proactive programs to overcome intrahousehold claims around divorce or inheritance. Their the barriers women face in approaching and dealing with resolution is generally limited to intrahousehold discussion these institutions. and negotiation; rarely do they transcend household Access to dispute resolution institutions is a part of dem- boundaries to reach community and local authorities. ocratic rights. Women's equitable participation in managing A further complication is that a wife is often considered land disputes will also, in practice, improve their rights to an outsider in a husband's household and community. Since land by setting precedents in law and by clarifying both for- women's rights to land are transmitted through the men in mal and customary norms regarding daughters' and wives' their family or household, it is considered shameful for a rights to land and property. Success in resolving land disputes 147 will also encourage women in general to claim and demand systematic land titling programs, which send land commis- their rights to land and property. sions, agrarian advocates, or arbitration teams into rural In addition, women's ability to participate successfully in communities--rural residents are unlikely to deal with for- the process for resolving land disputes will increase women's mal dispute institutions. In addition, women are less likely empowerment and status in the community and within than men to have the preparation and legal literacy to deal their households. with officials and opposing parties on an equal basis. Where formal law recognizes women's equal land rights, women are able to take their cases to court, and their legal POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES rights are likely to be upheld. In the Kyrgyz case mentioned The principal issues for women in the resolution of land earlier, customary law enforced at the village level does not disputes are (1) access to dispute resolution institutions and give women access to land upon divorce. Some exceptions (2) legal pluralism. The basic objectives for a judicial system exist if the couple have children and the husband leaves the that is both fair and gender sensitive include accessibility, house. However, if a woman goes to court seeking divorce transparency, efficient and timely process, predictability, and property division, the written law is generally enforced. and manifest impartiality. Women who petition the court must provide proof of their investment in the house, and they are compensated for that investment. In addition, the court generally compensates Formal dispute management women for their portion of the household land share if their Formal judicial systems employ a number of mechanisms name appears on the land share certificate. Women generally and procedures to manage land disputes. These include land consider that, in the case of divorce, written law regarding commissions, public advocates for agrarian issues, adjudica- division of property is better than customary law (Giovarelli tion, and arbitration. Formal judicial systems are supposed and others 2001). to be transparent, unbiased, and impartial and to adhere strictly to the law; they also, however, tend to be litigious, Customary dispute management setting one party against the other and seeking punishment and retribution rather than restoration and transformation. Given the access difficulty with formal systems, customary or A notable exception is court-mandated arbitration, found informal dispute resolution procedures may be more appro- in common law systems, during which court action is sus- priate in some rural areas. Customary tenure regimes con- pended and a mutually agreeable solution is sought. tain institutions and authorities to manage land conflicts. Women's access to courts is severely limited in many These institutions, through customary land authorities, countries. Practices such as seclusion of women hinder the enforce the rules mediating access to land, allocate land to possibilities for women to claim their rights. In many rural community members as well as noncommunity members, areas, it is shameful for a woman to appear in court to claim and manage land conflicts. Customary systems generally her rights with respect to men family members, as docu- adapt quickly to changing conditions that spark conflict, mented in India, for example, by Agarwal (1994). In many such as commercial agricultural production, increasing pop- countries, women are underrepresented in the judiciary, ulation density, and evolving land markets. and prejudices about the credibility of women witnesses are When the community regards these institutions and its widespread. Court fees may also constitute an obstacle for authorities as legitimate, customary tenure regimes are rural women, who tend to have less access to cash than men. highly successful in settling land conflicts, and community Women's access to courts may also be constrained by norms members enjoy high levels of tenure security. Functionality limiting their legal capacity and preventing them from and legitimacy, however, do not automatically result in bringing judicial disputes autonomously.1 Most countries transparent and equitable governance. Land distribution have repealed these formal norms, and some countries have patterns in customary systems may be highly skewed, and granted women equal access to legal remedies--yet legal some community groups, such as women and ethnic and judicial practice may be lagging. minorities, may be denied access to land. The problem for most low-income rural residents, The last decade has witnessed renewed interest in the role including women, is the distance (geographical, cultural, of customary institutions in settling disputes. Niger's 1993 and social) and cost involved in resorting to formal judicial Rural Code requires a mandatory conciliation procedure to institutions. With a few exceptions--such as land reform or be undertaken before customary authorities before initiating 148 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION judicial proceedings. Where communities with customary continue to be dominated by men elites and to favor a tenure regimes are linked with the formal regime, their judi- gender-biased interpretation of the law.2 Guaranteeing cial systems are embedded in the formal one. The formal women's representation through quotas is an important tool, regime recognizes the geographic and policy domains of the but women sitting in councils may in practice not speak, may customary judiciary system. The trend toward decentralizing act merely as spokespersons for their men relatives, or may land administration depends strongly on embedded custom- otherwise face resistance to their role. ary institutions to carry out state responsibilities. For women, customary institutions have both advantages Alternative dispute resolution methods and disadvantages. On the one hand, compared to courts, customary institutions may provide more easily accessible Nonjudicial or alternative dispute resolution approaches (both geographically and economically) and speedier provide another avenue for resolving conflicts in situations forums for rural women. These institutions may also enjoy in which customary systems do not provide an answer and greater social legitimacy. On the other hand, although their both parties are reluctant or unable to use formal dispute nature varies considerably from place to place, customary resolution procedures. Unlike the formal and customary institutions are often gender biased in composition and ori- approaches described earlier, alternative dispute resolution entation. Even though women may believe they have a legit- (ADR) methods emphasize decision making between the imate claim in a land dispute, their secondary status within parties to the dispute rather than decision making by a third the family and the community may discourage them from party. The parties involved agree to enter into a collabora- approaching customary authorities. These land disputes tive process of negotiation that will help them to arrive at a may involve a family member, either from the woman's own joint decision. The negotiations revolve around mutual family or her husband's family, who engages in intimidating interest, rather than around positions or rights, and the actions. If women do approach customary land authorities principal ADR procedures are negotiation, community con- and obtain a favorable decision, community and family sultation, mediation, and conciliation. A combination of members may ignore the decision. In frequently docu- these approaches, involving negotiation, advocacy, and con- mented instances, young widows have lost their land to their sensus building, is often most effective, because land and husbands' parents and siblings (see, for example, Strickland natural resource disputes involve a number of stakeholders 2004); this land grabbing occurs despite customary norms with varying interests and differing levels of economic and that guarantee a widow long-term use rights to her deceased political power. husband's land to support herself and her children. In an Although at first glance ADR methods may appear to ever-growing number of cases, people no longer respect be a less biased and more accessible means for women to these rights, and the institutions responsible for enforcing resolve land disputes, these methods also assume that the them--chiefs and elders--are either unable or unwilling to parties are relatively equal in power. If women have sec- do so. Because customary institutions are constituted by ondary status and significantly less power than the oppos- men elders in most places, they may apply a men-biased ing party, they will have difficulty negotiating on an equal interpretation of customary law. Women may even be dis- basis and may not gain anything significant from the criminated against procedurally, because they may need a negotiation process. man intermediary to bring a dispute and to appear before the authority. Legal pluralism Some countries have attempted to improve the gender outlook of customary institutions. India's constitution, as In many countries, formal and customary land tenure amended in 1993, provides for direct election of members of regimes overlap in jurisdiction, which results in situations panchayats (local government institutions rooted in tradi- in which more than one institution has authority over legal tion) and reserves one-third of the seats for women. South rights, and multiple bodies can resolve disputes. These Africa's constitution recognizes the role and status of tradi- institutions can include customary authorities, religious tional institutions, although they are subject to the principles leaders, and governmental bodies. Legal and institutional of the constitution. Similar norms are contained in Uganda's pluralism can give rise to contradictions and ambiguities constitution. It is difficult to assess whether this type of norm between statutory and customary rules and legal norms. is effective in reforming deeply rooted institutions. In both How exactly different legal orders interact and influence India and South Africa,most customary institutions reportedly each other depends on power relationships between the THEMATIC NOTE 3: LAND DISPUTE RESOLUTION 149 bearers of different laws. Although legal pluralism can pro- or they may appeal to district and provincial land officials, vide a means of coping with ecological, livelihood, social, by citing legal statutes, to recognize a property right that and political uncertainty, it also exacerbates knowledge local customary authorities deny them. uncertainty (Meinzen-Dick and Pradhan 2002). In Ethiopia the current constitution has provided an In the last several decades, numerous countries with vig- opportunity for addressing the conflict between customary orous customary societies have reformed their land legisla- laws and the more egalitarian provisions of the civil code. tion and given formal legal recognition to customary tenure The constitution revokes the abolition of customary and regimes.3 In some cases, as noted, the formal regime recog- religious personal laws, but it allows disputants to deter- nizes the geographic domain and policy scope of the cus- mine which laws to apply in personal disputes. Conse- tomary judiciary system, and customary dispute resolution quently, if any disputant does not wish to apply customary bodies are embedded in the formal body. This accommoda- or religious personal law, she or he may request that civil law tion between formal and customary jurisdiction reduces provisions be applied. According to Gopal, anecdotal evi- ambiguities resulting from legal pluralism. dence indicates that personal law arbitrators and courts Legal pluralism enables individuals to use more than one (customary bodies) are reconsidering the application of type of law, customary or statutory, to rationalize and legit- customary and religious personal laws because women dis- imize their decisions or their behavior. During disputes and putants may prefer to transfer decisions to civil courts.4 negotiations, claims are justified by reference to legal rules. Parties will use different normative repertoires in different GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED contexts or forums depending on which law or interpreta- tion of law they believe is most likely to support their claims. The Legal Assistance to Rural Citizens (LARC) project in Legal pluralism can be disadvantageous for some groups, the Kyrgyz Republic is designed to assist and teach farmers such as poor and uneducated women, for whom formal and the rural population in general how to apply the law state institutions are distant, expensive, and conceptually in resolving their land disputes. In 2003 the project began foreign. It also offers opportunities for forum shopping by to offer legal services to the rural population, to commer- those whose financial and educational status enables them cial and nongovernmental organizations, as well as to to operate in both customary and state legal systems. clients of international organizations dealing with land Women are often disadvantaged in the contradictions and and agrarian law issues. The project receives support from accommodations arising between customary and statutory a number of agencies, including the World Bank, the legal systems. Customary law often does not allow women United Nations Development Programme, the Swiss to own land, but formal law may provide for equal rights to Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the U.S. land ownership. State institutions and officials, however, are Agency for International Development (USAID). often reluctant to enforce women's rights to land because of The final report of the project (LARC 2006) recounts lawmakers' and state officials' own patriarchal values and how LARC personnel helped to resolve a number of land norms. For example, in Zimbabwe, although formal law disputes. A number of women had approached LARC for provides for equality between men and women, customary assistance with land disputes, and most of their cases resem- law views women as minors. A Supreme Court decision in bled men's: village or local authorities had attempted to take 1999 ruled that because under customary law women are the land the claimant had received from the land reform and minors, a woman could not inherit her father's property assign it to someone else. It appears that in most cases local under the formal law even though she was named in his will. officials were attempting to reassign land to other men in Nevertheless, women also have opportunities to engage the village. The report did not include any land disputes in forum shopping and appeal to different legal spheres. In arising from divorce, which perhaps indicates that this type some cases, when their rights are threatened by men's of dispute is uncommon or that women are reluctant to take manipulation of custom, women call upon customary such disputes to court. norms to retain control over their land. In other cases In one case a woman who was an invalid was given the women appeal to statutory laws when this same system is family house as a gift by her father, who used the appropri- not used against them. Women's groups and legal associa- ate official documentation. The woman's uncle and cousins tions that promote and struggle for recognition of women's refused to leave the house, however, and drew up a docu- rights to land often prefer to present their dispute cases to ment certifying their right to the house. The woman was the formal legal system in order to have judicial precedent, initially discouraged from taking the case to court by local 150 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION authorities, "because it is not normal for rural people to go resolving land disputes at local levels. In addition to infor- to law with relatives" (LARC 2006: 21). The woman took her mation dissemination, projects or programs should case to the rayon and oblast courts but was unsuccessful in include guidelines or mandates for including a substantial moving it forward. After three years she approached LARC number of women in project activities and on local land and finally achieved a consensus with her extended family. boards, as indicated earlier. Clearly, the LARC project did assist women with land Legal literacy programs are essential to teach women disputes and was successful in having their rights recognized about their rights and about how to manage the institutions through the judicial system. What is surprising, however, is that should be protecting and enforcing their rights. In the negligible number of intrahousehold cases (such as addition to training regarding land and property rights, inheritance and divorce) brought to court by women. leadership training enables women to act in a more organ- ized and effective manner. Numerous organizations deal with land rights and gen- GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR der issues, ranging from governmental agencies to informal PRACTITIONERS community organizations. A small number of organiza- Guidelines for improving women's access to dispute resolu- tions in each country deal with the issue of women's land tion processes include recognition of women's legal and cus- and property rights; perhaps the most prominent ones are tomary land rights by land administration, land authorities, those associated with legal professions such as the women's and other land institutions; improving women's literacy lawyers associations found in many sub-Saharan African regarding their land rights and legal processes; and improv- countries. Legal organizations are generally NGOs that ing access to land dispute institutions. provide free or low-cost legal counsel and advice to At the national level, beyond legislation, judicial institu- resource-poor groups and persons. One mechanism for tions and land administration programs (such as land providing legal counsel that has become quite widespread reform, land resettlement, and land titling) need to review among legal organizations is the training of paralegals, who their procedures for land dispute management to ensure that work with communities and disadvantaged groups. Many women as well as men can access these services and be treated of these legal organizations also engage in advocacy for fairly and equitably. These procedures begin with facilitating women's land rights by lobbying legislative bodies for legal women's ability to approach offices and officials; this may reform on marital property and equal inheritance, and by involve bringing land dispute processes to local areas. pressuring land program officials to recognize women's Other interventions are the same as have been men- legal land rights. These organizations also work with the tioned in previous Modules: gender-responsive training for public by providing education or awareness programs. information and attitude change to national and local insti- Legal aid organizations can play an important role in pro- tutional staff, customary leaders, and beneficiary popula- viding legal counsel for women attempting to have their tions. Training at the local level has an additional objective: rights to marital property and inheritance recognized and the cooperation of local authorities is essential for any pro- in setting legal precedents. gram to be successful. Their cooperation in land dispute res- olution is just as important, particularly because they will Dispute resolution within land administration most likely be involved in the process. programs At local levels, the gender composition of arbitration and adjudication bodies should also be considered. For example, Although many potential disputes can be prevented by Uganda has mandated that women be included in adjudica- transparent and consistent procedures, mechanisms must tion bodies. Their inclusion may increase women's ability be developed to resolve disputes that arise either during or and willingness to approach such public institutions. after adjudication. The trend in land administration is to Land administration projects should undertake specific avoid having disputes reach the court because (1) courts do activities to disseminate knowledge among women about not always have the expertise in land law to apply accepted their statutory and customary rights and entitlements and principles consistently, (2) the court process is usually exces- about dispute resolution; they should also provide legal sively long and costly and thus discourages all but the most assistance for dispute resolution. Activities should include economically valuable claims, and (3) disputants, particu- practical application of the knowledge that is dissemi- larly women, often have unequal powers to acquire legal nated, as well as activities that improve procedures for advice and to sustain their claims. THEMATIC NOTE 3: LAND DISPUTE RESOLUTION 151 The solutions include special tribunals that can be estab- community members, which helps the community to lished not only during initial adjudication but also to settle become invested in the process. However, there is still a need land matters over time. Typically tribunals include land for clearer rules and procedures on the part of the state titling specialists and involve procedures that are less costly and agency. In areas with strong traditional laws, the involvement time-consuming than those used by the courts. In the Bolivia of recognized community elders or authorities can facilitate titling program, for example, the titling regularization process dispute resolution, but they may not be inclined to recognize involves resolution of disputes during titling adjudication by women's land rights (Giovarelli and others 2005). 152 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION T H E M AT I C N OT E 4 Gender-ResponsiveTitling he formalization of property rights through land T The linking of land rights and credit access, however, for titling and registration guarantees state support smallholders and particularly for women landholders, may for the landholder in his or her claims. Other pos- not always be realized. Numerous studies have shown that itive development results may be expected from titling, even with title to land, smallholders and low-income house- including increased investment and agricultural produc- holds in rural and urban areas continue to find access to tion arising from improved access to factor markets such commercial credit elusive (Barham, Carter, and Sigelko as credit. Not only should the formalization of land rights 1995). There is no reason to believe that this situation would for women protect women's access to and control of land be different for women with legal land titles. In addition, in and facilitate access to production factor markets, but it the absence of insurance, low-income households are often may benefit them in other ways as well. Research suggests reluctant to use their landed property as collateral, espe- that property ownership increases a woman's bargaining cially if they rely on agriculture, with its inherently high power within the household and her status as a citizen in risks. These households prefer to use other types of collat- the community.1 eral, such as a percentage of the harvest or other assets, to This Thematic Note focuses almost entirely on the titling obtain credit. of individuals rather than on formal recognition of com- Nevertheless, denying women the opportunity to partici- munity rights to land. Like individual titling, community pate in land programs that increase their secure rights to titling may fail to recognize women's rights to land by rec- land may affect their ability to produce. This argument is ognizing and collectively recording only adult men or based on the supposition that women have the capacity to household heads as community members. The titling of farm as well as men--in other words, there are no significant community land is normally an internal process conducted intrinsic differences in the agricultural productivity of men by community authorities, and so it is more difficult to cre- and women farmers. Previous studies of gender differentials ate opportunities for recognizing women's land rights, in farm productivity have generally supported this hypothe- because the process itself is based on customary norms and sis (for example, Lastarria-Cornhiel 1988). Almost all of this institutions. The challenge is to discover how to influence literature, however, is plagued by methodological problems community authorities to recognize women as community related to a lack of parcel-level, gender-disaggregated data members with equal rights to community land. (Quisumbing 1996). A recent parcel-based study conducted in Lao PDR in 2004­05 (financed by the World Bank) attempted to contribute to this debate (box 4.1). BENEFITS FROM GENDER-RESPONSIVE Granting women legal rights to land will give wives TITLING greater power to prevent the alienation of family land The principal argument in favor of land titling programs needed to support the family, yet this very protection high- has always been the positive effects of clear ownership rights lights the conflicting objectives of programs to formalize on agricultural productivity and access to credit (Deininger land rights. One principal objective of titling is to make it 2003). From an intrahousehold perspective, this argument easy to alienate land, which is a prerequisite for a dynamic can be extended to advocate for greater gender equality in land market and a dynamic credit market based on land col- the distribution of property rights. lateral. Another principal objective is, or should be, to 153 Box 4.1 Lao PDR: Land Titling, Credit, and Gender Relationships between land ownership, farm man- parcels, and that women seem equally likely to use agement, and technical efficiency in rice production agricultural inputs on their (smaller) fields. In addi- were examined through an analysis of data from a tion, women appear to achieve the same (uncondi- 2004 survey of households participating in a land tional) level of productivity from their land as their titling program in Lao PDR. Parcels owned or man- men counterparts. aged by men were, on average, significantly larger The data revealed some important gender differ- than parcels owned by women or jointly with ences, however. Women's parcels were a good deal women, but the use of agricultural inputs--including smaller than men's, and they exercised effective decision- irrigation, fertilizer, pesticides, and farm machinery-- making control over only half of the parcels they owned. did not vary significantly by the gender of the parcel In addition, although men and women obtained the owner or manager. Average rice yields were also sta- same average yields on parcels dedicated to rice pro- tistically identical on men- and women-managed duction, the marginal returns to both land and chemi- parcels: approximately 2,000 kilograms per hectare. cal inputs were significantly lower for women, which Taken together, the descriptive statistics suggest that indicates that potential differences in land quality and women have significant formal property rights in input application give women farmers a productivity land, as both sole and joint owners of agricultural disadvantage. Source: Katz and Lastarria-Cornhiel 2006. secure the assets needed for the families of rural smallhold- taken into account (see the Overview for a more detailed ers to gain their livelihoods. This second objective would review of these issues). These sociocultural relations argue for protection against dispossessing vulnerable family inevitably impact titling processes in determining (1) who members of their only real asset. Formal recognition of will participate in the program and (2) whose rights are rec- women's rights may make it more difficult for men to sell or ognized. More specific issues that can influence titling and mortgage land without their wives' permission. But land registration include legislation and regulations, institutions titling programs also need to take measures to secure a and staff, procedures and processes, and training. Issues of smallholder family's land against alienation. gender bias and negative sociocultural norms in legislation, Economic benefits of titling to widows, divorcees, and regulation, procedures and processes, and institutional staff, aged women have been enumerated earlier, as well as the as well as access to the system at the local level and bearable empowerment benefits. cost are critical (see Overview and Thematic Note 2). A review of the "one title holder per household" practice has shown the following: POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES Numerous titling and registration programs have been Titling guidelines do not call for the identification of implemented in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin more than one property-right holder in the household. America as a necessary measure to ensure the property Titling procedures do not allow for inquiry into the rights of smallholders and increase their access to other pro- number of property-right holders in the household. duction factors, particularly credit. Titling programs, in Titling forms do not permit the listing of more than one their design and implementation, have not been gender property-right holder. responsive for numerous reasons. Perhaps the main reason Titling brigades are not trained to look for and identify is that they are conceived as legal and technical programs, more than one property-right holder. ignoring the complex sociocultural relations involved in Titling activities with communities and households assigning land rights to particular persons. The issues of (informational meetings, workshops, and so forth) power, social status, and cultural norms that are embedded focus on men heads of household and do not encour- in land tenure systems and that determine (1) the different age or facilitate the participation of other persons, kinds of land rights and (2) who has land rights are seldom including women. 154 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION In addition to these explicit or implicit institutional and registration projects, and their specific policies and proce- procedural constraints, processes associated with imple- dures will affect whether women are granted formal legal mentation are, at best, more difficult for women than men rights to land. All of these institutions need to undertake to traverse. Sociocultural norms do not perceive women to gender-sensitivity training with respect to land and prop- be full and equal participants in the community and the erty rights and the constraints women face in asserting economy, and women sometimes lack the skills and confi- those rights. dence to approach institutions that have traditionally been A number of practices increase the likelihood that the domain of men. women will be included in the implementation of land titling programs. Some of the problems faced by women include traversing the geographic and social distance to pro- GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED gram officials, lack of knowledge or information, and the Legislation and policies related to land rights and property, interplay between statutory and customary legal systems. in language and in intent, should not mention only men as Programs can reduce many of the procedural barriers and holders of land rights. Nor should they be gender neutral. some of the customary constraints by making their activi- Policy and legislation must explicitly assert and affirm ties and benefits available at the lowest possible level and by women's equal rights to land and property, and those rights training staff at all levels to be conscious of the obstacles should be independent of women's (and men's) civil or women face. marital status. In Bolivia, for example, the law that estab- There is growing recognition that the practice of issuing lishes the legal basis for the current titling program specifi- titles to just one person in the household (the head of cally states that in the distribution, administration, tenure, household) often denies other persons their land rights. As and use of land, equity criteria will be applied in favor of mentioned, more than one person may hold rights to a par- women and independently of their civil status.2 The last ticular parcel of land, or, if there is more than one parcel, phrase is important because it does not require that a different persons may have rights to different parcels. Wives, woman be the head of the household or married to be eligi- for example, often have clearly recognized and legitimate ble for land rights. use rights to household land. One of the first determina- Legislation should deal with the many different household tions, therefore, that needs to be made in the identification arrangements that occur in real life. Besides the nuclear fam- of property holders is to clarify who, besides the household ily, comprising one husband and one wife who are legally mar- head, holds rights to household landed property. The types ried, there are couples who are married under customary rules of titles that can be issued to individual households and but not civil law, couples who are in consensual unions (that parcels, depending on the number of property holders and is, they are not married but are in an enduring relationship), legal options, include individual title, joint title, and co- and polygamous marriages. The legitimacy of these different ownership titles. kinds of household arrangements and their implication for the land rights of household members should be dealt with in Cultural norms affecting women's land rights a gender-sensitive manner. (See Thematic Note 2 for more details regarding land rights within different types of house- Land titling and registration programs will encounter cul- holds and changing households.) tural norms and practices that influence who is recognized as The regulations that are drawn up to implement legisla- a legitimate property holder. These may vary within project tion must specifically counteract constraints to women's areas and may conflict with formal legal norms. Issues that ownership rights. It may also be necessary to review other most affect women's rights to land are related to marital prop- legislation and regulations to ensure that they do not erty and inheritance. (See the Overview for more information impose such constraints. For example, in Bolivia, although regarding marriage and inheritance practices that affect land the land law clearly upheld women's land rights, irrespective rights.) For example, customary inheritance rights may not of civil status, legislation for the land registry required that be in accord with legislation regarding intestate inheritance couples be legally married to be registered as co-owners. that mandates equal inheritance rights for daughters and sons Formal recognition of women's rights to land involves a and inheritance rights for surviving spouses. Titling and reg- number of land administration agencies, including land istration programs should draw up guidelines and procedures titling agencies, land registries, and judiciary offices. Some for dealing with the distribution of family land to heirs in or all of these institutions will be involved in land titling and ways that conflict with the formal law. THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER-RESPONSIVE TITLING 155 Marriage practices are other cultural norms that may in those countries also explicitly require that land acquired influence land rights in ways that differ from formal legisla- by a couple is titled jointly. In addition, Bolivia stipulates tion. The customary norm and practice in both matrilineal that land granted by the state to a family is marital property and patrilineal societies are that land inherited or received and should be jointly titled. Joint title is an important doc- from one's family remains the property of that person and ument for women in vulnerable situations such as separa- his or her lineage--it does not become part of the conjugal tion, divorce, abandonment, and widowhood because they couple's property. do not need to follow an administrative or judicial process A potential problem is how land allocated by the state is to prove that the property they had with their husband or viewed by the beneficiaries and who exactly are the benefi- companion does belong to them. ciaries. Very often land titling programs are part of, or occur One issue that land administration programs may subsequent to, land allocation programs. If the allocated encounter is informal conjugal unions. In most countries land is clearly state land, it should not be considered lineage that have recently reformed legislation to be more inclusive or family land, and land rights should be assigned according and sensitive with respect to gender issues, the legislation to formal law. In that case social equity concerns would explicitly states that legal marriage as well as consensual indicate that the land be allocated and titled to both spouses union be considered the basis for marital or community and to single heads of families, whether men or women. In property. As mentioned, the 1996 land law in Bolivia states Bolivia, for example, the land titling project adopted the that men and women, regardless of civil status, have equal procedure that land parcels titled for the first time would be rights to land. The Bolivian land administration project, titled to the couple, not only to the head of the household. therefore, requires that when a legal title or regularization In some cases, however, the land allocated by the state certificate is issued for land held by a couple--irrespective of may be land that the community and its families formerly whether they are married or in a consensual union--both owned. This practice occurred frequently in some Eastern names must be included in the space provided for the title European countries, including Albania and Latvia, during holder, recording the woman's name first and then the man's. the 1990s. Families may therefore believe that the land is On this point, one issue is whether to recognize consen- actually theirs and that the allocation program is simply sual unions if the legislation mentions only legal marriage returning the land to them. In this case the issue of lineage and does not explicitly recognize consensual unions. This will most likely influence which persons are believed to be issue could be dealt with in the titling regulations and pro- legitimate property holders. Lineage issues may become a cedures by suggesting that evidence of joint use rights potential problem in Lao PDR, for example, as the titling requires the joint titling option. Social assessments on this program moves from urban to rural areas. Some rural areas issue should inquire as to the prevalence of consensual are patrilineal, and women do not generally acquire landed unions in that society and the land use rights of both property through parents or marriage. The land adminis- spouses. The results from this social assessment should tration program will need guidelines and procedures to guide decisions by land administration with respect to con- determine whether state allocation regulations or lineage sensual unions. norms determine the appropriate property holder(s) for a Once it has been established whether joint titles are to be land parcel. issued to consensual unions as well as legally married cou- ples, it is necessary to determine which relationships are consensual unions. Most legislation that recognizes consen- Joint titling sual unions also has a procedure for legal recognition of When the importance of wives' rights to household land is consensual unions. Others may simply list some basic crite- recognized, one mechanism used in titling land is to issue ria for consensual unions. In Bolivia titling procedures indi- joint titles to both spouses and not only to the household cate that field appraisals by titling brigades must verify head. Where legislation recognizes marital property to effective possession regardless of civil status (married, include assets (such as land) acquired during marriage,3 divorced, separated, single, widowed) or gender. In Colombia determining when a piece of landed property was acquired co-ownership does not have to be proved, only stated as true. should clarify whether the property should be titled to the In these cases land titling procedures accept consensual conjugal couple or to one of the spouses. Legislation in unions if couples meet these criteria or possess a certificate Bolivia and Lao PDR, for example, recognizes marital property of legal recognition. In some countries where personal iden- for spouses, and the procedures of the land titling projects tification papers are an issue, particularly for low-income 156 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION and illiterate persons, undertaking any legal procedure, such incomes and security are threatened. A first wife is also vul- as establishing a consensual union, is problematic. A land nerable to having to divide property among all of the hus- administration project in rural Peru found a solution to this band's heirs. On the other hand, second wives are also a very problem by issuing co-property titles. Under a co-property vulnerable group: a second wife has no legal rights to any of title, a couple's marital status (formal or consensual) is not her husband's income or property. considered, and both persons own a separate share of the property rather than owning the property together as a Cultural differences arising from rural-urban whole (Deere and Leon 2001). Land titling guidelines and differences and a market economy procedures could include the option of issuing co-property titles to a couple if they cannot produce a certificate of con- Legal norms and practices regarding land rights in rural and sensual union. urban areas differ in many societies. In Lao PDR, for exam- ple, permanent land use titles are awarded to urban land- holders under the Lao Land Titling Program, whereas rural Marital property and polygamy landholders are awarded land use certificates that are valid Polygamous households present another set of issues in rela- for three years. Aside from legislation, there are other urban tion to marital property.4 Not all societies outlaw polygamy, and rural differences. For example, it appears that custom- and even if they do, the law is generally ineffective if ary norms and practices tend to change as people move polygamy is customary or traditional. Polygamy seriously from rural to urban areas. A study of customary land tenure affects women's rights to property, however, and generates systems in Lao PDR mentioned that titling land to women much tension and anxiety over land rights in many coun- in Hmong villages "simply would not work, despite the laws tries. Polygamy complicates legislation requiring written of the country,"yet it observed that recently Hmong families consent of spouses to dispose of property; it also complicates in urban areas have not adhered strictly to this custom, and provisions on inheritance and co-ownership of land. Legis- both sons and daughters inherit land (Lao PDR, Ministry of lating around polygamy is difficult, but to ignore formal or Finance 2002: 59­60). Nevertheless, as the titling program informal polygamy is to protect women's property rights in that country extends from urban to rural areas, it will inadequately. The situation is made even more difficult by have to deal with this conflict between formal and custom- the fact that many men refuse to acknowledge or discuss ary legal norms. In many societies land titling programs will polygamy, and women are often hesitant to raise the issue. need to establish ways of dealing with customary property No effective and gender-sensitive titling procedures have and ownership norms that do not correspond to gender- been developed for polygamous households. Several coun- equal statutory laws. tries have attempted to legislate land rights for women in Illiteracy and lack of access to services may have a polygamous marriages. In Ethiopia, for example, the greater impact in the implementation of land titling and Oromiya regulations (2002) require that the husband and registration projects in rural areas. In Bolivia, as in many wife be jointly certified for their commonly held land. In a Latin American countries, low-income rural women often polygamous marriage a husband is allowed to get a holding lack the identification cards required by titling proce- right certificate with only one of his wives, and the other(s) dures. The missing papers can either slow or prevent a receive an independent right certificate. The use right of a claim, so more flexible procedures might be considered, family is not affected if either the husband or the wife or such as the verification of identity by community leaders both leave the area. Under Burkina Faso's 1990 Family or a program component that makes it easy to obtain Code, if a couple is monogamous, their property is marital identification. property, but if there is more than one wife, all property is In a market economy, rural and urban differences can also separate property. affect property rights, especially notions of individual owner- Where polygamy is widely practiced but illegal, however, ship. The market economy exerts its influence in urban areas it is ignored in relation to land rights. Field research in the by making production practices more labor intensive and Kyrgyz Republic revealed that women were concerned that market oriented. Land rights tend to become more individu- they would lose not only their husbands but also rights to alized (less communal), families tend to become more their husbands' incomes if their husbands took second nuclear (less extended), land rights tend to be acquired wives. Women state that husbands generally favor second through purchase (rather than inheritance), and customary wives, so while their husbands are living, the first wives' practices tend to become less prevalent. These tendencies are THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER-RESPONSIVE TITLING 157 also seen in rural areas where intensive commercial agricul- In the programmatic sphere, clear and concrete imple- ture is practiced, particularly among small and medium-size mentation guidelines, and gender-sensitive training are cru- farm holdings. In these situations lineage considerations may cial. Gender guidelines, tools, and training should include diminish in importance, and opportunities for more flexible the consideration of customary local institutions and prac- inheritance practices may arise. As a land market develops, tices that largely determine who has what rights to land and more opportunities exist for both wife and husband to own how that land can be used. land they have acquired together, for women to purchase Because titling programs create opportunities for land land, and for bilateral inheritance practices to develop. Legis- grabbing and elite capture of land, one project activity with lation, regulations, and titling procedures should build on potentially positive effects for women and men is to inform these opportunities to formalize women's rights to land. communities in advance that land is being adjudicated. This Unfortunately, the practice in the past has been to strengthen information will help communities prevent the loss of their men's individual land and property rights, to the detriment of land rights to powerful or influential persons. wives, daughters, and daughters-in-law. In the past, titling programs have tended to be designed by national agencies with minimal consultation, discussion, and dialogue with local stakeholders with regard to local GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR problems, program objectives, and potential solutions. PRACTITIONERS When they are excluded, stakeholders generally do not iden- As the discussion throughout this Note suggests, land titling tify with a program and its objectives. Nor are they invested and registration guidelines should take regional differences in its success. Local stakeholders with power or authority into consideration and require procedures that accommo- have been able to influence program implementation for date different contexts. Much of this contextual informa- their own interests at the cost of other stakeholders who tion, and the participatory methods for acquiring it, should have not directly benefited from state programs. Because be incorporated into the social assessment undertaken women usually wield little power and have minimal public during the design phase. Detailed information regarding influence, their interests are often ignored and their rights variations in, for example, multiple land use rights, inheri- violated even though legal codes mandate otherwise. For tance, and marital property can then be a valuable input for example, the effort to extend land rights to women during strengthening women's land rights within the target area's the 1990s via joint titling in Nicaragua had unexpected out- sociocultural context. Wherever possible, titling procedures comes: most of the joint titles were not between spouses but should not ignore or remove any land rights women may between men relatives, such as a father and son or a brother already hold and, wherever possible, should strive for and brother. The proportion of joint titles issued between gender equity in granting land rights. 1992 and 1997 was an impressive 33 percent, but only 8 per- Relevant issues are the quality of legislation and regula- cent was issued to spouses (Lastarria-Cornhiel and others tion and, more important, effective processes that bring 2003). It is likely that joint titling by men relatives occurred the law in an equitable fashion to women. At the national to avoid including wives on the property title. level, formulation of non-gender-biased legislation and On the positive side, programs that seek active participa- regulation and effective implementation institutions are tion by local stakeholders are more likely to achieve their important (see Thematic Note 2 for more details). objectives. Civil society organizations can be very successful Political will on the part of executive and legislative bod- at promoting gender equity by their activities on the ground. ies is of prime importance in this sphere. It ensures that gen- Officials in the national sphere and especially in the pro- der policy not only is included in legislation and regulations grammatic sphere should be aware of local conditions and but also translates into (1) objectives and guidelines for the limits and opportunities they present. Consideration of titling programs and related institutions and (2) resources these opportunities and limits often determines the success for gender-equity programs and activities at the local level. of programs and the achievement of policy objectives. 158 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Nepal:Women Gain aVoice and Greater Access to Resources through the Hills Leasehold Project PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION 14,600 poor households and to restore 13,000 hectares of degraded forest. To join a group, a household had to have less he Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Develop- T than half a hectare of land (or none) and an annual income ment Project (HLFFDP), supported by IFAD, is below the poverty line, although a degree of flexibility was per- unprecedented in Nepal in its commitment to mitted. Priority was given to landless and near-landless groups, transferring assets directly to the poor. The project's com- disadvantaged tribal groups, and women-headed households. bined objectives are to raise living standards among the The project supports leasehold forestry as opposed to poor and to regenerate degraded forest land. The project community forestry. Over one-third of Nepal's population leases users' rights to forest land (which had become participates in community forestry programs, whereas lease- degraded through common access) to groups of 5­10 poor hold initiatives are at an early stage. Community forestry households, who are in charge of rehabilitating the land and measures are directed at entire communities and concentrate entitled to use the forest products. Leases are renewable after on forest conservation. Leasehold forestry involves a redistri- 40 years. A further objective of the project is to empower the bution of assets in favor of the poor by leasing degraded sites communities concerned by forming and training groups to specific groups of resource-poor farming households. The and mobilizing savings and access to credit. leasehold groups are smaller and more homogeneous, and Forests were to be restored principally by banning graz- their legal status remains insecure. Antagonism between the ing in the leasehold sites, and households were to generate two forestry approaches has been replaced by more con- income by producing livestock fodder and forage and pur- structive ideas concerning their coexistence or integration. suing other activities. The major inputs were the subsidized provision of high-yielding grasses, seedlings of fodder trees, improved animal breeds, veterinary services, training pro- GENDER APPROACH grams, and agricultural credit. Until 1995 the project confined its activities to four districts When the project was designed, an explicit objective was to and then extended gradually to six more districts. The integrate gender and disadvantaged (ethnic) group issues amended project target was to form 2,040 leasehold groups of and considerations in the approach and its implementation. Nine activities related to this objective were outlined within planning, training, extension, and monitoring and evalua- What's innovative? Landless women and men tion. Women and households headed either de jure or de lease degraded forest lands and obtain comple- facto by poor women were to receive special attention. mentary training in sustainable land management, A key aspect of the gender agenda within the project was basic literacy, and awareness of women's legal the leadership provided by two project leaders, one from rights. Local women group promoters are Nepal's Department of Forests (DOF) and one from the employed to ensure that women's voices are heard Food and Agriculture Organization. These managers, who and that women play leadership roles. Group pro- were both men, had the confidence and foresight to hire a moters link with professional women to build sup- three-woman gender team and grant them the autonomy to portive networks. develop an innovative strategy. The team's goal was to challenge the organizational culture of the implementing 159 agencies and make men counterparts in the DOF and the Project impacts project coordination unit more aware of and responsive to After nine years of implementation, the HLFFDP was rec- the realities of rural women. ognized within the development community of Nepal as an The team added an objective on gender equality to its innovative, unique project that achieved a significant plan; previously gender equality had not been explicitly impact on the lives of group members, especially women, as taken up by project staff. The plan was to implement activ- well as on the environment. Key successes are the following: ities at the policy, district, and grassroots levels, but the team chose to focus on recruiting and developing a cadre of Forty-year leases give 1,800 household groups user rights women group promoters throughout the project area. The over degraded forest land totaling 7,400 hectares. promoters would mobilize rural women to participate in Once restored, the forest areas are a rich source of fodder, the leasehold groups. timber, and fuel as well as trees and plants that the Gender and leadership training was provided to the groups use and sell. group promoters through formal training sessions and Goat ownership has increased from an average of two to study tours to learn from other projects. Given the paucity five per household, as has revenue from goat sales (to of women staff within the implementing line agencies, the $100 per household per year). team identified gender focal persons (mostly men) within Income from grasses, grass seed, and other forest prod- these agencies and developed the gender skills of these indi- ucts is now significant (up to $70 per household per viduals through training, coaching, and guidance. These year), although weak market linkages and inadequate technical staff thus gained an awareness of gender equity information on demand and market prices have limited issues, women's rights (including those outlined in interna- sales in some areas. tional agreements such as the Convention on the Elimina- The 120 leasehold intergroups and 18 multipurpose tion of All Forms of Discrimination against Women), and cooperatives created during the project have been instru- the community work of the group promoters. mental in tackling market issues because of their strong Another element of the strategy was to foster networking bargaining power and success in creating market outlets. and communication. Two magazines were developed and dis- Infrastructure grants made to groups and intergroups tributed, one to exchange information among gender focal helped build culverts and bridges, renovate schools, com- points in the technical agencies in the district and another plete 160 small drinking-water supply projects, and created by the group promoters at the grassroots level. Arti- improve trails and footpaths. cles in the group promoters' magazine boldly expressed their The women group promoters formed their own associa- positions on issues related to gender and women's rights and tion, which continues to advocate for women's rights were widely circulated throughout the DOF. related to forest management and to promote women's In 1999 the women group promoters began to organize access to livestock and forest development resources at group meetings, promote the project, organize groups, give the local and national levels. training, and note problems. Training was given to couples Gender impacts (husbands and wives) who were prospective beneficiaries of the project. Women, mostly from ethnic minorities, were Meetings held with women participants of HLFFDP given priority in training to manage tree and plant nurseries through an initiative of the International Land Coalition's and other relevant activities. Through these activities Women's Resource Access Programme (WRAP) in 2001 women have acquired technical knowledge and basic liter- revealed their perspectives on the project's impact.1 (For acy and are much more aware of their legal rights. Women's more information in WRAP, see www.landcoalition.org.) participation and leadership roles were favored by the all- Saving time was the biggest benefit noted by the women, women group promoters. Currently, 25 percent of the par- because they spent less time collecting grass, fodder, and fuel- ticipants are women, there are 74 all-women groups, and wood, which were more plentiful, closer to their homes, and there are 112 women group leaders. located in familiar places. Many women emphasized that the substantial technical assistance, knowledge, and credit they received had better equipped them to use their new-found time. BENEFITS AND IMPACTS Empowerment through group action is another benefit: The project demonstrated impacts in the areas of poverty regular meetings provide a forum to discuss project-related and gender. issues and general community matters. Both women's group 160 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION meetings and mixed meetings are held.Women's participation LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER is generally greater at the meetings of women-only leasehold APPLICABILITY forestry groups than at the mixed groups, and it is easier to Although the HLFFDP project is considered a success, ensure their participation in the women-only groups. In the issues are seen with security of tenure, high cost of inter- all-women group meetings, extremely sensitive issues such vention, need for increased focus on lower-cost and local as domestic violence are easily addressed. In this regard technologies and knowledge, and need for increased use of many women see the group meetings as both a "protective support organizations. court"--where instances of domestic violence can be Gender integration has contributed to successes like the brought out into the open and challenged--and a place to following: confront social issues and become stronger. Moreover, through the training program most women have acquired basic literacy skills, and the group members Giving women secure access to land and forestry can are much more aware of their legal rights and the impor- transform their lives. tance of education and adequate health, sanitation, and Much of the project's success at producing benefits for nutrition for themselves and their families. women is due to the strategic interventions of the project's Through the workshops, training courses, and community gender team and their capacity- and team-building meetings, women were progressively exposed to the world efforts with the group promoters. The sense of trust and around them. Several group leaders were interviewed on tele- solidarity that evolved provided the group promoters vision and on a weekly radio program on leasehold forestry. with high levels of motivation and pride. Their status Young women in particular expressed a dramatic increase in also improved through linkages with the gender team to their self-confidence, which they attributed to their group high-level project staff and government officials. work, group discussions, and decision-making abilities. Special training in gender awareness and other gender- Many workshop participants expressed their satisfaction at sensitive activities can provide women with new skills the increased amounts of food and livestock fodder that and resources to challenge their traditional roles and gain resulted from their access to leasehold forest land. With the secure access to natural resources. acquisition of leasehold land, many women started cultivating Talking to poor women and men, listening to their views mulberries and vegetables and selling chiraito (Swertia spp., a and perceptions, and learning from their knowledge can medicinal plant used to treat malaria and other health prob- provide valuable insights that cannot be gained else- lems). The income generated from this activity is used for chil- where. The method should be easily replicated, and the dren's school needs, medicine, food, clothing, and group sav- different needs and opportunities of the men and ings. Men still control most household income, but women women reflected here could be the basis of gender- are now more involved in household decision making. responsive actions in projects and programs. The women interviewed about HLFFDP felt that men The participation of women and disadvantaged groups were more accepting of women's status and of their right to requires more active promotion by providing appropri- have agricultural land in their name. About 20 percent of ate sensitization training to all project staff, as well as to titles are now estimated to be registered in women's names. members of communities in which leasehold forestry is The women also felt that men had increasingly accepted and introduced. The transfer of the lease from men to women supported this transition and the accompanying shifts in should be encouraged in cases in which the men lease- responsibility and power. Many women attributed this hold group members are inactive. change to changes in their own level of confidence, which One gap is related to the institutionalization of the has increased over the years because they have gained access approach. The DOF lacks a formal institutional directive to land and received training and credit. Their husbands are for gender mainstreaming and a single structure to willing to support these women, who have demonstrated address the issue, so the nearly all-men department the many benefits that can be derived from their increased remains ignorant about the benefits that could be responsibility and decision-making ability. Others attribute derived from a gender focus. One solution would be to this acceptance to their husbands' belief that credit is more build gender structures into the Ministry of Forests and easily obtained by women and to the recognition that insti- Soil Conservation and the DOF. Although a gender cell tutions (governmental and nongovernmental) increasingly now exists, a woman coordinator requires significantly favor pro-poor and pro-women schemes. more resources and capacity building to be effective. INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1:THE HILLS LEASEHOLD PROJECT IN NEPAL 161 I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 Honduras: A Pilot Project Protects Women's Rights to Productive Resources I n Honduras the Land Access Pilot Project (Proyecto The project seeks to reach rural people with little or no Acceso a la Tierra [PACTA]), initially supported by access to land. Project components include technical and the World Bank, promotes poor people's acquisition legal assistance to rural producers, land purchase loans, and of land, increases the awareness of joint property rights complementary subproject grants. The project was designed over production resources, and implements legal alterna- with a participatory monitoring and evaluation system. tives to guarantee those rights regardless of whether a PACTA also incorporated lessons from the experiences of couple is married. The project also promotes equal par- the World Bank over the years in promoting access to land, ticipation by household members in rural enterprises, the including providing complementing services with the land formation of enterprises managed by women, and the purchase schemes, not imposing any models of production development of a training process that contributes to or association, using existing institutions where possible, greater gender equity. encouraging stakeholder participation (PACTA's board has members from government, financial institutions, local technical units, and producer organizations), and stressing PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION participatory project preparation. Between 2001 and 2004 PACTA emphasized the acquisition of land and the formation of sustainable economic enter- GENDER APPROACH prises by self-organized landless and land-poor rural fami- The gender strategy was not formulated at the beginning of lies. The pilot tested a strategy in which the private sector the pilot in 2001 but was deemed crucial as the pilot pro- provided credit to buy land and the public sector provided gressed. By the end of 2003, a gender approach was incorpo- funds for complementary investments and technical assis- rated in the three-year implementation plan for the tance to improve the land's productivity. The pilot was expanded pilot (2005­07). The project has implemented a implemented on a larger scale in 2005­07 and then number of gender-related strategies and activities (table 4.2). extended for another three years of implementation and evaluation from 2007 to 2009.1 BENEFITS AND IMPACTS PACTA demonstrated impacts in the areas of both poverty What's innovative? Through public-private sec- and gender. tor collaboration, a pilot project enables landless and land-poor rural families to obtain land and Poverty impacts manage it productively. The project has devised innovative legal strategies to ensure that women, The average income of families in PACTA enterprises had regardless of whether they are legally married, increased by 130 percent as of 2004 compared to the initial gain equal rights to the new production levels before the project.By the end of 2004,1,226 families that resources and more equal participation in new participated in the pilot were employed, and about 700­900 rural enterprises. person-year equivalents of employment had been generated. This productive labor use is likely to increase as farms develop 162 Table 4.2 Gender-Related Activities and Strategies Pursued during Three Stages of the Expanded PACTA Land Access Pilot, Honduras, 2005­07 Design stage Implementation stage Monitoring and evaluation stage Proposed a standard conceptual Included a gender equity perspective in Documented experiences to systematize framework for rural development from the operations and technical assistance them the gender equity perspective in PACTA manual Conducted a diagnostic study to identify Trained the local technical units so they Proposed indicators to be included in the strategic gender equity actions that could do their work from a gender project's baseline survey so that changes needed to be developed equity perspective in gender relations within the family could be measured Formulated a gender equity strategy Developed a systematic training and n.a. follow-up process in one of PACTA's geographic areas Incorporated a gender equity approach Promoted the project among organized n.a. when making up business plans, as an women's groups to encourage them to incentive for local technical units participate Implemented legal alternatives in selected n.a. businesses to ensure that a couple has equal ownership rights over production assets Incorporated gender-related components n.a. into business plans Source: PACTA project documents. and consolidate. Of the 1,226 families, 980 were day laborers, funds if they actively managed business ventures. The proj- sharecroppers, or other kinds of subsistence producers. The ect differentiates between women who are partners in busi- rest were poor families with access to municipal forest land or nesses and the wives or household partners of men who are communal land. business partners. The participation of women who are The local support networks that coalesced around household partners of men PACTA members started in PACTA enterprises constitute a potentially important 2005 (table 4.3). Previous land projects did not consider source for community economic initiatives. An example is the skills, abilities, and interests of women family members the alliance between PACTA enterprises; a regional pro- and so did not include business- or work-related activities ducer cooperative, COPRAUL (Regional Cooperative of performed or managed by women in the business plan. United Farmers Ltda.); a program for marketing and pro- That business plans now include the activities of women cessing agricultural products, PROACTA; and a local service family members who are not business partners is an impor- provider that works with PACTA enterprises. In a process tant innovation of this project. As of 2006, the percentage led by COPRAUL, these organizations cooperated to of new enterprises that assigned resources in their invest- develop a purchasing and warehouse operation that enabled ment plans to income-generating activities managed by a the 250 members of COPRAUL to sell their potato crop wife or household partner of a men PACTA member was 17 directly to major buyers, including a chain of supermarkets. percent. This figure is lower than the target of 30 percent, Finally, PACTA seems to show a positive impact in reducing but it indicates that the inclusion of women family mem- migration to major cities in Honduras and to the United bers in business plans enables services and support to reach States among families who participate in the project. more women. Gender impacts LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER Clearly, the project has helped women to own land. Among APPLICABILITY the women participating in the project in 2005, 20 percent were direct members who had acquired land and received In its pilot phase, PACTA laid the foundation for enterprises the corresponding technical assistance and training.2 established with its support to implement measures and Women who were not direct members could still obtain actions that give husbands and wives equal access to the INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 2: HONDURAS:A PILOT PROJECT PROTECTS WOMEN'S RIGHTS TO PRODUCTIVE RESOURCES 163 Table 4.3 Measurable Impacts of PACTA Variable Indicator Objective Results Equal access to technology Percentage of women and 50% of men and 40% of 30% of men members and percentage of men who use women 30% of women members technology in their productive activities Equal access to training Percentage of women who 100% of women members 100% of women members have received training in and 30% of wives or and 10% of wives, aspects related to household partners of men household partners, or enterprise development members both of men members and who are applying the acquired knowledge Percentage of men who have 100% of men members and 100% of men members and received training in aspects 20% of husbands or 20% of household partner related to enterprise household partners of women members development and who are applying the acquired knowledge Equal participation of men Number of women's groups Three groups One all-woman enterprise and women in enterprises that have formed and and four enterprises in participating in PACTA developed enterprises which women are the majority Increase in women's 20% 20% participation in enterprises as direct members Percentage of new enterprises 30% 17% of new enterprises that assign resources in formed between 2005 and their investment plans to 2006 activities that generate incomes managed by the wife or household partner of men members Participation in the Percentage of mixed 30% 24% (mixed enterprises, decision-making process enterprises (in which both 2005­06) men and women are business partners) in which women are board members with decision-making power Rights to land and other Percentage of enterprises that 10% of the total number of 5.5% in 2005­06 productive resources have taken legal measures contracts to ensure that title to the land is issued to the couple, once the loan is paid off Percentage of new enterprises 40% of new enterprises that 9.7% that stipulate rights favoring began to participate in the the couple regarding land project in 2005 and resources in their constitution document, in their rules or agreements, or in more than one of these Participation in monitoring Percentage of men and 50% 30% and evaluation women in families participating in monitoring and evaluation activities Source: PACTA participatory evaluation and monitoring and information system. 164 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION land and other production assets. Lessons learned include NOTES the following: Overview The participation of women in decision-making This Overview was written by Susan Lastarria-Cornhiel processes is crucial to ensure women's successful partici- (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and reviewed by Nata pation in business enterprises. Duvvury (Consultant); Victor Mosoti and David Palmer (FAO); Ruth Meinzen-Dick (IFPRI); Sabine Pallas (Interna- To achieve the proposed objectives, it is necessary to tional Land Coalition); and Malcolm Childress, Edward invest in raising awareness and training staff of local Cook, and Indira Ekanayake (World Bank). technical units in gender equity. 1. According to information from Malcolm Childress and Developing business plans with the participation of the Mukta Mahajani of the Land Policy and Administration whole family is essential to ensure the inclusion of Thematic Group, the World Bank has increased the number women in production activities. of land administration projects in the rural sector almost Providing family-oriented information and awareness sixfold since 1995, from 4 to 23. The total loan portfolio has encourages men to change their attitude toward their fam- increased at a similar rate, from $172 million to $1,037 mil- ily obligations, value their wives' or partners' contribution lion. The number of rural development projects with a land to production activities, and recognize their wives'or part- administration component increased from 51 to 74. ners' ownership rights over any assets they may acquire. 2. For example, between 1978 and 2005, 21 percent of Women's organization skills and experience facilitate IFAD's projects in Latin America and the Caribbean (19 of joining the project. 92 projects) had components for improving land access and The main obstacle to women's participation in production tenure security (Hopkins, Carpano, and Zilveti 2005). and business activities is that they are almost exclusively 3. As a technical agency, FAO is currently collaborating responsible for raising children. Presently the enterprises with the World Bank on 30 land administration projects in that women can pursue successfully require little time and 26 countries. include small, profitable enterprises such as growing 4. This Overview borrows heavily from Giovarelli and strawberries. An integrated development vision should others (2005). foster the public institutions that rural families need to 5. See Deere and Leon (2001) for an exhaustive review and address such basic necessities as health care, education, analysis of women's rights to land in Latin America for the day-care facilities, and public services so that families can last few centuries and particularly since the 1950s. increase their capacity to engage in a business venture. 6. More extensive descriptions of these land administra- tion elements can be found in FAO (2002). Product marketing must be strengthened, and technical assistance to make production more competitive must 7. Customary rules and practices refer to those that are fol- be guaranteed, especially for women's production activ- lowed by communities and local groups and are not neces- sarily recognized by formal law; in fact, they may contradict ities, given that they have been excluded from acquiring formal legal norms. such knowledge. 8. Local authorities (whether formally appointed or com- munity recognized) may not administer land and natural In its gender-related work, PACTA faces a number of resources equitably or even legitimately by local norms. challenges: Experience from a number of countries has shown that oversight and supervision from a higher level of govern- Implementing the project's gender strategy while ment are needed to avoid problems such as elite capture and addressing cultural differences to ensure that local authorities follow relevant formal law. Expanding and strengthening alliances with public and 9. E. Mwangi, "Subdividing the Commons: The Politics of private sector organizations that can help promote Property Rights Transformation in Kenya's Maasailand," integrated family development and ease women's CAPRI Working Paper 46 (Washington, DC: CGIAR child-rearing responsibilities so that they can partici- System-Wide Program on Collective Action and Property pate successfully in business activities Rights, 2006), www.capri.cgiar.org/wp/capriwp46.asp. Encouraging local support networks established with 10. House ownership is also important in addition to land project support to adopt a gender-related perspective ownership. Particularly in the South Asian and Latin Creating awareness of the importance of gender training American context, women in a landless laborer household at all levels of PACTA staff. supplement the subsistence income from wage earning MODULE 4: NOTES 165 with supplementary food from kitchen gardens on the (IFPRI); and Malcolm Childress, Edward Cook, and Indira housesites. Ekanayake (World Bank). 11. The land allocated by the woman's family to her hus- 1. G. Gopal, "Law and Legal Reforms," 2020 Focus No. 06: band is not his to alienate or pass on. If he leaves the com- Brief 12 (Washington, DC: International Food Policy munity and leaves his wife, the land returns to the lineage. Research Institute, 2001), www.ifpri.org/2020/focus/ 12 See the GAL eSourcebook for suggested monitoring and focus06/focus06_12.asp. evaluation indicators for each Thematic Note (www.world 2. The term "owned" is used throughout this Thematic bank.org). Note, but it is meant to include long-term use rights that are like ownership. Thematic Note 1 3. Civil Code of the Dominican Republic, Art. 1421, 1428; Family Code of Honduras, Article 82; Family Law in Mexi- This Thematic Note was written by Susan Lastarria-Cornhiel can States of Aguas Calientes, Oaxaca, and Sonora; Civil (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and reviewed by Nata Code of Ecuador; Civil Code of Guatemala. Duvvury (Consultant); Victor Mosoti and David Palmer 4. Some case law from common-law African countries (FAO); Ruth Meinzen-Dick (IFPRI); and Malcolm Childress, retroactively vests legal recognition on a polygamous (ille- Edward Cook, and Indira Ekanayake (World Bank). gal) union for purposes of inheritance or divorce 1. Most tenure systems have control rights such as free- and maintenance. hold ownership under freehold tenure, commons, family 5. On the other hand, women in matrilineal societies are land under customary tenure, and devolution of rights of often in a very powerful position in relation to land rights. state land. These systems often coexist or overlap in an area. For a general discussion, see Strickland (2004). 2. Customary allocation and management of land and 6. Article 3, Paragraph V, Servicio Nacional de Reforma other natural resources may or may not conflict with formal Agraria, Ley No. 1715, passed in 1996 and popularly known legislation and regulations. Customary authorities and rules as the "Ley INRA." operate in situations in which state agencies are not able to enforce natural resource management rules on the ground. 3. Comprehensive reviews of land reforms by Deere and Leon Thematic Note 3 (2001) for Latin America and Agarwal (2003) for India reveal This Thematic Note was written by Susan Lastarria- how few women received land from land reform programs. Cornhiel (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and 4. A recent study in Ghana, for example, has shown that reviewed by Nata Duvvury (Consultant); Victor Mosoti women heads of households, as compared with men heads, and David Palmer (FAO); Ruth Meinzen-Dick (IFPRI); are significantly less likely to acquire land through purchase and Malcolm Childress, Edward Cook, and Indira and rental (Quisumbing and others 1999). Ekanayake (World Bank). 5. United Nations-Office for the Coordination of Humani- 1. In some African and Asian countries, women are still tarian Affairs,"Zimbabwe: Focus on Women's Lack of Access considered minors and cannot enter into transactions or to Land," OCHA and Integrated Regional Information initiate official procedures without an adult man. Network, December 4, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx? 2. See Brown, Ananthpur, and Giovarelli (2002) for India repor tid=40021. and Walker (2003) for South Africa. 6. The Lowlands Agricultural Development Programme 3. Examples of legislative reform that recognize customary (LADEP) is funded by the IFAD and the government of The land tenure are Australia (1976), Bolivia (1995), Mozam- Gambia. bique (1997), Niger (1993), Philippines (1997), Senegal 7. The LIFE Programme is a joint program between U.S. (1964), Tanzania (1999), and Uganda (1998). Agency for International Development (USAID) and Namibia, 4. G. Gopal, "Law and Legal Reforms," 2020 Focus No. 06: the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Namibian NGOs. Brief 12 (Washington, DC: International Food Policy 8. For a review of this type of land reform, see Nielsen, Research Institute, 2001), www.ifpri.org/2020/focus/focus06/ Hanstad, and Rolfes (2006). focus06_12.asp. Thematic Note 2 Thematic Note 4 This Thematic Note was written by Renee Giovarelli (Con- This Thematic Note was written by Susan Lastarria-Corn- sultant) and reviewed by Nata Duvvury (Consultant); Vic- hiel (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and reviewed by tor Mosoti and David Palmer (FAO); Ruth Meinzen-Dick Nata Duvvury (Consultant); Victor Mosoti and David 166 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION Palmer (FAO); Ruth Meinzen-Dick (IFPRI); and Malcolm Deininger, Klaus. 2003. Land Policies for Growth and Poverty Childress, Edward Cook, and Indira Ekanayake (World Reduction. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford Bank). University Press. 1. This Thematic Note borrows heavily from Giovarelli Fafchamps, Marcel, and Agnes R. Quisumbing. 2002. and others (2005). "Control and Ownership of Assets within Rural 2. Article 3, Paragraph V, Servicio Nacional de Reforma Ethiopian Households." Journal of Development Studies Agraria, Ley No. 1715, passed in 1996 and popularly known 38 (6): 47­82. as the "Ley INRA." Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 3. Most marital property laws exempt inherited property (FAO). 2002. Gender and Access to Land. Land Tenure from becoming part of community property. Study 4. Rome: FAO. 4. This section on marital property and polygamy is taken Giovarelli, Renee, Elizabeth Katz, Susan Lastarria- largely from UN-HABITAT (2005). Cornhiel, and Sue Nichols. 2005. "Gender Issues and Best Practices in Land Administration Projects: A Syn- thesis Report." Agriculture and Rural Development Innovative Activity Profile 1 Department Report No. 32571-GLB, World Bank, This Innovative Activity Profile was prepared by Catherine Washington, DC. Ragasa (Consultant), with input and review from Sabine Hamilton, Sarah. 1998. The Two-Headed Household: Gender Pallas (International Land Coalition) and Jeanette Gurung and Rural Development in the Ecuadorean Andes. Pitts- (WOCAN). This Profile was largely drawn from ILC (2001), burgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. IFAD (n.d.), and Gurung and Lama (n.d.). Hopkins, Raul, Francesca Carpano, and Veruschka Zilveti. 1. This section is mainly based on ILO (2001). 2005. The Experience of IFAD in Latin America and the Caribbean. Rome: International Land Coalition. Innovative Activity Profile 2 Katz, Elizabeth, and Juan Sebastian Chamorro. 2003. "Gender, Land Rights, and the Household Economy This Innovative Activity Profile was prepared by Catherine in Rural Nicaragua and Honduras." Paper presented at Ragasa (Consultant), with input from Aleyda Ramirez the annual conference of the Latin American and (FAO-Honduras) and Francisco Pichon (World Bank), and Caribbean Economics Association, Puebla, Mexico, reviewed by Susan Lastarria-Cornhiel (University of Wis- October 9­11. consin-Madison). This Profile was largely drawn from the Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susan, Sonia Agurto, Jennifer Brown, Project Appraisal Document and Implementation Comple- and Sara Elisa Rosales. 2003. "Joint Titling in Nicaragua, tion and Results Report (World Bank 2000, 2007) and per- Indonesia, and Honduras: Rapid Appraisal Synthesis." sonal communication with the project team. Madison: Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin­ 1. This account mainly describes impacts as of 2007. Madison. 2. Only one family member may represent a family in a Meinzen-Dick, Ruth, Lynn R. Brown, Hilary Sims Feldstein, business as a direct partner, to avoid duplicating nonreim- and Agnes R. Quisumbing. 1997. "Gender, Property bursable transfers. Rights, and Natural Resources." World Development 25 (8): 1303­15. REFERENCES Panda, Pradeep, and Bina Agarwal. 2005. "Marital Violence, Human Development and Women's Property Status in Overview India." World Development 33 (5): 823­50. Agarwal, Bina. 1988. "Who Sows? Who Reaps? Women and Platteau Jean-Philippe, Anita Abraham, A.-S. Brasselle, F. Land Rights in India." Journal of Peasant Studies 15 (4): Gaspart, A. Niang, J.-P. Sawadogo, and Luc Stevens. 2000. 531­81. Marriage System, Access to Land, and Social Protection for Brown, Jennifer. 2003. "Rural Women's Land Rights in Java, Women. Namur: Centre de Recherche en Economie du Indonesia: Strengthened by Family Law, but Weakened Développement. by Land Registration." Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal Quisumbing, Agnes, and John Maluccio. 2003."Resources at 12: 631­51. Marriage and Intrahousehold Allocation: Evidence from Deere, Camen Diana, and Magdalena Leon. 2001. Empower- Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa." ing Women: Land and Property Rights in Latin America. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 65 (3): Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. 283­327. MODULE 4: REFERENCES 167 Stivens, Maila. 1985. "The Fate of Women's Land Rights: Giovarelli, Renee. 2006. "Overcoming Gender Biases in Gender, Matriliny, and Capitalism in Rembau, Negeri Established and Transitional Property Rights Systems." Sembilan, Malaysia." In Women, Work, and Ideology In Land Law Reform: Achieving Development Policy in the Third World, ed. Haleh Afshar, 3­36. London: Objectives, ed. J. W. Bruce, R. Giovarelli, L. Rolfes, Jr., D. Tavistock Publications. Bledsoe, and R. Mitchell, 67­106. Law, Justice, and Devel- opment Series. Washington, DC: World Bank. Giovarelli, Renee, Elizabeth Katz, Susan Lastarria-Cornhiel, Thematic Note 1 and Sue Nichols. 2005. "Gender Issues and Best Practices in Land Administration Projects: A Synthesis Report." Agarwal, Bina. 2003. "Gender and Land Rights Revisited: Agriculture and Rural Development Department Report Exploring New Prospects via the State, Family and Mar- No. 32571-GLB, World Bank, Washington, DC. kets." Journal of Agrarian Change 3 (1­2): 184­224. Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susan, Sonia Agurto, Jennifer Brown, Brown, Jennifer, Kripa Ananthpur, and Renee Giovarelli. and Sara Elisa Rosales. 2003. "Joint Titling in 2002."Women's Access and Rights to Land in Karnataka, Nicaragua, Indonesia, and Honduras: Rapid Appraisal India." Rural Development Institute Reports on Foreign Synthesis." Madison: Land Tenure Center, University of Aid and Development No. 114, Rural Development Wisconsin­Madison. Institute, Seattle. Strickland, Richard. 2004. "To Have and to Hold: Women's Deere, Carmen Diana. 2003. "Women's Land Rights and Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of Rural Social Movements in the Brazilian Agrarian HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa." Working paper, Inter- Reform." Journal of Agrarian Change 3 (1­2): 257­88. national Center for Research on Women,Washington, DC. Deere, Carmen Diana, and Magdalena Leon. 2001. Empow- Tripp, Aili Mari. 2004. "Women's Movements, Customary ering Women: Land and Property Rights in Latin America. Law, and Land Rights in Africa: The Case of Uganda." Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh. African Studies Quarterly 7 (4): 1­19. Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susan, and R. Wheeler. 1998. "Gender, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN­HABI- Ethnicity, and Landed Property in Albania." LTC Work- TAT). 2005. Shared Tenure Options for Women. Nairobi: ing Paper No. 18, Land Tenure Center, University of Wis- UN­HABITAT. consin, Madison. Nielsen, Robin, Tim Hanstad, and Leonard Rolfes. 2006. Implementing Homestead Plot Programmes: Experience Thematic Note 3 from India. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization. Agarwal, Bina. 1994. A Field of One's Own: Gender and Quisumbing, Agnes R., Ellen Payongayong, J. B. Aidoo, and Land Rights in South Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- Keijiro Otsuka. 1999."Women's Land Rights in the Tran- versity Press. sition to Individualized Ownership: Implications for the Brown, Jennifer, Kripa Ananthpur, and Renee Giovarelli. Management of Tree Resources in Western Ghana." 2002."Women's Access and Rights to Land in Karnataka, FCND Discussion Paper 58, International Food Policy India." Rural Development Institute Reports on Foreign Research Institute, Washington, DC. Aid and Development No. 114, Rural Development Walker, Cherryl. 2003. "Piety in the Sky? Gender Policy and Institute, Seattle. Land Reform in South Africa." In Agrarian Change, Gen- Giovarelli, Renee, Chinara Aidarbekova, Jennifer Duncan, der and Land Rights, ed. Shahra Razavi, 113­48. Oxford: Kathryn Rasmussen, and Anara Tabyshalieva. 2001. Blackwell Publishing. "Women's Rights to Land in the Kyrgyz Republic." Unpublished manuscript. Giovarelli, Renee, Elizabeth Katz, Susan Lastarria-Cornhiel, Thematic Note 2 and Sue Nichols. 2005. "Gender Issues and Best Practices Bruce, John W., Renee Giovarelli, Leonard Rolfes, Jr., in Land Administration Projects: A Synthesis Report." David Bledsoe, and Robert Mitchell. 2006. Land Law Agriculture and Rural Development Department Report Reform: Achieving Development Policy Objectives. Law, No. 32571-GLB, World Bank, Washington, DC. Justice, and Development Series. Washington, DC: Legal Assistance to Rural Citizens (LARC). 2006. Final World Bank. Report on the Activity of the Project and Public Association. Deere, Carmen Diana, and Magdalena Leon. 2001. Empow- Bishkek: LARC. ering Women: Land and Property Rights in Latin America. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S., and Rajendra Pradhan. 2002. "Legal Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. Pluralism and Dynamic Property Rights."CAPRI Working 168 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION Paper 22, CGIAR System-Wide Program on Collective Innovative Activity Profile 1 Action and Property Rights, Washington, DC. Gurung, Jeanette, and K. Lama. n.d. "Empowered Women Strickland, Richard. 2004. "To Have and to Hold: Women's and the Men behind Them: A Study of Change within Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of the Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa." International Center Project in Nepal." Rome: IFAD. Available at www. for Research on Women, Washington, DC. ifad.org. Walker, Cherryl. 2003. "Piety in the Sky? Gender Policy International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). and Land Reform in South Africa" In Agrarian Change, n.d. "Nepal: Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Devel- Gender and Land Rights, ed. Shahra Razavi, 113­48. opment Project (HLFFDP)." Rome: IFAD. Available at Oxford: Blackwell. www.ifad.org. International Land Coalition (ILC). 2001. "Nepal-- Thematic Note 4 Women's Resource Access Programme: Voices from the Field." Available at www.landcoalition.org. Barham, Brad, Michael R. Carter, and Wagne Sigelko. 1995. "Agro-export Production and Peasant Land Access: Examining the Dynamic between Adoption and Innovative Activity Profile 2 Accumulation." Journal of Development Economics 46 (1): 85­107. World Bank. 2000. "Honduras: Access to Land Pilot Project Deere, Carmen Diana, and Magdalena Leon. 2001. Empow- (PACTA)." Project Appraisal Document, World Bank, ering Women: Land and Property Rights in Latin America. Washington, DC. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ------. 2007. "Honduras: Access to Land Pilot Project Deininger, Klaus. 2003. Land Policies for Growth and Poverty (PACTA)." Implementation Completion and Results Reduction. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford Report, World Bank, Washington, DC. University Press. Giovarelli, Renee, Elizabeth Katz, Susan Lastarria-Cornhiel, and Sue Nichols. 2005. "Gender Issues and Best Practices FURTHER READING in Land Administration Projects: A Synthesis Report." Agriculture and Rural Development Department Report Overview No. 32571-GLB, World Bank, Washington, DC. Agarwal, Bina. 1994. A Field of One's Own: Gender and Land Katz, Elizabeth, and Susan Lastarria-Cornhiel. 2006. "Land Rights in South Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Tenure Formalization and Agricultural Productivity in Press. Lao PDR: Exploring Gender Differences." Unpublished ------. 2002. Are We Not Peasants Too? Land Rights and manuscript. Women's Claims in India. SEEDS series. New York: Popu- Lao PDR, Ministry of Finance, Department of Lands. 2002. lation Council. Existing Land Tenure and Forest Lands Study. Vientiane: ------. 2003. "Gender and Land Rights Revisited: Explor- Ministry of Finance, Department of Lands. ing New Prospects via the State, Family, and Markets." Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susan. 1988."Female Farmers and Agri- Journal of Agrarian Change 3 (1­2): 184­224. cultural Production in El Salvador." Development and Barham, Brad, Michael R. Carter, and Wayne Sigelko. Change 19: 585­615. 1995. "Agro-export Production and Peasant Land Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susan, Sonia Agurto, Jennifer Brown, Access: Examining the Dynamic between Adoption and and Sara Elisa Rosales. 2003. "Joint Titling in Nicaragua, Accumulation." Journal of Development Economics 46 Indonesia, and Honduras: Rapid Appraisal Synthesis." (1): 85­107. Madison: Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin­ Brown, Jennifer, Kripa Ananthpur, and Renee Giovarelli. Madison. 2002."Women's Access and Rights to Land in Karnataka, Quisumbing, Agnes R. 1996. "Male­Female Differences in India." Rural Development Institute Reports on Foreign Agricultural Productivity: Methodological Issues and Aid and Development No. 114, Rural Development Empirical Evidence." World Development 24 (10): Institute, Seattle. 1579­95. Cousins, Ben, and Aninka Claassens. 2006. "More than United Nations Human Settlements Programme Simply `Socially Embedded': Recognizing the Distinc- (UN­HABITAT). 2005. Shared Tenure Options for Women. tiveness of African Land Rights." Paper presented at the Nairobi: UN­HABITAT. Frontier of Land Issues conference, Montpellier, May. MODULE 4: FURTHER READING 169 Deere, Carmen Diana. 2003. "Women's Land Rights and Nielsen, Robin, Tim Hanstad, and Leonard Rolfes. 2006. Rural Social Movements in the Brazilian Agrarian Implementing Homestead Plot Programmes: Experience Reform." Journal of Agrarian Change 3 (1­2): 257­88. from India. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2002. Land Quisumbing, Agnes R. 1996. "Male­Female Differences in Tenure and Rural Development. Rome: FAO. Agricultural Productivity: Methodological Issues and Giovarelli, Renee. 2006. "Overcoming Gender Biases in Empirical Evidence." World Development 24 (10): Established and Transitional Property Rights Systems." 1579­95. In Land Law Reform: Achieving Development Policy Quisumbing, Agnes R., Ellen Payongayong, J. B. Aidoo, and Objectives, ed. J. W. Bruce, 67­106. Washington, DC: Keijiro Otsuka. 1999."Women's Land Rights in the Tran- World Bank. sition to Individualized Ownership: Implications for the Gopal, Gita. 2001."Law and Legal Reforms." 2020 Focus No. Management of Tree Resources in Western Ghana." 06: Brief 12. Washington, DC: International Food Policy FCND Discussion Paper 58, International Food Policy Research Institute. Available at www.ifpri.org. Research Institute, Washington, DC. International Land Coalition. 2005. Women's Access to Land Scholz, Birte, and Mayra Gomez. 2004. Bringing Equality and Other Natural Resources in Nepal. Rome: Interna- Home: Promoting and Protecting the Inheritance Rights of tional Land Coalition. Women. Geneva: Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions. Katz, Elizabeth. 1997. "The Intra-Household Economics of Strickland, Richard. 2004. To Have and to Hold: Women's Voice and Exit." Feminist Economics 3 (3): 25­46. Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of Katz, Elizabeth, and Susan Lastarria-Cornhiel. 2006. "Land HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, DC: Tenure Formalization and Agricultural Productivity in International Center for Research on Women. Lao PDR: Exploring Gender Differences." Unpublished Udry, Christopher. 1996. "Gender, Agricultural Production, manuscript. and the Theory of the Household." Journal of Political Economy 104 (5): 1010­46. Lao PDR, Ministry of Finance, Department of Lands. 2002. Existing Land Tenure and Forest Lands Study. Vientiane: United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN- Ministry of Finance, Department of Lands. HABITAT). 2005. Shared Tenure Options for Women. Nairobi: UN-HABITAT. Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susan. 1988."Female Farmers and Agri- cultural Production in El Salvador." Development and Change 19: 585­615. ------. 1997. "Impact of Privatization on Gender and Thematic Note 1 Property Rights in Africa." World Development 25 (8): Alderman, Harold, Lawrence Haddad, John Hoddinott, and 1317­33. Ravi Kanbur. 1995. "Unitary versus Collective Models of ------. 2006."Women's Access and Rights to Land: Gender the Household: Time to Shift the Burden of Proof?" Relations in Tenure Issues." Paper prepared for an Advi- World Bank Research Observer 10 (1): 1­19. sory Group Working Meeting convened by the Interna- Fafchamps, Marcel, and Agnes R. Quisumbing. 2002. "Con- tional Land Coalition and International Development trol and Ownership of Assets within Rural Ethiopian Research Council, Rome. Households." Journal of Development Studies 38 (6): Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susan, and Rachel Wheeler. 1998. "Gen- 47­82. der, Ethnicity, and Landed Property in Albania." LTC International Land Coalition. 2005. Women's Access to Land Working Paper No. 18, Land Tenure Center, University of and Other Natural Resources in Nepal. Rome: Interna- Wisconsin, Madison. tional Land Coalition. Legal Assistance to Rural Citizens (LARC). 2006. Final Katz, Elizabeth. 1997. "The Intra-Household Economics of Report on the Activity of the Project and Public Association. Voice and Exit." Feminist Economics 3 (3): 25­46. Bishkek: LARC. Katz, Elizabeth, and Juan Sebastian Chamorro. 2003. Lucas, Robert E. B., and Oded Stark. 1985. "Motivation to "Gender, Land Rights, and the Household Economy in Remit: Evidence from Botswana." Journal of Political Rural Nicaragua and Honduras." Paper presented at the Economy 93: 901­18. annual conference of the Latin American and Meinzen-Dick, Ruth, and Rajendra Pradhan. 2002. "Legal Caribbean Economics Association, Puebla, Mexico, Pluralism and Dynamic Property Rights." CAPRI Work- October 9­11. ing Paper 22, CGIAR System-Wide Program on Collec- Razavi, Shahra, ed. 2003. Agrarian Change, Gender and Land tive Action and Property Rights, Washington, DC. Rights. Oxford: Blackwell. 170 MODULE 4: GENDER ISSUES IN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION Udry, Christopher. 1996. "Gender, Agricultural Production, Thematic Note 4 and the Theory of the Household." Journal of Political Katz, Elizabeth. 1997. "The Intra-Household Economics of Economy 104 (5): 1010­46. Voice and Exit." Feminist Economics 3 (3): 25­46. Katz, Elizabeth, and Juan Sebastian Chamorro. 2002. "Gen- der, Land Rights, and the Household Economy in Rural Thematic Note 2 Nicaragua and Honduras." Paper prepared for USAID/ Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations BASIS CRSP, University of Wisconsin­Madison. (FAO). 2002. Gender and Access to Land. Land Tenure Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susan. 1997."Impact of Privatization on Study 4. Rome: FAO. Gender and Property Rights in Africa." World Develop- Katz, Elizabeth, and Juan Sebastian Chamorro. 2002. "Gen- ment 25 (8): 1317­33. der, Land Rights, and the Household Economy in Rural Lucas, Robert E. B., and Oded Stark. 1985. "Motivation to Nicaragua and Honduras." Paper prepared for USAID/ Remit: Evidence from Botswana." Journal of Political BASIS CRSP, University of Wisconsin­Madison. Economy 93: 901­18. MODULE 4: FURTHER READING 171 M O D U L E 5 Gender and Agricultural Markets Overview The feminization of poverty is the tragic consequence of in Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Tanzania could increase their women's unequal access to economic opportunities. output and incomes by an estimated 10­20 percent (World --UNDP 1995: 36 Bank 2005). Apart from efficiency gains, food security and welfare gains are also strongly linked to the provision of I n many part of the world, women play a major role as greater economic opportunities for women. Studies show farmers and producers, based on materials presented in that resources and incomes controlled by women are more the different Modules of this Sourcebook. However, their likely to be used to improve family food consumption and access to resources and opportunities to enable them to welfare, reduce child malnutrition, and increase the overall move from subsistence agriculture to higher value chains is well-being of the family (FAO 2006; see also Module 1). much lower than men's. Although this Module supports enabling both poor men Women increasingly supply national and international and women to access market opportunities and resources, it markets with traditional and high-value produce, but com- focuses more on women's economic empowerment. In pared to men, women farmers and entrepreneurs face a many societies and countries, women are excluded from number of disadvantages, including lower mobility, less more lucrative and profitable markets than men, and it is access to training, less access to market information, and less this inequality in access to resources and opportunities that access to productive resources. Evidence suggests that is analyzed and discussed here. Bringing women into lucra- women tend to lose income and control as a product moves tive markets requires targeted analysis and program inter- from the farm to the market (Gurung 2006). Women farm- ventions. One important consideration, as presented in the ers can find it hard to maintain a profitable market niche. Thematic Notes, is that projects and programs that aim to Men may take over production and marketing--even of tra- increase women's economic empowerment should involve ditional "women's crops"--when it becomes financially both women and men as partners. lucrative to do so. Women-owned businesses face many The value chain concept is a useful analytic tool to more constraints and receive far fewer services and less sup- understand a series of production and postproduction port than those owned by men (Bardasi, Blackden, and activities--whether it is a basic crop, such as vegetables, or a Guzman 2007; Ellis, Manuel, and Blackden 2006; World highly processed good, such as cotton textile or canned Bank 2007a, 2007b). These disadvantages reduce women's tuna--and the enterprises and individuals who are effectiveness as actors in value chains and reduce overall involved. This Module uses the value chain concept as an market effectiveness. Providing women producers and analytic tool. A value chain incorporates the full range of entrepreneurs with the same inputs and education as men activities required to bring a product or service from 173 conception to production, delivery to consumers, and final Although horticultural production has risen steadily in disposal after use (Kaplinsky and Morris 2002). Gender dif- most regions of the world over the past few decades, the ferences are at work in the full range of activities making up average annual growth in per capita supply of horticultural value chains. A gender approach to value chain analysis produce was negative in sub-Saharan Africa between 1971 makes it possible to consider the access to productive activ- and 2000. Inadequate transportation infrastructure and ities of men and women individually and in groups, differ- inability to comply with international standards--especially ential gender-based opportunities for upgrading within the GLOBALGAP standards3--limit participation in export chain, the gender-based division of activities in a given value markets. Because many producers, particularly women, lack chain, and how gender power relations affect economic good access even to local and regional markets, the develop- rents among actors throughout the chain.1 ment of cold chain, transportation, and communications This Module suggests ways of making value chains work infrastructure will be critical to link producers with these for smaller actors--especially women working as farmers or markets. Building capacity to manage horticultural busi- in micro- and small enterprises--by enabling them to cap- nesses and to conduct research is a priority. ture a larger slice of the revenues. It highlights the impor- tance of building trust and understanding among partners Latin America and the Caribbean in a targeted value chain. It emphasizes the need to strengthen relationships between partners to open channels Latin American and Caribbean countries currently export a for the transfer of technology, information, and gains. high percentage of their horticultural products, especially to Because men and women usually pursue distinct activities the United States. Despite some notable exceptions, however, in value chains, building mutual understanding of their most smallholders in the region remain disenfranchised respective needs and responsibilities as "chain actors" from the export market. Around one-third of the rural poor ensures that product quality is maintained as it passes along across the region are indigenous, a marked inequality can be the chain, which results in efficiency gains. Greater equity seen in the distribution of wealth and income, and the gains can be achieved by encouraging women to take on majority of agricultural producers work small plots, usually new roles in value chains, for example, by engaging in value- in marginal areas with low productivity. Rural women have adding strategies, or to take on new roles in value chains. become one of the poorest population groups as a result of internal conflicts, migration by men both within and outside the region, natural disasters, and the consequences of struc- REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND tural adjustment. Women's ability to participate in markets CONSTRAINTS will not improve unless they gain land ownership, access to As the following sections indicate, the opportunities and formal financial and technical assistance, and a good level of constraints in agribusiness vary by region, and no "one- education and training (IFAD 2002). size-fits-all" gender strategy will be appropriate to guide Assisting women farmers to access niche export mar- interventions. In-depth research and tailored support pro- kets for high-value and brand-marketed products such as grams are required in each location. fair trade and certified organic products is one way for- ward. Another is to conserve, research, and commercialize indigenous fruit varieties. Significant potential exists to Sub-Saharan Africa expand production and consumption for local markets In sub-Saharan Africa, women are largely responsible for sell- and supermarkets, but product quality and reliability must ing and marketing traditional crops such as maize, sorghum, be enhanced.4 cassava, and leafy vegetables in local markets. In countries where urban markets for these traditional crops are expand- East and South Asia and the Pacific ing rapidly, such as Cameroon and Kenya, the challenge is to ensure that women retain control over their production, pro- The wide agroclimatic diversity of East and South Asia and the cessing, and marketing. In Uganda strong demand for leafy Pacific--ranging from fertile irrigated tracts to rain-fed culti- vegetables (traditionally a woman's crop) in Kampala markets vation, mountain cultivation, and coastal ecosystems--has caused men to take over their cultivation.2 fostered the development of indigenous species of regional Women are the traditional producers and marketers of interest, permits production of many different crop species, horticultural crops throughout sub-Saharan Africa. and has resulted in a very rich dietary diversity.5 Although 174 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS much of the region suffers from poor market distribution, more than 10 percent in Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, domestic markets generally are growing strongly. Several Oman, and Tunisia. More middle-aged and older women countries, such as China, India, and Thailand, already have work in agriculture than younger women. Women are fre- mature agroprocessing industries, and there are good oppor- quently responsible for handling livestock and for growing tunities to supply processed and other value-added products and processing vegetables, whereas men are generally to domestic and international markets. However, in Southeast responsible for cereal production. Women farmers across the Asia, where countries remain in the early stages of moving region lack sufficient labor and appropriate energy-saving from a centrally planned to a market-oriented economy, busi- farm and household technologies. Social biases that associate nesswomen generally lack entrepreneurial skills. The use of machinery use with men further limit women's use of tech- poor-quality technology and equipment is another problem; nological improvements. Not surprisingly, the output from in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, only 5 percent of women-dominated farms is generally low. Women are more women-owned enterprises use electrical or motorized equip- likely to work within the family-related farm or business, ment compared with 48 percent of men-owned enterprises.6 often without pay, or in the informal sector. The percentage Producers in the small island economies of the Pacific of women unpaid workers to total women agricultural work- find it particularly difficult to compete with enterprises in ers is 79 percent in Yemen, 66 percent in Syria, 60 percent in industrial countries (such as in Australia and New Egypt, and 45 percent in the West Bank and Gaza. Even when Zealand) and with the large developing country produc- remunerated, women receive salaries well below those of ers of the region. The previous emphasis on cash crops men; for example, on average, Syrian women are paid 41 per- grown by men, such as sugar and sandalwood, has cent of what men workers are paid (IFAD n.d.). resulted not only in a collapse of livelihoods as global markets have weakened but also in a shortage of the tra- TRENDS IN WOMEN'S ACCESSTO MARKETS ditional products normally grown by women--which are now in high demand owing to tourism and the develop- The following section describes the constraints and oppor- ment of the export sector. Until recently no analytical tunities facing women and men in accessing agricultural work had been performed to capture women's work in product markets and how they are impacted by the chang- farming, fishing, and natural resource management, ing trends in the international and local markets. which resulted in a lack of attention from policy makers. Today the pivotal role of Pacific Island women in ensuring Constraints and opportunities rural livelihoods and food security is better understood and recognized (Booth 1999). As is clear from the regional picture presented above, women are significantly excluded from markets, and bringing women into markets requires targeted analysis and program Central and West Asia and North Africa interventions. Women often hold distinct rights and obliga- Women's participation in the labor force remains signifi- tions within the household, and they often perform distinct cantly lower than that of men across Central and West Asia functions with regard to market activities. These circum- and North Africa (CWANA). Statistics for the Middle East stances affect their ability vis-à-vis men to take up opportu- and North Africa, a subset of the countries in the larger nities, to invest, and to take risks. Most women farmers are CWANA region, show that women labor force participation smallholders who cultivate traditional food crops for subsis- was 29.5 percent in 2006, compared to 77.3 percent for men, tence and sale, whereas men are more likely to own medium less than any other region in the world. Yet growing unem- to large commercial farms and are better able to capitalize on ployment in CWANA, men's increasing inclination to train the expansion of agricultural tradable goods. Farms managed for other occupations, and rising levels of poverty in some by women are generally characterized by low levels of regions suggest that men's traditional role as the sole or mechanization and technological inputs, which often trans- main breadwinner is no longer guaranteed (IFAD n.d.). late into low productivity (FAO 2006). Globally integrated Agriculture across CWANA is becoming feminized at dif- markets mean that international prices affect even small- ferent rates. Women form more than 50 percent of the agri- holders producing only for the domestic market. The free cultural labor force in Egypt, Morocco, Somalia, and Turkey entry of traditional agricultural products into domestic mar- but just 4 percent in the United Arab Emirates. Women head kets can hit small-scale farmers hard if they are not prepared. more than 20 percent of rural households in Pakistan and In the Philippines, for example, machine-sliced, ready-to-fry MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS 175 potatoes from the United States flooded the local market products of consistently high quality, yet small farmers often following its opening up of trade. Local prices collapsed by cannot marshal sufficient working capital to invest in half, affecting around 50,000 potato farmers, most of them improving product consistency. Smallholders' understand- women (Oliveros 1997, cited in FAO 2006). ing of supermarket standards and of consumers also tends to Women also have a lower presence in the formal sector be weak, unlike their knowledge of local markets and unlike and in more urbanized and developed markets. Their abil- the greater knowledge base of large-scale commercial farm- ity to participate in markets will not improve unless ers. Improper harvest and postharvest operations lead to women gain land ownership, access to formal financial and short shelf-life, rejection by consumers, and contamination technical assistance, and a higher level of education and risks.7 It can be difficult for small-scale farmers to deliver training (IFAD 2002). desired quantities at short notice or to manage the labor Yet there are opportunities for women farmers. If they instability involved in "just-in-time" procurement practices use traditional production systems, they may find it rela- (Boselie, Henson, and Weatherspoon 2003). tively simple to meet some certification requirements, such Thus, although agricultural commercialization is contin- as those for organic production. Many high-value crops ually creating new market opportunities, much of this require labor-intensive production techniques, such as market is very difficult for smallholders to access because of pruning and trellising, which cannot be mechanized and in inability to meet the requirements. Women smallholders which women often specialize. and small enterprises face even more constraints, as seen There is increasing demand for high-value products such earlier. Unless value chains are developed while keeping as vegetables and local crops in expanding urban markets. disadvantaged populations in mind, advantages of chain The challenge is to ensure that women retain control over development will remain limited to larger farmers and their production, processing, and marketing; product qual- producers, and women farmers may lose the markets, jobs, ity and reliability must be enhanced. and enterprises that they currently have. These same trends open up possibilities of niche market specialization for women--in labor-intensive crops, local and traditional Impact of changing agricultural markets crops, organic farming, and fair trade. Value chains are undergoing rapid change in the way they Changing agricultural demand and supply situation. Sev- connect to local, national, and international markets. In eral trends have started to emerge that will significantly industrialized countries, growing consumer interest in health influence the world food situation and food markets. Dietary and a consequent demand for a variety of fresh produce patterns and the demand for food are changing rapidly in throughout the year have been matched by improvements in many countries in response to increased incomes, urbaniza- postharvest care and international cold chain logistics for the tion, and government policy. Rapid urbanization in low- transport of fresh fish, meat, and horticultural products. income developing countries intensifies the pressure on food High-value niche markets, such as markets for certified production, marketing, and processing systems. Rapidly organic or fair trade products, are expanding. Although growing demand for meat products has heightened demand retailers in Europe and the United States generally dominate for cereals to feed livestock. The increasing opportunity cost fresh produce chains to the frequent disadvantage of small- of women's time, changes in food preferences caused by scale producers, farmers in developing countries can changing lifestyles, and changes in relative prices associated maximize their advantages in climate and labor costs to sup- with rural-urban migration are leading to more diversified ply produce to the Northern Hemisphere seasonally or to diets. The preference for some basic staple cereals (maize, supply traditional and exotic vegetables more cost effectively millet, and sorghum) is shifting to others (rice and wheat) throughout the year (Jaffee 2003). that require less preparation and to milk and livestock The structure, organization, and dynamics of domestic products, fruits, vegetables, and processed food (Pinstrup- food markets are also changing rapidly in developing coun- Andersen, Pandya-Lorch, and Rosegrant 1997). The growing tries. Supermarkets are moving into middle- and working- scarcity and inappropriate allocation of water, along with class areas in most countries, directly affecting rural zones on diminished soil fertility in many regions of the world, are the supply and demand side (Reardon and Berdegué 2002). beginning to constrain food production. Climate change In many countries urban demand for "traditional crops" and demand for scarce land to use for biofuels will further such as leafy vegetables and cassava is increasing alongside affect current agricultural uses of land and water and the demand for novel products. Supermarket buyers demand availability of some food crops. 176 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS For smallholders and businesses to be successful in this and food security now cover local crops important to women, radically changing demand and supply situation will require including flower and handicraft crops in the Pacific.9 considerable market linkage and business capacity-- If women are to benefit from modern agricultural individually or in groups. These trends present important technologies, they need to participate in research and considerations in determining the most appropriate invest- development. Participation will permit them to set their own ments in women's agribusiness enterprises. priorities based on their appraisal of their needs. Key biotech- Impact of commercialization. Understanding how the nology research issues include developing a better under- commercialization of small-scale farming activities affects standing of the role of women as the guardians of traditional the gender division of labor and in turn influences resource knowledge relevant to biotechnology applications, analyzing management, income flows, expenditure patterns, food which crops are affected by biotechnologies, and appreciating security, nutritional security, and gender relationships is how the introduction of genetically modified crops may affect essential (AGSF 2005). A gender and pro-poor analysis the local valuation of "women's" and "men's" crops.10 Several helps to uncover economic, organizational, and asymmetric market niches are based on these local, traditional, and relationships among actors in a value chain.8 organic crops that could be developed as specialization areas The right to access and the ability to control key produc- for women farmers and entrepreneurs. tive resources (land, labor, information)--already fostering conflict between men and women farmers--will become THE GENDERED NATURE OFVALUE CHAINS ever-more important. A study in Ghana to map the conse- quences of small-scale commercialization found that the The value chain approach strengthens business linkages introduction of cash crops weakened the traditional gender between producer groups, service providers, and other actors, division of intrahousehold rights and obligations, that the such as processors and importers, rather than focusing exclu- gender-based division of labor broke down, and that farm sively on farm interventions. Value chains vary in complexity women increasingly undertook tasks previously done by men and in the range of participants they draw in. Export value (AGSF 2005). chains tend to be more complex than local chains in terms of Food security will become a major issue for women and the knowledge and technical facilities required, because women's enterprises. If market liberalization occurs when special processing and packaging are common. a large section of the population lacks access to enough Frequently the knowledge and other information food to guarantee a minimally sufficient diet, only pro- embodied in the different functions of a value chain are ducers of high-value cash crops may profit. Landless and gender specific. In some cases women or men are entirely near-landless people who must purchase food may suffer responsible for a whole value chain or significant aspects of from its reduced availability and higher prices. If women it. In Madagascar, for example, men produce honey and are relatively more involved in subsistence production and wax, whereas women are largely responsible for silkworm men are more involved with cash crops, or if women lose production. Hives are located high in trees and harvested by their title to land as it is converted from traditional to night (climbing at night is not considered a suitable activity modern cash crops, household food security may decline for women). On the other hand, silk production and weav- despite a rise in income (IFAD 2002; see also Module 1). ing can be performed at home, enabling women to run these enterprises more easily. Project support needs to recognize that in such cases Reduced research focus on local and women and men hold specific understanding of crops and traditional crops livestock, their associated ecosystems, and the market. Inter- Private sector research concentrates on internationally traded ventions may erode the responsibilities of one gender crops, but women tend to farm locally important crops such unwittingly, and in the process it may also erode important as leafy vegetables, millet, and sorghum. Publicly funded ecological and social knowledge. For instance, in Quechua research on these crops and growing practices may be communities in Peru, the conservation and reproduction of required to improve production and meet local (and increas- different plant varieties, such as potatoes, are almost exclu- ingly urban) market demand for these crops. Efforts to con- sively performed by women. Quechua women farmers are serve traditional varieties of these and other crops grown by key decision makers, deciding which plant varieties meet women will maintain important knowledge and are essential specific nutritional needs, what crops to sell, and what crops for improving those crops. Policies on traditional varieties to consume. The growing privatization and enclosure of MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS 177 land have circumscribed women's ability to plant "low- Conducting a value chain analysis value," traditional crop varieties, however. Important Value chain analysis involves all or some of the following sources of food and income for the household are being steps (adapted from Mayoux 2005): (1) market analysis, (2) lost, along with knowledge of local plant varieties and their chain mapping and stakeholder analysis, (3) identification uses accrued by women over millennia (USAID 2006). of constraints and opportunities for the value chain, and (4) Women and men may also perform specific tasks along a strategic and action plan development. These steps are sum- value chain. Consequently they will have gender-specific marized in box 5.1. The analytical steps (1­3) are discussed knowledge related to that value chain--for example, knowl- and illustrated by case studies in the sections that follow. edge of particular elements of a crop's life cycle and its Market analysis. Generally a value chain analysis begins requirements at that stage. The separation of tasks by gender with a market study, which assesses the state of the chain rela- may mean that neither men nor women possess a complete tive to its competitors and explores potential gains that could understanding of the whole value chain and of how the roles be captured.In some cases a market study reveals that it is pos- and responsibilities of different actors intersect and interact sible to add value to products that are not marketed in some at different stages. In fishing communities in São Tome and locales. For example, scientists at the International Center for Principe, for instance, men catch fish and maintain fishing Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and Jordan's National tackle and boats. Women purchase the catch directly from Center for Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer the fishermen. They transport and market the catch, and in (NCARTT) heard of a tomato paste factory in the Jordan some cases transform it into dried or salted fish (IFAD n.d.). Valley that had trouble disposing of its waste without causing In some cases the gender division of labor may appear to pollution. Scientists designed a machine to dry and grind the proceed harmoniously and result in a good product. In tomato by-product into a palatable feed and contacted the other cases, if men or women have little understanding of nearby Der Alla Rural Women's Cooperative Society, which the requirements of the next stage in the chain, gradual started to incorporate the tomato by-product into the feed losses in product quality and quantity along the chain will blocks it produced. Farmers were pleased with the product. yield a relatively poor product. Interventions aimed at Research showed that sheep and goats grew 20 percent faster adding value through processing and marketing need to and sheep fertility increased by 20 percent in animals fed with consider how to increase understanding between chain feed blocks (Rihawi 2005). actors, identify which gender may benefit at which stage, If a value chain is analyzed with gender-disaggregated and determine whether women can be drawn into those understanding as an objective, the market study can be uti- activities that add the most value. lized to identify current niches in which women are strong, Understanding the rationale behind gendered roles in as well as potential ones in which they could compete. In value chains is useful for planning interventions. A study developing value chains, particularly in the poorest and in Uganda,11 based on the experience of a group of women most marginalized areas, all of the links of a value chain may fishers, observed that women on open water were associ- need to be constructed. Partnerships will need to be forged ated with misfortune (and, indeed, women fishers were and considerable capacity development undertaken. Other less able than men to challenge people out to steal boat chains may be vestigial, and the opportunities they present engines and tackle). Based on this information, the study will need to be recognized and captured. recommended that aquaculture, as opposed to capture Chain mapping and stakeholder analysis. A gender-sensitive fisheries, be promoted to circumvent cultural taboos and chain and stakeholder analysis should understand the rela- enable women to pursue a livelihood in fisheries. Women tive position of women already in the chain--including would need permission from men to build ponds, how- nodes at which they are the primary actors and those where ever, since women rarely own land. The study enumerates they are actors along with men. several measures that project managers could undertake to help women overcome such obstacles and become fishers themselves (see also Module 13). Preliminary chain mapping. Many standard research Projects and programs seeking to create value chains, as tools for mapping value chains can be made gender opposed to supply chains, therefore, need to help men and sensitive; for instance, a gender-sensitive questionnaire women actors understand their specific roles in relation to can be added to a socioeconomic survey. In other cases those of others'. They will then learn how value is added, fulfill new tools may be needed to capture the roles and needs their particular roles more responsibly, and take on new roles. of women across the value chain or in particular 178 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS Box 5.1 Steps in a Value Chain Analysis Conduct a market analysis relationships of different stakeholders, and contextual factors that explain inequalities and inefficiencies and Generally a value chain analysis begins with a mar- blockages in the chain. ket study to identify the potential gains that could be captured and the state of the chain relative to its Identify constraints and opportunities for the value chain competitors. "Leverage" points are identified for upgrading the chain and redistributing values in the interests of Map the chain and conduct a stakeholder analysis equity and efficiency. A preliminary mapping of the chain identifies the The causes of ongoing change are mapped to guide main products and their markets, as well as the decisions--not only on how to strengthen particu- kinds of activity involved, the productive unit, and lar nodes and their associated actors, but also on the geographical location for each node in the chain. how to identify any transformative actions that may A (participatory) stakeholder analysis is then con- be required. ducted to identify the different stakeholders (by function, socioeconomic category, and gender) at Develop a strategic and action plan each node of the chain. The relative distribution of economic value between The information assembled in the previous steps participants at each node is documented. Research forms the basis for a strategic and action plan to investigates barriers to entry, the interests and power achieve the goals identified for the chain. Source: Adapted from Mayoux 2005. segments. Box 5.2 describes new tools developed by a Once the linkages and stakeholder interests along the project funded by the U.K. Department for Interna- whole chain are understood, representatives of each seg- tional Development (DFID) to understand Ghanaian ment come together to discuss how to improve the links women's role in fish processing, storage, and trade and preference criteria of each stakeholder (Farnworth and to develop multiple actor strategies to upgrade and Jiggins 2006). these activities. Capture of the relative distribution of economic value Stakeholder analysis. It is critical that project managers do between participants. Calculating the value added and not bias outcomes by subsuming women's interests to profit accruing to each segment of the value chain, as those of men's or by conflating the interests of producers well as calculating employment and labor segmentation with those of other stakeholders in the value chain. Tools by gender, will provide the data necessary to devise inter- that can help identify the interests of various actors in ventions that increase the absolute profits reaped by value chains and that minimize trade-offs between these women at each node in the chain. interests are necessary. Taste panels and cooking tests have been conducted with women and men for rice (by the This information can be complemented by an analysis of Africa Rice Center) and potatoes (by the International backward and forward linkages in the chain to determine Potato Center). SWOT analysis (an assessment of the potential economic "spillover effects" of expanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) can take chain and to explore ways for low-income segments to the process a step further if it is designed to create chain increase participation and capture a greater percentage of platforms.For example,the Papa Andina program in Latin value added. For example, a study of distributional gains in America has been helping to organize meetings between Peru's profitable value chain for thornless artichokes,12 actors in the potato value chain in Bolivia, Ecuador, and complemented by insights from a gender analysis (box 5.3), Peru in which participants discuss strengths, weaknesses, highlighted the need to incorporate producers who are less opportunities, and threats in relation to other stakeholders. able to participate in export-oriented production and who MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS 179 Box 5.2 Ghana: Tools for Understanding and Improving Women's Postharvest Roles in the Fishing Industry The fishing industry provides an estimated 10 percent develop field tools for improving the understanding of Ghana's rural and urban population with employ- of poverty in the postharvest fishing industry and to ment. Men undertake the main fish harvesting activi- develop strategies to reduce it. One tool, FishPHOM, ties in the artisanal, semi-industrial, and industrial provides a systematic analysis of the sector, which sectors. Women are the industry's key postharvest enables priority areas of activities to be identified and players, responsible for fish processing, storage, and combined to form principles for intervention. The trade. Many women engage in the growing frozen fish analysis provides a basis for formulating policy, for distribution trade and in marketing fish within and planning and research, and for institutional collabo- outside Ghana. The "fish mummies," who informally ration and cooperation. A Post-Harvest Livelihoods fund many activities in the postharvest fishing indus- Analysis Tool (PHLAT) was also produced to help try, are among its most important actors. poor stakeholders clarify their circumstances and These postharvest roles are crucial sources of liveli- problems, examine their potential for change, and hood for women who are heads of poor households, identify ways to reduce poverty by linking with particularly in areas where many men have left in macrolevel policy initiatives, such as the Ghana search of work. The DFID commissioned research to Poverty Reduction Strategy. Source: www.innovation.ex.ac.uk/imm/Ghana%20PH%20flyer% 202004a.pdf. Box 5.3 Peru: Mapping Distributional Gains in the Thornless Artichoke Chain Mapping distributional gains and women cluster in different occupations, undertake distinct activities in the fields and processing plants, Most of the value added in Peru's artichoke industry is and work different hours with different degrees of concentrated in the processing and export plants--an security. The intensity of women's labor increases in estimated 61 percent of the total value added remains processing. Approximately 80 percent of the labor used in the hands of the agroexporters who process the in processing activities, such as peeling, cutting, and product. Approximately 10 percent of value added deleafing, is done by women, whereas men are more stays with the small- and medium-scale farmers who involved in activities related to operating and main- grow the crop, and around 3 percent goes to those taining machinery. Gender wage gaps are evident who sell seed. The distribution of costs among these throughout the chain, although they are more marked actors is similar. One strategy for small and medium in certain segments. Women working on small and firms to capture a greater proportion of the final price medium-size farms receive about 88 percent of men's and increase value added would be to diversify the wages. In processing plants women workers without types of processed artichokes they offer (for example, defined job tenure make 86 percent of men's wages, and producing salads and individually frozen packets). those who hold contracts for a specified period make Adding a gender analysis 93 percent of men's wages. The gender analysis high- lights the need to intensify efforts to guarantee labor The value chain for thornless artichokes in Peru reveals rights for both men and women, especially in light of consistent gender segmentation by occupation, type of commitments for improving labor conditions included activity, and level of participation in the chain. Men in the Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. Source: USAID 2007. 180 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS need support to overcome the deficits that limit their par- in this value chain. Although both men and women farm- ticipation. Key strategies to foster the chain's pro-poor ers tend dairy sheep, women are more heavily represented development would include supporting value-adding activ- in this activity. Among the Jabbans, women and children ities for smaller enterprises and intensifying efforts to are mainly responsible for processing milk into cheese, guarantee labor rights for both men and women. whereas men handle the marketing and usually control the Identification of constraints and opportunities for the income. Working with this gender division of labor is value chain. important when attempting to disseminate newly devel- oped technologies to farmers. Technologies related to milk Identification of "leverage" points for upgrading the chain processing need to be targeted particularly at women, and redistributing values in the interests of equity and among both farmers and Jabbans. Hygiene and basic ani- efficiency: The Thematic Notes and Innovative Activity mal health issues should likewise be addressed primarily to Profiles that accompany this Module discuss suitable women farmers and Jabbans.The interventions suggested entry points for investment and provide case studies of by researchers help maintain the feasibility of the chain, good practice. The analysis must also point out women assuming an urban market for cheese continues to exist, and other disadvantaged groups who may not be in the but they do not address wider issues such as enabling chain but whose competitive position is affected by the women to take on new roles in the dairy chain. chain--for example, if their position in the market is being eroded. Interventions can be designed to ensure that disadvantaged groups do not suffer or are able to ENTRY POINTS FOR SUPPORT participate in and benefit from the value chain. Mapping the causes of ongoing change: No value chain is Once the gender dimensions of a value chain are well under- static. Mapping the causes of ongoing change helps to stood, a thorough market analysis has been performed, and guide decisions, not only on how to strengthen particular a strategy and action plan have been developed, investment nodes in a value chain and their associated actors, but also and support can be directed toward developing markets in on which transformative actions are required. For exam- ways that contribute to gender equity and reduce poverty. ple, dairy chains studied in Syria (Abdelali-Martini, Entry points for support are discussed in the Thematic Notes Aw-Hassan, and Salahieh 2005) show a clear gender divi- and structured around four main areas (fig. 5.1). Thematic sion of labor in production, processing, and marketing Note 1 explores ways of promoting a business-enabling envi- that determines the best type of technological intervention ronment to reduce structural barriers to entry by women Figure 5.1 Entry Points of Gender Integration in Value Chains Capacity development for small and medium enterprises (TN2) Collective action Enabling and market business linkages (TN3) environment (TN1) Value-adding strategies (TN4) Source: Authors. MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS 181 entrepreneurs. Thematic Note 2 presents a range of capacity The third Profile explores lessons from the Greater Noakhali development measures that contribute to gender equity in Aquaculture Extension Project in Bangladesh, which tar- access to markets,Thematic Note 3 describes ways of strength- geted the poorest segments of the population, including ening collective action to gain access to key productive assets, women-headed households, and adopted a holistic approach and Thematic Note 4 discusses value-adding strategies. to market development, from technology to training and Access to finance is crucial for accessing markets. business linkages. The approach substantially increased Although finance is touched upon in this Module, readers women's participation. are directed to Module 3 for a detailed discussion. The Innovative Activity Profiles examine innovative and MEASURING CHANGE: GENDER-SENSITIVE successful approaches to value chain development. The first MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS one discusses the marketing extension process in Bangladesh and shows how poor women required relatively little support Being able to measure the impact that agricultural market- to begin conducting their own marketing research, organize ing initiatives have on men and women beneficiaries, their into groups, and develop business linkages. The second families, and communities is important. Table 5.1 lists ideas Profile demonstrates how community-managed procure- for indicators and sources of verification, although clearly ment centers for small-scale and marginal farmers in India modifications are required for each program; further detail enabled women to gain space in a men-dominated market. is also available from Module 16. Table 5.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Agricultural Markets Indicator Sources ofVerification andTools Satisfaction of women and men entrepreneurs with their access to · Focus groups agricultural inputs, training, credit, and markets, measured · Stakeholder interviews annually Number of men and women involved in participatory technology · Participatory monitoring development · Project records · Research organization records Active participation of women and men in community-based rural · Bank account signatories producers' organizations, including holding leadership roles · Organization minutes · Stakeholder interviews Participation by women and men in small business Incubators · Incubator records · Project records Number of women and men small farmers trained in · Project records entrepreneurial skills and provided with market information to · Training records allow them to enter into, and manage, beneficial contract farming arrangements or businesses Number of newly registered businesses started per year, · Trade registration records disaggregated by gender of owners Gender of farmers holding supply contracts for contract farming · Exporter or supermarket records · Sample surveys Percentage of women and men among farmers involved in organic, · Fair Trade organization records and norms fair trade, or certified marketing schemes · Sample surveys · Stakeholder interviews Percentage of business owners rating their business as "successful," · Sample surveys disaggregated by gender Change in women's perceptions of levels of sexual harassment or · Focus groups violence, or need to exchange sex for products (such as fish), · Stakeholder interviews experienced before and after program activities (Table continues on the following page) 182 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS Table 5.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Agricultural Markets (continued) Indicator Sources ofVerification andTools Differences in wage and employment conditions, if any, between · Case studies women and other disadvantaged groups, and men for positions · Labor audits of comparable content and responsibility · Project management information system or administrative records Changes in gender of market traders per year · Market stallholders' association records Changes in access to food markets, before and after infrastructure · Household surveys, before and after development by gender · Project management information system Percentage of women and men extension workers and project staff · Government agricultural extension and business support services records · Project records Satisfaction of women entrepreneurs and workers with access to · Focus groups child care, measured before and after project activities · Stakeholder interviews Age of school leaving, disaggregated by gender · School records Percentage of business women and men in community using · Computer center/Internet café records computers and Internet, and the frequency of use · Stakeholder interviews Percentage of businesses owning motorized or electrical · Sample survey equipment, disaggregated by gender of owners Changes over x-year period of project activities in household · Household surveys, before and after nutrition, health, education, vulnerability to violence, and · Project management information system happiness, disaggregated by gender · School records Source: Authors, with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS 183 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Strengthening the Business Environment n enabling business environment provides produc- A KEY GENDER ISSUES ers with a clear understanding of foreign and The business climate or enabling environment for private domestic demand, offers economic and political sector development, both at global and country levels, is stability, facilitates low transaction costs--for example, with discussed here. respect to entering into and enforcing contracts--and maintains relatively low levels of risk for business transac- tions. It allows for efficient business operations that embody Global business environment investment, innovation, and creativity. However, a business environment that is equitable as well as enabling cannot be At the global level, trade negotiation processes generally lack achieved without paying attention to institutional issues transparency and mechanisms for key stakeholders to partic- that reinforce gender inequalities. ipate. The participation of civil society, including small-scale Women entrepreneurs do not face a level playing field farmers, women's groups, and representatives of consumer globally, nationally, or locally because they are con- and environmental organizations, is limited.Aside from these strained by an array of culturally specific rights and special considerations, developing countries often lack the responsibilities that hamper their freedom to act in the personnel and organizational capacity to deal with trade best interests of their enterprise. National legislation in negotiations and are at a great disadvantage when negotiating many countries intentionally or unintentionally discrimi- on behalf of their agricultural sectors. This deficiency is nates against women. Trade liberalization typically aggravated by pressure for rapid completion. The resulting reduces the competitive capacity of disadvantaged entre- hastily written liberalization schedules and exemption lists preneurs. The local business environment depends on may not be based on informed and balanced choices between local enforcement of national laws and regulations, which export-oriented and import-competitive products--choices often varies considerably from the original legislative that fundamentally affect the interests of women farmers. intent and from directives provided by national imple- One difficulty of formulating precise objectives in support of menting agencies. women lies in the fact that the frameworks in which gender The combination of gender-blind legislation and locally and trade policies are negotiated are artificially separated. valid gendered norms often causes men to benefit more Trade policies generally consider macroflows, whereas gender than women from public programs that support agriculture instruments primarily consider local actions.1 by providing credit, agricultural extension, and marketing A growing body of evidence illustrates some of the short- services. If gender equality in entrepreneurship is to become and long-term impacts of regional trade agreements on a reality, explicit measures are required to tackle sex and women's livelihoods. A five-country study based on research gender discrimination and enable women to start and run conducted in Benin, Cameroon, the Dominican Republic, businesses effectively. Moreover, market infrastructure, Ghana, and Jamaica showed that the Common Agricultural including wholesale and assembly markets and postharvest Policy in the European Union increased competition for processing and storage facilities, is frequently not tailored to African, Caribbean, and Pacific producers in their national women's needs. and regional markets.2 Because women in these countries 184 have less access than men to land, capital, credit, education, businesses (World Bank 2007b). Legal limitations may be and training, trade liberalization had more of an effect on placed on married women's capacity to act independently, women. In Benin, for example, most women's enterprises as in Chile's Commercial Code (FAO 2002). are small because they lack the economic, information, and Generally, however, formal legislation in most countries training resources to increase profitability. In Jamaica 66 rarely discriminates directly against women or mentions percent of poor households are headed by women. Women them explicitly. Discrimination against women entrepre- generally have smaller farms than men and grow a mix of neurs is largely indirect and unintended. For instance, legis- crops for the domestic market rather than export crops. lation regarding membership in cooperatives and associa- Women farmers and agroprocessors in countries such as tions may not overtly exclude women but may contain these find it difficult to reap the benefits of trade liberaliza- conditions that many women cannot fulfill. For example, tion and export-led growth, essentially because they do not members may be required to control a key asset such as have the resources to be competitive. land, which women are much less likely than men to con- Thorough assessments of how trade liberalization may or trol. Another requirement that may exclude many women is may not affect food security, nutritional status, and access to that a business must be a certain minimum size. In Mada- agricultural inputs and other productive factors from a gen- gascar, where virtually all women agricultural entrepreneurs der-differentiated perspective are required if women are to are poor and operate microenterprises with no or few benefit.A starting point is to appreciate that food security and salaried employees, the law recognizes only cooperatives or family well-being provide a clear rationale for protecting or associations with at least five salaried employees. Women enhancing women's access to, and control over, land and other with smaller businesses are effectively excluded from the productive resources. Studies show that resources controlled benefits of officially recognized collective association. by women are more likely to be used to improve household Research commissioned by the Deregulation Project of food consumption and welfare, reduce child malnutrition, the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis and increase the overall well-being of the family (FAO 2006a). suggests that the management time and cost involved in reg- Any reduction in government subsidies to social services as a istering a business name and securing trade licenses (two consequence of trade liberalization is likely to have a signifi- basic forms of registration and licensing applicable to small cant impact on women's lives. In an extension of their "repro- businesses) together cost about 1 percent of gross domestic ductive role," women would have to provide those services no product each year (KIPPRA 2000). These and other barriers longer provided by the state, and less time would be available to entrepreneurship often present greater obstacles for for entrepreneurial activities.Global trade negotiations should women than for men. An analysis in Uganda demonstrated provide an agenda that outlines welfare guidelines and that women's enterprises are frequently at least as produc- includes welfare payments to facilitate access to services.3 tive and efficient, as measured by value added per worker and productivity, as men's enterprises, but women face higher barriers to entry (Ellis, Manuel, and Blackden 2006). National business environment These barriers include their relative lack of time (compared At the national level, direct discrimination may be expressed to men), their relative lack of official contacts, and their less in family laws that require a woman to obtain her husband's equitable access to funds. Furthermore, legal and regulatory consent before starting a business or employment (as in constraints in Uganda impose a disproportionate burden on some Mexican states; FAO 2002). Laws in other Latin Amer- women's enterprises. The Uganda Regulatory Cost Survey ican countries limit women's ability to be self-employed by Report 2004, which covered 241 enterprises in four regions, vesting family property administration exclusively in the measured the compliance cost of registration and licensing husband. Women in Kuwait and Yemen are not permitted to requirements. It found that over one-quarter of all enter- work at night. In Zimbabwe married women need permis- prises reported that government officials had interfered sion from their husbands to register land. In the Democratic with their business by, for example, threatening to close it or Republic of Congo, where women need their husbands' asking for bribes. For women-headed enterprises, the figure consent to start a business, women run only 18 percent of rose to 43 percent. Forty percent of microenterprises headed small businesses. Women in neighboring Rwanda, which by women felt that the total burden of regulation was has no such regulations, run more than 41 percent of small "heavy" or "severe" (as compared with 35 percent for THEMATIC NOTE 1: STRENGTHENING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 185 enterprises headed by men). Trade licenses were identified engage in contract farming because social norms preclude as the most burdensome regulation. Over 40 percent of them from signing contracts. In Guatemala, for instance, women, compared to 30 percent of men, reported trade women hold only 3 percent of snow pea production con- licenses procedures as an obstacle to the growth of their tracts but contribute more than one-third of total field labor business (Ellis, Manuel, and Blackden 2006). Similar trends and virtually all processing labor (World Bank 2007c). have been observed in Kenya (World Bank 2007a). The cumulative result of structural barriers such as these Market infrastructure is the presence of fewer formally recognized women-owned enterprises than men-owned enterprises in many countries, Rural infrastructure is an important element of an enabling particularly in Africa (fig. 5.2). business environment. Market infrastructure, including Credit represents another barrier to entry for women. To postharvest processing and storage and wholesale and obtain a loan to start and run a business, women generally assembly markets, is discussed here, while the other types of have less access than men to collateral, given women's poor rural infrastructure important for market access (for exam- or nonexistent access to land titles and formal employment. ple, transport, energy, information and communication Cultural factors hindering access to credit and other services technology [ICT], water and sanitation) are discussed in include women's seclusion, other practices restricting inter- Module 9. action between men and women, and normative perceptions of women's role in the family and society. Indeed, women Postharvest processing and storage. Extension in may internalize discriminatory cultural attitudes and refrain developing countries often concentrates on improving the from applying for credit (as documented in Brazil and Fiji; capacity to produce crops, but more attention must be given see FAO 2002; see also Modules 3 and 4). to what happens after the harvest--the handling, Discriminatory cultural attitudes may prevent women processing, and storage of agricultural products. All of these farmers from entering value chains altogether or allow them activities are essential to increase the effectiveness of very limited roles. Contract farming--a forward agreement marketing and minimize product loss. between farmers and processing or marketing firms to sup- Postharvest characteristics, such as hulling and milling ply agricultural products--is increasingly important to quality, can be vital to processors as well as consumers. modern value chains, but women in some regions cannot Sometimes new varieties are evaluated and selected only Figure 5.2 Percentage of Enterprises Owned by Women in Selected African Countries 70 60 50 40 Percent30 20 10 0 of of Mali Kenya Africa Benin Niger Faso Verde Nigeria Senegal Rep. Zambia Morocco Gambia Malawi Rep. Angola Tanzania Namibia Uganda Burundi Mauritius Mauritania Swaziland Cameroon Botswana South The Cape Dem. Arab Madagascar Guinea-Bissau Burkina Mozambique Congo, Egypt, Sources: Adapted from Bardasi, Blackden, and Guzman 2007 and based on World Bank Enterprise Surveys 2002­06. Note: The sample is restricted to individual and family firms and excludes enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and enterprises operating in the service sector. 186 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS after the postharvest characteristics can be observed. A the point of production and on the docks, as well as to study conducted in eastern India found a strong consumer refrigerated trucks for ground transport and the refrigerated preference for white-grained over red-grained rice because tankers that carry the fruit to Rotterdam (Collins 2000). it saves women time in milling (Paris and others 2001, cited in Farnworth and Jiggins 2006). To improve a product's Wholesale and assembly market. Although many quality and thus add value, often consumers and other wholesale and assembly markets are controlled and defined stakeholders must be brought into the evaluation process by domestic and international supermarket chains, in (through participation in tasting panels, for example). developing countries more than 75 percent of fresh fruits and Postharvest losses in developing countries can be con- vegetables are still sold in traditional open-air markets and in siderable for perishables (such as fruits and vegetables) as small, independent stores (Reardon and Berdegué 2002). well as staples (grains, dry beans) owing to poor product Livestock assembly markets where producers and buyers handling and processing and attacks by insects, fungi, interact directly are common. More than simply being a place rodents, and birds. In some areas postharvest losses reach to buy and sell, wholesale and assembly markets are often 50 percent (Kitinoja 2002). Although it is generally recom- integral parts of the community and society. mended to harvest early in the morning to reduce the heat A number of considerations may reduce women's access load on produce and make precooling faster and less to wholesale and assembly markets: whether child care is expensive, in West Africa vegetables are often harvested in provided and its cost, whether women are permitted to the late morning and endure the heat of the day while travel outside their community on their own or if they must awaiting transport from the field. The women harvesters travel with a chaperone (which increases their cost consid- cannot come earlier because child care, cooking, carrying erably), and whether women have access to vehicles.Women water, and other family responsibilities take priority (Kitinoja may need to pay a driver if they are not permitted to drive. 2002). An integrated development approach designed to Age can determine whether a woman may go to market. In alleviate women's "reproductive" workload is necessary to Afghanistan only elderly widows without sons usually can address such conflicts. go to the bazaar (Grace 2004). Even if farmers can harvest their crops at the optimal Where women are permitted to trade in markets, and time, they may not be able to sell them fast. The lack of a especially in cultures in which women's access to markets is cold chain in many areas, and inadequate storage condi- limited, activities and resources must often be explicitly ear- tions more generally, lead to spoilage and reduce quality marked to include a women's section in the wholesale market. and market value. Assisting farmers and agroprocessors with proper storage not only improves product quality, but GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED also enables produce to be marketed at times other than directly after harvest. The farmer or processor can receive a The following presents some innovative activities and syn- higher price, the price-depressing effects of a glut can be thesizes the lessons learned for future project and program prevented, and the cash flow delay and costs of storage can design and implementation. be recouped. These benefits are as much for women farm- ers as for men smallholders. Global business environment Finally, transport costs are particularly important for women, who tend to trade locally in vegetables and other It is essential to ensure that women's defensive and offensive perishables. Remoteness increases uncertainty and reduces trade interests are part of the formulation of trade positions choice; it results in limited marketing opportunities, at the national level. One starting point is to consider the reduced farmgate prices, and increased input costs. commitments to gender equality that are embedded in Women's access to the postharvest services essential for instruments such as the Amsterdam Treaty, the Beijing Plat- entering the export market can be particularly problematic. form for Action, the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, and Grapes, for example, depend on an elaborate cold chain the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All from packing shed to final destination. The fruit must be Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The question, refrigerated within a few hours of harvest; if the cold chain then, is to consider how such instruments can be applied in is broken afterward, the produce is damaged. A study in the trade context, and more broadly to consider what is Brazil found that small-scale grape farmers were at a disad- needed for trade agreements to be gender sensitive. Other vantage in negotiating access to refrigerated warehouses at issues for consideration include the designation of sensitive THEMATIC NOTE 1: STRENGTHENING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 187 products, trade-offs between increased production and island countries are being trained to monitor the gender labor conditions, and the promotion and protection of food impacts of the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement. security and the rural economy. Relating trade policy to the design, support, and funding of programs that address NATIONAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT gender-specific supply constraints and help to increase women's economic involvement is necessary. To do this, Action has been taken to support and promote women agri- planners may find it useful to prioritize ensuring better cultural entrepreneurs in several countries at various levels. access for women to financial services and productive resources.4 When framing agreements, considering indirect as Legislative, program, and institutional levels. At the well as direct effects on women as service users is important. legislative level, explicit prohibition of gender discrimination At the national level, support for gender sensitivity in and statements of gender equality in relation to the exercise governments' legislative systems and in the enforcement of of self-employed activities are embodied in legislation, for international trade agreements is important. Support could example, in the European Union, Philippines (with regard to be given to assist exporting countries to perform legal and contractual capacity and credit), and South Africa (with regulatory analyses. These analyses should consider (1) regard to accessing credit and other resources). Lesotho whether the text of a particular trade measure reflects gen- passed a law in November 2006 allowing married women to der bias or could have disparate effects on women or other own and transfer property and engage in legal acts without social groups and (2) whether the particular trade measure their husband's signature. Before the reform, the law would conflict with or undermine the country's interna- classified women as legal minors (World Bank 2007b). tional commitments and domestic laws relevant to women In a number of countries, affirmative action laws provid- and other social groups.5 Box 5.4 shows that the Pacific ing fiscal and other incentives for women entrepreneurs have been adopted, as in Italy (FAO 2002). At the program level, development and gender-related Box 5.4 Monitoring the Social and Gender Impacts of Trade Agreements in plans have designed activities to promote women entrepre- Pacific Island Countries neurs (for instance, by improving women's access to train- ing and credit in India and Tunisia). Public programs tar- geting women or reserving resources for women to obtain Pacific Island countries increasingly participate in training, credit, and extension services have been adopted in regional and international trade agreements, but Brazil, India, and the Philippines, for example (FAO 2002). the potential social and gender impacts of these Programs providing services through institutional devices agreements have not been significantly factored designed to overcome the obstacles faced by women have into trade negotiations or closely monitored. Undoubtedly, trade liberalization will have com- been set up; perhaps the most well-known instance is the plex and wide-ranging social and gender effects on microcredit programs in Bangladesh. Pacific societies, particularly among more vulner- At the institutional level, gender-related measures have able and marginalized groups. been enacted with regard to the composition and activities of Three regional organizations have developed a sectoral institutions, such as with training institutions in training package to provide Pacific Island coun- South Africa. Gender-specific institutions have been set up tries with a framework and guiding methodology within ministries of agriculture or their departments, particu- to monitor the social and gender impacts of trade larly those responsible for training and agricultural extension, agreements that they have signed, beginning with such as in Burkina Faso, Italy, and Tunisia (FAO 2002). the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement. The problem is often not the legislation and regulations These organizations (the Pacific Islands Forum but effective implementation on the ground. Social norms Secretariat, Pacific Foundation for the Advance- may prevent women from engaging in enterprise activities to ment of Women, and United Nations Development Fund for Women [UNIFEM Pacific]) are using the which they are given access by the law. Lack of information, training package to build national capacity in social lack of capacity to deal with institutions, and institutional and gender impact assessment. biases on the ground may stand against women farmers. Source: www.siyanda.org/static/Shore_picta.htm. Gender entrepreneurship markets. A promising area of support to women's entrepreneurship has been opened up 188 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS through the Gender Entrepreneurship Markets unit of the the Regulatory Best Practice Program in Uganda's Ministry International Finance Corporation. One of its programs is of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development suggests developing gender and growth assessments (GGAs) to that when registration and licensing requirements are address legal and regulatory obstacles that affect men and simplified, more women come into compliance and women differently; to build the capacity of entrepreneurs, formalize their enterprises. A pilot project in Entebbe bankers, and other stakeholders; and to put in place Municipality reduced the time spent by Uganda businesses financing mechanisms for women entrepreneurs in in obtaining licenses by 90 percent, reduced compliance partnership with commercial banks (box 5.5). costs by 75 percent, and increased revenue collection by 40 percent. When reformers simplified business start-up Improving the business climate. Countries with higher procedures, business registrations shot up. The increase in scores on the ease of doing business there have larger shares first-time business owners was 33 percent higher for of women in the ranks of both entrepreneurs and workers women than men (World Bank 2007b). The impact (World Bank 2007b). A recent pilot project undertaken by assessment of the first pilot at Entebbe (which recently won Box 5.5 World Bank­International Finance Corporation Partnership Focuses on Women Entrepreneurs To create an enabling business environment for which were passed in 2006. The Ministry of Finance, women entrepreneurs, the Gender Entrepreneurship acting on GGA recommendations, commissioned Markets unit of the International Finance Corpora- new legal drafts of the Companies Act, the Chattels tion (IFC), in collaboration with the Foreign Invest- Transfer Act, and other bills. ment Advisory Service and the Africa Region of the GEM has worked with IFC financial markets to put World Bank, has developed new advisory and analytical in place lines of credit for onlending to women products. At the request of governments (usually entrepreneurs through commercial banks. In finance or trade ministries), gender and growth Nigeria a $15 million line of credit was provided to assessments (GGAs) have been carried out in Kenya, Access Bank to lend to women entrepreneurs, and Tanzania, and Uganda and are underway or planned by January 2007, $4.5 million had been disbursed to in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Rwanda. Building on the 33 women-owned businesses. In Uganda $6 million World Bank's Doing Business indicators, investment has been provided to the Development Finance Com- climate assessments, and Foreign Investment Advisory pany of Uganda, with $2 million set aside for women Service (FIAS) assessments, the GGAs address-- entrepreneurs. In Tanzania a $5 million line of credit through a gender lens--the legal and regulatory for lending to women entrepreneurs has been pro- obstacles that affect businesses and propose concrete vided to ExIm Bank, of which $1 million has been measures to overcome them. In Ghana, Kenya, and lent to a woman-owned microleasing company. Tanzania, Voices of Women Entrepreneurs reports Under a financial products and advisory services showcase successful women entrepreneurs as role package, the IFC is helping to train bank staff in models. Key results include the following: areas such as market positioning and gender sensi- tivity and is advising banks on new product devel- In Uganda and Kenya, GGA recommendations opment, such as insurance services for women. have been fully integrated into national strategies Women clients receive tailored training in how to for private sector development. prepare a bankable business, product development, In Uganda a Gender Coalition has been created to and access to markets. To date, around 280 stake- support the implementation of GGA recommenda- holders in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda-- tions. Following lobbying from the coalition, GGA including government staff, lawyers, entrepreneurs, recommendations have been incorporated into four and members of civil society--have been trained in labor reform bills covering employment, occupational public-private dialogue, advocacy and media issues, safety and health, labor disputes, and labor unions, and business management skills. Source: Bardasi, Blackden, and Guzman 2007. THEMATIC NOTE 1: STRENGTHENING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 189 an International Investors award) suggested that the including women in project design and implementation. The reforms were encouraging women-owned enterprises to participation of women was required in the road committees obtain licenses for the first time because most of the license that oversaw the project's activities, as well as in the commu- applications from women were first-time registrations nity-based microenterprises that helped maintain local roads (Bardasi, Blackden, and Guzman 2007). and tracks. The criteria for membership in the microenter- prises were adapted to ensure women's participation. For instance, women's household management was counted as Market infrastructure management experience, and women from women-headed Postharvest processing and storage. Innovative approaches to households were given priority. As a result, the project postharvest storage and handling can reap dividends in improved 3,000 kilometers of nonmotorized tracks that are highly marginalized communities. In Niger women and largely used by women alone and often ignored in trans- men were able to use warehoused crops as the repayment portation projects. The benefits to women included an guarantee to obtain loans (box 5.6). increased ability to participate in markets and fairs and a Transport. Men's and women's transportation needs vary; reduction in the time spent obtaining fuel and food. Forty- these differences should be reflected in developing large infra- three percent of the women stated that the improved roads structure projects. Involving women in road maintenance and tracks provided greater income opportunities.6 management committees is one way forward. Ensuring Wholesale and assembly markets. One way of enabling women's participation may require modifying classic defini- women to market produce successfully is to provide them tions of management experience and other special efforts. For with special market areas. The allotment of shops in example, in the Peru Rural Roads Program, the World Bank wholesale markets and membership in market vendors' and Inter-American Development Bank aimed to address the associations can significantly improve women's participa- transportation needs of men and women by consulting and tion in markets. Moreover, constructing or improving wholesale markets, especially with basic facilities, will pro- vide an efficient, safe, and hygienic trading environment Box 5.6 Niger: New Credit Approaches for for women. In India, for instance, improvements in basic Women facilities such as toilets and drinking water enabled market participation by women traders to increase by 18 percent A project in Niger (Project de Promotion de (World Bank 2006). The recently opened Bagh-E-Zanana L'Utiliization des Intrants Agricoles par les Organ- Women's Market in Kabul has begun to change the lives of isations Paysannes) introduced an innovative many women. For the first time in decades, women have a inventory credit approach ("warrantage") in 1999 place where they can go without men chaperones and that enables women and men to store their harvest where they can run businesses and sell their products and in a warehouse until prices rise. The warehoused services to other women.7 It may not be enough to provide crops act as a guarantee, allowing farmers to access market space to women, however; in the early stages, financial resources before their annual production added support in the form of credit may be required if is sold, or even without selling it. Evaluation of the poorer women are to benefit (box 5.7). warrantage project indicates that overall house- hold well-being improved in terms of the quantity of food consumed. Because women have their own GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR incomes, their ability to make decisions in the PRACTITIONERS household has also improved, as has their standing in the wider community. The project has particu- Legislation, regulations, policies, the business environment, larly benefited middle-aged women who are and business infrastructure all need to be analyzed with a responsible for a large number of people. Social gender lens to understand the differentiated impact on norms prevent younger women from engaging in women and men and to ensure an equal playing field. activities that require movement within or outside Combined soft and hard investments are crucial for the village. women's economic empowerment. Soft investments include strengthening women's access to and control over Source: FAO 2006b. productive resources, developing women's capacity to enter markets by improving education and training, and 190 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS Box 5.7 Bangladesh:Women in Growth Center Markets Growth center markets in Bangladesh are designated allotments on a lottery basis. Only women can trade; local focal points for selling rural produce and distrib- the presence of men working in a shop will lead to can- uting agricultural inputs and consumer goods. Most cellation of the allotment. Sixty percent of the women rural markets are congested, muddy, dusty, and unhy- received training before obtaining the opportunity to gienic. The Third Rural Infrastructure Development do business through this project. The monthly income Project has constructed or improved common public of these traders ranges from 800 to 10,000 taka. Because facilities at 196 growth center markets to provide an these shops are located in the growth center markets, efficient, safe, and hygienic trading environment. which are well connected with other nodal points, the Growth center market sites are selected through traders can collect their tradable commodities very consultation with the women traders, women's union easily. Credit remains a major constraint, however. members, the market management committee, and About 25 percent of the traders have received loans officials. An important component of a growth center from nongovernmental organizations, but in small market is an exclusive area for women vendors in the amounts. This experience highlights the need to provide open space, with shaded shops hosting a total of 120 complementary support, particularly financing, to women traders. Destitute women initially were given infrastructure improvements and shop allotments. Source: World Bank 2005. ensuring that more extension workers are women or Processes for doing business must be eased. The most capable of conducting gender analyses. Hard investments important step is to simplify registration and licensing pro- include ensuring that physical infrastructure (processing cedures in light of international best practices. Evidence and storage facilities, roads, energy, ICT, marketplaces) shows that the benefits of this action are sizable for women. meets women's needs. For maximum gender impact, reform initiatives should Legislation should explicitly prohibit gender discrimina- address licensing requirements in those sectors of the econ- tion or contain statements of gender equality in relation to omy that predominantly involve women. self-employment. When discriminatory cultural attitudes Further research is needed on the likely impacts of trade are prevalent, affirmative action laws providing fiscal and arrangements on women in developing countries. Trade other incentives for women entrepreneurs need to be negotiation processes should build on the results. Statistics adopted. Programs providing necessary services should be disaggregated by gender should be collected and gender- developed; and institutional arrangements leading to a specific indicators developed to measure the impacts of more gender-equal access to these services are needed. trade arrangements on men and women. THEMATIC NOTE 1: STRENGTHENING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 191 T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Capacity Development for Small-Scale Women Entrepreneurs M any women entrepreneurs in developing countries must be appropriate to the requirements of poorer women if face disproportionate difficulties in accessing and the project hopes to reach them. The promotion of income- competing in local markets, let alone international generating activities for women generally requires a much ones,for a number of reasons.These reasons include women's more practical approach than is often adopted by develop- relative lack of mobility in relation to men and lower levels of ment programs. The bottom line is profitability.1 use of and access to technologies that could add value to their Several programs focus on capacity development of product. Women are often concentrated in"feminized"occu- entrepreneurs--especially small entrepreneurs. Some of the pations, such as handicrafts and basic food processing and issues faced by women would be common ones, but a need sale. In these sectors, markets are often saturated and offer exists to analyze the local business environment with a spe- low returns. Furthermore, women are more likely than men cific gender lens and to develop interventions that directly to concentrate on backyard or microenterprises. respond to the issues that emerge. Occupational segregation by gender can impose signifi- cant costs over the long term on regional economies. These costs include rigidities in labor markets, reducing the mar- KEY GENDER ISSUES ket's ability to respond to change, the underutilization of The following discussion describes the key gender issues in women's labor, and lower levels of output and growth arising small enterprise development. from suboptimal investments in early and lifelong education and capacity building for girls and women (Deutsch and Identifying and characterizing others 2002). Thematic Note 1 explores the structural barri- women's enterprises ers that women entrepreneurs face; this Note considers how to improve women's skill base to help them become more Women are more likely than men to manage microenter- competitive in markets. The focus in both Notes is on prises, often from their own home. Thus, they have the women owners and managers of small-size enterprises and disadvantage of smaller size, higher risk aversion, local the challenges they face on expanding to medium-size orientation, and low capacity to integrate into formal and enterprises. Women employees in farms and agroprocessing distant markets. In some cases, they may manage several firms and the issues they face are discussed in Module 8. microenterprises simultaneously to spread risk or conceal Appropriate interventions for capacity development can the true extent of their earnings from men partners. A be devised only if some initial insight has been gained into the Zimbabwean study shows that women dispersed peanut general opportunities and constraints that women producers plants throughout their plots rather than bunching them and entrepreneurs typically face. This insight should be together, thus disguising the extent of their planting. refined through an analysis of gendered constraints and Although harvesting took longer, their husbands did not opportunities in the proposed project location. Women need realize how much money their wives were making by sell- to be properly informed about various business options and ing peanuts, or the significance of the social capital the the pros and cons of each. Prospective markets and their women reaped through bartering and giving peanuts likely profitability should be considered in skills development (Vijfhuizen 1996). Women thus may be ambivalent about and credit programs. Loan conditions and loan products expanding a particular enterprise. Any intervention needs 192 to be alert to women's real needs and constraints and to alternative entry points, such as an educational focus or the work with them to devise a solution. promotion of awareness campaigns through the use of mass For project planners, finding the right person for capacity media.2 In Kenya, for example, impoverished, geographi- development can be difficult. Women may not know how to cally marginalized women's groups, whose aim is to offer locate opportunities that might be available to them, or such support to families afflicted by HIV and AIDS, were assisted opportunities may be hard to find. Poor people often do not in developing a plan to buy various grains and process them belong to farmers' clubs because the requirements and expec- into fortified flour. In so doing, they aimed to provide nutri- tations of membership can be too high. The explicit and tious food to people affected by HIV and AIDS at a low price hidden costs of membership may include fees, the need to and to make a profit by selling the flour at competitive provide food if members visit the farm, or the shame of wear- prices locally (KIT, Faida MaLi, and IIRR 2006). ing poor clothing. If development organizations choose to Project interventions should consider how to enable work with groups and clubs, or through extension workers' women to manage risk. One method is to link poor women contacts, women who farm alone and without any man's help entrepreneurs to insurance markets to hedge against risks; may be unintentionally excluded. One way of addressing this another is to ensure that price information systems are problem is to include the community in the identification prompt and effective. In some situations special capacity and development of partner organizations and individuals development programs need to be devised. The World Food (Farnworth and Jiggins 2006). Programme (WFP) has begun a program in which training focuses on all family members so that critical skills are not lost and a business can carry on if a family member should Identifying and addressing skill gaps die (WFP, personal communication). Women entrepreneurs are producing for increasingly com- petitive domestic and global markets. New skills and Devising suitable capacity development programs knowledge are required to enter export markets, such as expertise in bureaucratic procedures, national standards Thinking through the implications of particular approaches and requirements, marketing channels, and consumer pref- to capacity development is important. Women may lack a erences. Women wishing to enter export markets may need clear understanding of the economic skills they require to to acquire new skills to meet requirements that do not help them upgrade their business; this may make approaches apply in domestic markets. Although it is demanding to that prioritize the voice of participants problematic at times. develop the capacity to enter global value chains, once An IFAD project in Syria found that women tended to base entry is gained, additional learning may take place through their choices on what they knew and liked, rather than on an supplier-buyer interactions. Entry into global value chains understanding of markets and profitability. They usually can thus have a positive impact on technological capability chose what their friends had chosen, a tendency that can and upgrading skills (Humphrey 2004). result in "a surplus of plastic flower arrangements on the In some places, however, a substantial segment of the local market and no income." Because the women knew economy has no appropriate market structures of any sort. little about nontraditional business opportunities, their A major challenge in such cases is to promote pro-poor choices of skills and businesses were limited.3 This experi- strategies to include those who are truly marginalized in ence does not mean that participatory approaches do not terms of resources and market access. Participation in these work in such situations, only that they need to be coupled markets should aim to provide these poor men and women with other capacity development activities that assist women and their families with significant increases in income and to develop market analysis skills. thus contribute to food security and family welfare. How- Another issue is recognizing that women may have ever, the very poor, particularly the women, may be the most different management styles and thus different capacity distant from potential markets and live in uniformly poor development requirements than men. A study conducted in communities. A starting point may be to address generalized Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam showed that women typ- constraints such as illiteracy, innumeracy, low access to ically had a more "caring" management style than men, information, and limited levels of awareness of business which resulted in loyalty and high productivity among opportunities. An assessment of the norms and values of the employees. They also tended to be more risk averse than target clients and indigenous service providers might yield men, which has implications for the product markets for THEMATIC NOTE 2: CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT FOR SMALL-SCALE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS 193 which they are willing to be trained. Involvement in business training and support, and they wanted access to family-owned enterprises conferred benefits on the new markets for their products or services. At the same women entrepreneurs surveyed in terms of bargaining time, the women surveyed felt that women have a greater power and more equal relationships within the house- advantage than men when managing women employees. hold.4 Training programs, therefore, need to be sensitive to Overall they saw their gender as an asset rather than an local management and learning styles. impediment to their business. Women entrepreneurs in all five countries use informa- tion and communications technology for their businesses at REGIONALLY SPECIFIC FEATURES OF WOMEN rates well above the per capita average worldwide. Many use ENTREPRENEURS ANDTHEIR CAPACITY mobile phones, computers, and the Internet (including DEVELOPMENT NEEDS their own Web sites) for their businesses. With respect to Capacity development programs need to be regionally and capital, a smaller proportion of women in the region use locally appropriate. Local needs assessments should be under- formal sources of credit for their businesses compared to taken and training programs tailor made. The sections that women in other regions of the world. With very limited follow summarize recent studies--including agricultural and access to formal finance, women finance their businesses nonagricultural sectors in all cases--undertaken in the Middle through personal sources, such as savings, friends, and East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Indochina, and family, and by reinvesting business earnings. Most entre- Latin America to provide a preliminary insight into women preneurs were interested in receiving external training and entrepreneurs and their motivations. A study from a war zone support services (CAWTAR and IFC 2007). in Sri Lanka provides additional insights. Women entrepreneurs face different opportunities and Sub-Saharan Africa constraints according to the region they live in, although some opportunities and constraints are common across A three-country study (Richardson, Howarth, and Finnegan regions, such as those related to the need to meet their 2004) was conducted in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zambia. In reproductive responsibilities. Capacity development pro- all three countries the age range of women entrepreneurs grams need to be specifically developed to address macro-, varied from the late teens to over 50. Zambia had the oldest meso- and local needs. The areas in which capacity devel- profile, with the largest category of women in the 41­50 age opment of women entrepreneurs may be required include group, whereas in Tanzania the largest category was 31­40 basic literacy, awareness and self-confidence, market infor- years of age. Nearly all women entrepreneurs interviewed mation, market management capacity, bureaucracy man- had an above-average level of education, having completed agement, capacity to address financial and land constraints, secondary school, compared to their contemporaries. How- technical capacity, and risk management capacity. ever, some, particularly in Ethiopia, had had no schooling. The majority of entrepreneurs had gained work experience before setting up a business enterprise, either from a family Middle East and North Africa business or from their own smaller business. The majority Participation of women in enterprise activities is very low in of women entrepreneurs had household and reproductive this region--as has been reported in the Introduction. A responsibilities to fulfill in addition to developing their own five-country study of women entrepreneurs across a range business. They thus experienced the typical constraints on of small and medium-size enterprises in Bahrain, Jordan, their time and mobility associated with these responsibili- Lebanon, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates found that ties. At the same time, many of the women entrepreneurs most entrepreneurs are between 35 and 54 years of age. This felt they benefited positively from the support of their finding is consistent with worldwide trends. The majority of families by receiving financial, moral, and practical support. women entrepreneurs are married, and most have children. The women entrepreneurs identified the chief constraints Women identified their most difficult challenge to be to growth as being access to credit, intense competition, and achieving an appropriate work-family balance. Other key dealing with corruption among regulatory officials. Their challenges include acquiring financial management skills, businesses are generally labor intensive and make minimal finding and keeping good employees, the high cost of labor, use of new technology--whether information technology or gaining access to capital, and the high cost of public services. production and process technology. These women's limited The women expressed a strong desire for access to general opportunities for networking reduce their ability to develop 194 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS personal and business know-how and to access other physical countries, deriving partly from their historical trajectories, and financial assets. Their enterprises tend to operate out of women in all three countries face similar constraints in the inappropriate facilities, if the women have a building separate business environment.5 Two key challenges are accessing from their home at all. This is particularly the case for food credit and accessing markets. An overall lack of information preparation and food-processing businesses, activities in combines with women's limited business experience to pro- which regulations require business accommodations to meet duce reactive, production-oriented business strategies--a specific hygiene standards and in which women predominate. serious problem, considering that markets in all three However, customary practices in the communities studied countries are small but competitive. The opaque and often prevent or deter women from owning or leasing unstable legislative and regulatory environment is another premises in their own right. constraint, particularly with regard to land law and land-use Women largely confine themselves to local markets rights. Women entrepreneurs face cumbersome business where access, mobility, and networks are easier for them to procedures, ambiguity in the interpretation of legislation, negotiate. This choice frequently results in excessive com- and government intervention in economic activities. Lower petition and underpricing. Women's ability to penetrate educational levels among women, compared to men, con- markets outside their local area is affected by the types of strain their choice of enterprise and limit their ability to businesses in which they engage. Their locally made prod- take up vocational and technical training. The survey ucts are increasingly in competition with a growing range of showed that women find balancing work and family respon- imported goods coming into the market at all levels. Issues sibilities very difficult. They feel handicapped by family of quality and delivery are the same for all microenterprises, demands and social expectations. For example, women are but women's relative lack of mobility, which is related to expected to take the advice of relatives who are men on their household and community roles, limits the time they decisions that need to be made and how the business is have for traveling. In some of the areas studied, women are run. Women feel they lack the knowledge and expertise to not allowed to travel outside their communities (Richardson, adapt to and master new technologies, or to innovate in Howarth, and Finnegan 2004). developing new products and services. The macrobusiness environment is important; these countries remain in the early stages of moving from a cen- Latin America and the Caribbean trally planned to a market-oriented economy. Businesses A study of women entrepreneurs in Argentina, Brazil, and need experience in managing quality, delivery times, and Mexico (Weeks and Seiler 2001) noted that, for the region as pricing before they seek to add customers. The use of out- a whole, the rate of women's economic activity lags behind dated technology and equipment is also a problem; in Lao that of other regions. Between 1970 and 1990, however, the PDR, only 5 percent of women-owned enterprises use elec- share of women employers and self-employed workers in trical or motorized equipment compared with 48 percent of Latin America and the Caribbean more than doubled and men-owned enterprises. Although businesswomen have a continues to grow exponentially. Women business owners general understanding of local markets and customer are younger than their men counterparts, are relatively new preferences, they lack insight into how to go about design- to entrepreneurship, and are most likely to be in wholesale ing, making, and selling products that could be attractive or retail trade. Their companies tend to be smaller than outside local markets. men-owned companies. Key challenges identified by women entrepreneurs War Zones:An Example include insufficient access to information, training, techni- cal assistance, technology, capital, markets, networks A study examined Tamil women in northeastern Sri Lanka (women's business associations as well as broader industry who became entrepreneurs as a result of the war (Ayadurai or regional business organizations), and validation (in other and Sohail 2006). A large percentage of these women are words, being taken seriously by society at large). highly entrepreneurial, and their aims are to have a better life, to be self-reliant, and to support their families. Many went into business only after having lost their husbands in the war. Southeast Asia They are educated--at a minimum, having a secondary- A study in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam showed that school education--and are involved in such businesses despite significant sociocultural differences between these as livestock farming, office services, and textiles. Such THEMATIC NOTE 2: CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT FOR SMALL-SCALE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS 195 businesses do not require a high capital outlay or much Box 5.8 Benefits of Ensuring the previous knowledge. A large majority of the women entre- Participation of Women Trainers preneurs are in business for the first time, and most rate their businesses as successful. Their measures of success are self-fulfillment and a balance between family and work. In India, an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) project supports farmer-led participatory plant breeding and gives considerable priority to estab- GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED lishing links with farmer innovators. Several years into the project, it became clear to project staff that The following presents some innovative activities and syn- they had identified very few women innovators. It thesizes the lessons learned for future project and program emerged that when men staff asked who was design and implementation. Many of the examples and les- responsible for a particular innovation, women's sons cut across different types of rural enterprises--farm or innovations typically would be claimed by--or nonfarm--whereas lessons and principles particular to a assigned to--the husband or another male family type of enterprise are specified below. member. Bringing women staff on board was prob- lematic. It was difficult to find safe places for the women to stay overnight; they needed chaperones Inclusive and effective capacity to travel by public transport, and they would have development packages to travel outside their own area to avoid bias. What the project did was to make arrangements for Entrepreneurial training can be highly focused, or it can women staff to stay in a village with families known cover all the different aspects of creating and managing to the IIM team, women were permitted to work in enterprises, including business and management skills. their own farm, and travel was arranged so that Focusing on the process of planning itself helps women to they could be accompanied by another family identify risks, limitations, and capital requirements and member. The result was that more women innova- assist them in setting specific objectives useful in measuring tors were located, raising the proportion of long-term progress. Specific Modules need to be formulated women's to men's innovations to 20:80. around the particular needs of different groups of women, according to their background, experience, motivation, and Source: Farnworth and Jiggins 2006. stage in the enterprise development cycle. Training in basic literacy and numeracy may be a prerequisite to enrolling women in entrepreneurial skills programs. Moreover, all a policy level, although women are responsible for food pro- training programs should be designed to ensure access. A duction and are starting to enter the cash crop sector. Exten- flexible time schedule--evenings, weekends, part time-- sion officers are mostly men and tend to deal with men and child care are important. farmers, who rarely pass on knowledge to women. Efforts to Capacity development needs to be very specific to the sit- provide extension services to women through the employ- uation faced by the women and not general training: it ment of women extension officers met with resistance from should include practical guidance on how to approach and women farmers who could not understand the issues being resolve the issues and needs of the entrepreneurs. raised and were unwilling to accept advice from young women (Booth 1999). In cases like these, men extension workers trained in gender analysis may be more appropri- Picking effective trainers and ate, at least at the outset. creating partnerships Capacity development initiatives targeted at women can In many regions women trainers and extension workers be very successful when they involve partnerships between may be more appropriate because of cultural restrictions men and women. For example, a World Food Programme that limit interactions between women and men who are (WFP) project in Zimbabwe involved getting women to take strangers or not part of the family. Steps may need to be charge of milling in the Kala and Mwange refugee camps. taken to permit women trainers to travel (box 5.8). Men were enrolled in training women to run the mills. In some areas, however, women extension workers may Another WFP project in Tanzania provided men landowners not be respected by women farmers. In Vanuatu, for exam- with incentives to provide women refugees--many living ple, women's role in agriculture is scarcely acknowledged at with HIV and AIDS--with space to grow flowers, fruits, and 196 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS vegetables.6 In Bangladesh the Food Security for Vulnerable problem solving; and in Yemen, training was provided in Group Development Women and Their Dependents financial management (www.businessedge-me.com). (FSVGD) project provides multifaceted assistance to 110,000 women in seven districts of northwestern Bangladesh. Part- Integrated and multidisciplinary approaches ner nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) deliver a com- to capacity development prehensive training program to FSVGD women, who in turn disseminate their learning to family members. Although Training needs to go beyond technology focus to the entire women are the direct beneficiaries, men's support groups, host of skills and capacities required to run a successful comprising community members who are men and FSVGD enterprise. Capacity development on its own would be spouses, have been formed. Their role is to support FSVGD insufficient if other constraints faced by the women enter- women, increase their own awareness of women's empower- prises--such as credit and risk management--are not ment and human rights issues through their meetings, and addressed in an integrated manner. disseminate these messages to the wider community.7 A project operated by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Kenya provides women's groups with technical skills, basic computer literacy, Developing a capacity development service business start-up assistance, and improved financial and sector for women business management skills, in addition to establishing wider Train-the-trainer approaches help to continue developing marketing networks. In contrast to other projects, which capacity over the long term. When skills are acquired and focus only on improving technical skills, the UNIDO project passed on by project beneficiaries themselves, a project gains also emphasizes confidence building to strengthen women's momentum that endures after the project team has left. For roles in the community. The project provides information on example, community learning centers in three provinces in HIV and AIDS and offers literacy programs. By facilitating China provided vocational courses to women in field crops, women's access to the tools and skills they need to improve, livestock and poultry, agroprocessing technology, and gar- monitor, and evaluate their progress as entrepreneurs, the dening. Newly trained women were responsible for passing project enables them to set goals for themselves and to their new knowledge and skills to others; women were also achieve their business objectives. The women are also encour- provided with credit by local governments and credit coop- aged to organize a business association. Establishing a formal eratives. As a consequence of the training interaction, association enables them to get in touch with like-minded women's social position and role in economic development women, exchange ideas, and take part in policy preparation increased in the communities (UNESCO 2003). Another processes at a variety of levels to help determine the future of Asian example comes from Lao PDR, where strategies for micro- and small-scale enterprises (UNIDO 2003). offering training in weaving have a built-in multiplying Establishing and training multidisciplinary teams of effect, with trainees required to teach others.8 district-level extension and line-level agency staff can In the Middle East and North Africa, the training-of- improve support to producers, particularly if they are organ- trainers component of "Women Get the Business Edge" (a ized into effective groups. For example, Proshika, a Bengali training program sponsored by IFC's Gender Entrepre- NGO, offers an integrated package of assistance to women's neurship Markets Unit) makes a concerted effort to target poultry groups by training women as paraveterinarians women as well as men trainers. The specific aims of the pro- through group courses. The groups are provided with loans gram are to develop a larger cadre of women and men train- and technical extension services, and a compensation farm ers, to encourage businesswomen's associations to become has been established to compensate for losses and therefore brokers for business management training on an ongoing minimize risk for project participants. The project has basis to their members through certified Business Edge caused the average weekly incomes of participating house- partners in their countries, and to conduct focus groups holds to rise by 31 percent after becoming members.9 and document lessons learned about women-specific The La Carmela program in Ecuador, which instructs business. The workshops are highly customized. In unemployed women in artisanal chocolate making, shows Afghanistan, for example, training was provided in market- that success is possible when small-scale production units ing nontraditional businesses; in Egypt, workshop partici- can be internationally competitive, high-quality raw pants chose training in marketing and pricing; in Jordan, materials are available, and a need can be demonstrated to entrepreneurs requested training in pricing strategies and integrate the work of skilled women into the production THEMATIC NOTE 2: CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT FOR SMALL-SCALE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS 197 system. Crucial factors in the project's success were the (building, electricity, computer facilities, and machinery), interregional transfer of skills (staff training by an established training, and counseling to women to enhance their pro- Brazilian chocolate producer), the design and production of ductivity and income opportunities. The package includes first-class marketing materials, and the creation of a fully engaging assistance in conducting market surveys and equipped and staffed production unit for fine handmade drawing up business plans.13 Business incubators are con- chocolate products. The La Carmela program began when sidered very useful and effective in engaging poor women UNIDO, the government of Norway, and the nonprofit foun- entrepreneurs in productive markets. dation Ce-Mujer saw an opportunity to increase the value Market intelligence. Poor women cannot afford either to added of Ecuadoran cocoa, enhance the role of women in undergo training or to take out loans unless a reasonable Ecuador's industrial development, and address the problem profit margin is possible. However, women often lack proper of high women's unemployment. Women with no previous market intelligence, hindering their ability to make sound skills have now mastered the art of the artisan chocolatier and business decisions, and they require training to seek out and are now fully qualified to work in transnational companies or analyze relevant production and market information. The operate their own businesses.10 marketing extension component of the Livelihoods, Empowerment, and Agroforestry Project in Bangladesh is a good example of how training by extension officers on how Complementary support to undertake market intelligence helped a women's group to Preferential financial services. To kick-start women's enter- refine their enterprise development plans to better respond prises, preferential financial services may need to be offered. to market needs. The women had been nervous and insecure For example, in Kenya, through the Growth Oriented about going to market. However, they used their social cohe- Women Enterprise (GOWE) program, IFC and the African sion to support one another and--initially supported by Development Bank are piloting an initiative to help women- local extension officers--were able to match supply and owned businesses grow by providing partial guarantees that market demand (see Innovative Activity Profile 1 for details). will allow them to secure loans between $20,000 and Similar experiences have been documented for women's $400,000. The program, which started in 2006, also provides groups in Bihar (World Bank 2006). women entrepreneurs with customized business manage- Ensuring gender-equitable access to information and ment skills training and mentorship support. The GOWE communications technology is critical. Applications relevant program plans to help up to 400 women-owned enterprises to the production and marketing of agricultural produce in Kenya to access credit by 2011.11 include telecenters, cellular phones, and personal digital assis- Business incubators. Business incubators help to extend tants. Extension databases can track commodity prices and services to small and medium-scale businesses in their crit- inform farmers. Up-to-date information on agricultural pro- ical early stages of development. Their services include assis- duction and postharvest and processing technologies can be tance in drafting business plans, the introduction of new accessed,as can the contact details of subject matter specialists, crop varieties and technologies, and improved management information on plant quarantine regulations, climate records, practices to support agricultural and rural entrepreneur- market prices, and weather forecasts. Internet facilities can ship. Other services typically include providing Internet enable extension advisors and farmers to access agricultural access, financial and legal advice, training, and networking. Web sites andWeb sites of universities with faculties or depart- Given the unique issues faced by women entrepreneurs, ments of agriculture (see also Thematic Note 4 in Module 9). business incubators focusing specifically on women will go far in building capacities and sustainable enterprises. For GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS example, the Village Business Incubator program in the FOR PRACTITIONERS coastal midland areas of Syria provides women in nine vil- lages with an open learning space with a particular focus on Training and capacity development are needed to ensure that business counseling, enterprise management training, and women entrepreneurs participate effectively in markets: follow-up to monitor business performance. Several busi- nesses have been set up.12 In Gujarat, India, the International Entrepreneurial skills programs should be adapted to Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Development local cultural contexts.Although such programs may pro- (ICECD) has created the ICECD Small Business Incubator vide a broad skills base, they also need to help women for rural women. The program provides infrastructure develop the skills they require to access specific, identified 198 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS value chains. Assisting women to understand how to line-agency staff, who have trained women in a variety of make a profit is the bottom line. Training can be given in specialized skills. performing market surveys, accessing market intelli- Exchange or exposure visits enable entrepreneurs to view gence, developing business plans, and other aspects of directly the successful application of income-generating entrepreneurship. activities and production techniques introduced to other In some areas training in basic literacy and numeracy programs and to share experiences. Training should use may be required prior to enrolling women in entrepre- a host of practical approaches and not merely in-class neurial skills programs. Confidence-building measures instruction. may also be necessary. Developing a capacity development support sector (inde- The gender of trainers or extension workers must be pendent trainers) and increasing the presence of women considered carefully. In some cases women may be more in support services (extension, regulatory institutions, culturally appropriate in these roles. Steps, such as pro- business development services) through their capacity viding a chaperone, may need to be taken to permit development will lead to an increased presence of women women trainers to travel. In other cases men trainers may in the system that is likely to benefit women's businesses. be suitable, for example, where the gender of the trainer does not matter, or where women farmers have doubts Complementary support is needed in addition to training: about the competence of women extension workers or trainers. In the latter case it may be possible to introduce All training programs should be designed to ensure women trainers later. access--for example, by providing child care, consider- Awareness should be raised in the target community about ing the location of the training, and working around the proposed training and its purpose to gain the confi- women's time schedules. dence of men relatives of women selected for training. Ensuring access to, or the provision of, appropriate infra- Where possible, training should have a built-in multipli- structure (building, electricity, computer facilities, and cation approach to ensure sustainability, with trainees machinery) for training may be necessary. required to teach others. Also in the interests of sustain- Women entrepreneurs may require regular counseling ability, training programs should incorporate a risk beyond business start-up to help them maintain and management strategy where necessary. For example, in enhance their productivity. areas where HIV and AIDS are prevalent, the continuity Women's enterprises may require preferential financial of business operations of the family would be threat- services. These can be offered at start-up. ened if the family member with the critical business Training should be accompanied by an additional services competence were to die. and support package to ensure the sustainability of Multidisciplinary approaches to training can be very activities--for example, business development services, effective. Some projects have established programs run assistance in market intelligence, initial handholding in by multidisciplinary teams of district-level extension and market management, and risk management interventions. THEMATIC NOTE 2: CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT FOR SMALL-SCALE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS 199 T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Collective Action and Market Linkages lobalization has increased competition and market- G The history of RPO development is long and tortuous, related risks and uncertainties. Whether producers with various types of groups having been created for social are supplying export markets or domestic mar- and economic purposes, often at the bidding of an outside kets, the rural organizations to which they belong have agency rather than from need felt by smallholders. It is become important instruments for them to manage their critical that RPOs developed for commercial purposes are assets more effectively; gain access to services, inputs, credit, strongly business and market oriented, and capacities and markets; and contribute more effectively to decisions developed to work effectively as partners in value chains. made with value chain partners. Women have the most to Developing competitive smallholder RPOs is a long and win from collective economic action, as they often have difficult task and requires business and market orientation more limited access than men to productive resources. The in the agencies providing support to the RPOs as well. As development of strong economic organizations can enable women smallholders may be even less endowed than men poor women to overcome high transaction costs, limited smallholders, this task is of an even higher complexity. scale of production, poor access to a variety of resources, and lack of political and bargaining power as individuals. Quite KEY GENDER ISSUES apart from these advantages, studies show that membership in groups frequently helps members, particularly women, to The following discussion gives the key gender issues in rural improve their self-confidence and their status in the com- organizations and other forms of collective action and link- munity (Dixie 2005; FAO 1995). ages among chain actors. This Thematic Note focuses on building the capacity of rural producer organizations (RPOs) to meet the needs of Representation of women in RPOs women entrepreneurs. It is important to emphasize that developing capacity per se is not enough: RPOs must also Formal RPOs or community-based organizations (CBOs) are learn to understand and work effectively with specific value membership organizations created by producers to provide chains that have been identified through capacity develop- themselves with technical and economic services. RPOs are ment. Effective market linkages enable women, through not necessarily inclusive: the poorest of the poor often lack the their organizations, to become more active in managing minimum assets to take advantage of what an RPO can offer. their roles in the value chain itself, as opposed to merely Women, with their generally lower asset base, frequently find responding to the actions of other actors. The capacity it more difficult to join and become active members of RPOs. development needs of RPOs include improving their For example, land ownership is a frequent criterion for mem- access to, as well as management of, information; their bership, yet women are far less likely than men to own land. knowledge of the market; their control over contracts; and When a household is a member of an RPO, it is usually their cooperation with other actors in the chain (KIT, the man who is considered to be the member and takes part Faida MaLi, and IIRR 2006). in RPO activities, even though women members of the One should note that the equity objective must not sub- household may be active farmers. sume the efficiency objectives: women RPOs must be driven Women who do join RPOs may find it hard to articu- by a profit motive and must be market led. late their gender-related needs. Frequently the concept of 200 substantive gender equality, which involves measuring and Box 5.9 Bosnia and Herzegovina: improving women's actual influence or control in value Empowering Women through RPOs chain partnerships, is not well understood. For example, an increasingly favored approach to developing chain partnerships is fair trade. Fundamental to fair trade is the A women's producer association, established in idea that producers and workers in a chain are entitled to 2003 in Tesanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, provides their "fair share" of the profits. Fair trade standards include members with a milk collection network to help them to market surplus milk. The purpose was to gender-specific indicators, but they do not guarantee that secure markets for milk products and increase organizations participating in fair trade value chains fully members' household incomes. Subsequently the understand, or are committed to, gender equity. Formal producer association started to assist members in norms for gender equality, as expressed in fair trade stan- accessing credit and equipment. The women pur- dards, are generally respected. For instance, separate toilets chased more animals from the Livestock and Rural and washing facilities for women may be provided, and Finance Development Project credit line to women may be elected to serve on committees. Yet research increase their production. The project empowered in countries as disparate as Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Peru these traditional milk producers to become more shows that women often do not participate actively in such active within their communities, make greater committees (Guijt and van Walsum forthcoming). A study financial contributions to their households, and of women members of Coocafé (a Costa Rican Fair Trade thus improve their family and community posi- cooperative) revealed that many women are members tions. Women's active membership in the producer association enabled them to improve their knowl- merely on paper to help the family unit access more credit edge and skills about livestock production and from the cooperative or increase voting rights. Sporadic marketing. The marketing of milk created new attempts by Coocafé to empower women have had limited jobs, increased incomes for rural men and women, success because they have been unfocused.1 Because and increased livestock production. The vision women have little voice in many RPOs, they often focus on that the producer association has today is to the interests of the men's membership. Particular atten- expand its activities and marketing to vegetable tion, therefore, needs to be paid to strengthening women's production and processing, thus providing ser- voice in mixed gender cooperatives. vices to a larger number of agricultural producers. To combat their lack of effective representation in RPOs, women are more frequently setting up their own RPOs. In the Source: IFAD n.d. last decade, new, women-only agricultural and rural organi- zations have grown significantly, along with women's partici- with others, RPOs require the ability to cooperate with and pation in existing cooperatives. Women's organizations understand the requirements of processors, traders, and outside the agricultural sector, such as social or religious retailers. Members need to be committed to continuous groups, have also broadened their mandate to include sup- improvement in farm production, keep farm records, have port for agricultural income-generating activities, mainly access to independent information on market prices and through skills training and credit. These efforts have often trends, and obtain a good understanding of the value required financial backing and developing collaborative links chain. It can take about four years or more to build a chain with government and private sector agencies. Despite this partnership, assuming that the farmers are already crop progress, many women's groups still lack financial resources specialists. It can take a year or more to identify a good and skills in developing and marketing products. To act effec- partner; a further year to develop trust, a shared vision, tively in value chains, women's RPOs require a step-by-step and a joint business plan; and another two years to ensure process of capacity development, with the RPOs slowly taking that the partnership is implemented successfully (KIT, on more tasks as their ability to access market opportunities, Faida MaLi, and IIRR 2006). services, and investments improves (box 5.9). Many RPOs lack a business and market orientation and an accounting system to track the progress of an economic Weak market linkages endeavor. Many rural organizations originally were formed To begin managing value chains as partnerships of chain by governments to build social capital among farmers--for actors who actively cultivate and codetermine collaboration instance, to manage the seed funds of a project or run a THEMATIC NOTE 3: COLLECTIVE ACTION AND MARKET LINKAGES 201 microcredit scheme--but they were not designed to respond 50 percent of the attendees are women. To ensure that project to market opportunities. Assisting existing or new women's activities aimed at securing livelihoods and promoting eco- groups to acquire a business orientation is therefore key to nomic activities are relevant to women, a special focus is given developing value chain partnerships. A business orientation to providing women access to skills, information, resources, requires chain partners to respond quickly and effectively to and assets. Long-term arrangements for credit, technical early market failures. For instance, an ultimately successful inputs, and markets have been set up to support women and IFAD project in Tamil Nadu introduced microfinance their enterprises beyond the end of the project. Women from schemes as the principal tool for empowering rural women the poorest households, and those facing special circum- through income-generating activities. The promotion of stances (widows, the destitute, the deserted, and sex workers), dynamic, cohesive women's groups, which were then formed are offered special support (World Bank 2006a). into federations, was a major component of the project. In Tanzania the Participatory Agricultural Develop- Because the postproduction linkage of marketing was not ment and Empowerment Project advises that women built into the project initially, participants suffered from the make up at least 40 percent of the Community Investment lack of guaranteed marketing opportunities, nonremunera- Subproject Committee and the Farmer Group Investment tive prices, and exploitation by merchants and middlemen.2 Subproject Committee membership in each project loca- Assistance to women RPOs must therefore be based on tion. Women-only subprojects are allowed. At least two a strong profit and market orientation. The plan for capac- signatories for subproject accounts must be women. Either ity development must be based on a strong chain analysis the chair or the secretary of any subproject must be a with a gender lens. Capacity development efforts must be woman, and village-level microplanning is done so that combined with complementing services essential for community members, including women, can participate developing the RPO's business--be it credit, land access, in planning and prioritizing needs (World Bank 2006b). or technology upgrade. In Chad women play a critical role in collecting fruit, fish- RPO development must follow from a market and value ing, cattle rearing, and processing and marketing farm pro- chain analysis that identifies the specific place of the RPO duce. In response, the Agriculture Services and Producer in the chain and the needs and requirements from it. Organizations Project seeks gender equity by requiring that Capacity development proceeds from this--and may focus subproject service providers take the viewpoints and concerns on market, production, technology, organization, and of women into account, that the departmental committees other issues as relevant. RPOs develop as they work in selecting subprojects prioritize women's groups and their tandem with other stakeholders in the chain and learn to plans, that at least 20 percent of the membership in all new adapt efficiently to the system. However, significant and committees established to implement or supervise a project sustained support is needed to build strong RPOs-- must be women, and that at least 40 percent of the subprojects whether this support comes from higher up the chain or are to be managed by women (World Bank 2003). To date, from an outside development organization. over 3,000 subprojects have been approved, 40 percent of which have been implemented successfully by women. GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED Developing RPO networks The following discussion presents some innovative activities and synthesizes the lessons learned for future project and RPOs can increase their economies of scale and bargaining program design and implementation. power by linking with other groups engaged in similar activi- ties. "The Inter-group Resource Book: A Guide to Building Small Farmer Group Associations and Networks" (FAO 2002) Promoting women's representation in RPOs describes how a participatory approach can be used to estab- Gender equity is a basic founding principle of the Tamil Nadu lish intergroup associations in rural areas. Key points include Empowerment and Poverty Reduction (Puthu Vazhvu) the following: (1) the RPO should establish a matching fund project. Components include ensuring that women are repre- to ensure group commitment; (2) in some locations the pri- sented in all project-supported village institutions. Approxi- vate sector cannot deliver equity and efficiency benefits to mately 50 percent of subcommittee members are women; in poor people, and public support is required for RPOs to help the economic activity groups one of the two leaders has to be women overcome poor access to resources and markets; a woman, and a quorum can be achieved at meetings only if and (3) an RPO does not have to offer the same services 202 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS everywhere. According to need, an RPO may provide spe- Supporting women in developing chain cialized services to its members, for instance, access to inputs, partnerships bulk purchase of supplies,and group marketing.In some areas Box 5.10 provides examples from Nicaragua and Peru to separate group enterprises might be required to ensure that illustrate the added value that an explicit gender focus can both women and men can be involved, whereas in other areas bring to women's associations. Nicaraguan women's coffee mixed groups might be more acceptable. Sometimes women is marketed in the United States under a separate label from and men may work together but on separate tasks. other Nicaraguan coffee. Aside from helping the women The opening of community-managed procurement cen- develop their technical capacity in all aspects of coffee pro- ters, an innovation piloted in the Andhra Pradesh Rural duction, the program has helped them acquire land titles, Poverty Reduction Project in India, successfully demon- thus ensuring their control over fundamental productive strated ways to combat the lack of market access among assets. In Peru a dedicated marketing channel is also devoted poor women and men. The key innovations of the project, to women's coffee. Capacity development aims to which have contributed to the social and economic empow- strengthen the women's self-esteem and leadership capacity. erment of the rural poor, include (1) promoting of RPOs Their coffee is supplied free to homeless women in Canada, and federations, which organize the dispersed farmers to thus highlighting the brand's solidarity credentials. aggregate commodities; (2) localizing the value chain, bringing the market to the village level, and providing a "one-stop shop" for buyers, input suppliers, traders, and Combining efficiency and equity objectives producers; and (3) promoting business expertise within the The sheer cost of collecting produce from farmers in isolated village and increasing transparency in transactions (see areas means that the poorest and the most ethnically margin- Innovative Activity Profile 2 for details). alized producers may not be reached. A study of Maquita Box 5.10 Nicaragua and Peru: Chain Partnerships with Women's RPOs Las Hermanas ("The Sisters") coffee, Nicaragua primary education campaign and constructed or repaired many local schools. Located in the Department of Jinotega, where 65 per- Café Femenino: A Peruvian Women's Coffee Production cent of Nicaragua's coffee is grown, a fair trade and Cooperative organically certified coffee growers' cooperative (the Sociedad de Pequeños Productores Exportadoras y Café Femenino is a women-owned brand of coffee Compradores de Café SA [SOPPEXCCA]), has grown in northern Peru and sold in U.S. and Canadian received special recognition for a program called Las markets as fair trade. The coffee is also supplied free to Hermanas ("The Sisters") coffee. This coffee is grown local women's shelters in Canada through Women in entirely by the cooperative's 148 women (its total Crisis. Café Femenino seeks to foster change in the pre- membership numbers 450). In 2006 Peet's Coffee fea- vailing socioeconomic order, and its Café Femenino tured Las Hermanas in retail stores across the United Foundation helps to improve local perceptions of States. SOPPEXCCA is led by a woman, Fátima Ismael, women's role by supporting programs and projects that and the organization has been critical to helping its generate income that women control. Forums focus on affiliated women farmers gain titles to land and to building self-esteem and leadership. With the help of produce, manage, and market their own coffee. To organic and fair trade premiums, much progress has promote income diversification, SOPPEXCCA intro- been made to improve conditions in coffee-growing duced its coffee farmers to organic honey production areas, including better nutrition, improved sanitation, for sale in local markets. It has also facilitated a new wet-processing mills, and many miles of new roads. Sources: For Nicaragua, www.ecologicfinance.org/borrow_nic.html; for Peru, www.cafefemeninofoundation.org/story.html; for Women in Crisis, www.planetbeancoffee.com/CafFem/index.html. THEMATIC NOTE 3: COLLECTIVE ACTION AND MARKET LINKAGES 203 Cuschunchic, a fair trade initiative in Ecuador, shows that it In Afghanistan a project found that it could involve focused very narrowly on areas of high cocoa production and women as farmers by working with, rather than challenging, on the specific ethnic groups that grew cocoa (Nelson and existing gender roles and responsibilities. The project Galvez 2000). Isolated communities may be uniformly poor, helped women to upgrade their poultry farming practices, be largely subsistence oriented, and use migration and wage and to market their products through specially designed labor as primary coping strategies. Can chain partnerships be marketing networks (box 5.12). developed if"economic potential"is a criterion for geographic targeting, and is"economic potential"a criterion of overriding GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR importance when attempting to bring poor people into value PRACTITIONERS chains? Equity and efficiency criteria may clash--and threaten the long-term commercial viability of a project. Supporting women's RPOs to become effective chain The question of who pays for organizational development, partners is often a slow process, in part because of the and for how long, needs to be examined carefully, particularly social welfare origins of many RPOs and women's when equity objectives are to be achieved. The case of fair organizations. A step-by-step process of capacity devel- trade is instructive, because it makes a deliberate choice to opment may be required, with the RPO taking on more foster equity as well as efficiency. This commitment can mean tasks as its ability to access market opportunities, that buyers and other intermediaries may find themselves services, and investments improves. Although gender working with poorly organized RPOs to achieve equity objec- equity may be one of the project objectives, for success tives. The question then arises as to which partner in the value any RPO must be designed and function on completely chain should arrange and pay for organizational development commercial viability terms. to enable the RPO to become economically effective. In Peru, A gendered understanding of existing market linkages for example, Biorganika, a subsidiary banana company and the roles men and women play in specific value owned by Solidaridad (the fair trade company behind the chains is needed before plans are developed between Max Havelaar brand), works with 200 marginalized small- chain partners to upgrade or internationalize the selected holder families to certify and export bananas as "fair" and value chain. Without such an analysis, women may lose "organic." Few NGOs are active in the region, so Biorganika out--in terms of access to and control over land and itself--a commercial company--spends much time and other productive assets, as managers of gene flows, and as money on developing capacity in RPOs. Tensions have devel- market women in local markets. oped among project partners because of the costs involved Postproduction market linkages need to be strongly built and the lack of clarity over which partners are actually into all projects. Profit is the bottom line. responsible for developing capacity in the RPOs (Guijt and Strengthening women's voice requires more than ensur- van Walsum forthcoming). ing that women are represented on mixed-gender RPO One way to address these issues is to combine efficiency committees, which tells us little about their levels of and equity objectives by forming partnerships among a participation. The means of achieving substantive gen- range of commercial and development actors. In Rwanda der empowerment need to be discussed. poor widows were successfully targeted by an essential oil Project partners must clarify their respective responsibil- project that enables them to sell quality produce into the ities for organizational development of RPOs (who will international organic chain (box 5.11). The equity agenda do what, and when will the assistance end). This clarity is supported the project's economic efficiency objectives by particularly important when trying to shift an RPO organizing women into cooperatives, providing them with selected for equity reasons into an economically effective good training, and providing quality technology--good organization. Commercial RPO development is a very plant genetic material was the key to commercial success. complex task that requires a total commercial orientation Several social enterprise initiatives are currently ongoing, among project or program staff while keeping the social including several funded by Care International in Africa, objectives intact. There is a long and sad history of unsuc- where a collaboration is formed between producer groups, cessful RPOs around the world due to inadequate, non- a private marketing (and/or processing) firm, and a devel- commercial based, or misguided institutional support. opment organization--with the development organiza- It is necessary to promote a conducive legal environment tion supporting the unsustainable costs of initial capacity with laws and regulatory systems that promote growth building of smallholders. and recognition of economic RPOs. 204 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS Box 5.11 Rwanda: Organizing Women to Enter Chain Partnerships Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant oil for local and international markets. It works with Products (ASNAPP), a continent-wide agrienterprise, three cooperatives with 150 members, 94 percent of focuses on the cultivation and use of high-value natu- whom are widows and orphans--groups that the proj- ral plant products to enable African agribusinesses to ect specifically wished to include. The cooperative compete in local, regional, and international markets. farming structure was identified as a valuable social Products include herbal teas, culinary herbs and arrangement for fostering reconciliation, unity, and spices, and essential and pressed oils, as well as medic- relationships among farmers, in addition to being an inal plants. appropriate business mechanism. Ikirezi provides The Ikirezi Natural Products Project was initiated in cooperative members with training in agribusiness 2002, when ASNAPP performed product and market management and HIV and AIDS prevention and care. assessments for agricultural products in Rwanda. Key features include the following: ASNAPP recommended essential oils, particularly geranium and eucalyptus, as attractive agribusiness Mobilizing farmers into associations and providing opportunities. A joint project between ASNAPP and technical assistance World Relief Rwanda was established to study the via- Constructing two 200-kilogram-capacity distillation bility of commercializing geranium oil. Initial funding units to produce international-quality oil in situ, for the pilot project was provided by the United States thus reducing costs Agency for International Development. Following suc- Acquiring ECOCERT organic certification cessful piloting, Ikirezi Natural Products was founded Establishing a network of domestic and interna- as a community-interest company in August 2005. tional partners with technical expertise in essential Ikirezi's objective is to produce high-quality essential oils, and winning Rwandan government support. Source: www.ikirezi.com. Box 5.12 Afghanistan: Upgrading Women's Poultry Farming Income generation and food security are critical con- women links village producers, through district Poultry cerns in Afghanistan, where women have experienced Producer Groups, to the provincial center, where there discrimination and exclusion from access to public is a technical resource base that supplies inputs and resources for many years. Village poultry production is market opportunities. By November 2005 the three- a culturally acceptable practice for women that year project had trained 21,364 women in poultry addresses both the food insecurity and income genera- management and organized 850 producer groups. tion needs of the household. Poultry provide scarce The training and organizational development have animal protein and can be sold or bartered to generate helped women to increase their household income; income. The Rebuilding Agricultural Markets Program about 2,545,281 eggs are produced each month, val- and Food and Agriculture Organization sponsored a ued at an estimated $311,032 (which comes to $20 project that developed an innovative organizational per producer per month). Project results demon- structure enabling village women to receive training in strate that village women can be organized into an poultry production, obtain production inputs, and effective marketing network that links women poul- access markets on a sustainable basis. A network of try producers to urban markets. Source: Thomas R. Fattori, "Organizing Afghan Women to Generate Income from Poultry," www.globalfoodchainpartner ships.org/cairo/papers/TomFattoriAfghanistan.pdf. THEMATIC NOTE 3: COLLECTIVE ACTION AND MARKET LINKAGES 205 T H E M AT I C N OT E 4 Supporting AgriculturalValue-Adding Strategies S trategies to add value that are close to the producer or management. Thematic Note 3 discusses ways to develop district level help to ensure that more rents are cap- the organizational capacity of RPOs to meet the needs of tured for poverty reduction, provided that attention women members. is paid to producers' ability to bear risk. A major challenge in market development is to ensure the equitable distribution FINDING OPPORTUNITIES INVALUE CHAINS of gains. Women historically have been excluded from gain- ing higher shares in value chains. Careful planning and Opportunities for value adding for women may exist through management of interventions is required. This Thematic an upgrade of their current role in a value chain, moving up Note explores how the promotion of strategies to add value to additional roles in value chains (for example, into process- can help meet equity and efficiency objectives. ing), finding new products and becoming dominant mem- One approach for adding value to products and capturing bers of a new value chain, and increasing efficiency in current higher financial benefits involves assisting women to become interaction in the value chain. All are based on concrete crop specialists while maintaining a clear market orientation. analysis of the markets and value chains with a gender lens.At Women may need to improve their production skills, and they the minimum such an analysis should ensure that women may need training in a set of farm management skills, such as and other disadvantaged members of chains, or women in crop and livestock production, planning, record keeping, and sectors impacted by the chain, are not negatively affected by financial management. The time it takes to become a special- the way the chain is organized and functioning. ized farmer depends on the existing assets and capacities of the Chain partnerships are often highly gendered: men speak farmer, the type of product, and the type of market. To pro- to other men when brokering agreements between produc- duce for export markets is far more demanding than to pro- ers and buyers. If this dialogue does not take into account duce for local markets; it may take many years to develop the actual and potential gender issues, women may lose out. For necessary skills (KIT, Faida MaLi, and IIRR 2006). example, women often stand to lose when export markets Another value-adding strategy involves helping farmers are developed for local commodities. A gendered under- move into processing and marketing to add value to the standing of the costs and benefits to women when value product. This strategy also provides opportunities for land- chains are internationalized will not be captured if women less women to enter the value chain by offering processing farmers, processors, and marketers are not consulted. A gen- and marketing services to local farmers. Intervention needs dered analysis of existing market linkages is also needed. An to focus on marketing and market management capacity examination of Fair Trade mango production and marketing development; investments in facilities for processing, mar- in Burkina Faso showed that some women gained from the keting, and distribution (infrastructure and professional new employment opportunities provided by the packing sta- staff); developing market outlets; designing and implement- tion, but other women suffered from reduced marketing ing management systems (operational procedures); and opportunities. Mangoes that women used to sell locally are developing organizational discipline. RPOs help save costs now marketed internationally, and women's role in the inter- through joint input procurement, processing, marketing, national marketing chain appears to be much smaller than it and other activities. Their key competencies should include was in the local market (Guijt and van Walsum forthcoming). quality grading, market outlet development, and logistics Not only may women lose their role as marketers in the local 206 market, but they may also lose access to land, access to other on decision-making boards. The groups elected their own productive assets, and their roles in managing gene flows. management committees (40 percent of the committee members are women) to take them through their plan. A District Poverty Initiatives Project in Andhra Pradesh, GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED India,brought landless women laborers together.They bought The following discussion presents some innovative activities produce from farmers who are men, transported the produce and synthesizes the lessons learned for future project and in bulk to the market, and negotiated good prices with buyers program design and implementation. in town. Farmers who are men were relieved of the onerous task of bringing their crop to market, and their wives were fully informed of the price that their husbands were paid, pro- Adding value to existing products viding them with the basic information they needed to Dairy farmers, many of them women, in the Thika district negotiate household and personal consumption budgets.1 of Kenya added substantial value to their products in a short A UNIDO project centering on the olive oil chain in time. The key to success (and project sustainability) was to Morocco was able to ensure that although men were trained, involve farmers from the very beginning. They participated women were able to maintain control over the entire chain, in the baseline survey, worked on the problem analysis, and from picking olives to selling to the final consumer. The were involved in the planning and implementation of the women already knew how to make and market olive oil; project. They realized that they had land and labor; they just upgrading and professionalizing this knowledge were critical needed to organize themselves. This knowledge gave them to project success. The women were trained in improved the capacity to take on new roles and develop their manage- production techniques, resulting in much-improved, more ment skills. The farmers have added milk collection, trans- healthful, and better-tasting oil with minimum postharvest port, processing, and sale; cattle breeding; feed formulation; losses. As a consequence of their training in marketing skills, and feed processing to their activities. Women dairy farmers they went to the consumer rather than waiting to be in particular capitalized on their existing skills. By baking approached. The women could risk undertaking such a steep snacks to accompany the main product they accessed a learning curve because their efforts were backed by a strong whole new market--customers who wanted a bite to eat and network of local training and commercial institutions that a drink on the spot. Women were also strongly represented offered complementary support (box 5.13). Box 5.13 Morocco: Improving Olive Oil Production and Direct Marketing to Consumers Women entrepreneurs in Chefchaouen, Morocco, and preparing labels and promotional materials,and they used to produce olive oil using highly labor-intensive, are selling their oil from kiosks in town instead of from unsafe methods that resulted in substantial losses of their homes. A strong network of local support institu- oil. Once the oil was bottled, the women waited for tions has been built up with the backing of the Ministry customers who came to their door. The olive oil was of Industry, Commerce, and Communications, as well very acidic and posed potential long-term health as a network of trainers in production technology and risks to consumers. UNIDO introduced a mechanical in business management and marketing. In total, olive oil production unit using locally available tech- UNIDO taught over 300 women and 50 men to produce nology. Women producers learned to harvest the better, safer olive oil that could command a higher olives, produce healthful oil, and control its quality price. Productivity increased by up to 40 percent. Five and acidity. Training sessions helped them improve other groups joined the first association, resulting in a their marketing skills. federation and the natural development of a cluster. The women are now building facilities where they Selling through kiosks in town has helped sales will install new equipment. They have been assisted in increase by at least 85 percent. Overall earnings have as purchasing packaging materials, registering trademarks, much as doubled. Source: www.unido.org/doc/27778. THEMATIC NOTE 4: SUPPORTING AGRICULTURAL VALUE-ADDING STRATEGIES 207 Developing new products ensure that maximum profits and minimum spoilage are achieved at each stage. On the northern Caribbean coast of Innovative products can be developed through pro-poor, Honduras, an initial training course (provided by the FAO gendered value chain analyses that meet the requirements of Livelihoods Diversification and Enterprise Development producers and consumers. Box 5.14 provides an example Project) helped women understand that they would need to from the Philippines. organize into groups. Moreover, the project helped appraise Financing value-addition strategies livelihood options and trained women and men in market- ing skills to improve their incomes (box 5.16). Involving women in technology development is important, Even the poorest of women, without key productive assets but poor women with weak access to markets may still like land and machinery, can enter value chains by engaging struggle with financing even low-cost processing technolo- in product development, processing, and marketing services. gies designed to add value to their produce. Box 5.15 shows In India a livelihood chain analysis identified commercially how this problem was addressed in South Africa. viable products in the informal economy. These included tis- sue-paper bags used by the hotel industry, shoe covers used Organizational and marketing capacity by visitors to monuments, and incense sticks. Participatory In strongly gender-segregated, lengthier chains, it is impor- Livelihood Plans were developed with organized groups of tant that women and men perform their tasks well, to Box 5.15 South Africa: Financing Value Addition Box 5.14 Philippines: Developing New Products In the early 1990s women's groups in South Africa's In the Philippines, rice was laborious and time- Limpopo and Gauteng Provinces started small-scale consuming for women to process by hand. The peanut butter processing and marketing to earn raw material was limited, because the glutinous additional cash. Traditional processing methods rice varieties that women grew produced poor were used, including labor-intensive roasting and yields and little land was devoted to glutinous rice manual stone grinding. Under these circumstances cultivation. Indeed, sales of glutinous rice con- only small volumes could be processed, resulting in tributed only marginally to household income, limited profit margins and low cash earnings. Fol- and so glutinous rice was not a high priority for lowing requests by the women's groups, a low-cost plant breeders. After talking with women farmers, mechanized processing technology was developed the Women in Rice Farming Systems project jointly by the South African Agricultural Research developed a study that included both formal sur- Council and Wageningen University and Research veys and household- and market-based action Centre. The equipment was supplied to the groups learning with women and men farmers. The on a loan basis, which was to be repaid from the results demonstrated the importance of glutinous profits of the operation. Intensive training in the use rice sold in its processed form as a specialty prod- and maintenance of the equipment was provided, uct. It provided a high percentage of women's and the results were monitored closely. Various incomes, enabling them to fulfill their responsibil- technical adaptations to the equipment were made, ities for key household inputs and food manage- based on the groups' experiences. The technology ment. A new, early maturing, and higher-yielding was easily mastered by all pilot groups, and total variety was developed that compared favorably in sales and the profits of peanut processing increased. taste and eating quality with local varieties, and Because of better marketing opportunities, results dehulling machinery was developed in collabora- in the periurban and urban groups were spectacu- tion with the women processors. This equipment lar: the urban group repaid the cost of the equip- improved labor efficiency and reduced the drudg- ment after only one year. For the rural groups, the ery involved in hand pounding. The value-added major obstacles remain the initial investment costs gross returns were 70 percent. and the development of marketing channels. Source: Paris 1989, cited in Farnworth and Jiggins 2006. Source: Wanders 2003. 208 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS Box 5.16 Honduras: Improving Women's and Men's Organizational and Marketing Abilities A majority of both women and men in the project area makes it feasible to purchase the technology; women depend on artisanal fishing. The Livelihoods Diversifi- are now planning to form an association, recognizing cation and Enterprise Development Project in Hon- that it will help them access equipment that will reduce duras offered a 30-day course to men fishers and their everyday vulnerability, improve fish storage, and women traders that covered theoretical and practical thus improve market prices. Furthermore, the project issues, including quality control, manufacturing best leadership expects that any increase in profits from fish practices, basic accounting, and processing techniques. sales would impact positively on household nutrition Mixing the genders led to improved understanding of and food security, given that women would control the each other's needs. Thanks to the training, women profits. The option currently under consideration is to increased profits by 20 percent. Both women traders provide one ice production facility to the men-owned and men fishers now want access to technologies such cooperative, and a second to the municipality, with as ice makers and small freezing cabinets. Men are open access to registered fishermen and women already organized into a fishing cooperative, which traders. Source: FAO 2006. women residents followed by sample development and access to market information, rather than obtaining this establishment of marketing linkages, negotiations with the information through their husbands. target customers, and design improvements. The Center for A step-by-step approach should be adopted to build Urban and Regional Excellence supported the initiative women's skills base and expand their enterprises. through mechanisms that enabled residents to engage with Project strategy should be based on this strong analysis-- the concerned agencies (USAID 2006). Box 5.17 describes and should be very market and profit oriented if women how landless women were able to offer critical services to are to compete in competitive value chains. Besides men farmers, which benefited all concerned. There are two capacity development, other necessary essential elements key lessons here: (1) a step-by-step approach was taken to may include technology adaptation, credit supply, and build the women's skills base and expand their enterprises land reform. Project design must be integrative and and (2) women were already organized into a group, so include all of these. training focused on developing their skills as a group. Upgrading existing activities is a relatively simple way of capitalizing on, and improving, women's current capa- bilities. The market already exists; the key is to supply it GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR with an improved product and to develop a targeted PRACTITIONERS marketing strategy to win customers. To do this, invest- Women and men need a clear understanding of their ments can be made in processing technology and in roles and responsibilities in relation to other actors in the improving women's marketing skills. value chain to develop vertical integration strategies Other potential businesses could be niche crops or mar- aimed at providing a good quality product, minimizing kets identified by the market assessment, in which postharvest losses, and meeting consumer demands. To women may have a particular advantage. achieve this goal, value chain analyses should be con- Women may be able to increase their income by captur- ducted (see the Overview). ing additional activities within the chain--for example, Gender analyses should be coupled with market research by forward integrating into processing. to obtain information on the most suitable crops or Innovative approaches to product development and activities along the value chain, which should be priori- marketing can help poor women without key productive tized for equity and efficiency gains. Women need direct assets, such as land, to enter value chains. THEMATIC NOTE 4: SUPPORTING AGRICULTURAL VALUE-ADDING STRATEGIES 209 Box 5.17 India:Women without Key Productive Assets Enter Value Chains The District Poverty Initiatives Project (DPIP) in With the help of a woman agricultural specialist pro- Andhra Pradesh uses women's self-help groups as a vided by the project, these women devised a scheme to starting point to empower the "poorest of the poor"-- buy from village farmers and sell it in the nearby a group it identifies using several criteria. One of the town. The group realized that most village farmers project's activities is helping women in self-help had little to sell, paid a great deal to get their crop to groups to form affinity groups consisting of very poor town, and received poor prices because they lacked women in a village who engage in similar economic the leverage to demand a higher price. The women activities. The project then helps these groups of pro- took out a sizable loan from the DPIP and then ducers move up the value chain by moving closer to offered the village farmers the going price for their consumers. Critical to this effort is an emphasis on crop. Because the total crop that the group was bro- collective (rather than individual) economic activity. kering was quite large, they could arrange transporta- Typically the first step is to help the group practice tion at a lower price per kilo, and--with the help of their current method of production more efficiently. the technical advisor provided by the project--they For example, split-bamboo basket makers may start drove a good bargain with buyers in town and realized buying bamboo poles collectively, which lowers the a significant profit. The profit was sufficient to repay price they pay. the loan and put money into a bank account to fund a Once an economic affinity group has developed new set of activities, which first focused on learning ways of conducting their current method of produc- how to grade the crop. The women then diversified tion more efficiently, the project works with them to into new crops. Each cycle brought further collective create new forms of economic activity. For example, profits, which were put into the group's bank account one group began as landless agricultural laborers. to capitalize their next venture. Source: www.rd.ap.gov.in/velugu/velugureportskaren.htm. 210 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Bangladesh:The Six-Step Marketing ExtensionTool PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION 4. Analysis of findings: The market research findings and potential profitability of alternative products are ana- M arketing involves finding out what customers lyzed. want and supplying it to them at a profit. The 5. Product choice: A strategic choice of products is made for marketing extension (ME) process is about raising marketing development. incomes through marketing education courses and subse- 6. Planning: An action plan clearly delineates activities, quent complimentary services. responsibilities, and timing for the selected products, set- ME interventions include (1) marketing education (creat- ting out what will be done, when, and by whom. ing a better understanding of the process, the market and its demand, and terms of products and services), (2) coordinat- ing (mobilizing groups, organizing events, and getting PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION things started), and (3) forming business linkages (making The Village and Farm Forestry Project (VFFP) was imple- introductions between buyers and sellers and facilitating the mented by Intercooperation (a Swiss international NGO) start of new trading relationships). with financing from the Swiss Agency for Development and The ME process works with CBOs (community-based Cooperation (SDC). The project--part of SDC's larger Sus- organizations). The six steps in the process are designed to tainable Land Use program--sought to support agroforestry empower community members to identify market opportu- in greater Rajshahi, in northwestern Bangladesh, by promot- nities and plan how to exploit them: ing quality planting material, introducing new varieties, and 1. Resource audit: The analysis of resources, including improving agroforestry techniques, notably in fruits, timber embedded skills, resources and equipment, existing mar- trees, and vegetables (mainly for homestead gardening). keting arrangements, and knowledge. During the project's sixth phase, economic and market 2. Selection of target products: This step involves detailed dimensions were introduced. It was obvious that poor farm- cost studies, analysis of alternative markets, and the ers' lack of marketing knowledge was a major constraint. selection of location(s) for market research. FAO had developed a "market education" approach, which 3. Market research: A task force holds discussions with was tailored to the project's needs in northwestern traders on potential products in terms of prices, quanti- Bangladesh with assistance from missions from the United ties, quality, and market opportunities. Kingdom (Accord Associates; Dixie 2005) and Switzerland (Intercooperation). The adapted approach became known as "The 6-Step Marketing Extension (ME) Tool," and in 2003 What's innovative? Marketing extension requires trials of the Marketing Extension Course began. relatively little development support and resources The experience had many positive outcomes. After the but has proven to have huge payoffs, especially VFFP concluded, the course was continued and the market where poor women have been socially and cultur- approach reinforced under the aegis of the Livelihood ally constrained from exploring their opportuni- Empowerment and Agroforestry (LEAF) Project, initiated ties in the market. in 2004 with guidance from Intercooperation and financing from SDC. The ME tool, which is one of the components of 211 LEAF's market approach, is the entry point for teaching and unreliable information about markets. Often local basic skills that enable community members to choose and traders were their only source of information. These buyers develop the most appropriate economic activities.1 After could take advantage of the villagers' limited information, further development, the pilot ME process was tested with knowing that they were unlikely to travel more than five 12 CBOs. Based on this field experience and feedback from kilometers beyond their homes. the CBOs, the methodology and tools were adapted and Traditionally local traders have developed relationships then implemented in 80 CBOs in 2004. with CBOs and villagers, sometimes even providing private loans. Such relationships can create a climate of dependency that prevents CBOs from seeking other buyers. (In their BENEFITS AND IMPACTS defense, it should be pointed out that the traders themselves Profitability at a glance. During the monitoring period have limited market awareness.) Through market surveys (from 2004 to June 2006), 11,000 producers from 455 CBOs CBOs discovered how diverse and dynamic the larger mar- were active in 15 sectors, including vegetables, milk, handi- ket is. They became aware of the different players (middle- crafts, minigarments, poultry, fish, and sand. At least 60 per- men, wholesalers, retailers, and others) and learned how to cent of the CBOs formed marketing groups to sell their collaborate with them. They gained knowledge, under- products in bulk and negotiate higher prices. These groups standing, and confidence through these interactions to also sought ways of improving or diversifying their output. communicate better and more directly with other actors in As a result, the estimated average monthly profit increased the market. Being able to compare their products to what to $55 ($2 per day per producer). was available in the market was a valuable experience as The CBOs have successfully integrated vulnerable mem- well. Seeing the quality, quantity, and diversity of products bers of the community. For example, women remain highly allowed them to make realistic assessments regarding their represented (up to 65 percent), with some even leading their own production potential. After considering the limitations CBO. Also, 25 percent of the extreme poor (landless, Adi- of their own CBOs, they could design a suitable marketing vashi-tribal communities, and women-headed households) strategy without being too ambitious. The positive results of are now running small businesses within groups in LEAF these market surveying trips persuaded many CBOs (27 per- areas. The various income-generating activities developed cent) to make surveys a regular tactic in planning their mar- in the CBOs have helped diversify livelihood prospects and keting strategies. These visits also reinforce links between limit income insecurity among these vulnerable groups. The CBOs and traders. field facilitators from LEAF's partner organizations have Inspiring new initiatives. The lack of financial and physi- transferred their competencies to newly recruited "local ser- cal assets generally has prevented the poor from expanding vice providers" to ensure that the intervention is sustained their production. They could sell their small surplus only to even after the project ends. local traders. As a result of the ME process, the CBOs Community-based organizations develop new capabilities. quickly moved to overcome this problem. They organized Conventionally, CBO members select income-generating groups to negotiate with and sell to distant traders. By June activities based on three criteria: known skills, proven suc- 2006, 58 percent of 455 CBOs had done this for their exist- cess, and existing local markets. Rarely would their market ing products. Another 21 percent had established commu- investigations extend beyond the calculation of income nity-level collection centers to attract new traders from far- (price volume). For this reason the notion of product ther away. The results are encouraging, with 35 large traders development, with the accompanying consideration of pro- collaborating with various CBOs. duction costs and profits, was new and challenging for the Benefits for the extreme poor. As mentioned earlier, the CBOs. Selecting potential income-generating activities and extreme poor represent 25 percent of CBO members then undertaking market surveys reinforced the groups' involved in marketing. At least 2,775 people (landless, Adi- confidence and abilities to analyze market conditions. vashi-tribal communities, and women who head house- The new skills increased the capacity of CBOs to select holds) have benefited by way of increased income and access relevant economic opportunities and encouraged them to to markets. Experience also suggests that the extreme poor expand beyond traditional practices and identify diverse have been able to raise their status in relation to traders. Half products and niche markets. To their benefit, they have of the CBOs' action plans incorporated at least one income- adopted the practice of calculating production cost/profit generating activity specifically designed to help the extreme margin to assess financial risks. Most CBOs had very limited poor. Another innovative action taken by some CBOs was to 212 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS use part of the working capital earned from savings to assist efficient than other groups in starting practical the extreme poor in starting up their own businesses. economic activities. Trust was a precondition for enact- Using professional service providers. To fulfill the targets ing joint strategies and establishing reliable networks agreed upon after the market survey, CBOs needed the help of with traders. various "experts." Notably, in the handicraft sector, skilled Participants claimed that the market survey was the most traders could help teach design techniques, providing training powerful step in the ME process, because immediate services while linking the CBOs' products to markets. LEAF benefits were often derived from contact with business- helped 42 percent of CBOs find service providers to assist with people and service providers. They valued the skills they quality improvement and marketing. This assistance includes learned, which gave them confidence that they were identifying service providers, providing linkages with them, making informed decisions when pursuing suitable and even supplying financial support when necessary. income-generating activities. Because the financial incentives are clearly linked to the market survey results, however, it is critical to involve all members at this stage, LESSONS LEARNED and not task force members alone. Facilitation anchors the ME process and is therefore cru- The ME process can be considered a formal introduction cial for success. The person who assumes this role is to people who need skills to become active rather than known as the "service provider ME" and must have skills passive players in commodity transactions. The process in capacity development and marketing. To ensure that can be expanded to select and explore one segment of the the service provider transfers these skills to CBO mem- market in detail (market actors, price, designs, and other bers, formal training and field training are delivered aspects). In this way the ME approach becomes a market throughout the program. LEAF assists with the coaching assessment tool. of participants. By learning about markets and gaining initial experience A strong task force is needed to develop marketing activ- at the microlevel, it has been possible to integrate the ities in a sustainable way. The selection of the task force extreme poor and vulnerable groups, including women, by members of the CBO was risky, in the sense that task who might otherwise have been excluded from the ME force members might adopt an elite identity separate process. Shared interests and backgrounds have created a from the interests of the greater community. In fact, this favorable environment of trust among the different cate- has not been the case. Generally the selection of trust- gories of poor people, and these small groups have grad- worthy people has reinforced social links within the ually raised their voices and assumed responsible roles, CBO. Having this small committee accelerates the notably in group marketing. investigation and analysis, reducing the number of meet- It is interesting to observe that exclusively women's ings. People make a point of attending decision-making groups built up their confidence to perform all of the sessions, especially the extreme poor, if they feel they will lead roles, retaining ownership of the group even when not be wasting time. Since the task force is made up of men were invited to join for practical reasons (such as local people, information can be shared informally on a taking products to markets). The additional family daily basis. LEAF has tried to ensure that the task force income generated by the women has also earned respect does not create a powerful knowledge gap, which would and support for their endeavors from their men counter- sabotage the community empowerment process. parts. Conversely, mixed groups quickly allowed men to A joint approach to marketing quickly gained acceptance take charge, leaving women on the fringe. because of the advantages of acting as a large group. In the past, suspicion of others stealing valuable contact or ISSUES FOR WIDER APPLICABILITY product information led people to be quite secretive and solitary when selling their goods. However, after the first The quality of instruction given by the field facilitator or exercise in which people shared their marketing prob- service provider is commensurate with the degree of lems, they discovered better solutions when acting as a success attained through ME. Because there has been a group. Groups with strong social bonds (from shared huge demand to extend ME services to CBOs, reinforc- cultural values, land, and location, for example) were ing the numbers of process "experts" has become a prior- quick to select a suitable product to produce coopera- ity. Training resource farmers to become service tively. Interestingly, women's groups were even more providers and field facilitators has had encouraging INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: BANGLADESH:THE SIX-STEP MARKETING EXTENSION TOOL 213 results. The lack of proficient personnel is exacerbated taka per day) should not be overlooked, but these tiny in isolated communities, where the local or district net- margins will not break the cycle of poverty in a sustain- work of professional services is not available to meet able way. The economic gains from participating in weak their business development demands. LEAF must local markets cannot compare with the substantial, sus- ensure that there are enough people to give quality tainable gains that can be made from entering the mass instruction to maintain high standards and should not markets. Although diversity has been heralded as a mark expand programs prematurely. of success, managing a great number of small and The extreme poor still risk exclusion from the marketing medium enterprises can be a significant drain on processes owing to their lack of skills. Being illiterate, resources. For these reasons, a more profitable strategy for with few assets and minimal spare time, means that they advanced CBOs to pursue may be to focus on fewer cannot contribute to the same degree as their counter- promising products. Few of the groups currently have the parts. The objective is not simply to use this group as financial clout to scale up their marketing activities, and labor but to ensure that they develop the skills that collaboration with banks then becomes a key limiting fac- enable them to participate. Smart subsidies or vocational tor. Such collaboration is not easily developed, and exter- training has been proposed as a means of supporting nal support to build the capacity to attract assistance from participation by the extreme poor in business activities. financial institutions is essential. Given these challenges, LEAF needs to explore these approaches while monitor- LEAF is implementing a value chain approach based on ing CBOs to see if they can maintain inclusive policies understanding of the functioning commodity chain, throughout ME. enabling identifying potential leverages and constraints. The current ME is very conservative in its targets, both for Ideally, this approach will promote links between CBOs, profitability and for the duration of marketing activities. market actors, and service providers while improving the The additional income generated (ranging from 20­80 business environment for the poor. 214 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 Andhra Pradesh, India: Making the Market Work for the Poor--Community-Managed Procurement Centers for Small and Marginal Farmers mall and marginal farmers in rural Andhra Pradesh S organizations. The poor and their organizations have cumu- have been subject to intensive exploitation by mon- lative savings exceeding $340 million and have leveraged eylenders, traders, and middlemen. Lack of access to more than $1.2 billion of credit from commercial banks the market, lack of power to negotiate prices because of since 2000. Diversification of livelihoods and asset building extreme poverty levels, and the daily challenge of meeting has increased incomes sevenfold in six years. minimum subsistence needs had made them vulnerable to unfair terms of trade. Procurement was done from distant PROBLEM ANALYSIS markets or through village-level traders and aggregators. The opening of community-managed procurement cen- Landholders find it difficult to transact with markets. The ters, an innovation piloted under the Andhra Pradesh Rural public and private market players also find the transaction Poverty Reduction Project,1 successfully demonstrates ways costs of procuring from dispersed farmers prohibitive. As a to combat this inefficiency. The procurement centers are result, these agencies are unable to provide low-cost and specifically defined as community-managed, decentralized adequate extension support services to these landholders. units for storing, assessing, and trading agricultural com- Therefore, state policy is to provide minimum support modities. Some of the unique features include management price operations at agricultural market yards. However, by women self-help group members and their institutions. farmers from far-off villages, especially poor farmers, did not receive remunerative prices because of the long distance to the market yards, nontransparent transactions at the PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION yards, and the increase in transaction costs for smallholders The Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project seeks to who could not aggregate their produce. enable the rural poor and their organizations to improve Because small-scale farmers could not access formal livelihoods and quality of life.The project helps to develop and sources of credit, they remained indebted to traders for empower self-managed, grassroots institutions of poor rural inputs, and even if their land produced well, nearly half of women, including self-help groups and their federations. their income was devoted to the interest payments on loans The project has mobilized 8 million women into about and the revenue lost from accepting low unit prices for their 630,000 self-help groups,2 covering 90 percent of the poor. produce from traders. In most cases, farmers ended up mak- These groups have been federated into 28,282 village ing distress sales of their output to traders. organizations, 910 subdistrict organizations, and 26 district Formal, large agribusinesses could not interact with smallholders because they were uninformed about quality specifications and had no local institutional arrangements for technical assistance to meet agribusiness standards. What's innovative? Community-managed, decen- tralized units for storing, assessing, and trading agricultural commodities have generated significant INNOVATIVE FEATURES economic, gender equality, and other benefits, while To eliminate the unfair practices of local traders and integrating the poorest producers with the market. enhance smallholders' bargaining power, village procure- ment centers, owned and operated by women's self-help 215 group members, were opened in 2003. The village procure- center typically covers villages within a 20-mile radius, so ment center addresses the lack of credit, quality control, farmers need not travel long distances to sell their pro- aggregation, and market linkage under a single umbrella. duce. The centers have also adopted transparent quality The key innovations that have helped to empower the rural control measures that enable private and cooperative poor both socially and economically are the following: agribusinesses to obtain produce of good quality and reduce the transaction costs for members. 1. Creating an institutional mechanism for aggregation: Each 3. Promoting business expertise within the village and procurement center, on average, aggregates produce from increasing transparency in transactions: The network of about 500 small-scale, dispersed producers and supplies it grassroots functionaries in the form of trained quality directly to the market yard or buyer. For private as well as controllers, bookkeepers, and storage specialists from public buyers, it is cost-efficient to procure directly from within the community ensures transparency and effi- farmers (see box 5.18 on how to set up a community- ciency in the operation of procurement centers. Market based procurement center). information on price and quality, displayed in the centers, 2. Localizing the value chain, bringing the market to the village is available to farmers. Now even farmers in the remote level, and providing a "one-stop shop": Suppliers (commer- and tribal villages can access market-based information cial banks, input suppliers, companies trying to source in real time by mobile phone. Quality testing and weighing raw materials) do not have to deal with a multitude of are conducted by community members in a transparent smallholders, and users (small-scale and marginal farm- manner,as opposed to profit-seeking middlemen.Farmers ers) do not have to deal with different organizations for receive cash payment on the spot, which makes the credit, inputs, and sales of their produce. A procurement process more efficient and favorable to the poor. Box 5.18 How to Set Up a Community-Managed Procurement Center A community-managed procurement center is a physical which has a clearly defined role. A committee has warehouse or depot at the village level, which is owned between three and five members, depending upon and operated by the members of the formal village orga- the volume of trading. Mandatory training is pro- nization. A typical procurement center contains weigh- vided for committee members on various aspects of ing machines and other instruments, packing materials commodity trading and handling. (gunny bags, a stitching machine, and markers, for exam- Developing a marketing activity calendar. Given the ple), tarpaulins, and moisture meters. The key design ele- seasonal nature of various commodities, it is essential ments are the following: to prepare an activity calendar for every procurement center to plan resource needs (both human and Conducting a value chain analysis and market financial, such as working capital). survey of various commodities to identify gaps Estimating working capital requirements in line with and the potential for scaling up opportunities and the marketing activity calendar prepared by the village to identify potential procurement centers at the organization. In deciding how much working capital village level. is required, consider the seasonality of the different Building human resource capacity at the local level. commodities, the estimated quantity that will be pro- Potential community resource persons are identified cured, and the approximate storage time needed. and trained in bookkeeping, quality control mecha- Finalizing quality and grading parameters, including nisms, and business development. Every procure- a protocol for the random inspection of stocks for ment center is assisted by an organizational struc- various commodities before the start of procurement. ture in the form of various committees, such as a Parameters used to assess the quality of produce are purchase and sales committee, quality control com- usually related to size, color, moisture, refraction, and mittee, and village social audit committee, each of free fatty acids. Source: Authors. 216 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS 4. Innovating supply chain management enhancements: A was projected to exceed $80 million; by 2010 the procure- first innovation is building a cadre of low-cost technical ment centers are projected to achieve an annual turnover in specialists drawn from the local community--that is, excess of $200 million. Apart from procuring crops, the members of the women's self-help group or their fami- marketing concept has been extended to milk procurement. lies. Over 100,000 grassroots functionaries participate in The project has formed more than 1,200 milk procurement supply chain management by operating these centers, centers at the village level and 60 bulk milk-chilling units at including bookkeepers, quality controllers, business the subdistrict level. The current turnover from dairying managers, and botanists. Training this cadre of resource surpasses $34 million, benefiting more than 100,000 milk persons has served to demystify technical assistance and producers. More than 2 million self-help group members make it available at the grassroots level. "Technical sus- transact with the procurement centers every year, and this tainability"--in other words, a continuous supply of number is estimated to reach 5 million by 2010. Quality "low-cost" trained staff--is thus assured. Village control and upstream value addition opportunities are now botanists also engage in research and development for available on the ground. forest products. A second innovation is the use of "low-cost" technol- Economic benefits and impact ogy to improve efficiency and transparency. Community resource persons use mobile phones to ascertain the latest Increase in income. The close proximity of procurement cen- market price before entering into contracts to purchase ters to farmers raised farmers' incomes by helping them to farmers' produce.3 Similarly, women quality controllers obtain better prices and reduce their marketing costs. The use digital technology to measure moisture and fat con- income gain on some commodities such as neem and lac tent and weigh produce. has exceeded 200 percent. A recent impact evaluation of the 5. Using procurement centers to outsource or franchise ser- partnership with APMARKFED (Andhra Pradesh State vices: In the franchising partnership model, procurement Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited) for maize pro- centers are used by public and private agencies as for- curement showed that the additional gain of decentralized ward procurement and marketing agents for community marketing is highest for marginal farmers, who gained an organizations. The project provides community mem- increase of $58 in one agricultural season. Through the bers with working capital, which is used for small-scale partnership with APMARKFED to collect maize, the cumu- infrastructure. It also trains the community resource per- lative additional income generated for farmers across the sons in value addition, quality control, bookkeeping, and state in 2005­06 was $22 million. business skills. The value proposition for partners lies in Increase in the general market price. An evaluation con- the following features: ducted on the impact of maize procurement conducted by Companies achieve scale across the state in multiple APMARKFED in 2005­06 stated that the activity increased commodities. Outreach in remote areas is facilitated. the market price by 10 percent. For milk marketing during It is a cost-effective channel, because the cost of value the same period, local market prices increased by 15 percent.4 addition, quality control, and operation is extremely The procurement center's price has become a type of bench- low. mark for the village, and local traders are compelled to offer Transparency and quality assurance are provided by the same rates, if not more, when they purchase in that vil- the women, who (being the final users) are efficient lage. The market intermediation effect has influenced other controllers. The institutions provide a strong support trading practices, such as proper weighing and testing for structure for operations. moisture, which has been favorable for small-scale producers. A responsible and traceable channel is available for Employment generation at the local level. The procure- products for emerging global markets, such as non- ment centers, milk collection centers, and chilling units cre- pesticide, organic, and fair trade products. ate employment for the rural poor. Dairying generated more than 5,000 new jobs at the village and subdistrict lev- els. The partnership with APMARKFED created 6,000 new BENEFITS AND IMPACTS jobs, even during a lean economic period. An impact study Since 2003 the procurement centers have handled more on maize procurement concluded that each procurement than 100 commodities with a cumulative turnover in excess center generated an additional wage income of $400 over a of $120 million and 450,000 tons. In 2007 center turnover three-month period for its employees. INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 2: ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA: MAKING THE MARKET WORK FOR THE POOR 217 Cash payment. Unlike traders and middlemen, who make Corporation. Second, members' participation in the activ- partial payments in cash and offer the balance in the form ities of self-help groups and village organizations has risen of inputs and other supplies, the procurement center pays because of the benefits yielded by the centers. Finally, the producers in cash at the time of purchase. This payment successful operation of procurement centers as franchises for method gives farmers, particularly small-scale and marginal public and private partners has changed the perception of farmers, the freedom to source inputs more cheaply, and in the centers' viability and potential. They are now consid- the process it eliminates the "regressive" tied sales that were ered profitable partners rather than mere recipients of rampant in the villages. Putting cash in the hands of small- grants. Mr. Sinha, managing director of the Andhra scale and marginal farmers eliminates the need to resort to Pradesh Civil Supplies Corporation, observed, "At first we informal credit to finance consumption needs. used to procure from agrimarket yards directly. We did not have the capacity to spread into the villages. However, this program has given us a platform by which we can Gender relations bridge the gap between the government and the small/ Increase in participation, leadership, and technical skills of poor farmers." women in the rural market. Women are managing village enterprises, an activity that requires them to take on duties LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER that were previously in the men's domain. Women are APPLICABILITY becoming active players in the rural market--negotiating with traders and representatives of the private and public Tremendous social capital exists in various community sectors. They also handle such roles as quality controllers organizations managed by women, such as the self-help and logistics managers, and they engage in research and groups and other user groups. Systematic initiatives to development for new products. They supervise hamalis build human capital through training in business devel- (workers are laborers who are involved in transporting agri- opment, quality control, and market research can enable cultural produce), organize transport, and work with dis- local institutions to generate significant economic capital trict administration officials, thus proving their capacity as and other benefits, while enabling small-scale producers leaders and technical service providers. to integrate with the market. This kind of economic Increase in respect from the larger community. The procure- empowerment requires significant investments in mar- ment centers benefit not only members of self-help groups ket-based and management skills for women. but also members of the village as a whole. Owing to the ben- Investments in community institutions, human capital, efits of their services, the women have garnered support from and credit should be integrated to produce a maximum village elders and leaders, who in many places collaborate to impact on economic returns. provide infrastructure and logistics support to the centers. Physical infrastructure like procurement centers can be Intrahousehold support. The maize procurement study run more efficiently by women's organizations because indicates that because women work in the centers for over they are able to cultivate financial discipline and trans- 10 hours, often until late at night, their families provide sup- parency, which is more difficult with traditional men's port. Their domestic workload is shared by other women in organizations. the family and husbands. This finding demonstrates women's increased mobility and enhanced decision-making Future directions and scaling up include the following: space within the household. Integrate the procurement centers operating across the state within a common trading platform, either at the district or Making community institutions sustainable the state level. Integration will involve building an informa- Collective marketing by procurement centers has strength- tion technology (IT) structure to link the procurement ened village organizations in many ways. First, by generat- centers, which will provide multiple benefits. Linked cen- ing income and adding to the institutional corpus of ters will service an "internal market"; in other words, they funds, the procurement centers serve as a business model will be able to meet the demand and supply gaps of village for village organizations. In the paddy procurement season organization and self-help group members across districts, of May­June 2007, 300 centers received a commission of will link them to the market directly, and will offer all of over $850,000 for six weeks of work from the Civil Supplies their products and commodities in an aggregate manner. 218 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS Link with commodity exchanges and ICT-enabled procure- Integrate farmer field schools with the procurement centers: ment centers: These centers can be linked with ICT-enabled The integration of farmer field schools and procurement models such as "e-choupal" (www.echoupal.com) and centers will help to organize agricultural extension services commodity exchanges, enabling the community-based and lead to improved production and productivity. It will procurement centers to engage in real-time transactions. help to scale up innovations such as nonpesticide technol- E-choupal was initiated by a leading multinational com- ogy and organically grown bioproducts, which have pany in India, ITC Ltd., to procure commodities directly resulted in increased incomes for farmers in some districts. from farmers, offering them services such as real-time information to make their choices. INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 2: ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA: MAKING THE MARKET WORK FOR THE POOR 219 I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 3 Bangladesh: Linking Poor Women to the International Prawn Market--The Greater Noakhali Aquaculture Extension Project PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION system for freshwater prawn culture seemed particularly promising, and local private entrepreneurs were encouraged T he Greater Noakhali Aquaculture Extension Project to invest in two medium- to large-scale prawn hatcheries in (GNAEP) is one component of Danida's Agricul- the region. In the initial intervention, which introduced tural Sector Programme Support in Bangladesh.1 It prawn farming in rice systems, GNAEP also moved toward was initiated in 1998 to promote improved carp polyculture a participatory learning approach, based on the Farmer in ponds through a conventional approach to technology Field School concept, believing that it offered greater scope transfer. Groups of farmers were trained in the improved for sustainability. technology under the"household approach"(which included Some of the poorest groups targeted under GNAEP's men and women in the household) by young extension explicitly pro-poor approach were women. The southern trainers hired through partner NGOs specifically for the part of Noakhali is a charland region, an area of land sub- project.Fifty-two percent of the pond operators were women. ject to steady accretion over the last 50 years, and thus a This program trained some 36,000 households between focus for settlement, both planned and informal, by poor 2000 and 2005, and average yields in target ponds more households often displaced from other areas by river ero- than doubled. sion and other natural hazards. Up to 20 percent of such Despite these positive results, GNAEP management households are headed by women whose husbands died at became increasingly concerned about the project's real sea or following civil strife, or who were abandoned when impact on poverty and the sustainability of that impact. their husbands left in search of employment. Most Pond polyculture itself offered limited returns, and the attempt to make a living through agricultural labor and NGOs tended to target the more creditworthy households. homestead gardening, while some resort to begging. All Moreover, the fish farmer groups tended to dissolve after are subject to sociopolitical abuse from local influential training and credit were withdrawn. Thus, beginning in people, and many have been forced to mortgage their 2002 GNAEP began to experiment with a different original land holding. approach, shifting from a technology-driven to a people- driven mode. The poorer groups in the Noakhali region were identified, and the project analyzed how it could help BENEFITS AND IMPACTS them out of poverty through aquaculture. The prospect of substantially improving income by introducing a low-input One of the key resources available to such households was a small backyard pond, dug when the house platform was cre- ated. Although they hold water for only six months, these What's innovative? A holistic approach to market ponds are suitable for nursing prawns from the post-larvae development, extending from technology to train- to juvenile stage for stocking in the grow-out ponds of farm- ing to business linkages, targets the poorest seg- ers who are better off. GNAEP persuaded the prawn hatch- ments of the population, including women-headed eries to offer the women interest-free credit in kind to households, to participate in the international enable them to stock post-larvae (PL). In a typical pond, prawn market. women may stock 4,000 PL at an investment of 5,000 taka (Tk). With costs of modest feed inputs and pumping for 220 harvest, the total investment may be Tk 6,000. In less than In some CBOs the majority of members are women; in two months, the women may expect to sell around 3,000 others, as a result of their economic empowerment, women juveniles for a total return of Tk 12,000, or a profit of Tk play an important role in the executive committees that run 6,000. If the rains are favorable, the women can expect to the organizations. The CBOs give members and clients a take two crops a year. This represents a major improvement voice with local government institutions for raising social in income for the women, sufficient to reclaim mortgaged development issues, and they are a focus for government land or purchase large livestock (goats and cattle). Other and NGO services in various sectors. As a result, the inci- investments are typical household improvements or chil- dence of social abuse of their women clients has dropped dren's education. The nursing technology is fundamentally substantially. simple, and the women feel confident to continue after the first year. LESSONS LEARNED AND CHALLENGES FOR Another typical intervention is in community ponds in WIDER APPLICABILITY resettlement villages, typically consisting of 30­50 poor households. Here, too, the men of the community may have The following discussion synthesizes the lessons learned, the left in search of work, and women often dominate the pond challenges, and prospects for future project and program management committee. In this case, the ponds are stocked design and implementation. with a prawn-carp polyculture for grow-out. Once again the hatcheries offered interest-free credit in kind, and another Lessons learned private sector partner provided feed from a mill promoted by the project. A typical pond may stock 5,000 PL, which The GNAEP experience indicates that the promotion of may yield around 250 kilograms of good-size prawns, small-scale commercial aquaculture can offer a basis for alle- because such ponds have water throughout the year. viation of poverty, even among the poorest households. By Returns from the prawns alone are Tk 75,000, and total adopting a whole-system approach, based on careful analysis income, including the carps, may be as high as Tk of livelihood potentials, GNAEP has identified niches in 150­200,000 (or Tk 5,000­6,000 per household). In this which poor households headed by women can be integrated case the project's intention is to develop a contract farming into the international economy through links with local system, linking the settlement communities to a new pro- agribusiness. In this system CBOs (both rural producer and cessing plant established in Noakhali through DANIDA's marketing organizations) act as key intermediaries, enabling Private Sector Development Programme.2 In such a system, farmers to access quality inputs at a reasonable cost. the hatchery and feed mill loans will be repaid through direct transfer from the processor. The future Many inputs are supplied through community-based organizations, which GNAEP promoted among prawn GNAEP is moving toward a new phase in which it plans to farmers who have had positive experiences with the project, target a wider range of poor households--for example, to ensure sustainability. The 87 CBOs in the area now have women fish driers on the offshore island of Hatiya, landless around 4,000 members and serve up to 11,000 households. women previously engaged in road construction in another They receive a commission on PL sales and a profit from DANIDA project, and women engaged in the illegal catching feed sales. For the woman-headed households, CBOs are a of wild shrimp and prawn PLs. In each case, the intervention conduit for sales of juveniles to other farmers. Channeling is carefully targeted and may include income-generating inputs (and in due course cultured prawns) through CBOs activities outside aquaculture, such as making nets and has created a base for the kind of traceability system that is handicrafts and rearing small livestock. The basic approach increasingly demanded by the international market. All described here, in which the poor are linked to improved farmers receiving prawn seed from the hatcheries through input supply and marketing opportunities, will be extended the CBOs receive a registration card, which can also be used to these other sectors. to record other inputs such as feed. It hoped that the regis- tration card will then be taken to a local processing plant Issues for scaling up when prawns are sold, thus completing the chain and allow- ing registered farmers to obtain a premium on the normal A donor-supported project with considerable resources at selling price. its disposal, including the many highly talented individuals INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 3: BANGLADESH: LINKING POOR WOMEN TO THE INTERNATIONAL PRAWN MARKET 221 in the local technical assistance team, GNAEP may be seen 8. USAID,"Gender and Economic Value Chains: Two Case as a special case. Although the project is nominally imple- Studies from the GATE Project," www.usaid.gov/our_work/ mented through the Bangladesh Department of Fisheries, cross-cutting_programs/wid/eg/gate_valuechain.html. since 2002 the technical assistance team has largely had a 9. http://gstgateway.wigsat.org/ta/gdrbiotechfinal.pdf. free hand to experiment with the described approach. It has 10. Ibid. also had the advantage in the Noakhali region of writing on 11. A. Yawe, "Unleashing the Potential of Women Entrepre- a blank page, in the sense that prawn-based aquaculture was neurs in Export Growth: The Case of Women Fishing and a new enterprise there, in contrast to southwestern Development Associations in Uganda," www.intracen.org/ Bangladesh, where it had been introduced 10 years earlier. wedf/ef2006/Gender-Issues/Paper_Yawe.pdf. However, the approach of linking small-scale farmers with 12. G. Rebosio, S. Gammage, and C. Manfre, "A Pro-Poor the private sector through farmers' organizations has offered Analysis of the Artichoke Value Chain in Peru,"www. real prospects of creating a sustainable farmer-to-farmer microlinks.org/file_download.php/Artichoke_Peru_Resear extension system in the absence of an effective government ch_Brief.pdf?URL_ID=18386&filename=11861594421 Artichoke_Peru_Research_Brief.pdf&filetype=applica extension presence. Nevertheless, recognition exists that it tion%2Fpdf&filesize=299504&name=Artichoke_Peru_ will be more difficult to create the same system in areas or Research_Brief.pdf&location=user-S. sectors where the supply and marketing chain are more established and competitive and that the approach will need to be adapted if it is scaled up to other areas of Bangladesh. Thematic Note 1 This Thematic Note was prepared by Cathy Rozel Farn- NOTES worth (Consultant) and Catherine Ragasa (Consultant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande (Consultant); Zoraida Gar- Overview cia, Siobhan Kelly, and Andrew Shepherd (FAO); Renè This Overview was prepared by Cathy Rozel Farnworth Frèchet and Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Kees van der Meer and (Consultant) and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants) and Rekha Mehra (World Bank). reviewed by Chitra Deshpande (Consultant); Zoraida 1. APRODEV, "Process Report: A Gender Review of the Garcia, Siobhan Kelly, and Andrew Shepherd (FAO); Renè Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)," paper given at Frèchet and Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Rekha Mehra and the Civil Society Dialogue Meeting on Gender and the Eco- Kees van der Meer (World Bank). nomic Partnership Agreements, Brussels, December 6, 2006, 1. www.usaid.gov/our_work/cross-cutting_programs/ www.aprodev.net. wid/eg/gate_valuechain.html. 2. GAWU, DHS, CIECA, ADEID, GRAPAD, and 2. Kennedy M. Shiundu and Ruth K. Oniang'o,"Marketing EUROSTEP, "New ACP-EU Trade Arrangements: New Bar- African Leafy Vegetables: Challenges and Opportunities in riers to Eradicating Poverty?" Brussels: European Solidarity the Kenyan Context," African Journal of Food Agriculture towards Equal Participation of People, www.itssd.org/Refer Nutrition and Development 7 (4), www.ajfand.net/Issue15/ ences/Think%20Tank/200406091217487864.pdf. PDFs/8%20Shiundu-IPGR2_8.pdf. 3. Glenys Kinnock, "Gender Review of the Economic 3. The Euro-Retailer Produce Working Group's Good Partnership Agreements," paper presented at the Civil Agricultural Practices: www.globalgap.org/cms/front_con Society Dialogue Meeting on Gender and the Economic tent.php?idcat=2. Partnership Agreements, Brussels, December 6, 2006, 4. USAID, "Global Horticulture Assessment," www.aprodev.net. www.treesforchange.org/treesandmarkets/hvc07_meet/othe 4. See note 1 above. r_materials/Global%20Hort%20Assessment.pdf. 5. Ibid. 5. See note 3 above. 6. United States Agency for International Development 6. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for (USAID), "The New Generation of Private-Sector Develop- the Pacific (UNESCAP), "Women in Small Business in ment Programming: The Emerging Path to Economic Indochina: Issues and Key Approaches," Women in Devel- Growth and Poverty Reduction," MicroREPORT No. 44, opment Discussion Paper 4, http://unescap.org/esid/ www.microlinks.org/ev_en.php?ID=10319_201&ID2=DO_ GAD/Publication/DiscussionPapers/04/series4.pdf. TOPIC. 7. See note 3 above. 7. www.mercycorps.org.uk/countries/afghanistan/88. 222 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS Thematic Note 2 2. IFAD,"INDIA-Tamil Nadu Women's Development: The Story of Sarasu," completion evaluation, April, www.ifad.org/ This Thematic Note was prepared by Cathy Rozel Farn- evaluation/public_html/eksyst/doc/prj/region/pi/india/r24 worth (Consultant) and Catherine Ragasa (Consultant) and 0ince.htm. reviewed by Chitra Deshpande (Consultant); Zoraida Garcia, Siobhan Kelly, and Andrew Shepherd (FAO); Renè Frèchet and Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Kees van der Meer and Thematic Note 4 Rekha Mehra (World Bank). 1. IFAD,"Syria: Profitability of Women's Income-Generat- This Thematic Note was prepared by Cathy Rozel Farn- ing Activities (Syria Southern Agricultural Development worth (Consultant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande Project, Phase I)," www.ifad.org/gender/learning/sector/ (Consultant) and Catherine Ragasa (Consultant); Zoraida finance/32.htm. Garcia, Siobhan Kelly, and Andrew Shepherd (FAO); René Fréchet and Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Rekha Mehra and 2. David G. Kahan, "Business Services in Support of Farm Kees van der Meer (World Bank). Enterprise Development: A Review of Relevant Experiences," draft for review, Agricultural Management, Marketing and 1. www.rd.ap.gov.in/velugu/velugureportskaren.htm. Finance Service Agricultural Support Systems Division, FAO, Rome, www.fao.org/AG/ags/subjects/en/farmMgmt/pdf/ Innovative Activity Profile 1 business_development_services/dbs_a_reviewofCasestud ies.pdf. This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Catherine 3. See note 1 above. Ragasa (Consultant), with input from Grahame Dixie 4. See note 6 on Overview Section. (World Bank), and reviewed by Siobhan Kelly and Andrew Shepherd (FAO); and Rekha Mehra (World Bank). 5. Ibid. 1. LEAF uses a value chain approach to scale up support to 6. www.wfp.org. CBOs who are ready to engage in larger markets. 7. www.femconsult.org/news.php. 8. International Fund for Agricultural Development, "Lao PDR: Making Women's Weaving Activities Profitable," Innovative Activity Profile 2 www.ifad.org/gender/learning/sector/finance/19.htm. This Innovative Activity Profile was prepared by Shweta 9. www.fao.org/DOCREP/004/AC154E/AC154E04.htm. Banerjee (World Bank), Vijaysekar Kalavakonda (World 10. UNIDO, "Trade Capacity Building: Case Studies: Bank), K. P. Rao (Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty, Ecuador," www.unido.org/doc/27693. Hyderabad), and Parmesh Shah (World Bank). Com- 11. International Finance Corporation, "IFC Supports ments and support were provided by Vijay Kumar (Society Women Entrepreneurs," www.ifc.org/ifcext/africa.nsf/Con for Elimination of Rural Poverty, Hyderabad). This docu- tent/MainStory_GOWE_August2007. See also Thematic ment was reviewed by Rekha Mehra and Riikka Rajalahti Note 1. (World Bank). 12. www.vbi-lattakia.org/english/about_us.html. 1. The Andhra Pradesh District Poverty Initiatives Project 13. www.icecd.org/community-development_vsc.html. and the Rural Poverty Reduction Project (total IDA lending: $260 million) are two statewide, community-driven rural poverty reduction projects implemented since 2000. Key Thematic Note 3 investments include building institutions of the poor and This Thematic Note was prepared by Cathy Rozel Farn- developing social capital; developing financial services for worth (Consultant) and Catherine Ragasa (Consultant) and the poor; promoting and expanding livelihoods through reviewed by Chitra Deshpande (Consultant); Zoraida Gar- private sector partnerships; reducing vulnerability; promot- cia, Siobhan Kelly, and Andrew Shepherd (FAO); René ing social action; and improving local governance. Fréchet and Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Kees van der Meer and 2. A typical self-help group comprises 10­15 women from Rekha Mehra (World Bank). the poorest of the poor and the poor. The members meet 1. Loraine Ronchi, "The Impact of Fair Trade on Produc- once a week, collect savings, and maintain books of ers and Their Organisations: A Case Study with Coocafé in accounts. The groups are then federated into village organ- Costa Rica," Poverty Research Unit at Sussex Working Paper izations. No. 11, University of Sussex, Brighton, www.sussex.ac.uk/ 3. Community resource persons or community profes- Units/PRU/wps/wp11.pdf. sionals are project participants from within the community MODULE 5: NOTES 223 who have undergone training in either one or multiple Countries." RAP Publication 1999/7, FAO Regional facets of project implementation such as institution build- Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok. ing, community procurement and marketing, and health Boselie, David, Spencer Henson, and Dave Weatherspoon. services, becoming a key resource for the community and 2003."Supermarket Procurement Practices in Developing the project. Creating a cadre of such grassroots profession- Countries: Redefining the Roles of the Public and Private als has been instrumental in scaling up project activities at a Sectors." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 85: low cost and will contribute to sustainability in the future. 1155­61. There are currently over 100,000 such resource persons. Ellis, Amanda, Claire Manuel, and C. Mark Blackden. 2006. 4. S. Subrahmanyam, C. P. Nagi Reddy, and R. Nalini, Gender and Economic Growth in Uganda: Unleashing the "Maize Procurement by Village Organizations: An Impact Power of Women. Directions in Development.Washington, Analysis," Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), DC: World Bank. Hyderabad, www.rd.ap.gov.in/IKP/maizestudy.htm. Farnworth, Cathy Rozel, and Janice Jiggins. 2006. Participa- tory Plant Breeding and Gender Analysis. PPB Monograph 4, Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Innovative Activity Profile 3 Gender Analysis. Cali: Consultative Group on Interna- This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Reshad tional Agricultural Research. Alam (Extension Programme Manager) and Harvey Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2006. Agricul- Demaine (Senior Advisor) in the Regional Fisheries and ture, Trade Negotiations, and Gender. Prepared by Zoraid Livestock Development Component (DANIDA), the Garcia, with contributions from Jennifer Nyberg and successor project to GNAEP in Phase II of ASPS, with Shayama Owaise Saadat. Rome: FAO. Also available at input and review by Mona Sur (World Bank), and ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0493e/a0493e.pdf. reviewed by Chitra Deshpande and Catherine Ragasa Gurung, C. 2006. The Role of Women in the Fruit and Veg- (Consultants); Zoraida Garcia, Siobhan Kelly, Rekha etable Supply Chain in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu Mehra, and Andrew Shepherd (FAO); and René Fréchet India: The New and Expanded Social and Economic and Maria Hartl (IFAD). Opportunities for Vulnerable Groups Task Order under the 1. As such it is also called the Greater Noakhali Aquacul- Women in Development IQC. Washington, DC: U.S. ture Extension Component (GNAEC). For more details, see Agency for International Development. the project Web site: www.gnaec.org. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 2. Now called B2B or "Business to Business." n.d. "São Tome and Principe: Participatory Smallholder Agriculture and Artisanal Fisheries Development Program: Women Fish Traders." Internal document, REFERENCES IFAD, Rome. ------. 2002. "IFAD Strategy for Rural Poverty Reduction: Overview Latin America and the Caribbean." IFAD, Rome. Also Abdelali-Martini, Malika, Aden Aw-Hassan, and Hisham available at www.ifad.org/operations/regional/2002/ Salahieh. 2005. "The Potential of Partnership with the pl/pl.htm. Jabbans of Syria." ICARDA Caravan 22: 39­42. Jaffee, Steven. 2003."From Challenge to Opportunity: Trans- Agricultural Management, Marketing, and Finance Service forming Kenya's Fresh Vegetable Trade in the Context of (AGSF). 2005. "Gender Impacts of Small-Farm Commer- Emerging Food Safety and Other Standards in Europe." cialization on Household Resource Management and Agriculture Rural Development Discussion Paper, World Livelihoods." AGSF Working Document, Food and Agri- Bank, Washington, DC. culture Organization, Rome.Also available at www.fao.org. Kaplinsky, Rafael, and Mike Morris. 2002. A Handbook for Bardasi, Elena, C. Mark Blackden, and Juan Carlos Guzman. Value Chain Research. Brighton: Institute of Development 2007. "Gender, Entrepreneurship, and Competitiveness Studies, University of Sussex. in Africa." Chapter 1.4 of Africa Competitiveness Report Mayoux, Linda. 2005."`Gender Lens' in Value Chains Analy- 2007. Washington, DC: World Economic Forum, World sis for Decent Work: A Practical Guide." First unpub- Bank, and African Development Bank. Also available at lished draft, International Labour Organisation, Geneva, www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Africa%20Com November. petitiveness%20Report/2007/index.htm. Pinstrup-Andersen, Per, Rajul Pandya-Lorch, and Mark Booth, H. 1999. "Gender Database for Agriculture and Rosegrant. 1997. "The World Food Situation: Recent Resource Management Policies in Pacific Island Developments, Emerging Issues, and Long-Term 224 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS Prospects." 2020 Vision Food Policy Report, Interna- www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Africa%20Com tional Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC. petitiveness%20Report/ 2007/index.htm. Also available at www.ifpri.org/pubs/fpr/fpr24.pdf. Collins, Jane. 2000. "Tracing Social Relations through Reardon, Thomas, and Julio Berdegué. 2002. "The Rapid Commodity Chains: The Case of Brazilian Grapes." In Rise of Supermarkets in Latin America: Challenges and Commodities and Globalization: Anthropological Perspective, Opportunities for Development." Development Policy ed. A. Haugerud, M. P. Stone, and P. D. Little, 97­112. Review 20 (4): 371­88. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. Rihawi, Safouh. 2005. "Expanding the Menu: Transforming Ellis, Amanda, Claire Manuel, and C. Mark Blackden. 2006. By-products into Nutritious Feed." ICARDA Caravan 22: Gender and Economic Growth in Uganda: Unleashing the 28­30. Power of Women. Directions in Development.Washington, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 1995. DC: World Bank. Human Development Report. New York: UNDP. Farnworth, Cathy Rozel, and Janice Jiggins. 2006. Participa- United States Agency for International Development tory Plant Breeding and Gender Analysis. PPB Mono- (USAID). 2006."Pro-Poor Growth, Gender, and Markets: graph 4, Systemwide Program on Participatory Research Creating Opportunities and Measuring Results." Greater and Gender Analysis. Cali: Consultative Group on Inter- Access to Trade Expansion (GATE) Project, Development national Agricultural Research. and Training Services, Arlington, VA. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2002. Gender ------. 2007. "A Pro-Poor Analysis of the Artichoke Value and Law: Women's Rights in Agriculture. FAO Legislative Chain in Peru." Greater Access to Trade Expansion Study 76. Rome: FAO. (GATE) Project, Development and Training Services, ------. 2006a. Agriculture, Trade Negotiations, and Gender. Arlington, Virginia. Rome: FAO. www.microlinks.org/file_download.php/Artichoke_Peru ------. 2006b."`Niger' Projet de promotion de l'utilization _Research_Brief.pdf?URL_ID=18386&filename=118615 des intrants agricoles par les organizations paysannes."In 94421Artichoke_Peru_Research_Brief.pdf&filetype=app Gender, Markets, and Financial Services: Experiences from lication%2Fpdf&filesize=299504&name=Artichoke_Per FAO-Supported Projects. Rome: FAO. u_Research_Brief.pdf&location=user-S. Grace, Jo. 2004. "Gender Roles in Agriculture: Case Studies World Bank. 2005. "Gender and `Shared Growth' in Sub- of Five Villages in Northern Afghanistan." Afghanistan Saharan Africa." Briefing Notes on Critical Gender Issues Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), Kabul. in Sub-Saharan Africa 2005-1, World Bank, Washington, Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis DC. Also available at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ (KIPPRA). 2000. Improving the Legal and Regulatory EXTABOUTUS/Resources/GenderGrowth.pdf. Environment for Business through Deregulation--Trade ------. 2007a. "Cultivating Knowledge and Skills to Grow Licensing Reform. Nairobi: Ministry of Planning and African Agriculture: A Synthesis of an Institutional, National Development. Regional, and International Review." World Bank, Wash- Kitinoja, Lisa. 2002."Identifying Scale-Appropriate Posthar- ington, DC. Also available at http://siteresources.world vest Technology." In Postharvest Technology of Horticul- bank.org/INTARD/Resources/AET_Final_web.pdf. tural Crops, 3rd ed., ed. Adel A. Kader, 481­90. Oakland, ------. 2007b. "Gender and Economic Growth in Kenya: CA: Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Unleashing the Power of Women. Directions in Develop- University of California. ment." World Bank, Washington, DC. Also available at Reardon, Thomas, and Julio Berdegué. 2002. "The Rapid www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/p_GE Rise of Supermarkets in Latin America: Challenges and M_GenderandEconomicGrowthinKenya/$FILE/Gen Opportunities for Development." Development Policy der+and+Economic+Growth+in+Kenya.pdf. Review 20 (4): 371­88. World Bank. 2005. "Bangladesh Third Rural Infrastructure Development Project." Project document, World Bank, Thematic Note 1 Washington, DC. Bardasi, Elena, C. Mark Blackden, and Juan Carlos Guzman. ------. 2006. "India: Taking Agriculture to the Markets." 2007. "Gender, Entrepreneurship, and Competitiveness World Bank, Washington, DC. in Africa." Chapter 1.4 of Africa Competitiveness Report ------. 2007a. Gender and Economic Growth in Kenya: 2007. Washington, DC: World Economic Forum, World Unleashing the Power of Women. Directions in Develop- Bank, and African Development Bank. Also available at ment. Washington, DC: World Bank. Also available at MODULE 5:REFERENCES 225 www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/p_GE Royal Tropical Institute, Faida Market Link, and Interna- M_GenderandEconomicGrowthinKenya/$FILE/Gen tional Institute of Rural Reconstruction (KIT, Faida der+and+Economic+Growth+in+Kenya.pdf. MaLi, and IIRR). 2006. Chain Empowerment: Supporting ------. 2007b. Doing Business 2008. Washington, DC: African Farmers to Develop Markets. Amsterdam: KIT, World Bank. Faida MaLi, and IIRR. Also available at www.kit.nl/ ------. 2007c. "Horticultural Exports from Developing smartsite.shtml?id=SINGLEPUBLICATION&ch=FAB& Countries." In Agriculture Investment Sourcebook, ItemID=1952. 275­79. Washington, DC: World Bank. Also available at United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural http://go.worldbank.org/LWEH6R38H0. Organization (UNESCO). 2003. "Good Practices: Gender Equality in Basic Education and Lifelong Learning through CLCS: Experiences from 15 Coun- Thematic Note 2 tries." Report, UNESCO Asia and the Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok. Ayadurai, Selvamalar, and M. Sadiq Sohail. 2006. "Profile of United Nations Industrial Development Organization Women Entrepreneurs in a War-Torn Area: Case Study of (UNIDO). 2003. "A Path Out of Poverty: Developing Northeast Sri Lanka." Journal of Developmental Entrepre- Rural and Women Entrepreneurship." Brochure, UNIDO, neurship 11 (1): 1­15. New York. Booth, Heather. 1999."Gender Database for Agriculture and Vijfhuizen, Carin. 1996. "Who Feeds the Children? Gender Resource Management Policies in Pacific Island Coun- Ideology and the Practice of Plot Allocation in an Irriga- tries." RAP Publication 1999/7, FAO Regional Office for tion Scheme." In The Practice of Smallholder Irrigation: Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok. Case Studies from Zimbabwe, ed. Emmanuel Manzungu Center of Arab Women for Training and Research and the and Pieter van der Zaag, 126­50. Harare: University of International Finance Corporation Gender Entrepre- Zimbabwe. neurship Markets (CAWTAR and IFC). 2007. Women Weeks, Julie, and Danielle Seiler. 2001. "Women's Entrepre- Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa: Char- neurship in Latin America: An Exploration of Current acteristics, Contributions, and Challenges. Washington, Knowledge." Sustainable Development Department DC, and Tunis: CAWTAR and IFC. Also available at Technical Papers Series, Inter-American Development www.ifc.org/ifcext/home.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/MEN Bank, Washington, DC. A_Women_Entrepreneurs_Jun07/$FILE/MENA_Wome n_Entrepreneurs_Jun07.pdf. World Bank. 2006."India: Taking Agriculture to the Markets." World Bank, Washington, DC. Deutsch, Ruthanne, Andrew Morrison, Claudia Piras, and Hugo Ñopo. 2002. "Working within Confines: Occupa- tional Segregation by Gender in Three Latin American Thematic Note 3 Countries." Technical Paper, Inter-American Develop- ment Bank, Washington, DC. Also available at Dixie, Grahame. 2005. Horticultural Marketing. Marketing www.iadb.org/sds/wid/publication/publication_7325_ Extension Guide, vol. 5. Rome: Food and Agriculture 3544_e.htm. Organization. Farnworth, Cathy Rozel, and Janice Jiggins. 2006. Participa- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1995. The Group tory Plant Breeding and Gender Analysis. PPB Monograph Enterprise Book: A Practical Guide for Group Promoters to 4, Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Assist Groups in Setting Up and Running Successful Small Gender Analysis. Cali: Consultative Group on Interna- Enterprises. Rome: FAO. tional Agricultural Research. ------. 2002."The Inter-Group Resource Book: A Guide to Humphrey, John. 2004."Upgrading in Global Value Chains." Building Small Farmer Group Associations and Net- Working Paper No. 28, Policy Integration Department, works." FAO, Rome. Also available at www.fao.org/sd/ World Commission on the Social Dimension of Global- 2001/pe0701_en.htm. ization, International Labour Office, Geneva. Guijt, Irene, and Edith van Walsum. Forthcoming. In Fair Richardson, Pat, Rhona Howarth, and Gerry Finnegan. Trade and the Food Chain, ed. Cathy Farnworth, Janice 2004. The Challenges of Growing Small Businesses: Insights Jiggins, and E. Thomas. London: Gower. from Women Entrepreneurs in Africa. Series on Women's International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality. n.d. "Bosnia and Herzegovina: Women Milk Collection Geneva: International Labour Organisation. Network." Internal document, IFAD, Rome. 226 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS Nelson, Valerie, and Modesto Galvez. 2000. Social Impacts Innovative Activity Profile 1 of Ethical and Conventional Cocoa Trading on Forest- Dixie, Grahame. 2005. Horticultural Marketing. Marketing Dependent People in Ecuador. Chatham: Natural Extension Guide, vol. 5. Rome: Food and Agriculture Resources Institute. Organization. Also available at www.fao.org/ag/ags/sub Royal Tropical Institute, Faida Market Link, and International jects/en/agmarket/docs/horticultural_EN.pdf. Institute of Rural Reconstruction (KIT, Faida MaLi, and IIRR). 2006. Chain Empowerment: Supporting African Farmers to Develop Markets. Amsterdam: KIT, Faida MaLi, FURTHER READING and IIRR.Also available at www.kit.nl/ smartsite.shtml?id= SINGLEPUBLICATION&ch=FAB&ItemID=1952. Overview World Bank. 2003."Republic of Chad--Agriculture Services International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). and Producer Organizations Project." Project Appraisal 2008."Food Security, Poverty, and Women: Lessons from Document, World Bank, Washington, DC. Rural Asia." Available at www.ifad.org/gender/thematic/ ------. 2006a. "Tamil Nadu Empowerment and Poverty rural/rural_1.htm. Reduction `Puthu Vazhvu' Project." Project Appraisal Kasnakoglu, Zehra. n.d."Women and Agricultural Develop- Document (PAD), World Bank, Washington, DC. ment in the Near East." Middle East Technical University, ------. 2006b. "Tanzania Participatory Agricultural Devel- Department of Economics and Gender and Women's opment and Empowerment Project." Project Appraisal Studies, Ankara. Available at www.skk.uit.no/WW99/ Document (PAD), World Bank, Washington, DC. papers/Kasnakoglu_Zehra.pdf. Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susan. 2006."Feminization of Agriculture: Trends and Driving Forces." Contribution by RIMISP (the Thematic Note 4 Latin American Center for Rural Development; www.rim- isp.org) to the preparation of the World Development Farnworth, Cathy R., and Janice Jiggins. 2006. Participatory Report 2008,Agriculture for Development (Washington,DC: Plant Breeding and Gender Analysis. PPB Monograph 4, World Bank 2007). Available at http://asiadhrra.org/ Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and word press/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/feminization- Gender Analysis. Cali: Consultative Group on Interna- of-agriculture-trends-and-driving-forces.pdf. tional Agricultural Research. Royal Tropical Institute, Faida Market Link, and International Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2006. "Hon- Institute of Rural Reconstruction (KIT, Faida MaLi, and duras--Training in Marketing Skills for Women Fish IIRR). 2006. Chain Empowerment: Supporting African Processors--Livelihoods Diversification and Enterprise Farmers to Develop Markets.Amsterdam: KIT, Faida MaLi, Development (LDED) Project." In Gender, Markets, and and IIRR. Available at www.kit.nl/ smartsite.shtml? Financial Services: Experiences from FAO-Supported id=SINGLEPUBLICATION&ch=FAB&ItemID=1952. Projects. Rome: FAO. Guijt, Irene, and Edith van Walsum. Forthcoming. In Fair Trade and the Food Chain, ed. Cathy Farnworth, Janice Thematic Note 1 Jiggins, and E. Thomas. London: Gower. Royal Tropical Institute, Faida Market Link, and International Humphrey, John, and Hubert Schmitz. 2002. "Governance Institute of Rural Reconstruction (KIT, Faida MaLi, and in Global Value Chains." IDS Bulletin 32 (3): 19­29. IIRR). 2006. Chain Empowerment: Supporting African Kader, Adel A., ed. 2002. Postharvest Technology for Horticul- Farmers to Develop Markets. Amsterdam: KIT, Faida MaLi, tural Crops. 3rd ed. Oakland, CA: Division of Agriculture and IIRR. Also available at www.kit.nl/smartsite.shtml? and Natural Resources and University of California. id=SINGLEPUBLICATION&ch=FAB&ItemID=1952. Lodge, Junior. 2007. "Perspectives from ACP Negotiator." United States Agency for International Development Paper presented at the Civil Society Dialogue Meeting on (USAID). 2006. Cross-Cutting Agra Program--Center for Gender and the Economic Partnership Agreements, Brus- Urban and Regional Excellence. New Delhi: USAID­India. sels, December 6, 2006. Available at www.aprodev.net. Wanders, Ab. 2003. "Small-Scale Peanut Butter Processing: Mrema, Geoffrey C., and Rosa S. Rolle. 2002. "Status of the Case Studies in Rural, Peri-Urban and Urban Settings in Post-Harvest Sector and Its Contribution to Agricultural South Africa." In Interdisciplinary Research for Sustain- Development and Economic Growth." In Value-Addition able Development in the South. Annual Report, DLO to Agricultural Products: Towards Increase of Farmers' Research Programme, International Cooperation. Income and Vitalization of Rural Economy, Proceedings of MODULE 5: FURTHER READING 227 the 9th JIRCAS International Symposium, ed. Yutaka quinoa: un éclairage `genre et développement' sur les Mori, Toru Hayashi, and Ed Highley. Tsukuba: Japan défies du commerce éqitable dans les Andes boliviennes." International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences GRAIL-IED, Tournesol Conseils, Brussels. (JIRCAS), 13­20. Available at www.jircas.affrc.go.jp/ Kader, Adel A., ed. 2002. Postharvest Technology for Horticul- english/publication/symposium/11. tural Crops. 3rd ed. Oakland, CA: Division of Agriculture United States Agency for International Development (USAID). and Natural Resources and University of California. 2005. Global Horticulture Assessment. Davis, CA: University Mrema, Goeffrey C., and Rosa S. Rolle. 2002. "Status of the of California. Available at www.treesfor change.org. Post-Harvest Sector and Its Contribution to Agricultural Development and Economic Growth." In Value-Addition Thematic Note 2 to Agricultural Products: Towards Increase of Farmers' Income and Vitalization of Rural Economy, Proceedings of InfoDev. 2006. "Incubators As Change Agents: Impacts and the 9th JIRCAS International Symposium, ed. Yutaka Lessons Learned from infoDev's Global Network of Mori, Toru Hayashi, and Ed Highley. Tsukuba: Japan Incubators." Highlights, November 2. Available at International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences http://idisc.infodev.org/en/Article.38385.html. (JIRCAS), 13­20. Available at www.jircas.affrc.go.jp/ United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the english/publication/symposium/11. Pacific (UNESCAP). 2000. "Utilizing Business Opportu- Royal Tropical Institute, Faida Market Link, and Interna- nities for Women Entrepreneurs in Asia and the Pacific, tional Institute of Rural Reconstruction (KIT, Faida 2000." Women in Development Discussion Paper 6, MaLi, and IIRR). 2006. Chain Empowerment: Supporting UNESCAP, Bangkok.Available at http://unescap.org/esid/ African Farmers to Develop Markets. Amsterdam: KIT, gad2/04widresources/05pubreport/series6.pdf. Faida MaLi, and IIRR. Available at www.kit.nl/ United States Agency for International Development smartsite.shtml?id=SINGLEPUBLICATION&ch=FAB& (USAID). 2006. "The New Generation of Private-Sector ItemID=1952. Development Programming: The Emerging Path to Eco- Sen, Amartya K. 1990. "Gender and Cooperative Conflicts." nomic Growth and Poverty Reduction." MicroREPORT In Persistant Inequalities, ed. Irene Tinker, 123­50. no. 44, USAID, Washington, DC. Available at www. Oxford: Oxford University Press. microlinks.org/ev_en.php?ID=10319_201&ID2=DO_T United States Agency for International Development OPIC. (USAID). 2005. Global Horticulture Assessment. Davis, CA: University of California. Available at www.treesfor Thematic Note 3 change.org/treesandmarkets/hvc07_meet/other_materi Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1994. The Group als/Global%20Hort%20Assessment.pdf. Promoter's Resource Book: A Practical Guide to Building Rural Self-Help Groups. Rome: FAO. Innovative Activity Profile 1 ------. 1995. The Group Enterprise Book: A Practical Guide for Group Promoters to Assist Groups in Setting Up and Poitevin, Bruno, and Shamim Hossain. 2006. "Marketing Running Successful Small Enterprises. Rome: FAO. Extension: A Powerful Process in 6 Steps--Empowering the Poor to Exploit Market Opportunities." Report for the Livelihoods, Empowerment and Agroforestry Project Thematic Note 4 (LEAF), Intercooperation in Bangladesh, Dhaka, and Charlier, Sophie, Isabel Yépez del Castillo, and Elisabeth Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Andin. 2000. "Payer un prix juste aux cultivatrices de Berne. 228 MODULE 5: GENDER AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS M O D U L E 6 Gender Mainstreaming in Agricultural Water Management Overview A griculture water management (AWM) includes KEY GENDER ISSUES irrigation and drainage, water management in Since the Dublin Conference in 1992, policy makers have rain-fed agriculture, recycled water reuse, water made renewed attempts to incorporate gender issues in and land conservation, and watershed management water development projects. However, these policies have (World Bank 2006). The approaches and technologies not been adequately translated into practice, and attempts employed by water management projects and programs in some projects to involve women in water management have been evolving, and change has accelerated during initiatives have met with only modest success. These disap- recent decades. The overwhelming emphasis on technical pointing results are attributable to several reasons. Policy and engineering matters that was characteristic of AWM in makers and project staff often lack understanding of gender the 1960s and 1970s has expanded outward to encompass issues or of their importance. A lack of commitment and a broader purview that incorporates social and environ- capacity to undertake gender analysis among project staff at mental concerns. AWM is essential to food security, but it times is evident in project design and implementation. also plays a fundamental role in building human capital in Gender-disaggregated data are often lacking, and prevailing rural areas. Policy and decision making regarding land and cultural norms can lead to serious resistance from within water management have traditionally been the domain of the affected beneficiary communities (IFAD 2007). men. As a result, policies and programs do not always con- Women and land and water ownership and tenure. In sider women's unique knowledge, needs, or unequal own- most countries land and water rights are closely related, ership rights. Women farmers need to be actively involved although water is often a public good, and therefore its use in the planning and implementation of land and water is associated with permits, concessions, and other tenure management programs and must be able to participate in systems. Irrigated and rain-fed land is the main source of developing the policies that affect their access and control livelihood for many rural populations. Women have much of these resources.1 less access to this essential asset than men. The distribution This overview first analyzes the principal gender issues of this water and land is a major determinant of poverty. that tend to arise in AWM projects and that need to be Even in industrial countries it is rare to have figures above addressed or resolved. It then presents a number of good 30 percent of land ownership belonging to women, and this practices based on the experience and lessons of gender- figure tends to be much lower in developing countries. equitable AWM projects and policies. Two Thematic Notes Inheritance laws that deprive women of access are often the and two Innovative Activity Profiles examine the interface cause. In some North African countries, women receive only between AWM and gender issues in greater detail.2 half of the land or no land at all. This has been widely 229 documented by a survey carried out by the Centre on Hous- When women are owners of the farm and have adequate ing Rights and Evictions (COHRE 2006). In some societies resources to manage it, their productivity tends to be in sub-Saharan Africa, a woman acquires land tenure rights higher than or at least equal to that of men. for life. However, this right is transferred to the men mem- bers of the family after she dies. In some cases a woman may Decision making at the farm level. Managing an irrigated lose access to land after the death of her husband or father. farm means making effective decisions at the right time. Without secure land tenure, women cannot obtain access to How decisions are made relates to a number of factors, but credit (IFAD 2007). principally to who within the household is responsible for Although proportionately fewer women own land, they what decisions. Understanding how authority and responsi- may exercise many other types of tenure, such as tenant, bilities are distributed between men and women is therefore sharecropper, or caretaker. These forms of tenure have very important in interventions that seek to target specific grown more prominent with the outmigration of men. As a members of the household with services such as training result there are an increasing number of women who man- and technologies such as drip irrigation. Without such age farms but who do not have either de jure (that is, legal) understanding, some of the targeted beneficiaries may not or even de facto (that is, actual, here meaning "use") rights be able to participate in the planned activity because of to natural resources (including water) or services (for exam- social restrictions imposed by family members. ple, credit or agricultural extension) that owners have. To Participation in water user organizations. Institution enable more effective participation by men and women with capacity is an essential element of any AWM project. Irriga- precarious forms of tenure, it is necessary to recognize tion management transfer (IMT) has become an integral greater relevance for these types of tenure. Project design part of many irrigation projects and requires strong institu- should support the actual farm managers rather than absen- tions (see Investment Note 10.1, World Bank forthcoming). tees or men kin who have little interest in farm affairs. The predominant type of organization normally established Involving the "real users" will bring efficiency gains to the is a water user association (WUA). The participation of project because they will be the actual persons involved in water users in WUAs is normally linked to the ownership of project-related activities. the land. Because few women formally own land, their par- Labor contribution to irrigated farms. Women made up ticipation and representation in WUAs are normally low. 48 percent of the global agricultural workforce in 2000 by Considering the substantial proportion of women who the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO's) estimate.3 manage but do not own irrigated farms, their exclusion In some African countries this proportion approaches 90 from associations in which they could communicate their percent. It is evident that women's labor plays a fundamen- needs and views can result in poor technical outcomes in tal role in agriculture and in particular in irrigated agricul- water management, particularly for multiple uses of water. ture. However, a number of serious problems are associated Access of poor women and men to irrigation benefits. In with it: addition to small farmers in irrigated areas who may improve their living standards by using local irrigation facil- Although an important share of farm work is informal ities, vulnerable groups exist who are deprived of land own- and undertaken by family members, access to farm ership and who have low educational levels. It is widely rec- income and other resources depends on how the author- ognized that such groups are predominantly made up of ity to make decisions is distributed among members of women, mostly illiterate, who rarely find work to sustain the household. themselves. Reaching them with any AWM program is a Research has shown that rural women work longer hours major challenge. It is feasible, however, by involving them in than men but enjoy fewer benefits. the consultation process and by addressing them through The access of women to wage labor is often restricted. specific project objectives. Expansion of irrigated agricul- The salaries of women who do access wage work are ture enhances demand for paid agricultural labor, often pre- often lower than those of men and the working hours dominantly women. are longer. Domestic and other uses of water. AWM projects center on Women are generally not able to irrigate at night owing the delivery of irrigation water to farms, whereas water sup- to security concerns and during the day may face other ply projects plan only for domestic use. However, in rural time limitations. Water distribution systems rarely pro- life all uses tend to concentrate around the only resource vide the flexibility necessary to satisfy such needs. available, no matter if they were planned for irrigation or 230 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT domestic use. Rural communities have diverse uses for Planners should include among project objectives spe- water besides irrigated agriculture, such as fishing, livestock cific reference to increasing women's capacity to partici- watering, small businesses, home gardening, and domestic pate in irrigation projects and plan for ways to increase tasks. Water management projects take into consideration their access to productive resources. the provision of water for different uses. The associated Project planners need to have a better understanding of costs are not high if the quality of water meets the required the social, economic, and institutional reality of the proj- standards, and the benefits may be significant. For instance, ect area. In practical terms, this means that some modest pipes can reduce the time required for unproductive activi- incremental resources should be allocated for assessment ties such as fetching water from far distances. For instance, of such realities, particularly during the planning stage. UNFPA (2002) estimated that women in many developing countries walk an average of 6 kilometers a day to collect As the points above suggest, intersectoral linkages are key water. The availability of clean water close to home saves in seeking gender-positive outcomes. The following specific women's and girls' time, which can be spent on other pro- suggestions may assist concerned planners and implement- ductive and human development activities, such as crop ing staff: production and education (IFAD 2007). Land tenure. Irrigation development projects often Water quality also requires particular attention in this con- include land titling components. Opportunity exists here text. In many irrigation systems water for domestic use is for expansion of women's asset base provided that new land taken from canals.The situation is even more difficult in areas titles are granted to women or to husbands and wives in which nontreated wastewater is used for irrigation and the jointly, depending on the prevailing socioagricultural con- health risks are high. Understanding water quality is impor- text. Understanding the social organization of agricultural tant not only for women but also for the whole household production and the specific gender division of labor in the because family health depends upon it. Planning projects for project area requires a thorough investigation into the gen- multipurpose uses requires a thorough investigation of the der aspects of land tenure, including the use of participatory nonagricultural uses and in particular of women's needs. investigations and gender-disaggregated land surveys. Land reclamation projects in particular can do much to increase women's access to and control over land. The approach used LESSONS LEARNED in the LADEP project (see Innovative Activity Profile 2) and This section discusses the lessons learned at both the project the LACOSEREP project (see Innovative Activity Profile 1) and the policy levels. provides good examples of how to overcome gender issues in land projects. Gender division of labor. Awareness of women's sizable Project level contributions to farm and household production is lacking Four main issues should be considered in project planning among project planners. Farm models used in project and implementation of gender-sensitive approaches to agri- design should carefully evaluate the availability of women's cultural water management: and men's work in the family and expected impacts of intervention on women's and men's income, time use, and Genuine gender-sensitive participatory project planning social power. Labor contribution by project beneficiaries to and implementation will prevent elites from capturing the construction component in small projects can be very most project benefits. The benefits will therefore extend significant and reduce costs (see Investment Note 10.1, to a much larger population base. The experience of World Bank forthcoming). Few types of construction can- Nepal shows that this approach is feasible and renders not be carried out by women if they are provided with suit- positive returns of women's participation (see Invest- able tools and guidance. Here again, this requires good ment Note 10.4, World Bank forthcoming). knowledge of the available labor force (men and women) Water projects should be designed to address women's and of local traditions. and men's domestic and productive water needs. To date, Water user organizations and other institutional arrange- many single-sector projects have been planned, for either ments. Because women are poorly represented in WUAs, irrigation or domestic water supply, and multiple-use careful attention is required to devise innovative ways of needs had requirements that have been overlooked, caus- ensuring women's and poor men's meaningful participation ing particular difficulties in rural areas. in such forums. Sometimes the by-laws of an association MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT 231 may provide equal opportunities for all members, but then irrigation systems can be performed by several types of discriminatory practices are applied, leading to low participa- organizations besides the traditional WUA model such as tion. More often, however, the criteria for WUA membership water cooperatives, village organizations, and municipal themselves are exclusionary and primarily focused on land- organizations. The important principle, again, is that larger holding status,meaning that women and tenants are often left institutional analyses and strategic forms of formal collabo- out. Overcoming this difficulty represents a challenge that has ration take place so that subvillage/water-point level groups, been successfully addressed by some projects. Approaches for for example, are not marginalized in local planning tackling this issue have included the following: processes for water management. The IFAD-supported Quota systems wherein a minimum number of board seats LACOSEREP Project (see Innovative Activity Profile 1) are reserved for women. This positive discrimination can illustrates a nontraditional WUA model that integrates increase women's participation, though quotas have also three groups of predominant stakeholders: gardeners, live- backfired in other places or been "captured" by women put stock owners, and fishermen. The main WUA was defined as up to the position by dominant men. This has also led to a a combination of these subgroups, with an executive body focus on increasing women's participation among member- comprising members from each of the three subassociations. ship ranks as well as leadership, so that a "critical mass" of Another interesting feature of this association was that women develops. Stalker (2004) examined data from 45 vil- members were put in charge and the modalities of this pro- lages in two World Bank­assisted projects in India and came cedure were left to members to decide, the only condition to interesting conclusions regarding women's participation being that plot sizes should be equal, not smaller, for in water user committees in the domestic water supply sec- women, and 40 percent should be reserved for women. The tor. Although, in some cases, women committee members small number of women extension officers is often cited as were nominal, or token, participants, evidence showed that a weak link to channeling information and knowledge to being on a local water committee helps women develop women. To change this situation, training courses for main- skills and confidence. streaming gender dimensions in the daily work of extension Gender-inclusive WUAs developed by removing exclusion- staff can be done and are effective. Many training manuals ary membership criteria regarding land ownership. This took (GWA and Both ENDS 2006; Sagardoy and Hamdy 2005) place in the IFAD-supported LACOSEREP project in Ghana and related material undertake such training courses.4 (see Innovative Activity Profile 1) in which membership to Designing and implementing multiple use water services. WUAs was not limited to farmers associated with irrigation The water requirements necessary to satisfy domestic needs and, by doing so, opened up the opportunity to get women are a small fraction of those applied to agriculture produc- involved. Much depends here on how "farmer" is defined, tion--usually less than 6 percent. Such small requirements for example, not just "irrigators" applying water to the field, rarely create conflict in terms of quantity with irrigation which may be a man's task in many places, but also other needs. The problems are generally posed by the quality, but farmers, such as those doing weeding, transplanting, har- proper water treatment and filtering plants provide satisfac- vesting, and other tasks, who are often women, and beyond tory solutions in most cases. Thus, the question of imple- crop production, those farmers using water for livestock menting a system that satisfies the domestic water needs is production and other uses (often women). essentially associated with the related costs of the system Where WUAs are strictly associated with formal (often (treatment plant and water delivery) and the ability of the large-scale) surface irrigation systems, scope also exists to farmers to pay for this service. In rural areas, where houses establish other water user groups at the community level may be erratically distributed over the land, it may not be that represent women's needs and interests, provided they feasible to provide them with tap water, and communal link up formally to the WUAs so that multiple use needs are watering points may be the best solution. As women will be discussed. Examples of such associations are cooperatives in the main users of those watering points, planners must which membership is not limited just to owners of land but understand their water needs and associate them with the to any type of tenure. Such associations may take the place management of such watering point sites. A strong consul- of a traditional WUA or work in parallel with them. tation process should take place during the planning and Recognizing organizational pluralism with various implementation stages, but training programs addressed to groups set up to respond to different needs is important. women to help them manage and maintain the points of Turkey's Irrigation Management Transfer Programme illus- supply will also be necessary. Implementing multiple water trates very clearly that the management responsibility of use projects can introduce an additional cost factor and 232 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT institutional complexity in the management of the nonagri- The development community at times can have consider- cultural uses. However, the efficiency gains at the national able leverage in promoting changes in policy. Gender issues level are much greater than if the provision of these services that require active policy support include the following: is done separately or not done at all (see Thematic Note 1 for details). Ensure that women enjoy de jure and de facto equality in Reaching the poorest and most vulnerable groups. The access to land and other property, including inheritance importance of including vulnerable and often-overlooked and purchase. groups such as landless workers and poor women farmers is Support pro-poor development actions. Investment Note increasingly understood but is not always included in proj- 10.3 (World Bank forthcoming) provides more detailed ect design. Including them in the projects means that the orientations in the interrelation between poverty-gender greatest unexploited potential to influence land and water issues and AWM policies. The example of South Africa use management will be tapped positively. illustrates a relevant policy in this respect. The first questions to answer are as follows: Who are Promote the participation of women in WUAs and other the poor? How do they secure their livelihoods? Often the organizations by supporting appropriate institutional rural poor are women, men, and children owning little or measures, such as minimum quotas, or allowing that no land and without other significant nonagricultural other forms of tenure besides ownership be eligible for income. Poverty impacts of irrigation projects can include being a member in the association. increases in demand for both agricultural labor and direct Provide an equal opportunity legal framework for agri- project construction, as well as the possibility of land cultural laborers (and others) and ensure its application, transfers through watershed development and land recla- including support for gender-equitable wages. mation efforts. Provide improved coordination among concerned Monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring the progress WUAs to facilitate the implementation of multiple-use made in applying gender approaches in irrigation projects is water projects. seldom undertaken. The development of gender indicators Support equal employment opportunities in WUAs. in the context of project implementation is an area that lags Provide and support capacity building around gender behind (Sagardoy and others 2007). Progress is evident, issues in WUAs with particular attention to extension however, and a variety of gender indicators related to water staff. The establishment of dedicated government offices are being developed by FAO and other organizations. to monitor gender progress and provide specialized Investment Note 10.4 (World Bank forthcoming) provides training, technical assistance, and sometimes modest further guidance on this issue. financial incentives can be most effective in providing more opportunities for women. Policy level Some indicators to monitor the gender impact of activities The effectiveness of AWM programs is heavily affected by in agricultural water management are provided in table 6.1. government policies for the sector and related sectors. Depending on the country or region, it may be relevant Understanding government policies, the institutional envi- to also consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both ronment from whence they are generated, and the priorities as comparative indicators and when collecting data), as they reflect is an important element in designing projects women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usually in that are more likely to receive support from the government. the worst situation. MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT 233 Table 6.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender in Agricultural Water Management Indicator Sources of verification and tools Number and frequency of women, men, and other disadvantaged · Community meeting minutes and records of prioritization and votes persons consulted during detailed design and implementation Percentage of women and men actively participating in planning · Meeting minutes sessions for water allocation program for drinking water and · Technical plans indicating water uses and timetable agricultural irrigation Percentage of women and men actively participating in water · Case studies user groups · Meeting minutes or administrative records By year x of project operation, operational costs are covered with · Bank account records user fees and maintenance fees collected to agreed level · Women's user group records Percentage of women and men members of operations and · Meeting minutes management committees of irrigation projects Women, men, and ethnic minorities in positions of management or · Meeting minutes leadership in water user groups · Women's user group committee records Community satisfaction (disaggregated by gender) regarding water · Focus groups distribution schedules and access · Interviews, before and after x percent of women and men among total trainees receiving training · Training records in the appropriate use of irrigation for high-value crop production Access of women and men to support services, such as credit and · Extension department records extension (such as percentage of women in agricultural training · Interviews with women in target groups and of women clients of credit institutions) Access of landless women and men to water from irrigation schemes · Community meeting minutes Among surveyed women in target group, x percent rate their access · Interviews with women in target groups (for instance, a sample of to water for agricultural and domestic use as having improved women in the defined area); ideally the interviews should be conducted during the period covered by the program or project before and after any project or program activities Changes in relevant dimensions of well-being, disaggregated by gender · Household surveys and wealth group: food and other products, household income, · Water quality testing by project or local environment department labor and other costs for water conveyance, water quality for drinking, and water quantity for hygiene Source: Inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. 234 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Gender and Multiple-Use Water Services M ultiple-use water services in poor rural and peri- structured itself. Organization was typically based around urban areas are a highly effective way to use water single-use sectors: a domestic sector, an irrigation sector, a to reduce poverty and enhance gender equity. By fisheries sector, a livestock sector, and others. These taking women's and men's multiple water needs as the start- organograms fail to fit the nature of water resources and ing point and accessing multiple sources of water in an inte- people's multiple water needs. Conventionally, the irrigation grated way, multiple-use water services meet a broad range sector, for example, prioritized productive water uses by of dimensions of well-being, enhance project sustainability adopting that as its mandate, even if domestic, livestock, and and willingness and ability to pay, and foster more equitable other more urgent water needs of their clients were not sat- water management. isfied. In reality, however, users anywhere in the world made It is well acknowledged that water resources are inter- the match: they transformed single-use planned systems connected within one hydrological cycle, encompassing nat- into de facto multiple-use systems. In response to that urally available water resources: rainfall, groundwater, sur- observation, the irrigation sector developed an "irrigation- face lakes and streams, ponds, springs, wetlands, and water plus" approach, for example, by adding washing steps, entry and human-made storage, reservoirs, conveyance canals, points for cattle, or special abstractions and reservoirs for pumps, reticulation networks, abstractions, and take-off domestic and livestock water supplies, especially in the dry points for end uses, drains, return flows, and groundwater season (box 6.1). recharge. Water from multiple and conjunctive sources is Usually these adaptations were seen as"add-ons" and less used and reused to meet multiple needs. In the past the important than the primary mandate of water for crops. focus has largely been at the higher aggregate basin and sub- Taking people's priority water needs as the starting point basin levels. However, multiple-use water services instead of beginning with a bureaucratic mandate matches approaches recognize that integrated water resources man- realities on the ground even better. agement starts within the household, especially in poor rural and periurban areas where livelihoods are highly water INVESTMENT AREA dependent and diversified. Women and men tap, convey, and use water for drinking, Multiple-use water services bring gender to the center stage other domestic purposes, livestock, gardening, irrigation, of water development, use, and management. In the past tree growing, fisheries, food processing and other small women's needs, either as providers for domestic water or as businesses, and cultural purposes. Multiple water sources producers in their own right, were often ignored in agricul- are used simultaneously, depending on their comparative tural water management projects. Yet their de facto uses of suitability for certain uses (easy accessibility, year-round "irrigation water" for nonirrigation purposes were in reality availability, site, quality, or predictability). For example, often the most important benefit for women (Hussain more reliable, year-round, and higher-quality sources are 2005). Women are nowadays better recognized as producers prioritized for domestic uses; roof water and runoff are used on an equal footing with men, but irrigation and rural liveli- during the rainy season; slightly organically polluted water hood-oriented development investments still tend to ignore is used for irrigation. women's domestic and other water needs. Multiple-use water services approaches overcome the Men's responsibilities for domestic water provision, a barriers created by the way in which the water sector has crucial aspect of household welfare, are even more ignored. 235 as critical for poor households to mitigate malnutrition and Box 6.1 Pakistan: Socioeconomic Differences in income poverty as domestic water is for drinking, hygiene, Access to Water for Livestock Watering and cooking. Providing for both domestic and small-scale productive uses is estimated to require water quantities in the range of 50­200 liters per person per day (Butterworth An International Water Management Institute and others 2003). Thus, in poor rural and periurban areas, study in Pakistan found that socioeconomic level such water uses all directly contribute to poverty alleviation. affected households' access to water for livestock watering. Better-off households living on larger These quantities are minimal from the overall resource per- properties were able to keep their animals in stalls spective from the local to the basin level and fall within the on their home compound and bathed and watered errors of hydrological models. The irrigation sector also has the animals with the same domestic water the fam- viewed the quantities needed for domestic uses as negligible. ily used (that is, groundwater from hand pumps, motor pumps, and wells). Ninety-five percent of respondents from such BENEFITS FROM GENDER-RESPONSIVE households found water sources sufficient for their ACTIONS animals. In contrast, poorer households (and those In productive-plus designs, domestic water provision is a few households who lived near their fields farther matter of year-round provision as near as possible to the from the village) had to drive their animals to place of consumption, as is water quality for the even canal watercourses and distributaries for watering smaller quantities of two to four liters per person per day, and bathing. Only 71 percent of such respondents found such water access arrangements satisfactory. depending on climate (Howard and Bartram 2003). Inte- Further, livestock use of canal water is illegal and grating livestock needs in irrigation design is not a quantity pollutes the distributory water for downstream issue either, but a matter of protection against cattle domestic users. The traditional livestock pond held destroying canals, soils, and crops and polluting resources. in common in each village is now being degraded Therefore, quantities of water for such vital livelihoods by release of wastewater and sewage from those hardly ever encounter environmental constraints, except households with private sources of water. perhaps in the dry seasons in areas where storage and other infrastructure development levels and natural endowments Source: Kuriakose, Jehangir, and ul-Hassan forthcoming. are low. The key problem is the distribution of water use among people, which can be highly skewed. This is illus- trated by the Gini coefficient for water use distribution in Although the daily drudgery of fetching water is the typical South Africa, which was found to indicate near total gendered burden for women and girls, and to a lesser extent inequality of 0.96 (see box 6.2). for boys, in many societies men do take part. Men can take In the domestic sector, the recognition of multiple water the responsibility for the construction and maintenance of needs has gone along remarkably similar lines. Starting wells or ponds or for transport if aided by donkeys, bicycles, from the single-use mandate to provide water for domestic or cars. Domestic water provision by both women and men uses only and observing the reality that all "domestic" should be further recognized as a critical factor for house- schemes are de facto used for multiple purposes, some hold welfare from rural households and communities to organizations started adopting a "domestic-plus" approach. national and international policy discourse. This reflects the For example, they augmented the discharge of the water notion of equality of men and women both in carrying out supply systems to allow for watering livestock and gardens the unpaid tasks for household welfare and in generating also and for home-based enterprises, or they connected cat- income for the family's benefit. tle troughs to drinking water supplies. Multiple-use water services also allow for pro-poor water Some technologies, such as rainwater harvesting and allocation, based on a quantitative understanding of the dis- wells for single or small household groups, allow for multi- tribution of water uses across various levels. If poverty is ple uses in design. Instead of addressing drinking water understood as a state of multidimensional deprivation in quality through centralized water treatment facilities, which basic needs are by definition broadly defined, it is an point-of-use treatment (filtration, chemicals) has expanded anomaly to confine "basic" water needs to one purpose significantly. This not only mitigates the inevitable pollu- only: drinking and personal hygiene. Food and income are tion of domestic water projects during conveyance and 236 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT "productive" schemes, many planners have realized that in Box 6.2 South Africa: Inequitable Water areas without any domestic water supplies, the use of irriga- Distribution in the Olifants Basin--Options for Redress tion water for drinking purposes was an improvement over the status quo. Moreover, in the many situations in which groundwater and even surface streams are used, water qual- The colonial history of South Africa left a legacy of ity is acceptable for domestic uses other than drinking, and a highly skewed distribution of water resources. In in specific cases, also for drinking. Later studies confirmed the Olifants basin, the Gini coefficient for (blue) that regardless of its sometimes questionable quality, the rural water uses (which constitutes 91 percent of all water uses) is 0.96. In other words, 0.5 percent availability of any additional quantities of water has a bene- of the rural population controls the access to 95 ficial impact on people's health (Esrey and others 1991; percent of the blue water resources. If the majority Howard and Bartram 2003; Jensen and others 2001; Van der of the population were to double their current Hoek and others 2001), especially when combined with water use, the few large users would have to share improved hygiene behavior. Hence, within reason, water only 6 percent of what they use now. Underlying quantity is more important than water quality, and other this so-called environmental crisis in this basin, alternatives such as various point-of-use treatments exist for where by now most physical water resources have the small quantities needed for actual drinking. (It should already been committed, is the highly inequitable be noted, however, that for small children poor quality socioeconomic and political distribution of water water remains a major risk for diarrhea; see Clasen and resources, which requires a redistributive water Cairncross 2004; Hebert 1985.) allocation reform, such as that recently launched Point-of-use treatment is increasingly seen as a more by the government of South Africa. appropriate option in the domestic sector (Mahfouz and Sources: Cullis and van Koppen 2005; RSA 2005. others 1995; Mintz, Reiff, and Tauxe 1995; Quick and others 1999, 2002; Reller and others 2003; Roberts 2003), particu- larly in dispersed or difficult-to-reach areas. Such treatment also solves the water quality concern for productive-plus household storage but can also solve water quality problems schemes and, moreover, for the millions who have no access in "productive-plus" water services. Moreover, point-of-use to public supplies, such as those using groundwater wells treatment also applies to the millions of households that are that may be contaminated with arsenic or fluoride. not served by any public project. A clear example of the growing recognition of the importance of multiple-use ser- vices is the World Bank's Water and Sanitation Program. KEY GENDER ISSUES The program's vision to integrate multiple-use services fully Past evidence of domestic-plus, productive-plus, and in their approaches can be compared with the way in which multiple-use by design approaches highlights three sets of sanitation has been integrated in "domestic" supplies since benefits of water services that take poor women's and the 1980s.1 men's multiple water needs as the starting point. The growing dialogue between the productive and domestic water sectors to develop jointly "multiple water Improving more dimensions of women's and use services by design" integrates water services where it men's well-being matters for poverty alleviation and gender equity."It is Inte- grated Water Resources Management that directly advances Various simultaneous water uses provide a broad range of the Millennium Development Goals. . . . As the water profes- benefits: food production (crops, livestock, fish), income sionals created the barriers between them, it is the water (from the sale of primary products and water-dependent professionals who have to break them down."2 artisanal businesses), reduced drudgery of water fetching, and enhanced health. These different benefits tend to rein- force each other into a virtuous circle out of poverty. Health impacts of a multiple-use approach Women benefit in particular from dissolving the Health is also improved from multiple-use water services. In dichotomy between the domestic and productive spheres spite of strong concerns by the health and domestic water and approaches that take women's and men's water needs as sector departments about the quality of drinking water in equally important by design. In this way, the "productive" THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND MULTIPLE-USE WATER SERVICES 237 sectors also better recognize the priority need to alleviate within sectors. Pro-poor and people-based allocation prior- the unpaid chores of women and girls for domestic water itizes all uses of water for domestic and productive needs fetching, as well as the burdens of men and especially boys that allow every citizen to reach at least minimum standards to take care of cattle watering at distant sources. Second, the of well-being. Only after expanding and protecting those starting point at which women are producers in need of uses are remaining water and other resources allocated. water on an equal footing with men is effectively opera- tionalized by stimulating productive activities around the Keeping incremental technology costs low or none household. In societies in which women's mobility is limited or in which women lack access to fields of their own, a situ- The above-mentioned benefits come at limited incremental ation similar to the situation of land-poor and landless technology costs and even come at no incremental cost in households in general, homestead production offers unique the case of de facto multiple-use schemes. Technologies opportunities for income generation. A study in Nepal con- that allow for multiple uses by design reassemble the con- firmed how women in particular benefited from the newly ventional technology components into a more user- installed domestic-cum-gardening water supplies and drip friendly package. This is a matter of basic rural engineering irrigation kits around the households (Upadhyah Samad, skills, not of hardware costs per se. However, the costs that and Giordano 2005). tend to increase most are the transaction costs in the early planning and design stage. A process in which women and men articulate their priority needs, which then are trans- Enhancing project sustainability lated into an optimal technical and institutional design, Multiple-use water services enhance project sustainability takes time and facilitation. in various ways. First, anticipating future "unplanned" uses prevents the problems of de facto multiple-use programs, such as damage to infrastructure, the distortion of alloca- POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES tions because of upstream overuse of domestic programs The key actors in shifting from single-use water services to designed for minimum uses only, or "illegal" connections. multiple-use services are national and international govern- Second, new local water management institutions for mental and nongovernmental agencies. They shape the investing in and operating and maintaining new infrastruc- internal structuring and financing of water sector policy ture can be grafted onto communities' existing water making, implementation, and vocational training and terti- arrangements. The latter are invariably integrated for mul- ary education. Policies and legal frameworks tend to define tiple uses and holistically govern the same water resources overall policy goals in terms of single-use water development used by the same people. The smooth continuum between and to set standards and quality norms, for example, for existing arrangements and new institutional elements drinking water, assuming that single use is the priority use, if strengthens community ownership. They also avoid the not the only use, of the beneficiaries of a particular program. turf wars between newly imposed "domestic" WUAs and Financing streams are also typically earmarked for one sin- "irrigation" committees. Third, the willingness to con- gle use. Organizationally, departments are structured tribute to managing new projects sustainably is higher if according to single-use mandates. In a top-down manner the programs better meet users' needs. The ability to pay those mandates trickle down to lower-tier branches through for the project is enhanced by better water delivery for pro- job descriptions, performance evaluations, monitoring sys- ductive activities. tems, technical expertise, and other ways. These policies and legal constraints need to be trans- formed. In each sector sectoral mandates that are too nar- Using water more equitably row are to be expanded into multiple-use mandates. Con- From local to basin level, the simultaneous consideration of straining norms and standards must follow. For example, all water uses and everybody's needs gives a human face to imposing unrealistically high water quality standards is now water development and regulation. Formal water resource recognized to be of little use in a search for incremental allocations tend to be based on sectors, with the domestic improvements to deal with health hazards. The World water sector as a first priority, and agriculture, environmen- Health Organization recently also changed its focus from tal needs, industrial needs, and others as the next priorities. fixed water quality standards to more flexible guidelines However, this ignores the huge differences in water use (WHO 2004). 238 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT Besides formulating and promulgating enabling policy approaches reproduce an implicit prioritization of water and legal frameworks, national-level stakeholders also need uses according to top-down defined mandates. Clients have to establish meaningful coordination across sectors and always expressed these needs by simply transforming single- actors.This implies,in essence,devolution of decision-making use planned systems into de facto multiple-use systems. Not regarding water services to the lowest appropriate level, up surprisingly, multiple-use services tend to resonate immedi- to clients' multiple water needs in their integrated diversi- ately with communities and with any water professional fied livelihoods. Bottom-up needs-based design requires with field experience. poor water users to decide on the services they need. It is In the past decade, NGOs (for example, AWARD, true that national or regional agencies will keep a role in Catholic Relief Services, Mvuramanzi Trust Zimbabwe, Plan large-scale dams and other large- or perhaps medium-scale International, South Africa) and small-scale private sector water works and basin-level regulation. However, beyond projects (for example, Agua Tuya in Bolivia, rope pump that, national governments have a main role to play in sup- development in Nicaragua) with a client-oriented poverty porting intermediate-level water services providers (local and livelihood focus swiftly started applying multiple-use government, local nongovernmental organizations [NGOs], water services approaches. Their mandates and internal private water service providers, and others), so that they are structuring allowed them to just do it. enabled, in their turn, to coordinate the support for commu- International research programs, in particular the Chal- nities according to integrated needs emerging from trans- lenge Program on Water and Food of the Consultative parent and participatory design procedures for multiple-use Group of International Agricultural Research, is conducting water services. global- and basin-level research projects on multiple water Long-term support by national and intermediate-level uses. International financing agencies, such as the World stakeholders to communities is also required for multiple- Bank, are also adopting multiple-use water services use services at any significant scale. This support is finan- approaches. Wherever the political will exists, national gov- cial, institutional, and technical. Considerable financial ernments have also started recognizing multiple-use services support earmarked for multiple uses is critical for any tak- approaches. For example, the South African Department of ing multiple-use water services to scale and reaching the Water Affairs and Forestry recently embarked on this road. Millennium Development Goals. Subsidization will remain In Colombia rural development agencies coordinate with the necessary for reaching the poor for decades to come. Yet national government, among others, on the need for aug- cost recovery by those who can pay and earn an income menting the quantity norms for rural water supplies.3 from multiple-use systems should be tied into programs. Early experiences also highlighted that the most challeng- National support is also needed for institution building ing level is the intermediate level of service providers and and expanding the choice of affordable and appropriate WUAs. Stakeholders at this level together and in a coordi- technologies for multiple uses. nated way are to provide sustained support to investments For the factual implementation of multiple-use water and construction of multiple-use projects in their zone of services, intermediate development agencies, in particular intervention, as well as to"after care"by supporting operation local government and other administrative structures, are and maintenance. Today, however, agencies such as local gov- pivotal, irrespective of any basin boundary. Yet Integrated ernment or district irrigation agencies are typically under- Water and Resources Management institutional structures sourced, lack capacities, are"trapped"in ad hoc planning and at basin or aquifer levels can strengthen cross-sectoral coor- trouble shooting, and divert their attention to a few "islands dination. In fully committed basins, basin institutional of success in oceans of misery." Although accountable in arrangements would enforce water allocation that priori- name to their constituencies, local officials formally report tizes basic domestic and productive water needs. upwards to a range of typically uncoordinated bureaucracies. Multiple-use water services are a particular form of decentralization, and their successful implementation GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED depends upon the success of decentralization in general. The concept of multiple-use water services emerged in the Yet the main lesson of irrigation management transfer domestic and productive water sectors alike, in response to and other forms of decentralization until now is that a the major lesson learned: planning and design of water ser- mere devolvement of responsibilities without the corre- vices for one single use do not fit clients' needs in poor rural sponding resources required to fulfill these responsibili- and periurban areas. Even productive-plus and domestic-plus ties is bound to lead to the collapse of even the small support THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND MULTIPLE-USE WATER SERVICES 239 that previously existed (Shah and others 2002). Therefore, Financing. Establish sustainable investments and revenue the most needed lessons will come from recent initiatives collection mechanisms both for community-based like the World Bank's Community Driven Development schemes and water user associations and for intermediate- approach (Binswanger and Tuu-Van Nguyen 2005) or level support structures. pilot experiments to integrate multiple-use water services Long-term institutional and technical support. Provide into local government planning, for example, in South support to communities for community-based institu- Africa's Integrated Development Plans (Maluleke and tion building and for a wide choice of appropriate and others 2005). affordable technologies. At the local level: GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS Livelihoods-based planning and design. Facilitate an The following recommendations apply to practitioners at inclusive planning and design process in which women the three levels (Van Koppen, Moriarty, and Boelee 2006). and men articulate their domestic water needs as shared At the national level: responsibilities for household welfare and their respec- tive productive water needs as equal opportunities for Enabling policy and legislative framework. Remove the improved livelihoods. obstacles for multiple-use water services, such as a nar- Appropriate technologies. Translate multiple water row focus on one single water use only in mandates, needs into affordable small- and medium-scale techni- financing streams, or standards and norms, and, instead, cal designs, in particular storage for year-round prioritize water development and water allocation for water provision. poor women's and men's concurrent basic domestic and Sustainable water use. Tap synergies for more efficient productive needs. water use by combining multiple sources for "more use Financing. Allocate subsidies and loans to communities and reuse per drop," prioritizing basic domestic and pro- and to intermediate-level stakeholders for upscaling of ductive water needs in periods and sites of scarcity. multiple-use water services. Inclusive institutions. Graft new integrated water man- Coordination across sectors and actors. Decentralize deci- agement institutions upon existing community-based sion making for development to the lowest appropriate water arrangements that already holistically govern levels and shape national support according to those shared water resources for multiple uses. integrated needs. Financing. Establish sustainable cost-recovery mecha- Long-term institutional and technical support. Facilitate nisms at the local level, while providing smart subsidies inclusive institutional design for community-based inte- for those who cannot afford to pay. grated water resources management and capacity build- ing and development and disseminate appropriate and Project preparation affordable technologies and skills for multiple uses. The following questions guide the preparation of projects At the intermediate level: for multiple-use water services across the various levels: Adaptive management. Stimulate adaptive learning-by- Are project goals, mandates, and evaluation criteria con- doing by intermediate-level stakeholders to gradually straining toward one single water use, or do they acknowl- move toward water services provision for multiple uses edge people's multiple water needs? If constraining, what across increasing numbers of villages. short-term strategies can be deployed to widen the Strategic and participatory planning. Develop transparent mandate (such as pilot projects with intensive monitor- methodologies across a region that allow for water ser- ing)? Which strategies are needed in the long term, and vices planning and design based on communities' articu- how can they be initiated (such as research to reexamine lated multiple water needs. national standards)? Coordination across sectors and actors. Organize holistic Are technical experts in the projects sufficiently aware of support to communities based on integrated water and clients' water needs outside their immediate focus? Are livelihood needs. they encouraged to look outside the disciplinary box? 240 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT Which participatory process is foreseen that allows the tar- Projects with a multiple-use water services focus can get group of poor women and men to express their water include the following monitoring and evaluation indicators: needs at the very beginning of a project, to identify afford- able technologies, to sustainably tap multiple water Changes in relevant dimensions of well-being by gen- sources, to design inclusive new institutions on the basis of der and wealth group: food and other products, existing water arrangements, and to establish sustainable income, reduced labor, and other costs for water con- financing mechanisms while supporting the poor and the veyance, water quality for drinking, and water quantity poorest? What are the incremental costs of such a process? for hygiene How are women's and men's mutual domestic labor and Participatory planning and design process that allows for monetary responsibilities articulated and translated into bottom-up needs definition by women and men and the technical and institutional design? articulation of gendered needs for external support How are women's and men's equal needs for water for Level of cost recovery productive use considered and translated into the techni- Technical innovations allowing for multiple uses cal and institutional design? Which additional support is Capacity building of intermediate-level service providers required for both women and men to make more pro- to apply needs-based multiple-use water services on a ductive use of water? larger scale Which incremental health benefits can be achieved for Removal of current barriers to multiple-use water ser- the microquantities of drinking water and for other vices in national policy and legislative frameworks. health dimensions of water services? How will the capacity of the intermediate-level service providers be built to continue support to target communi- ties and to replicate lessons learned in other communities? THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND MULTIPLE-USE WATER SERVICES 241 T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Gender and Institutional Approaches to Groundwater Development and Management ender-sensitive approaches to groundwater devel- G Women and men have different priorities and needs with opment and management help secure and protect respect to water, which result from their different roles and groundwater access and use for women and the responsibilities. Women and men also have different skills rural poor. Gendered water rights determine access and and knowledge with respect to groundwater use for domestic, control over groundwater resources. Men and women differ agricultural, or other productive purposes and are affected in their needs and technological preferences for groundwa- differently when groundwater development initiatives are ter extraction and are affected differently when groundwa- introduced. Even though groundwater offers different advan- ter development interventions are introduced. Gender tages, overexploitation of this resource through unregulated analysis should thus be undertaken throughout the project pumping as well as water quality issues poses serious threats cycle. Only when the needs and preference of all users are to the well-being of rural persons, especially women and poor taken into account can the project objectives of poverty men and women. reduction be attained. Recognition of gender issues in the use and management GENDER AND ACCESSTO GROUNDWATER of the groundwater resource is vital to realizing the project objectives of poverty reduction and sustainable manage- A crucial issue in groundwater development and manage- ment of the resource. Groundwater has certain characteristics ment is that of access to and use of the groundwater resource, that make it different from surface sources. Groundwater, including access to groundwater abstraction technology and available in deep and shallow aquifers, provides security groundwater management activities. Different rights come against drought by offering a reliable year-round natural into play when discussing groundwater: rights to the resource storage of relatively good-quality water, close to the point of either by virtue of owning the groundwater technology use, usually at a lower cost of development. It has been a (individually or through a group) or by being a member of crucial resource in livelihood creation programs in different the groundwater users' group, rights to decide water alloca- parts of Asia and Africa through intervention in both deep tion and distribution after water is pumped out, as well as and shallow groundwater projects. The unique characteris- adjudication and decision-making rights on who holds which tics of groundwater have made the provision of its services rights (Gautam 2006; Zwarteveen 2006). Water rights are for drinking, irrigation, and other productive purposes an directly related to land rights in many countries. In such cases effective way to reduce poverty and enhance gender equity. men and women without clear land titles are restricted from Investment in a gender-sensitive institutional approach being members of groundwater users' group even when they to groundwater development and management brings may be the main decision makers on the farm or in the user-preference issues to the fore and is a key part of plan- household (see box 6.3 for a project that overcame this ning for sustainable water use systems. Gender inequalities constraint). In the Andean countries, Bangladesh, India, in access to and control over groundwater abound. This Nepal, and countries in southern Africa, migration of men Note examines issues regarding access to groundwater from rural areas has led to an increase in women-headed abstraction technology and use of the resource, as well as households so women are overburdened with the task of challenges in ensuring participation of women and the maintaining the household as well as the farms.1 The same poor in groundwater management activities. case can be found in Yemen (box 6.3). 242 Box 6.3 Yemen: Women and the Water Crisis Box 6.4 Gender and Water Quality Yemen's water crisis has affected women adversely Naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater poses a in different ways. Groundwater irrigation for cash serious threat to more than 60 million people living cropping has resulted in aquifer depletion in dif- in South and East Asia. Almost 700,000 people have ferent agroecological regions. Traditional sources been affected by arsenicosis in the region. Skin can- of water-harvesting structures are no longer main- cer; cancer of the bladder,kidney,and lungs; diseases tained. Women and young girls travel longer dis- of the blood vessels leading to gangrene; and repro- tances for water in rural areas, affecting their health, ductive disorders are the main effects of arsenic safety, and literacy levels. As more men migrate to poisoning. A stigma associated with arsenicosis has cities and other Gulf countries, women's role in serious social effects on marriage prospects for men irrigated agriculture has increased, although it is not and women, as well as for job opportunities. One of always formally acknowledged because commercial the most seriously affected regions is Bangladesh in cultivation was traditionally a man's preserve. In the Meghna-Brahmaputra-Ganges Delta, where the case of urban water supply, richer households arsenic has been detected in water from shallow purchase water from tanks, whereas poorer aquifers. Women in Bangladesh prefer tubewells women have to line up to buy water from richer over surface water because these reduce their work- neighbors, to obtain lower-quality water from load. However, with the rise in arsenic-contami- wells, or periodically to get water from municipality nated groundwater, women and young girls have water projects. been disproportionately harmed. Source: Frédéric Pelat, "A Brief Overview of the Water Sources: Caldwell and others 2002; www.worldbank. and Gender Situation in Yemen," www.idrc.ca/en/ org/gwmate; www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/ ev-99527-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html. diseases/arsenicosis/en. Women and girls are typically responsible for collecting causing the lowering of water tables, an increase in pumping water for daily needs. This includes water for drinking pur- costs, and pollution of aquifers. Continued overexploitation poses for the household, livestock, cooking, cleaning, and of groundwater reduces the availability of freshwater for use overall health and hygiene within the household. and poses challenges to health for people who are bound to Clear water rights lead to improved access to water, live near these affected areas. Groundwater is the major which is critical for maintaining good health and a sustain- source of drinking water for cities in the developing world, able livelihood. Studies from Africa show that both rural and demand is rising with unplanned expansion of cities. and urban women are engaged in small-scale enterprises Commercial agriculture and industries are other major users. and that improved access to water would help them to pur- Groundwater overabstraction negatively impacts the sue these activities more effectively.2 Experience from India rural poor because they cannot afford to dig deeper wells. In has shown that when groups of landless women were pro- water-dependent societies, this particularly impacts the lives vided a share of water by the members of a "land-owning" of poor women. Industrial waste disposal, wastewater from water users' association in a lift irrigation project, the urban areas, oil spills, and excessive use of pesticides and women were able to work out alternative livelihood strate- insecticides in agriculture are some causes of groundwater gies. They contracted the available wasteland in the village pollution. In coastal areas overexploitation causes a rise in on a long-term lease and derived an income through bio- saline intrusion. Another type of groundwater poisoning mass produced from this land (Kulkarni 2005), while taking that has emerged as a serious health hazard is due to natu- part in the restoration of the land. rally occurring arsenic (box 6.4). GROUNDWATER OVEREXPLOITATION,WATER BENEFITS FROM GENDER-RESPONSIVE QUALITY, AND GENDER ACTIONS Groundwater use in most developing countries is not regu- An institutional approach to groundwater development and lated. This has led to the overexploitation of the aquifers, management that puts gender at the center stage: THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER AND INSTITUTIONAL APPROACHES TO GROUNDWATER DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT 243 Box 6.5 Nepal: Leadership Development of Deep Tubewell Group The Bhairahawa Lumbini Groundwater Irrigation tion became a lucrative business among women and Project (BLGWIP-III) initiated a "demand-based par- smallholders who take it up on a sharecropping basis. ticipatory approach" to deep tubewell (DTW) develop- With water in high demand, the water user group ment and management.Women and men in Durganagar (WUG) did not face difficulties in collecting fees and has village sought a DTW from the BLGWIP-III only after been able to hire a full-time pump operator. Both men they were convinced of the nature of the layout of the and women actively sought out WUG leadership posi- distribution system, flow and discharge rates, expected tions, which resulted in an overall increase in the execu- operational costs, and the possibility of integrating tive board from 7 to 11 positions for the second WUG DTW with the traditional spring water distribution sys- election. According to the farmers, they realized that it tem already in use. was "important to get a representation across all castes, After realizing the design would support their inter- ethnic lines and from women." A woman was elected to ests in vegetable cultivation, they actively participated in the second committee in 2004. More women were inter- project planning, including the layout of the under- ested but were not eligible because they were not ground pipe flow distribution system. Vegetable cultiva- landowners. Source: Gautam 2006. Helps reduce gender inequalities in water by ensuring Programs must improve women's access to and control access to groundwater for women and those without over groundwater resources, including through WUA mem- clear land titles bership and leadership roles: Recognizes women as important water stakeholders and recognizes the class diversity and social differentiation Introduce and maintain a "quota" system for women and among women disadvantaged groups in aquifer management organiza- Facilitates the representation and participation of tions and national organizations. women in aquifer management to communicate Make social mobilization and dialogue on reforming groundwater priorities of men and women for different WUA membership criteria more inclusive and not activities (such as irrigation versus domestic supply). dependent on men's gender or land ownership status. Consulting with men and women from the start helps Where women face sociocultural obstacles to interact- improve water regulation and governance through a bot- ing in public forums with men, set up separate tom-up process (box 6.5). women's groundwater users groups. Care has to be taken that such groups are then formally linked to the larger representative user associations and apex groups. In conjunctive use settings, ensure that POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES groundwater users are also represented in the surface Livelihood support programs featuring groundwater inter- irrigation system WUAs. ventions require gender-specific approaches to realize poverty reduction and gender-equity goals. Groundwater Planners should also create an enabling environment to development programs should be accompanied by efforts to enhance women's participation and provide technical and create an enabling environment with gender-sensitive tech- support services: nical and other support services and context-specific strate- gies to involve both women and men in decision making at Facilitate access to credit, agricultural extension, and the system and aquifer levels. Intravillage groups organized local commercial repair and maintenance services. around water sources are particularly important mecha- Ensure that technical assistance programs (for example, nisms for improving women's access to water management training on pump installation, repair, and maintenance) at the local level. target both men and women. 244 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT Promote tubewells as women's collective enterprises, Providing complementary inputs (credit access, agricul- together with other specific income-generation and mar- tural extension, and marketing support) to women farm- ket linkage activities. ers helps extend the impact of water infrastructure Set up savings groups for the landless via the sustainable investments and overcome their institutional disadvan- functioning of community organizations renting pump tage in accessing services. sets; part of the profit of renting out the pump is kept in a savings fund for repair and maintenance. GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR Highlight women's rights in water management through PRACTITIONERS awareness-raising and educational programs. Encourage interdepartmental dialogue regarding gender Prioritize groundwater systems to serve both domestic and groundwater undertaken by the water supply and and productive needs of the rural poor in programs that irrigation departments to address the multiple water serve to enhance agricultural livelihoods. needs of the poor and women. Promote lightweight and portable machines in areas with high land fragmentation and a high water table. Provide incentives to those WUAs that combine water- GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED saving technologies, especially in water-deficit areas. Groundwater development has long focused on individual Support capacity building for staff with interdiscipli- (men) "farmers'" control over technology and the resource, nary approaches and gender training to enhance social with less attention to organizing institutions and gender analysis skills. impacts. Tubewell subsidies have similarly disproportion- Coordinate across sectors that provide technical and sup- ately benefited large farmers, usually men: port services to make sure that women and the disadvan- taged are appropriately targeted. Landownership as a criterion for tubewell or pump Develop gender-specific interventions based on the local ownership or for membership in WUAs typically social, cultural, and agroecological context and the nature excludes women, smallholders, and tenants. User associ- of the project. Plan and design water use systems through a ation criteria need to be examined closely to prevent participatory inclusive process. social exclusion. Allow for flexibility to incorporate innovative strategies A single-sector approach to groundwater development for both the technical and institutional designs, rather (especially for irrigation) has often resulted in oversized, than using a rigid blueprint approach. Men and women underused pumps. The water needs of the rural poor are may have different choices in terms of site selection, diverse: if drinking water and other needs are considered, design, and layout of groundwater structures. Differ- the resulting infrastructure will likely be on a smaller ences may also exist in preferences between foldable can- scale and more affordable for women and the poor. vas pipes, underground pipes, or open flow channels for Maintaining quota systems helps ensure that women's water distribution. If wells are to serve both domestic interests in WUAs are represented. It also generates dis- and productive needs, a decision on the location cussions at the local level on women's rights and roles, (between homestead and field) is important to minimize which can be seen as a first step in awareness raising. walking/water-carrying distance. Provision to women's groups of such technologies as trea- Identify existing women's groups and coordinate with dle pumps, shallow tubewells, and deep tubewells is more women's organizations, NGOs, cooperatives, and profes- effective when complementary training inputs in mana- sional women's networks for enhanced gender inclusion gerial and technical skills are provided. In Bangladesh in countries where such provisions exist. Examples from women were able to successfully manage tubewells as a the Licto project in Ecuador show that women wanted collective water-selling enterprise when given manage- water titles to be in the names of both husbands and ment control from the start (Van Koppen 1999). wives after a long period of awareness raising by an NGO Projects that actively included both women and men in (GWA and Both ENDS 2006). participatory planning, design, and implementation helped generate a cadre of women leaders in formal deci- Box 6.6 provides questions for gender-responsive project sion-making positions. design. THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER AND INSTITUTIONAL APPROACHES TO GROUNDWATER DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT 245 Box 6.6 Sample Questions for Project Design Institutional approaches to groundwater development What are the access and use rights to groundwater and management should include gender analysis once it has been pumped? Who defines this, and throughout the project cycle. Issues of water rights who has the right to dispose of the right or adjudi- determine access and control over groundwater cate disputes? resources. Men and women may differ in their prefer- Who makes decision regarding allocation and dis- ences and needs for water and are affected differently tribution of water? Are women involved? Are when groundwater is introduced. Some specific design women members of the WUAs? Are they in leader- questions and indicators to take into consideration are ship positions in these groups? the following: Does the project design take into account user flow preferences for specific crops, from different water How have rights to groundwater abstraction tech- sources? nology ownership been defined (in terms of Has technical training and access to complementary landownership)? Are there asset or collateral support services been provided to both men and requirements? women? How have criteria for water users' group member- What are the expected changes in workload for men ship been defined? and women with the introduction of groundwater Are there land title or groundwater technology ele- infrastructure (for example, might the workload for ments that may constrain the participation of women increase in the case of irrigation and women or the poor? decrease for domestic water collection?). Source: Authors. 246 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Ghana: Upper East Region Land Conservation and Smallholder Rehabilitation Project (LACOSREP) T he Upper East Region Land Conservation and important issues such as capacity building of the WUAs and Smallholder Rehabilitation Project (LACOSREP) women's access to land and water. Therefore, the second was initiated in the early 1990s by the Interna- phase of the project sought to pursue rigorously and system- tional Fund for Agricultural Development to contribute atically granting women access to dry season irrigated plots to the poverty reduction and improve livelihoods of the by involving them in WUAs and establishing a quota in-plot second poorest region of Ghana through irrigation and allocation for women. WUAs thus played a greater role in the agricultural development. planning of the whole irrigation project and had a clear The second phase LACOSREP (1998­2006) was aimed at understanding on their part of their obligations to ensure the addressing the shortcomings of the first phase of the project. sustainability of the project (IFAD 2003). Although WUAs were established as a precondition for small- scale dam construction and rehabilitation in the first phase, PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION they were not considered as a key component of the project's implementation strategy. These WUAs lacked the necessary The objectives of LACOSREP II were to (1) further develop organizational skills and a clear legal status, which explain the irrigation in the Upper East Region; (2) increase productivity modest achievements in some sites, with respect to collected through farmer training and demonstrations of new tech- fees, catchment area protection, and adequate operation and nologies for increasing the productivity of crops,livestock,and maintenance. The last two factors are critical to the sustain- fish; (3) build the capacity of government institutions that ability of the small-scale dams. It was also recognized that the provide technical and social services at the district and subdis- project in its first phase was not able to address adequately trict levels; and (4) construct rural infrastructure to reduce women's labor burden and take measures to mitigate the pos- sible risks of health and negative environmental impacts. The target group included rural people and smallholders, What's innovative? The membership in water landless farmers, and women, in particular women-headed users associations (WUAs) was not limited to farmers associated with irrigation or to one households. The beneficiaries were drawn from the "at risk" member per household, and thus opened up the category that embraces both economic and social criteria opportunity to get women involved in WUAs. and included those most at risk from malnutrition, ill The recognition of multiple types of users health, and a generally low quality of life. They came from (gardeners, livestock owners and fishermen) an area that had the highest population growth rate (3 per- facilitated WUA development. This also strength- cent) and the lowest living standards in the country. About ened the WUAs, by avoiding possible conflicts 50 percent of the direct beneficiaries (34,400) were esti- over water use and facilitating watershed protec- mated to be from the target group. tion measures. A quota of irrigated land alloca- tion was also established for women so that they could get access to water from the irrigation INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES INTHE PROJECT schemes and be involved in the decision-making The project had two innovative activities: (1) membership process. in WUAs was not limited to farmers associated with irrigation or to one member per household and, by doing so, opened 247 up the opportunity to get women involved in WUAs; and committee's treasurer to be a woman. Furthermore, women (2) a quota for irrigated land allocation was established for have formed an exclusively women's group that provides a women so that they could get access to water from the irri- platform to discuss and form a unified opinion before any gation projects during the dry season and be involved in the major decision is discussed in the WUA. decision-making process. The main activities of the project that helped achieve the The program identified three groups of predominant gender-mainstreaming-related objectives of the project water users: gardeners, livestock owners (coinciding or not include (1) recruitment of a gender officer, (2) farmer train- with gardeners), and fishermen. The apex WUA was defined ing demonstrations (FTDs), and (3) functional literacy as a combination of these subgroups, with an executive groups (FLGs). body comprising members from each of the three subasso- LACOSREP II employed a gender officer on a contract ciations. The project offered substantial material incentives, basis to ensure the objectives of appraisal were met; this was including food rations and improved irrigation facilities, for an effective strategy. farmers, livestock keepers, and fishermen to participate in FTDs were conducted based on community needs assess- the small-scale dam construction and rehabilitation and ment and planning exercises. Farmers were trained, among WUA activities. The recognition of different stakeholder other things, in composting and vegetable growing. Out of groups facilitated WUA development. This also strength- 6,266 participating farmers, 40 percent (2,546) were women. ened the WUA by avoiding possible conflicts over water use This shows a considerable achievement by the project in get- and facilitating watershed protection measures. ting a good representation of women within the groups. The WUAs were responsible for land allocation in the FLGs, which were originally not included in the project dam command areas; modalities of this procedure were left design, were introduced during the implementation of the up to them to decide, the only condition being that plot project to teach beneficiaries (most of them women) numer- sizes should be equal, not smaller, for women, and 40 per- acy and literacy in indigenous languages. These groups were cent should be reserved for women. This affirmative action also aimed at establishing solidarity among groups for other was taken to give women access to productive resources purposes such as collective work and microfinance. because traditionally in this region women did not own Other special, transitional measures taken to promote land and to encourage their participation in WUAs. women's participation in all aspects of the project included Another innovative aspect of the project was the incorpo- charging slightly lower fees to women members of WUAs, ration of disabled and blind farmers in the WUAs, as a form although this was not applied throughout all the associa- of social equity and inclusive targeting in some communi- tions, and accepting illiterate women in community credit ties. This is a replication of the successful IFAD project in management committees.1 Upper West Region, where blind WUA members (a majority being women) have sustainable access to land and water. The BENEFITS AND IMPACTS use of community animators in tandem with extension staff was catalytic, and faciliatory mechanisms were set up for the The overall impact of LACOSREP II on beneficiary com- acceptance of this category of water users. munities has been considerable in the areas of food security, income generation, cohesion, literacy, and promotion of gender issues. GENDER APPROACH Women are not traditionally land owners in this region, WUA membership was open to all members of the target but the WUA system has given them direct access to dry group who would benefit from the results of the project as season irrigated land. As a consequence, women play a smallholder dry season irrigators (gardeners), livestock much greater role in the management of irrigation; this is owners, and fishermen. The percentage of women who highly visible at meetings in which they speak up to repre- became ordinary members was around 38 percent (and thus sent their own views. The project has undoubtedly been slightly below the 40 percent target of the project). At some influential in promoting these changes and making them dam sites, this figure, however, was much higher, up to 80 sustainable. Women can grow vegetables more easily: this percent. Typically, general meetings were held once a both contributes to food security and improved nutrition month, and a quorum for decision-making authority was and generates cash. spelled out in the WUA bylaws. Although a woman did not Given a demonstrated, strong correlation between wid- become chairperson, it was common for the executive owhood and extreme poverty, the inclusion of vulnerable 248 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT women-headed households in at least some WUAs is an local traditional authorities, for example, the degree of deci- indication of the project's having been able to reach IFAD's sion-making power of the traditional landowner, that is, the target group. man descendent of the community's founding lineage--the WUAs and FLGs have also had an impact in creating tindana, earth priest, or tigatu--versus that of other clan modalities for increased social solidarity; the previous pat- heads ("headmen"), family heads, chiefs (called "skins"), terns of dispersed household settlement are changing as and government; and the degree of "urbanization" and communities develop and perceive a need to act together "politicization" (IFAD 2006). more coherently in accessing key tools and input in com- Paradoxically, where women have access to equal (to that munity development. of men) irrigation plots, evidence suggests that these plots FLGs have also provided an arena for women to cooper- are overfragmented, in part because of social relations and ate and organize collective income-generating activities. in part because of women having limited time for agricul- The project's interim evaluation report (IFAD 2006) tural labor and maximization of the output from their irri- reported the changing dynamics of the household decision- gated plot. This implies that gender-equity issues must be making patterns. Husbands were reported to be listening contextualized in project design and implementation.2 increasingly to their wives' views on issues concerning the Another major challenge lies with ensuring effective oper- household and even passing on financial responsibilities to ation and maintenance of district-level WUA councils. Line their wives, as they consider them to be financially knowl- ministries responsible for the development of WUA councils edgeable. Access to greater capital and means of transport, have limited resources and capacities at the district level. such as bicycles, has undoubtedly accelerated women's entry into the market. The livestock component, by increasing LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER access to investments in goats, chickens, and guinea fowl, APPLICABILITY has played a similar role. As a contribution to institutional sustainability and Consideration of multiple users and organizing them is a empowerment,WUAs were envisaged to evolve into a"coun- sure way to obtain beneficiaries' commitment and active cil" at the district level. Formation of district WUA councils participation in project activities. was embedded in the project as one of the exit strategies. To Domestic water inclusion needs to be done carefully: date, only one council was formed with elected WUA coun- domestic water supply is a basic need and requires ade- cil executives, with an operational bank account and draft quate technical measures to address health issues prop- by-laws. Other WUA councils are under development, and erly. Also, addressing domestic water requirements is a an important issue remains how to mainstream gender con- way to give women an opportunity to engage more in siderations into their operational plans systematically. income-generating activities. Social equity and inclusive targeting of the marginalized and disabled rural poor can be mainstreamed into WUA LIMITATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS activities. The project has successfully involved women in WUAs, but WUAs to some extent secure a "minimum platform" to it has not been as successful on other fronts, such as provid- ensure greater participation of women in the WUAs' ing mitigation measures for water-borne diseases. More- decision-making processes if membership criteria are over, a large number of hand-dug wells (about 40 percent transparent and equitable. of the total), which were aimed at reducing the workload of Bottom-up approaches to WUA formations thrive where women in fetching water, are not functional (IFAD 2006). In legal and institutional frameworks exist and decentral- some communities water for domestic use is fetched from the ization is advanced. small-scale dam, which creates health and social problems. Upscaling WUAs to district, regional, and national WUA It was also observed in some cases that plot sizes were not councils will be self-empowering, but also the means for always equal in practice. Plot allocation differed according WUAs to engage in policy dialogue, advocacy, and auton- to, among other means, patrilineal versus matrilineal popu- omy at higher levels, where attention can be brought to lation groups; the personalities and the "morphology" of women's needs. INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: GHANA: UPPER EAST REGION LACOSREP 249 I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 The Gambia: Lowlands Agricultural Development Programme (LADEP) R ice production in The Gambia is traditionally a The Gambia was to involve local communities in the devel- woman's domain, with the men concentrating their opment process of national socioeconomic issues and to farming efforts on cereals and livestock in the have them assume control over some activities and be uplands. Rice land ownership in the traditional system is empowered to make their own decisions on matters per- vested to men first settlers who allocate rice land to their taining to their development. wives and daughters. The rest of the women rice farmers The objectives of the innovation were as follows: (later settlers) depend on borrowing rice land on an annual basis, without the assurance of availability (renting or share Mobilize the beneficiaries to provide the self-help labor cropping of farmland is not common in The Gambia). This required to rehabilitate or develop rice fields. traditional land tenure system discourages landless women Create the environment under which landless women rice producers (later settlers) to participate in any land rice producers would permanently own land. reclamation efforts, because the land does not belong to Make sure that the beneficiaries take over the responsi- them, and they have no secured access to land, even in a bility of repairing and maintaining the infrastructure midterm perspective. Owners of large tracts of land cannot after the project phases out. provide the labor required for reclamation of these lands, and therefore land reclamation is not implemented. For LADEP was targeted to benefit 8,960 rice farmers under successful implementation of self-help (through the provi- various rice-growing ecologies in the country, on 8,075 sion of labor and locally available materials), the issue of hectares of land. The intended beneficiaries were the farm- access to land had to be resolved. ers, mainly women (about 90 percent), who participated in the land reclamation efforts. PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES INTHE PROJECT The main objective of the IFAD-supported Lowlands Agri- cultural Development Programme (LADEP; 1997­2005) in During the design phase of LADEP, community participa- tion was made mandatory. The main innovative activity of the project was allocation of land in exchange for labor pro- What's innovative? Community participation was vided to rehabilitate swamps for rice production. made mandatory during the design phase. Land This innovation was chosen from a range of options was allocated in exchange for labor provided to identified by focus group discussions (part of the site man- rehabilitate swamps for rice production. A site agement committee [SMC], itself part of the village devel- selection committee and intercommunity negotia- opment committee [VDC] introduced by the government): tions were set up to look into cross-cutting issues in the community; subsequently, a"land for labor" Option 1: Use of machinery for the construction of the agreement, valued under traditional law, was required infrastructure without changes in the land reached between the program's beneficiaries and tenure system. Here ownership of the infrastructures, an the founder settlers of the community. important factor for future operation and maintenance, could not be secured. 250 Option 2: Construction of the infrastructures by the The innovation of providing land ownership to landless landowners. This option faced labor shortages by the rural people, mainly women, helped provide the long-term landowners. incentives required to mobilize beneficiaries to (1) provide Option 3: Devolution of ownership of an equal piece of land the labor necessary to rehabilitate rice fields and (2) assume from traditional landowners to a few men and mostly responsibility for infrastructure operation and maintenance women of the communities who participated in the after the close of the program. The innovation brought reclamation efforts. With the devolution of land owner- about changes in the traditional land tenure system. In the ship, the people had a clear incentive to contribute their traditional system, land tenure was held by founder settlers labor to reclamation efforts. (who were sometimes women). LADEP brought about the devolution of individually owned land to the community, The program's other innovative features included setting and this new common land was equitably redistributed and up site selection committee and intercommunity negotia- shared among individuals, mainly women, who participated tions. Site management committees were established to look in land reclamation works. into cross-cutting issues in the community related to rice The main factors that facilitated the innovation and production, particularly the provision of labor and land allo- played an important role in the success of the project are the cation. The committees were grouped under 35 district-level following: farmers' associations. A legal constitution as a community- based organization was prepared for the farmers' associa- The setting up of SMCs to look into the community's tions and adopted in a participatory manner, before their cross-cutting issues, especially the provision of labor and official registration. Institutional sustainability is one of their land allocation goals, as well as an increased contribution of farmers to local The facilitation of intracommunity negotiations to find decision-making processes. solutions to common community problems. Intracommunity negotiations were facilitated using the participatory rapid appraisal (PRA) method to find solu- Other actions that contributed to the success of the proj- tions to common community problems. The PRA method ect include the steps taken at the design phase of the project was first introduced to extension services in charge of mobi- to ensure community participation in the decision-making lizing communities under program activities and was the process: foundation of the self-help approach adopted under LADEP. Through these negotiations, a "land for labor" Public extension services sensitized communities con- agreement was reached between the program's beneficiaries cerned with the lowlands on LADEP. and the founder settlers of the community. When such an Public extension services collected formal requests for agreement is made at the community level, it gains legal assistance. value under traditional law. A community mobilization coordinator (belonging to the Department of Community Development, delegated to the project) visited selected communities to establish GENDER-RESPONSIVE ACTIVITIES SMCs, as part of the VDCs established by the govern- The project's innovation activity addressed the landlessness ment when they existed. The process involved participa- of women, traditional rice growers, and consisted of trans- tory rural appraisal, focus group discussions in which ferring the ownership of an equal piece of land from tradi- beneficiaries and the local government authorities were tional landowners to the few men and mostly women of the presented the advantages and disadvantages of each communities who participated in the reclamation efforts. option and supported the elaboration of community These"land against labor agreements"between landless indi- action plans. viduals and founder settlers (landowners) were made in the presence of the whole community, which conferred a tradi- BENEFITS AND IMPACTS tional legal status to the agreement. This option was chosen because of the following advantages: the allocation of land to The innovation brought about changes in the traditional landless women farmers who participate in reclamation land tenure system. In this traditional system, land tenure efforts and the recognition of the need for women farmers to was held by founder settlers (women in a few instances). Yet own land if they are to invest their labor in its reclamation. the innovation represents the devolution of individually INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 2:THE GAMBIA: LOWLANDS AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (LADEP) 251 owned land back to the community and the sharing of this Poverty can effectively be reduced when rice land is equi- new common land property among the individuals who tably distributed. participated in land reclamation works. The innovation settles the issue of land ownership in the The key contextual elements that should be considered as project intervention sites. Land tenure security for the land prerequisites for replication outside of The Gambia are the poor has contributed to food security in no small way following: because of more land reclamation efforts and more land Social: The communities, including the landowner being cropped. minority, should be prepared to negotiate favorable land Planners assessed the performance of the innovation and allocation systems. made an impact assessment of the project. The main find- Regulatory: Land reforms under local government ings are the following: reforms (decentralization processes) should exist to sup- port the innovation. Poverty is streamlined as more women farmers own land Institutional: The village development committee con- and confidently work it for production. Women benefi- cept, through which negotiations with site management ciaries now have permanent ownership of land, and their committees can be jump-started, must be present. children will inherit ownership of the land. Women have benefited greatly. LADEP was targeted to benefit 8,960 rice farmers in various rice-growing envi- NOTES ronments in the country, on a total area of 8,075 hectares Overview of land. LADEP reached 24,684 farmers (90 percent of them--a total of 22,216--women) and reclaimed a total This Overview was prepared by Juan A. Sagardoy (Consul- tant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande Gunnar Larson, of 7,481 hectares of land. and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Sasha Koo (FAO); Community cohesion has increased. Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Nilufar Ahmad, Indira Ekanayake, Beneficiaries reported a 30­100 percent increase in food and Anne Kuriakose (World Bank). production. The impact assessment found that most 1. FAO's Gender and Development Plan of Action 2008­2013, communities report that with upland and lowland crops conference, Thirty-fourth Session, Rome, November 17­24, they are now food secure. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/012/k0721e.pdf. Either by water retention or swamp access, the LADEP 2. Additional material is available at the GAL eSourcebook experience resulted in an additional three months each at www.worldbank.org. year of rice self-sufficiency. 3. FAO, "Gender and Food Security Statistics," Food self-reliance and household food security were www.fao.org/Gender/stats/genstats.htm. improved as more land was put under cultivation. The 4. See also Technical Note 3 in the GAL eSourcebook at advantage of the process followed lies in its self-regulation: www.worldbank.org. communities develop the area they can actually manage to reclaim and cultivate. Thematic Note 1 This Thematic Note was prepared by Barbara van Koppen LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER (Consultant) and Anne Kuriakose (World Bank) and APPLICABILITY reviewed by Robina Wahaj (Consultant); Rudolph Clev- The LADEP experience provided evidence that people-led eringa, Maria Hartl, and Audrey Nepveu (IFAD); and Indira project interventions contribute to the sustainability of Ekanayake and Riikka Rajalahti (World Bank). Many con- cepts and evidence in this note are based on the findings of change. Also, the following principles or lessons were iden- the action-research project "Models for Implementing tified: Multiple-Use Water Supply Systems for Enhanced Land and Water Productivity, Rural Livelihoods and Gender Equity" Land reforms have to be initiated by the beneficiaries and (www.musproject.net), supported by the Challenge Program agreed upon by mutually binding arrangements (under on Water and Food of the Consultative Group of Interna- traditional or other law). tional Agricultural Research (www.waterforfood.org). Initial Household food security can be improved if the landless findings of this research project are also synthesized in Van are assisted in securing land permanently. Koppen, Moriarty, and Boelee (2006). 252 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT 1. Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez, Mexico World Water Forum, PROD- Women's Inheritance Rights in the Middle East and North WAT 2006, www.musproject.net/content/download/810/ Africa (MENA) Region. Geneva: COHRE. 8113/file/MUS%20Stockholm%20meeting.pdf. Gender and Water Alliance (GWA) and Both ENDS. 2006. 2. Lenton, GWP, Mexico World Water Forum, PRODWAT Effective Gender Mainstreaming in Water Management for 2006, www.musgroup.net/content/download/555/5690/file/ Sustainable Livelihoods: From Guidelines to Practice. Both Newsletter%20. ENDS working paper series. Available on CD from Both 3. www.musproject.net. ENDS, Nieuwe Keizersgracht, 45 1018 VC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Thematic Note 2 2007. Gender and Water Securing Water for Improved This Thematic Note was prepared by Suman Gautam (Con- Rural Livelihoods: The Multiple-Uses System Approach. sultant) and Anne Kuriakose (World Bank) and reviewed by Rome: IFAD. Karin Kemper and Catherine Tovey (World Bank) and the Sagardoy, Juan Antonio, and Atef Hamdy. 2005. Training of GW-MATE team; and Indira Ekanayake (World Bank). Trainers Manual on Integration of Gender Dimension in 1. Both ENDS, "Effective Gender Mainstreaming in Water Water Resources Use and Management. Bari, Italy: Management for Sustainable Livelihoods: From Guidelines CIHEAM, MAI. to Practice," Both ENDS Working Paper Series, November Sagardoy, Juan Antonio,Vittora Pinca, Nicola Lamaddalena, 2006, www.bothends.org. Rosanna Quagliariello, Dora Chimonidou, and Raouf 2. Eva M. Rathgeber, "Women, Men and Water-Resource Guelloubi. 2007. Mainstreaming Gender Dimensions in Management in Africa," www.idrc.ca/en/ev-31108-201-1- Water Management for Food Security and Food Safety. DO_TOPIC.html. Option Méditerraéennes, Series A, No. 77. Centre Inter- national de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditer- ranéennes. Bari, Italy: Mediterranean Agronomic Insti- Innovative Activity Profile 1 tute of Bari. This Innovative Activity Profile was prepared by Robina Stalker, Linda Prokopy. 2004. "Women's Participation in Wahaj (Consultant) and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa Rural Water Supply Projects in India: Is It Moving (Consultant); Moses Abukari, Maria Hartl, and Audrey beyond Tokenism and Does It Matter?" Water Policy 2: Nepveu (IFAD); and Indira Ekanayake (World Bank). 103­16. 1. CCMCs assisted in group mobilization and training and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). 2002. Water: A were responsible for screening loan requests using local Critical Resource. New York: UNFPA. knowledge of the community and the groups, and assisted Van Koppen, Barbara, Patrick Moriarty, and Eline Boelee. in loan recovery. The groups were required to have at least 2006. "Multiple-Use Water Services to Advance the Mil- three women members out of seven. lennium Development Goals." IWMI Research Report 2. IFAD and GTZ, "Knowledge Profiling: Promoting Easy 98, International Water Management Institute, Challenge Access to Knowledge and Experience Generated in Projects Program on Water and Food, and International Water and Programmes: A Manual," www.ruralpovertyportal.org/ and Sanitation Center, Colombo, Sri Lanka. english/topics/water/ifad/manual/kp.pdf. World Bank. 2006. Reengaging in Agricultural Water Man- agement: Challenges and Options. Series Directions in Innovative Activity Profile 2 Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. This Innovative Activity Profile was prepared by Robina ------. Forthcoming. "Gender, Participation and Decen- Wahaj (IFAD) and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa (Consul- tralization in Agricultural Water Management." Invest- tant); Moses Abukari, Maria Hartl, and Audrey Nepveu ment Note 10.1, update for Shaping the Future of Water (IFAD); and Indira Ekanayake (World Bank). This Profile for Agriculture--A Sourcebook for Investment in Agricul- was adopted from Nepveu, Fye, and Cleveringa (2005). tural Water Management. Washington, DC: World Bank. ------. Forthcoming. "Poverty-Gender Issues in Agricul- tural Water Management Policy." Investment Note 10.3, REFERENCES update for Shaping the Future of Water for Agriculture-- A Sourcebook for Investment in Agricultural Water Man- Overview agement. Washington, DC: World Bank. Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE). 2006. In ------. Forthcoming. "Gender-Sensitive Planning, Moni- Search of Equality. A Survey of Law and Practice Related to toring and Evaluation in Agricultural Water Management." MODULE 6: REFERENCES 253 Investment Note 10.4, update for Shaping the Future of synthesis report. Manila: Asian Development Bank and Water for Agriculture--A Sourcebook for Investment in International Water Management Institute. Agricultural Water Management. Washington, DC: Jensen, Peter K., Yutaka Matsuno, Wim van der Hoek, World Bank. and Sandy Cairncross. 2001. "Limitations of Irrigation Water Quality Guidelines from a Multiple Use Perspec- tive." Irrigation and Drainage Systems 15 (2): 117­28. Thematic Note 1 Kuriakose, Anne T., Waqar A. Jehangir, and Mehmood ul- Binswanger, Hans P., and Tuu-Van Nguyen. 2005. "A Step by Hassan. Forthcoming. "Will the Diggi Go Dry? Multiple Step Guide to Scale Up Community Driven Develop- Uses of Irrigation Water in Punjab, Pakistan." Society and ment." In African Water Laws: Plural Legislative Frame- Natural Resources. works for Rural Water Management in Africa, ed. Barbara Mahfouz, A. A. R., M. Abdel-Moneim, R. A. G. Al-Erian, and Van Koppen, John A. Butterworth, and Ibrahima Juma, O. M. Al-Amari. 1995. "Impact of Chlorination of Water 11-1­11-20, Proceedings of a Workshop held in Johannes- on Domestic Storage Tanks on Childhood Diarhhoea: A burg, South Africa, January 26­28. Pretoria: International Community Trial in the Rural Areas of Saudi Arabia." Water Management Institute. Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 98: 126­20. Butterworth John A., Patrick B. Moriarty, Minnie Venter Maluleke, Theo, Vincent Thomas, Tessa Cousins, Stef Smits, Hildebrand, Barbara van Koppen, Barbara Schreiner, and and Patrick Moriarty. 2005. "Securing Water to Enhance Dirk Versfeld, eds. 2003. Proceedings of the International Local Livelihoods (SWELL): Community-Based Plan- Symposium on Water, Poverty, and Productive Uses of ning of Multiple Uses of Water in Partnership with Ser- Water at the Household Level, Muldersdrift, South Africa, vice Providers." Unpublished paper, AWARD, CARE, January 21­23. Natural Resources Institute, IRC Interna- IRC, and MUS, Bushbuckridge, South Africa. tional Water and Sanitation Centre, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, International Water Manage- Mintz, Eric D., Fred M. Reiff, and Robert V. Tauxe. 1995. ment Institute. "Safe Water Treatment and Storage in the Home: A Prac- tical New Strategy to Prevent Waterborne Disease." Jour- Clasen, Thomas, and Sandy Cairncross. 2004. "Editorial: nal of the American Medical Association 273: 948­53. Household Water Management: Refining the Dominant Paradigm." Tropical Medicine and International Health 9 Quick, R. E., A. Kimura, A. Thevos, M. Tembo, I. Shamputa, (2): 187­91. L. Hutwagner, and E. Mintz. 2002. "Diarrhoea Preven- Cullis, James, and Barbara van Koppen. 2005. "Applying the tion through Household-level Water Disinfection and Gini Coefficient to Measure Inequality of Water Use in Safe Storage in Zambia." American Journal of Tropical the Olifants River Water Management Area." Unpub- Medicine and Hygiene 66 (5): 584­89. lished paper, Pretoria: International Water Management Quick, R. E., L. Venczel, E. Mintz, L. Soleto, J. Aparicio, Institute and Ninham Consulting Services. M. Gironaz, L. Hutwagner, K. Greene, C. Bopp, K. Mal- Esrey, S. A., J. B. Potash, L. Roberts, and C. Schiff. 1991. oney, D. Chavez, M. Sobsey, and R. V. Tauxe. 1999."Diar- "Effects of Improved Water Supply and Sanitation on rhoea Prevention in Bolivia through Point-of-Use Water Ascariasis, Diarrhoea, Dracunculiasis, Hookworm Infec- Treatment and Safe Storage: A Promising New Strategy." tion, Schistsomiasis, and Trachoma."Bulletin of the World Epidemiological Infections 122 (1): 83­90. Health Organization 69 (5): 609­21. Reller, M. E., C. E. Mendoza, M. B. Lopes, M. Alvarez, Hebert, James R. 1985. "Effects of Water Quality and Water R. Hoekstra, C. A. Olson, K. G. Baier, B. H. Keswick, and Quantity on Nutritional Status: Findings from a South S. P. Luby. 2003. "A Randomized Controlled Trial of Indian Community." Bulletin of the World Health Organi- Household-Based Flocculant-Disinfectant Drinking zation 63 (1): 143­55. Water Treatment for Diarrhoea Prevention in Rural Howard, Guy, and Jamie Bartram. 2003. "Domestic Water Guatemala." American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Quantity, Service Level and Health." Informal paper Hygiene 69 (4): 411­19. WHO/SDE/WSH/03.02, Water Engineering and Devel- Republic of South Africa (RSA), Department of Water opment Centre, Loughborough University, U.K., and Affairs and Forestry. 2005. "A Draft Position Paper for Water, Sanitation and Health Programme, World Health Water Allocation Reform in South Africa: Towards a Organization, Geneva. Framework for Water Allocation Planning." Discussion Hussain, Intizar. 2005. Pro-Poor Intervention Strategies in document, Directorate Water Allocations, Department Irrigated Agriculture in Asia: Poverty in Irrigated Agricul- of Water Affairs and Forestry, Pretoria. ture. Issues, Lessons, Options and Guidelines. Bangladesh, Roberts, Michael. 2003. "Ceramic Water Purifier: Cambodia China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam. Final Field Tests. International Development Enterprise, Denver. 254 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT Shah, Tushaar, Barbara van Koppen, Douglas J. Merrey, Innovative Activity Profile 1 Marna de Lange, and Madar Samad. 2002. Institutional International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Alternatives in African Smallholder Irrigation: Lessons 2003. "A Brief Institutional Assessment of Water User from International Experience with Irrigation Manage- Associations in Northern Ghana: Early Stages of Pro- ment Transfer. Research Report 60. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Poor Local Institutional Development in Irrigated Small- IWMI. holder Agriculture."Working Paper 2, Ghana design mis- Upadhyah, Bhawana, Madar Samad, and Mark Giordano. sion for Country Strategic Opportunities Programme 2005. "Livelihoods and Gender Roles in Drip-Irrigation (COSOP), IFAD, Rome, prepared by Norman M. Messer. Technology: A Case of Nepal." IWMI Working Paper 87, ------. 2006. Upper East Region Land Conservation and International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Smallholder Rehabilitation Project (LACOSREP)--Phase Sri Lanka. II. Interim Evaluation Report, IFAD, Rome. Van der Hoek, Wim, Flemming Konradsen, Jeroen H. J. Ensink, Muhammad Mudasser, and Peter K. Jensen. 2001."Irrigation Water as a Source of Drinking Water: Is Innovative Activity Profile 2 Safe Use Possible?" Tropical Medicine and International Nepveu de Villemarceau, Audrey, John Fye, and Rudolph Health 6: 46­55. Cleveringa. 2005."Rice Land for Labour Agreements Ben- Van Koppen,Barbara,Patrick Moriarty,and Eline Boelee.2006. efiting Women: the Lowlands Agricultural Development Multiple Use Water Services to Advance the Millennium Programme (LADEP), Gambia."Case Study, IFAD, Rome. Development Goals. Research Report No. 98. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute. World Health Organization (WHO). 2004. Guidelines for FURTHER READING Drinking-Water Quality, 3rd ed. Volume 1--Recommen- dations. Geneva: WHO. Overview Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2001. Irrigation Sector Guide. Socioeconomic Thematic Note 2 Gender Analysis Programme (SEAGA). Rome: FAO. Caldwell Caldwell, Bruce K., John C. Caldwell, N. Mitra, and Wayne Smith. 2002. "Tubewells and Arsenic in Thematic Note 1 Bangladesh: Challenging a Public Health Success Story." Australian National University, Canberra. Bakker Margaretha, Randolph Barker, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Gautam, Suman Rimal. 2006. Incorporating Groundwater and Flemming Konradsen, eds. 1999. Multiple Uses of Irrigation: Technology Dynamics and Conjunctive Water Water in Irrigated Areas: A Case Study from Sri Lanka. Management in the Nepal Terai. Wageningen University SWIM Paper 8, International Water Management Insti- Water Resources Series 8. Hyderabad: Orient Longman. tute, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Gender and Water Alliance (GWA) and Both ENDS. 2006. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Effective Gender Mainstreaming in Water Management for 2007. "Gender and Water: Securing Water for Improved Sustainable Livelihoods: From Guidelines to Practice. Both Rural Livelihoods: The Multiple-Uses System Approach." ENDS working paper series. Available on CD from Both IFAD, Rome. ENDS, Nieuwe Keizersgracht, 45 1018 VC, Amsterdam, Moriarty, Patrick, John Butterworth, and Barbara van Kop- the Netherlands. pen, eds. 2004."Beyond Domestic. Case Studies on Poverty Kulkarni, Semma. 2005. "Looking Back, Thinking Forward: and Productive Uses of Water at the Household Level."IRC The Khudawadi Experience with Access to Irrigation for Technical Papers Series 41, IRC, NRI, and IWMI, Delft. Women and Landless." In Flowing Upstream: Empower- PRODWAT Thematic Group. International Water and San- ing Women through Water Management Initiatives in itation Center. Available at www.prodwat.watsan.net. India, ed. Sara Ahmed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Van Koppen, Barbara. 1999. "Targeting Irrigation Support to Poor Women and Men." International Journal of Water Thematic Note 2 Resources Development 15 (1/2): 121­40. Deere, Carmen Diana, and Magdalena Leon. 1997."Women Zwarteveen, Margreet. 2006. "Wedlock or Deadlock: Femi- and Land Rights in the Latin American Neo-Liberal nists' Attempts to Engage Irrigation Engineers." Ph.D. Counter Reforms." Working Paper No. 264, Women in dissertation. Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Development, Michigan State University. MODULE 6: FURTHER READING 255 Kuriakose, Anne, Indira Ahluwalia, Smita Malpani, Kristine World Bank. 1990. "Nepal: "Bhairahawa Lumbini Ground- Hansen, Eija Pehu, and Arunima Dhar. 2005. "Gender water Irrigation Project III." Project ID: P010348, World Mainstreaming in Water Resources Management." Agri- Bank, Washington, DC. culture and Rural Development Internal Paper, World ------. 2004. "Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater in Bank, Washington, DC. South and East Asian Countries: Toward a More Effective Prakash, Anjal. 2005. The Dark Zone: Groundwater Irriga- Operational Response." Volume 1, Policy Report No. tion, Politics and Social Power in North Gujarat. Wagenin- 31303, World Bank, Washington, DC. gen University Water Resources Series 7. Hyderabad: Orient Longman. Stallings, Anne Marie. 2006. "History, Cultural Knowledge, Innovative Activity Profile 1 and Property Rights in the Emergence of Groundwater International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Irrigation in Cochabamba, Bolivia." Ph.D. dissertation. 2001. Thematic Study on Water User Associations in IFAD Catholic University of America, Washington, DC. Projects. Vol. I: Main Report. IFAD Office of Evaluation Van Koppen, Barbara, and Simeen Mahmud. 1996. Women and Studies, Rome. and Water Pumps in Bangladesh. London: Intermediate Technology Publications. 256 MODULE 6: GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT M O D U L E 7 Gender in Agricultural Innovation and Education Overview TRENDS IN GENDER ACCESSTO AGRICULTURAL extension approaches, including those that encouraged a INFORMATION ANDTECHNOLOGY larger role for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), producer organizations, and the private sector. gricultural extension programs grew through the A By 2001 an increase in rural poverty and the number of nineteenth and twentieth centuries as a means of farmers left behind became more evident, and the FAO and making the results of agricultural research avail- World Bank developed a shared vision for an integrated able to farmers. The demand for extension services in the approach to agricultural education, research, and extension: United States and Europe grew as farmers adapted their practices to new geographical areas, new crops, and urban Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems for Rural markets. During the second half of the twentieth century, Development (AKIS/RD): Strategic Vision and Guiding Prin- research concentrated on increasing food production to ciples (FAO and World Bank 2000). Knowledge and infor- feed the mushrooming world population while extension mation systems, made up of farmers, agricultural educators, services in developing countries concentrated on encourag- researchers, and extensionists, would be enhanced to better ing farmers to shift to higher-yielding crops and breeds. link people and organizations to promote mutual learning To support this effort, the World Bank supported the and to generate, share, and use agriculture-related technol- Training and Visit (ToT) extension in more than 70 coun- ogy, knowledge, and information for better farming and tries between 1975 and 1995. A centralized national public improved livelihoods (box 7.1). The concern remained for extension system, it provided information to extensionists increasing the benefits of agricultural development for who disseminated it through (overwhelmingly men) "con- women and indigenous peoples in the face of an increas- tact farmers" on the basis of their willingness to incorporate ingly globalized food system. promoted innovations. By the mid-1990s, however, it Since that time the demand for high-value crops, live- became evident that centralized extension systems tended to stock, and fisheries products has been spreading beyond the promote innovations that benefited farmers with more urban centers in Europe and North America to cities in assets and higher levels of education. As a result, the World countries such as China and India; this has provided new Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United opportunities for small-scale farmers who can organize to Nations (FAO), and the International Fund for Agricultural incorporate production, packing, handling, and marketing Development (IFAD) began investing in a broader range of technologies and practices so as to have a comparative 257 Box 7.1 Gender and Knowledge Systems Box 7.2 The Agricultural Innovation System Both women and men manage sectors of com- An agricultural innovation system is "a network of plex smallholder production systems. organizations, enterprises, and individuals focused When gender is ignored, there is a cost to on bringing new products, new processes, and new people''s well-being and sustainable growth. forms of organization into economic use, together Knowledge is not transferred; it is generated and with the institutions and policies that affect their exchanged in a continuous learning process. behavior and performance. The innovation sys- Farmers, agricultural educators, researchers, tems concept embraces not only the science sup- extensionists, and traders form parts of knowl- pliers but the totality and interaction of actors edge and information networks. involved in innovation as well. It extends beyond Rules and mechanisms governing the way differ- the creation of knowledge to encompass the fac- ent actors, organizations, enterprises, and groups tors affecting demand for and use of knowledge in interact to supply and demand knowledge and novel and useful ways." technology are critical for equitable development. Source: World Bank 2007b: vi. Source: Compiled by the author from various sources. Since 1995 information regarding the multiple roles that advantage in these markets. However, if women, indigenous women play in agricultural production and trade has been people, and resource-limited farmers are to take advantage mainstreamed. It is now generally known that women and of this rapidly changing demand for diverse types of staple men have different roles within the household and that and high-value food products, then extension systems will these roles differ in different societies and in different kinds need to focus on the organizational, technical, and manage- of production units: small-scale/subsistence, medium-scale, ment skills these groups need to be competitive. Moreover, and larger/commercial farm households. We have also it will be impossible for these less-advantaged groups to pay learned that it is more difficult for limited-resource farmers, for these services, which makes it imperative to rethink the both men and women, to innovate because of the risks and trends toward privatizing or outsourcing extension, or both, investment required. So, although new opportunities will which until recently has been considered a public good. open up for smaller-scale women farmers to meet the demand for high-value, labor-intensive products, proposals to privatize extension services will need to be reviewed if GENDER ANDTHE AGRICULTURAL these farmers are to benefit from them. INNOVATION SYSTEMS FRAMEWORK An attempt to rethink the way we look at agricultural sys- Since the Fourth World Congress on Women, held in Bei- tems, from farm to table globally, is the Agricultural Innova- jing in 1985, efforts have been made by national govern- tion Systems (AIS) framework that the World Bank is devel- ments and international agencies to provide agricultural oping (box 7.2). This framework argues that diversity, extension to women and to increase rural women's access inclusion, and participatory approaches are critical to build- to education. The Farming Systems perspective of the ing the quality of social capital needed for resilient and sus- 1980s encouraged countries and organizations to look tainable innovation systems. It focuses on strengthening the beyond the idea of a household whose members had com- system from both the supply and demand sides of the broad mon interests, for an understanding of the intrahousehold spectrum of science and technology generation through the gender relations regarding production responsibilities in exchange activities of organizations, enterprises, and groups. agriculture. However, the prevailing stereotype assumed The AIS framework takes into account the many actors along that men "heads of households" made most decisions or the value chain, as well as diverse organizational forms that were in charge of most aspects of the production processes can facilitate education, research, and extension systems as in which small-scale farm units were engaged. This view well as the practices, attitudes, and policies that frame agricul- impeded progress in taking women farmers into account as tural production and trade.It moves the discussion from seeds both key actors and stakeholders. and breeds to one that centers on actors and stakeholders 258 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION Table 7.1 Comparison of Approaches to Agricultural Innovation and Gender Agricultural knowledge/ Themes Training and visit system information groups AIS/Farmer organizations General features Purpose Planning capacity for Strengthened communication Strengthened capacity for agricultural research, and knowledge delivery innovation throughout the technology development, services to people in the agricultural production and and technology transfer rural sector marketing system Actors National agricultural research National agricultural research Potentially all actors in the organizations, agricultural organizations, agricultural public and private sectors universities, extension universities, extension involved in the creation, services, and farmers services, farmers, NGOs, and diffusion, adaptation, and use entrepreneurs in rural areas of all types of knowledge relevant to agricultural production and marketing Organizing principle Using science to create Access agricultural knowledge Using knowledge in new ways inventions for social and economic change Nature of capacity Infrastructure and human Strengthened communication Strengthened interactions strengthening resource development between actors in rural between actors; institutional areas development and change to support interaction, learning, and innovation; creation of an enabling environment Markets No market integration Low market integration High market integration Gender dimension Gender inclusion Inclusion is a problem Improved inclusion Full engagement of actors Research agenda Not gender sensitive Becoming more gender Becoming more gender sensitive because of greater sensitive because of greater participation of farmers engagement of farmers but must have explicit gender dimension Role of women Women are seen are Women are seen as active Women are seen are critical beneficiaries of the process participants in the process actors Gender focus Focus is on gender difference Focus is on gender difference Focus is on gender difference of access to technology and of access to technology and in leadership and capacity services services and on to influence policy-making participation and processes; social dimension representation in the and market linkages are research process made stronger but must ensure gender inclusion Institutionalizing gender Personnel policies and gender Personnel policies and gender Institutional development is balance in relevant balance in relevant created to support institutions are started but institutions are improved; interaction and to ensure full gender imbalance remains a building capacity for engagement in policy-making major concern women scientists and processes but must have farmers' organizations is explicit gender dimension the focus Sources: General Features: World Bank 2007b; Gender Dimension: personal communication with Eija Pehu and Catherine Ragasa. together with the rules and mechanisms that govern the way The AIS framework considers women to be critical actors the different actors interact (World Bank 2007b: 135). Table in an innovation system. From this perspective, innovation 7.1 compares the gender dimension among different is viewed as a social and economic process that draws on approaches to investment for agricultural innovation. discovery and invention but recognizes that the most MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION 259 important role that these innovations have is to improve the practices needed to be able to meet export, sanitation, and livelihoods of all people, especially those of women and certification requirements. other vulnerable groups. From the perspective of the AIS The challenge is to identify and develop organizations framework, the active engagement of women is no longer and institutions that are best suited to support these groups only a right but is an imperative to future farming, process- so that they can (1) determine their comparative advantage ing, and marketing systems that can improve livelihoods in producing and supplying different products for available and agribusiness development. This framework proposes markets, (2) gain the necessary technical and marketing that innovation involves not only new actors but also new skills to implement their decisions, and (3) continue diver- roles and many relationships that can sustain knowledge sifying into other high-value crops, products, or enterprises generation and learning if technical and economic successes, to both mitigate their risk and enable them to further together with social and environmental sustainability, are to enhance their incomes and livelihoods (Swanson 2008a). be achieved (Spielman and Birner 2008). Figure 7.1 shows how actors and organizations interact From this perspective, the improvement of rural liveli- and where a sustainable agricultural innovation system hoods will require nonformal education (such as Farmer incorporates equality of participation and representation Field Schools) to remain within the category of public of actors. goods. Public research and extension will have to concen- trate on natural resource management, human nutrition, KEY GENDER ISSUES and support to producer organizations. Extension systems Organizational arrangements that support women's will be charged with supporting the construction of human involvement (Thematic Note 1) and social capacity in rural communities so that those peo- ple who are more vulnerable can successfully pursue new Research and extension organizations have been undergoing crops, livestock, fisheries, or other enterprises suitable for changes since the mid-1990s in search of greater cost effec- local resources, conditions, and market opportunities. In tiveness and accountability. In a number of countries, such as most cases this will require the transformation of the tradi- China and India, decentralization and devolution policies tional top-down, technology-driven extension model into a have encouraged departments of central governments new approach that is more decentralized, farmer-centered, (including agriculture) to scale down, devolving greater and market driven (Swanson 2008b). responsibility for agricultural training and information ser- Although the agricultural innovation system framework vices to local governments. At the same time, agricultural focuses on equality in access to technology, inputs, services, research has been encouraged to focus on technologies and and markets, as well as on opportunities for participation, management practices that can ensure food security and leadership, and equal representation as a means influencing respond to the demands of resource-limited farmers rather policy-making processes, it does not make visible farmer types than to those of commercial and multinational interests. The based on diverse asset portfolios, levels of education, and net- intersection of these two changes has challenged agricultural works. So although there is a visible space for all types of actors researchers, on the one hand, to dialogue with resource- in the system, small-scale, women, and indigenous farmers limited farmers and agriculture ministries, on the other hand, will continue to be left behind unless they receive effective sup- to coordinate a variety of activities carried out by diverse rural port to build the organizational, technological, management, agents, including private advice givers, NGOs, local govern- and investment capacity they will need to engage. ments, and commercial input suppliers.Latin America was the The AIS approach can reach its stated potential to ben- first region where attempts at privatizing extension took place efit small-scale women and men farmers if it develops (box 7.3 for an example in Peru) as structural adjustment and mechanisms to foster their organization into groups decentralization policies were put into place. In Mexico, for based on common interests and resources so that they can example, officials decided that farmers who could not pay for consider the economic feasibility of producing and mar- extension services would be assisted through the Ministry of keting. These groups will need to sort through agroeco- Welfare. The void created by the closing of national extension logical, market, and transport conditions to determine services was filled by local NGOs financed by international which products can be feasibly produced and marketed. organizations such as OXFAM, HIVOS, and CARITAS, who They will need to have access to support from research so did not charge for their services. that they can fine-tune technologies to specific condi- International NGOs and funding agencies together with tions, and they will need to develop the skills and bilateral donors were instrumental in putting the inclusion 260 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION Figure 7.1 Interrelations among the Elements of Agricultural Innovation Systems Equal opportunity and Informal institutions, practices, and attitudes capacity for participation and leadership in processes to challenge biases Bridging institutions Value chain actors Research and Equal representation Consumers education systems and capacity for participation and Agricultural leadership Processing, Equal research system wholesale, retail opportunity for · Public sector Agricultural access to · Private sector extension system technology, · Producer · Public sector inputs, services, organizations · Private sector Traders and markets Agricultural · NGOs education system · Producer organizations Producers Equal representation Other bridging and capacity for institutions participation Input suppliers and leadership Agricultural innovation policies General agricultural policies Equal opportunity and capacity to influence policy-making processes Source: Spielman and Birner 2008, modified by the author, with input from Eija Pehu and Catherine Ragasa. of women as policy makers, researchers, extensionists, and Box 7.3 Peru:Agro-Innovation and direct recipients of agricultural services on the rural devel- Competitiveness Project opment agenda. Although some strides have been made, women remain underrepresented in higher education and Through the Peruvian Agro-Innovation and Com- as scientists (see Thematic Note 3). Thematic Note 1 discusses petitiveness Project (INCAGRO), for example, the how alternative extension models have dealt with the barri- government of Peru has sought to create or ers and opportunities for involving women extensionists strengthen an agricultural advisory services market and farmer entrepreneurs. by paying up to 75 percent of project costs through competitive funds while requiring the direct bene- ficiaries to pay or mobilize the remainder, thereby Participation in research and extension creating a culture of payment for demanded ser- (Thematic Note 2) vices. Payment, at least in part, by farmers to receive Participatory research efforts have been actively engaging advisory services will likely make services more women. Women scientists were at the forefront in 1988 client oriented, better identify demand, and man- age quality control of services. when the Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia took on the challenge of the Participatory Research and Gender Source: Roseboom and others 2006. Analysis (PRGA) Program (see www.prgaprogram.org). Likewise, women scientists and technicians were actively MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION 261 engaged in the development of Farmer Field Schools (FFSs), a public good. It should be noted that at present only a por- especially in the Philippines (see Thematic Note 2). tion of agricultural research benefits from the participatory As researchers began to work more closely with resource- mode and that information transfer, such as daily market limited farmers, the challenge of linking the technologies prices, is considered an extension activity. that agricultural research had produced to the needs of these farmers became evident. Studies done in the 1990s Increased access for women to education and showed that women needed different technologies than training (Thematic Note 3) men because their productive responsibilities were often Limited agricultural education and training have been a different. These studies also brought to light the power critical factor in limiting the opportunities for women to (1) implications of technology and showed how economic gain new technological knowledge in their areas of produc- gains were often transferred from women to men when new tion, (2) occupy positions as agricultural researchers and technologies for women's spheres of production were placed extensions, and (3) voice their demands for research, train- in the hands of men. They also showed that women farmers ing, and other kinds of support, including technology, pol- are skilled in biodiversity management and marketing and icy, and financing. Initial attempts to support smallholder are major repositories of indigenous knowledge worldwide. farm women in the South, especially in Latin America and It became evident that women and men farmers do need sub-Saharan Africa, concentrated on training women information and skills but also that they can contribute to researchers and extensionists in home economics. Many of formal research processes from their own knowledge and these programs concentrated on preparing professionals skill banks. The unspoken challenge was how to build chan- and technicians in the skills required by farm women in the nels for knowledge and information exchange that could United States and Europe (food processing, nutrition based help make formal research more relevant while providing on diets high in animal products) and reinforcing the farmers with the technological knowledge they needed to notion that men were the agriculturalists and major deci- negotiate agroecological changes and market demands. sion makers regarding technology and management options Among the many participatory research experiences that for the farm unit. The need for a different kind of education had sprung up by the end of the 1980s, the CGIAR (Consulta- and training for women has become obvious because (1) tive Group on International Agricultural Research) centers women are managers in their own right, at least for part of mainstreamed the Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB-PRGA) the farm if not the entire farm, and (2) women agricultural initiative and the Community Agricultural Research Groups researchers bring new ideas and insights to the table. (CIAL-CIAT). Simultaneously, group extension programs A need exists for girls to be encouraged during their pri- supported by multilaterals included the Farmer Field Schools mary and secondary school years to take up scientific sub- (FFS-FAO), Campesino a Campesino (MARENASS-IFAD) jects. In many countries this means an intentional effort to Management, and Participatory Technology Development help parents and teachers to work actively to overcome the (ILEIA-NL) (see specific examples in the Thematic Notes).Both social barriers, norms, and practices that explicitly or groups of programs focused on gathering and exchanging implicitly discourage girls. Every woman in agriculture that information, testing existing and new technologies, and foster- a young girl meets in her formative years, whether she is a ing innovation. All of these programs have been successful in farm manager, extensionist, or science teacher, is a model for involving women,most likely because the learning process takes the future profession that she will choose. place in the fields. There women are frequently responsible for many of the farming processes under scrutiny and can reflect Labor-saving technologies for women upon the merits of the proposed technologies or practices and (Thematic Note 4) make informed decisions on whether or not to adopt them. The financial sustainability of these programs, however, In most developing countries, rural women's triple responsi- is under question because it has been difficult to show a bilities of farm work, household chores, and earning cash to return on investment above 50 percent. It could be argued supplement family incomes--tasks that often add up to a 16- that, especially in the case of resource-limited farmers and hour day--are well documented. Although men even from women, a need is present for group action programs poorer families now have access to improved technologies because the increased human and social capacity resulting for use in farming and nonfarm enterprise activities, most from these programs can be compared to that gained women still struggle through their days using traditional through other kinds of adult education programs (most technologies that are labor intensive and time and energy often run by departments of education) qualifying them as consuming. Since the mid-1980s, many programs have 262 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION supported the introduction of labor-saving technologies Box 7.4 Agricultural Policy Strategies That Help to such as cleaner and more efficient cookstoves, grain grinders, Enable Women and hoes of different lengths and weights. Some have been more easily adopted than others; some have resulted in a changing division of labor within the household that often Guarantee women's access to land-titling rights benefits women but sometimes adds to their workload or Employ women agriculturalists in research and even deprives them of economic opportunities. extension posts The characteristics of technologies and processes not only Focus agricultural research on management set limits on who will use them but also directly influence how areas for which women are responsible assets will be owned and managed. Better innovation results Ensure places for women in higher education from more diverse perspectives on problem solving and pro- Enact labor laws that provide equal rights to women. vides one of the most important reasons for involving women Ensure that mechanisms are in place to imple- in innovation processes. Innovation processes and women's ment gender-sensitive policies livelihoods will be enhanced if a gender perspective is ensured when technologies are developed. Many examples can be Source: Compiled by the author. noted of how technologies have both positively and negatively changed access to assets by women. Thematic Note 4 explores policies and practices. Box 7.4 lists some of the more effec- the complexity of the issues surrounding the design, use, and tive gender-responsive strategies. control over labor-saving technologies for women. The most important policy that affects the participation of professional women in the agricultural sciences and exten- EMERGINGTRENDS AFFECTING GENDER ROLES sion is probably one that explicitly makes their contributions IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION in national, regional, and local organizations visible. If the professional women in agriculture are not visible in newspa- Several emerging trends are affecting the gender-respon- pers, on radio and television, and in research organizations siveness of agricultural innovations, including policies, and extension offices, it is doubtful that women primary- and social processes, information and communication tech- secondary-school students will become inspired to prepare nologies, learning and education, formal and informal for careers in agriculture, let alone in agricultural research. organizations, and monitoring and evaluating progress. Women extensionists need extra support throughout their scientific careers from colleagues who have "been Agricultural policies that support women's through it" or are empathetic with them. It is not enough to involvement in innovation systems motivate women to prepare for and take up positions in extension; more is needed if women are to stay involved. We Gender-responsive agricultural policies have contributed to require additional steps to engage women in informal net- overcoming asymmetries in gender power relations, espe- works, working groups, and teams so that they will not only cially where they provided frameworks and mechanisms for be competitive but also be visible and recognized. Over- improving women's access to assets including information, coming the hurdles women scientists face cannot be left to training, land, and technology. From the perspective of AIS, the individuals alone, and it will not happen with written an increase in women's capacity to manage different aspects rules alone. An effective mentoring system needs to be put of a given system will enhance the capacity of that system to into place so that women scientists can become more effec- innovate and sustain itself as climate changes, market oppor- tive in leveraging opportunities for advancement and con- tunities, and the need for alliances and networks become ditions that will make the workplace more friendly to and more and more demanding. Agricultural and social policy acceptable for them. can enable or hinder the participation of women whether they work on farms or require education, or if they are sci- entists in national and international research organizations. Informal organizations and women's access to information and services Policies regarding farm and related labor practices, trade, and food safety, to name a few, influence gender relations far For at least three decades awareness has been increasing that beyond the local level and throughout the system. Increased access and control are critical to inclusion and equity. We participation of women in research and extension organiza- have learned much about the difficulties that women face tions can contribute to the development of gender-sensitive in accessing information, extension, advisory services, and MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION 263 education, as well as in owning or acquiring land and tech- interpersonal and group situations or are mediated by tech- nology. It is now common knowledge that women organize nology. This Sourcebook discusses information and commu- to learn, to support each other, and to gain recognition in nication technology (ICT); one should keep in mind the their communities even when there is no direct economic opportunities it will open for research and extension in benefit. However, we are only beginning to recognize the the future. Box 7.5 gives the viewpoint of one person on the opportunities to reinforce social support systems such as ground. A challenge will be to link continuously the infra- community organizations, exchange labor groups (for structural aspects of information and communication with example, you care for my animals one week, and I will care the social processes of communication that are critical to for yours the next), and extended family networks for representation and equality. As more knowledge-intensive enhancing know-how, information, and innovation sys- agriculture, fine-tuning of technologies and management tems. Potentially, exchange labor groups can become plat- systems, multifaceted negotiations, and alliance building forms for technology and management system improve- become increasingly relevant, scientists, extensionists, and ment. Extended family networks provide opportunities for local groups will all need to gain more control over com- information exchange (increasingly via cell phones) and munication channels, processes, and technologies if effec- even for identifying and opening markets for goods and ser- tive dialogue is to take place. vices nationally and internationally. Increased globalization and integration of markets pre- Women's groups provide a unique opportunity for sents both an opportunity and a threat to indigenous women to build human and social capital and increase their knowledge (IK). Local knowledge and IK, incubated over capacity to participate fully in village and municipal gov- long periods of time by social practices, gendered division of ernments where decisions on production and marketing labor, and cultural heritage, depend almost entirely on local strategies will be made. Unfortunately, extension services media. Information and communication technologies have often find it easier to work with organizations controlled by the potential to serve as a platform for sharing across the men, and when women do participate they are seldom pro- boundaries of IK and Western scientific knowledge if it fos- vided equal recognition for the knowledge and skills they ters the use of many diverse expressions and reinforces cul- can share. An urgent need exists to focus attention on the tural relevance. revitalization of women's and other disadvantaged groups' As cellular telephone and Internet access become more networks, as well as to link them into networks that go common in marginal rural areas, networks among rural peo- beyond their extended families and communities. The first ple are spreading not only from provinces to the capitals but step is to recognize that women (and not only men) already also across continents. Community radio is an opportunity participate in groups and then to identify them. Whether for women to build networks and to share information and women's groups are organized around a health center or experience that have been little tapped. Internet access, com- among friends who herd on the same pasture or sell in the munity radio, and cellular phones are providing opportunities same marketplace, they have a store of social capital that can be built upon. Exchange visits among women's groups can Box 7.5 India: Magic Boxes and Market Prices reinforce the human and social capital of all involved and can be reinforced by the use of information and communi- cation technology, especially community radio and cell Shankarlal does not know how the system works, phones to strengthen promising networks. However, in the or what it is called. but he knows the power of the case of radio and the Internet, appropriate investments will "magic box." Every morning, together with his fel- need to be made to develop content geared to groups of low farmers, he talks to the magic box as they smallholders differentiated by gender and by scale and the check the price for potatoes at all major markets in kinds of agricultural processes in which particular stake- the state. Accordingly, they decide where to take holder groups are engaged. their produce. No more cheating middlemen, no more high prices. Social processes of communication and Source: FAO,"Village User of the Gyandoot Information information exchange Kiosk in India," SD Dimensions, Sustainable Develop- ment Department, www.fao.org/sd/2001/KN0602a_ Building and facilitating these processes are the principal en.htm. tasks of effective extension, whether these take place in 264 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION to develop stronger linkages among researchers, extensionists, munity organizations, whether they are currently in the and farm groups. However, unless targeted investments are leadership roles or not. made to bring the technology to women and to accompany them as they take control and use the media to make their voices heard, the danger exists that gender asymmetries in Innovation platforms for learning, communication, and alliance building knowledge among men and women farmers will increase drastically (box 7.5). National and local projects and programs need to plan group activities that will allow staff to participate in learn- ing exercises for the facilitation of innovation systems in Practices that increase the commitment and which the benefits of engaging a multiplicity of stakeholders empowerment of women (farmers, researchers, buyers, and sellers from both public New information and communication technologies offer and private sectors) and especially women are demonstrated. the most exciting new opportunities available to agricul- Incentives such as public recognition or preferential access tural extension services if they can offer broad-based access to information and technologies should be provided to the and control over information exchange. One must recognize, private sector to do contract farming with women. Compe- however, that community radio has been around for a long titions at local municipal and national levels should be time and has not been used as much as it could have been supported where innovative management practices, prod- to bring women into the mainstream of agricultural entre- ucts, and alliances developed by groups of farmers can be preneurship. Radio, and increasingly ICT, are available in publicly recognized. Competitions can be held to award rural areas. The challenge of the future will be to provide women who manage collections of germplasm, or for the content for specific user groups of farmers and especially design of a more efficient way of managing water, or for inno- women to facilitate the needed shift from the "transfer of vative marketing strategies, among many other possibilities. technology" to the learning mode of "innovation systems." A critical assessment criterion will be the degree to which the client or stakeholder can contribute to, give feedback Investment in diverse forms of research and on, and even generate new knowledge as a result of the advisory services information and training received through agricultural The overwhelming majority of smallholder men and extension services. This will no doubt require the facilita- women farmers are not presently clients for private exten- tion of group processes in which all involved learn and sion services or for the kinds of advanced technologies share what they know. that are currently on the market or on the shelf. If the AIS framework is to have an impact on these client groups, it will require continued social and organizational innova- Strategies that engage women in agricultural tion in addition to new and revitalized technologies and innovation management practices for smallholders, especially women who have a comparative disadvantage in education, The AIS perspective argues that women should be engaged mobility, and negotiating skills. If the more vulnerable not because they are in need but rather because they are members of rural communities are to benefit from that needed if more intensified, competitive smallholder agricul- investment, groups must have careful identification of ture is to survive and provide sustainable livelihoods to a their knowledge, skills, and technology if these people are large percentage of presently vulnerable rural populations. to become active contributors to resilient innovation sys- Organizations and governments will need to make future tems. Investment in public research systems should be investments to enhance human and social capital, and inter- geared to provide incentives for multifaceted dialogue ventions will be needed to lobby research and education with other key actors in the innovation system from the organizations on the importance of bringing the present private and NGO sectors. and potential knowledge and skills of women farmers to bear in the construction of viable innovation systems. Recognition for organizations that pay attention to Groups will need to make incentives available for the tech- representation by women nical and leadership training and employment of women scientists, technicians, and researchers, and funders will Many rural communities have organizational rules that have to earmark funds for training women active in com- operate on the basis of social inclusion and solidarity. MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION 265 These values and norms are essential to rural safety nets, Monitoring progress of multistakeholder but they are sometimes considered to be incompatible with involvement business-oriented organizations. Community organiza- One of the challenges will be to track changes in the involve- tions, especially those that involve a cross-section of men ment of women in different aspects of innovation systems and women from farm households, should be recognized that are by nature multistakeholder and go beyond the local and rewarded for efficiency and innovation. "Rules of the level. Questions that should be asked systematically include game" that make it explicit that those who comply with the following: agreements and obligations will reap the benefits should help to avoid "cultural clashes" that can occur as local Is the competitiveness of the activities women are engag- organizations begin to operate high-value chains with ing within the system increasing in the same measure as stringent efficiency requirements. Box 7.6 provides some that of men? ideas about the direction in which existing farmer organi- Is the activity resulting in an increase in either quality of zations need to go if they are to take on AIS challenges. life or income or both? Because community-based farmer organizations are usu- How many of the new and adapted technologies and ally heterogeneous due to variations in the efficiency of management strategies have been taken up by women as smallholder agriculture and to the diversified nature of opposed to men, and how many by smallholders as smallholder agriculture, dealing with increasingly acute opposed to larger farmers? market competition will continue to be a challenge. Orga- Has some of the increased income been transformed into nizational settings that enable diversified smallholder pro- physical assets and human capital? ducers to identify critical roles they can play in a particular Has local women's educational level increased? AIS need to be identified and fostered. A concomitant chal- Have an increasing number of stakeholders at the local and lenge for smallholder producer organizations will be to national levels become involved in making decisions on the represent the interests of a diverse membership, including functioning of the innovation system? Among the repre- those of women and younger farmers. sentatives of these stakeholders, how many are women? Has the number of women in leadership cadres in local organizations, in research positions, and as extensionists increased? Are women involved in agricultural policy Box 7.6 Chile: Producer Organization for making at the national, regional, and local levels? Marketing Is the proportion of men to women in membership and leadership of the national, regional, and local organiza- An analysis of 410 producer organizations in Chile tions becoming more balanced? shows that those that succeed have developed a Are more women graduating in the fields of science that system of rules that (1) allocate costs and benefits are important to agroecological management and agri- to each member on the basis of his or her farming cultural innovation systems? performance and market conditions, (2) enforce Table 7.2 provides examples of indicators for designing agreements between the organization and the monitoring systems. individual, and (3) reduce the transaction costs of Depending on the country or region, it may be relevant negotiating, monitoring, and enforcing agree- ments between the organization and its members. to also consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both as comparative indicators and when collecting data), as Source: Berdegué 2001. women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usually in the most disadvantaged situation. 266 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION Table 7.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Agricultural Innovation and Education Indicator Sources of verification and tools Number of women and men actively involved in participatory · Committee meeting minutes research and extension · Program and project records Percentage of women and men among those actively participating in · Committee meeting minutes agricultural committees and agricultural policy setting at the · Interviews with stakeholders national, regional, and local levels · Media reports · Program and project records Number of women and men participating in farmer field schools · Agriculture Department records per quarter · NGO service provider records · Project records Percentage of women and men extensionists among government, · Agriculture Department records NGO, and private service providers · NGO and private service provider records Number of stories on women in agriculture in media per quarter · Print, radio, and television media surveys Number of years of formal education of farmers, disaggregated by · Household surveys gender · School attendance and examination records Percentage of women among total scientists, technicians, and · Staff records researchers in government agricultural institutions and universities Over a set period, an increase of x percent in incomes from land- · Household surveys based activities (such as agriculture or forestry) among women- · Socioeconomic data from statistics office headed households in program areas Changes over x-year period of project activities in household · Household surveys, before and after nutrition, health, education, vulnerability to violence, and happiness, · Project management information service disaggregated by gender · School records Uptake of new and adapted technologies and management · Extension records strategies, disaggregated by gender and size of land holding · Project records Community satisfaction (disaggregated by gender) with access to · Group interviews or focus groups agricultural innovations (such as seeding or processing equipment, · Interviews, before and after and new seed varieties) Source: Authors. with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION 267 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Gender in Extension Organizations O rganizational support is critical for effective the associations are well consolidated and have fairly extension. Over the past 20 or 30 years, many high levels of human and social capital and access to arrangements have been tailored and reinvented credit. This is most likely the only kind of extension that to meet the needs of diverse groups of farmers, market is truly privately funded. opportunities, political situations, and funding constraints. Private sector programs: These are put into place by pri- As recently as 1996, extension was defined as "the transfer- vate agricultural research, input, or marketing firms to ring of knowledge from researchers to farmers, advising provide information, advice, and training to specific farmers in their decision making and educating farmers on client groups who use, or wish to use, their goods and how to make better decisions, enabling farmers to clarify services in their agricultural enterprises. These programs their own goals and possibilities, and stimulating desirable often serve industry first and are often not developed in agricultural developments" (Van den Ban and Hawkins the best interests of smallholder and resource-limited 1996). but as the multinational biotechnology firms become producers. However, contract farming arrangements the dominant source of crop-production technologies have provided an opportunity for increasing market worldwide, the traditional role of public research and exten- access to smallholders and for building human and social sion systems is rapidly becoming redundant. In a recent capital among resource-limited farmers because both article for the Journal of International Agricultural Research sides benefit more when production is efficient and of and Extension, Burton Swanson proposes that if national good quality. agricultural extension systems in developing countries are Public programs that provide funds for farmers to contract to survive as effective organizations, they must (1) refocus services: This type of program--such as the National on getting farmers organized (that is, build social capital), Agricultural Advisory Service (NAADS) in Uganda and (2) increase farm income and rural employment, and (3) the Peruvian Agro-Innovation and Competitiveness thereby help to alleviate rural poverty (Swanson 2006). Project (INCAGRO)--has shown little promise for The services provided by extension have significant public- reaching resource-limited farmers by providing them good attributes and are known to have a greater effect where with sufficient human and social capital to design viable farmers have more schooling (Anderson and Feder 2003). To business plans and form alliances. With these assets at date, the great majority of extension efforts have been hand, groups of farmers can compete for available funds financed by some kind of public funds, whether these take the that enable them to contract needed advisory services. form of international grants in aid, loans, or funds from These programs are currently funded by international national treasuries. Seven types of extension services are in development loans (for example, from the World Bank) use today (only the first two are funded entirely with private or loans combined with bilateral grants funds from farmers, their associations, or corporations): NGO programs: These programs are usually mandated to serve resource-limited farmers, and they became increas- Private fee-for-service programs: In this type of program, ingly important as centralized extension programs were self-employed specialists or technicians provide advice cut back. For many NGOs working in rural areas, sup- on demand to individual farmers or associations of port to agricultural activities is only one part of their growers. This type of extension is most common where portfolio, and they depend on research organizations 268 and Internet-based sources for knowledge and informa- contract extension services from private providers and tion that they pass on to their clients and partners. They NGOs. In Senegal the Agence Nationale de Conseil Agri- are most often supported by grants from international cole et Rural is a mixed society whereby shares are held by NGOs that receive funds from their national govern- government and farmer organizations. Extension services ments and citizens. are jointly defined and evaluated by farmer organizations Public extension programs: These programs organize the and their local consultation platforms. In addition, a rural flow of information from research and markets to the services fund has been set up to make advisory services rural constituency and are funded by governments demand driven (Mercoiret 2001). Another example of through their own funds, international cooperation proj- this type of program can be found in Madhya Pradesh, ects, or loans. These types of programs have been cen- India, where a private company and a state extension sys- trally managed and have concentrated on production tem jointly finance and provide advisory services for the issues of major cash and food crops. The programs were use of agrochemical inputs. Table 7.3 summarizes meth- then decentralized, which often weakened the advisory ods of procuring funding for advisory services. services because they did not receive full authority to take responsibility for results and sufficient funding. The comparative cost effectiveness of the different orga- Over the last decade a great majority of these programs nizational arrangements has become of increasing concern either have been devolved to local governments or are as attempts are made to move to fee-for-service arrange- being transformed into fee-for-service programs. In this ments. It is hard to see, however, how the rural poor, includ- process, most of the backup services for extension were ing women, could pay for extension services, no matter how substantially reduced, so the quality of advisory services cost effective they are. Rather, it will be important to figure through training and backup services remains to be out how cost effectiveness should be measured and to what addressed. development goals (production goals, environmental goals, Farmer organizations: These groups also have consider- empowerment goals, and so on) it should be related, espe- able, although less well documented, experiences with cially when increased human and social capital is more crit- extension. Large or financially secure organizations can ical to the development of resilient innovation systems. best support these efforts. The organizations Campesino a Campesino (Nicaragua) and Mviwata (Tanzania) fos- GENDER ISSUES IN NATIONAL EXTENSION tered farmer-to-farmer learning. This type of organiza- PROGRAMS tion brings together members across farmer communities or has entire rural communities as their membership. Alternative organizational arrangements for future exten- The latter situation is most common in areas with a his- sion programs are being explored and range from the read- tory of tribal groups and indigenous populations in justment and decentralization of current systems (such as Africa, Asia (India, Lao PDR, Philippines), and Latin the Agricultural Technology Management Agency model in America (Central America, the Andes). Organizations India) to the design of entirely new systems (such as that represent smallholder and resource-limited farmers, NAADS in Uganda). If alternative extension systems are to such as Via Campesina (http://viacampesina.org), invest contribute to improved livelihoods for women farmers, a a great deal of time and effort to build the human, social, number of simple ideas should be kept up front: and economic capital needed to generate, access, and effectively exchange knowledge and information. Other Policy formulation and program design processes examples include marketing cooperatives that provide require that those groups (women and small farmers) information and training to members to ensure high- who could be affected, either positively or negatively, quality products. have an opportunity to influence the outcome. Mixed and collaborative public/private extension programs: Representivity and accountability contribute to sustain- These programs are beginning to emerge where public ability. When present or potential groups of a constituency funds are channeled through farmer organizations that are not represented, the credibility of the organization have a controlling interest in how the funds are allocated. is compromised. Uganda's National Agricultural Advisory Services When women are active and capable extension agents, (www.naads.or.ug), although facing many challenges, they become role models for their women associates provides an example in which farmer organizations may and clients. THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER IN EXTENSION ORGANIZATIONS 269 Table 7.3 Ways of Providing and Financing Agricultural Advisory Services Source of finance for the service Provider of Producer service Public sector Farmers Private firms NGOs organizations (POs) Public sector Public sector Fee-based ­ NGOs contract POs contract advisory services services staff from public staff from public with extension extension decentralization services services Private firms Publicly funded Fee-based Information ­ POs contract contracts to services or input provided with staff from private service providers dealers input sales or service providers marketing of products NGOs Publicly funded Fee-based ­ NGOs hire staff ­ contracts to services and provide service providers services Producer Public funds ­ ­ ­ POs hire organizations managed by extension staff to farmer provide services organizations to members Source: Birner and others 2006. Women bring diverse points of view to their associations The following review of at four alternatives that are being or groups, their communities, development agencies, assessed provides an idea of some of the challenges that are and parliament representatives. Insights and opinions being faced. can foster innovation and the quality of human and social capital. ATMA farmer interest groups--India In many rural settings, women farmers are limited by social norms in communicating with men outside their Since 2000 the government of India's Innovations in Tech- families. In these cases extensionists can act as interlocu- nology Dissemination Component has been testing new tors, but to truly speak on behalf of women, these inter- organizational arrangements and operational procedures to locutors need to be women. decentralize decision making to the district level through Because women have disproportionately fewer advan- the creation of the Agricultural Technology Management tages than men (education, property, and other assets), Agency (ATMA). The goal is to increase farmer input into voucher programs and other attempts to increase assets program planning and resource allocation and to increase for resource-limited groups should ensure that women accountability to stakeholders. smallholders are adequately taken into account. An ATMA is a semiautonomous organization composed Organizational and client confidence increases when of a multitude of key stakeholders involved in agricultural there are greater representivity of and accountability to activities for sustainable agricultural development in the broader sectors of the society. district. It is a focal point for integrating research and Greater diversity of knowledge and experience con- extension activities and decentralizing day-to-day manage- tributes to more resilient and suitable technologies, farm- ment of the public Agricultural Technology System. An ing, and management practices for more user groups. ATMA is a registered society responsible for technology Many smallholder agricultural systems are extremely dissemination at the district level. Each ATMA functions diversified; men and women take responsibilities for dif- under the direction and oversight of a governing board that ferent areas of production. Therefore, the chances that includes representatives of all categories of farmers in the overall farm productivity can be enhanced will increase if district, including 30 percent women farmers, in addition women are fully involved. to scheduled castes and tribal groups. As farmer interest 270 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION groups became organized at the village level, their leaders group chairperson has needed to beg for land for group were selected to serve on farmer advisory committees activities from a husband or other man relative, thereby (FACs) at the block level, and then the chairs of these com- providing a window for men to exert disproportional mittees were selected to serve on the ATMA governing influence underhandedly on group affairs (Stroud and boards at the district level. others 2006). Also important in Uganda is the issue of Both the FACs and governing boards quickly became land ownership among women-headed households "bottom-up" in terms of farmer representation on these (often as a result of HIV and AIDS and related illness). decision-making bodies (Swanson 2008). ATMAs receive Despite the law protecting the woman's entitlement to and expend public and private funds, entering into con- the land formerly owned by her husband, lack of aware- tracts and agreements and maintaining revolving accounts ness and low literacy result in women and their children that can be used to collect fees and thereby recovering oper- being forcefully removed from their land. ating costs. ATMAs are supported by a governing board and a management committee. The governing board is a policy- From these examples it is clear that the societal factors making body and provides guidance and reviews the (literacy, women's roles, and influence) have their impact on progress and functioning of the ATMA. The management women's participation in organizations and the way committee is responsible for planning and executing the women's groups are functioning. It is up to organizations group's day-to-day activities. ATMAs promote farmer inter- like NAADS to find appropriate mechanisms to mitigate and, est groups that include women in specific crop and livestock where possible, change these disadvantageous situations. activities, farmer-to-farmer learning and knowledge shar- ing, and marketing partnerships. National capacity-building program for rural development--Venezuela National agricultural advisory services Between 1995 and 2004, IFAD, the World Bank, and the gov- (NAADS)--Uganda ernment of Venezuela supported the CIARA Foundation to Despite the overwhelming participation of women in design and implement a decentralized extension service that farmer groups, men still retain significant control over operates at the municipal level through civic extension asso- NAADS processes and actual decision making, even in sup- ciations (ACEs) or grassroots producer organizations. posedly women-only groups. Some of the factors found to Extension workers receive training on gender and other undermine women's participation and control over NAADS social aspects of community development, specifically to processes include the following: incorporate a gender approach in all activities. Strategies of participation, promotion, and gender equity include face- Literacy rates among women: These rates are lower than to-face contact at work and at home and the organization of among men, and the perception and experience of local dynamic and creative activities, adjusted to the needs of community groups are that participation in NAADS and each group, characterized by schedule flexibility and easy other community activities involves some form of writing access to meeting places. Extension workers design, moni- or use of English. Many women-only groups co-opted tor, and evaluate productive activities for families and the men as advisors or secretaries to provide linkage to what community that emphasize the inclusion and empower- to them appears a literate, foreign-language-speaking ment of women. outside world. The new service shifted from an economic approach A culture that subordinates women: Married women in (aimed at improving income and production of the rural particular are oppressed by women's triple role: produc- family) to a rural development approach (integral develop- tive, reproductive, and community service. The need to ment of the family with a gender equity perspective). It rush home to prepare lunch for a husband or attend to facilitates the formation of rural extension networks with children affects the level of participation in NAADS the participation of public and private actors, mainly activities. through ACEs, which favor personal, organizational, Ownership and control of resources: The level of influence regional, and interregional alliances. Experience has or control, or both, over group activities is related to the shown that attention to family needs, and to those of resources at one's disposal. A key resource in this case is women in particular, has a high level of social relevance and land, because there were situations in which a women's is an incentive to social participation. The explicit focus on THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER IN EXTENSION ORGANIZATIONS 271 involving women responded to a recognition that women's Box 7.7 Issues for Women in Extension personal growth influences family well-being, strengthens Organizations capacity for team work, and helps consolidate rural associa- tions benefiting the family and society as a whole (Colmenares and Pereira 2004). Increase educational opportunities for women who wish to study in the fields of agriculture Identify and encourage capable women to work NERICA: feeding people, feeding minds--West Africa in the fields of agricultural extension Create more favorable team and residence The goal of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) project is to conditions for women so that they will con- enable rice farmers to make enough profit from their farms to tinue in the field send their children to school and provide them with better Increase the representation of women on every health care. The project, worth about $35 million, is funded rung of the career ladder by the African Development Bank. It supports the dissemina- Ensure a more effective voice for women in tion of the NERICA varieties in seven West African countries: extension through recognition and empower- Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and The ment Gambia. NERICA varieties have up to 30 percent higher yield Provide leadership training to increase women's capacity to leverage and negotiate than traditional varieties. In West Africa rain-fed rice is pre- Increase opportunities and mentoring for dominantly grown by women; therefore, NERICA varieties professional networking can greatly benefit them. The regional rice project aims to involve about 33,000 farm families in participatory research Source: Fair Trade Federation, www.fairtradefederation. approaches to accelerate NERICA dissemination. Many org. promising new varieties have been selected by farmers using these approaches. In The Gambia,Yirima Kafo is a participat- ing farmer organization whose membership includes 180 women primary and secondary school students will become women and 20 men farmers. The association has made a inspired to prepare for careers in agriculture, let alone in agri- profit of about $4,000 and has been able to open a bank cultural research and extension. account. "We are now able to send nearly all our children to A second important policy issue is that of mentoring school," says Oumar Bojang, secretary of the association in women who would like to become active in the field of agri- Jambur (WARDA 2006). cultural research and extension. Although mentoring exists informally, education, research, and government organiza- Gender issues for professionals in extension tions need to organize and support mentoring processes for organizations their women students and staff so that they can contribute more effectively to organization building over time. The issue of the presence of women professionals in exten- sion organizations and their representation in decision making is critical. Although progress has been made in GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR increasing the proportion of women in extension, difficul- PRACTITIONERS ties continue to abound, both for women professionals and The discussion below gives guidelines and recommenda- for the organizations that wish to increase their presence. tions for increasing the participation of women profession- Box 7.7 lists ways of addressing these difficulties. als and women producers in extension. The most important type of formal and informal policy that affects the participation of women is the strengthening of Increasing the participation of women professionals the public image of women and their identification with and activity as role models to reinforce their visibility in leadership Tune in to the number of women in the active units of positions at national, regional, and local levels. If women doing your organization or program--in meetings, in the lab- agricultural science, teaching in universities, speaking about oratory, in government offices, in community meet- new findings, and making decisions that affect agriculture are ings--and find out how they can be included. not visible in newspapers, on radio, and in television or in Incorporate personnel policies that search for qualified research organizations and extension offices, it is doubtful that women candidates for research and extension positions 272 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION and for programs that mentor women in the fessionals specialized in production, processing, trade, and workplace. other rural income opportunities that are of interest to them. Foster participatory working relationships that build Increasing the participation of women producers mutual trust and respect across genders and generations and staff hierarchies. Recognize women as agricultural producers and traders Consistently monitor to ensure that women's voices are by clearly identifying the spheres of activity in which they heard in group work and meetings. have specific skills and decision-making power. Build on the local culture and customs of the working Develop policies that guarantee that women's representa- environment and provide physical facilities for the tion in organizational decision making is commensurate health, hygiene, and personal safety of women. with the participation of women in agricultural produc- Balance participation of men and women representatives tion in any given nation, region, or community. of stakeholders relevant to specific undertakings of the Ensure that committees and decision-making bodies organization or program. include women representatives not only of local women's Lobby counterparts who are men to become spokesper- organizations but also of governmental and nongovern- sons for gender issues at the highest level and mentor mental partners. them on gender-equality issues in their sociocultural and Make the participation of women visible at all levels of political environments. the organization and among the farmers who interact Identify opportunities for scholarships and professional with extension so that it will be possible to measure mentorships that women can take advantage of and advances in the future better than we can now. share the information with women in the organization Build upon the social capital of local organizations and with potential employees. (farmer, school, health, church), especially those in Make the contribution of women visible at every opportu- which women are already engaged. nity, in multiple ways,and using as many venues as possible. Engage men in the task of increasing the involvement of Implement employment policies that ensure that women women on the basis of what they can offer to the inno- farmers have the opportunity to interact with women pro- vation system. THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER IN EXTENSION ORGANIZATIONS 273 T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Gender and Participatory Research articipatory research is a perspective that emerges P Thrupp 1989). By the 1990s three streams of participatory from the social sciences and began to be used in research had taken hold. CGIAR and bilateral Collaborative agricultural research in the late 1970s (see Rhoades Research Programs fostered the first, in which farmers con- and Booth 1982) in an attempt to understand and bridge tributed ideas, knowledge, and management skills to the gap between the development of new agricultural tech- researchers' efforts to identify and select appropriate tech- nologies and their uptake, especially by small farmers in the nologies (germplasm, tools, processes) that could be useful South. Participatory research modes span from consultation to farmers producing in more marginal settings (see box 7.8). with farmers that use technology to involvement of local Participatory extension came to the fore via the FAO-supported groups in the identification of research issues by evaluating FFSs (Braun, Thiele, and Fernandez 2000), which worked in and adapting technologies and management practices an experimental learning-by-doing group mode to help (Probst and Hagmann 2003). farmers reduce the quantities of harmful chemicals they In the field of agriculture, participatory research meth- were using in their fields. The third stream, termed partici- ods were developed hand in hand with the farming systems patory technology development, is a method used since the perspective (Poats, Schmink, and Spring 1988) and followed latter part of the 1990s, mostly by NGOs, to encourage the Green Revolution boom that had showed a limited groups of small farmers to test and adapt technologies, pro- impact on mixed (plant/animal) and diverse (multicrop) moted by formal research, to their specific situations. The resource production systems. Both emerged as researchers latter has been used most often by local NGOs, many of and extensionists attempted to understand the complex sys- which use methods and techniques harvested and dissemi- tems that resource-limited producers, especially in ecologi- nated by the Center for Low External Input Agriculture in cally diverse highland areas, were managing (for example, the Netherlands (www.leisa.info). the Andes, Nepal, and the Philippines) and why these were Participatory research has helped research institutions not permeable to the technologies developed by the formal take on the questions generated by farmer organizations to research institutions. Researchers observed more frequently overcome policy, technology, and market challenges. The that the Transfer of Technology model of extension was not National Agricultural Research Organization's Outreach bringing about the change envisioned for technology use by Centres organized a series of multistakeholder workshops and in the management practices of the smaller-scale and between 2001 and 2004 in which farmers, local government, resource-limited farmers. A closer look at the data on researchers, and NGOs identified critical issues and planned resource endowment, decision making, and management strategies for research and action at different places within strategies used in these family agroenterprises provided by the innovation system (Fernandez and Lusembo 2002). Farming Systems Research enabled researchers to begin to A recent World Bank publication indicates the kinds of recognize the importance of the role of women as produc- changes needed to mainstream participatory research and ers and traders worldwide (Fernandez 1994). extension in support of innovation systems: Although the term participatory research describes many Taking into account the experience gained via the various kinds of farmer-researcher relationships, it is fair to say that modes of participatory research and the concurrent shift the initial attempts to mainstream participatory research toward innovation systems, extension strategies face the dual internationally were taken in 1988 (Chambers, Pacey, and challenge of supporting market competitiveness for commercial 274 Box 7.8 Farmers Leading Change: Integrated Rural Resource Management The National Agricultural Research Organization that they can freely express their concerns and that outreach staff and farmers have appreciated the Inte- their communities are adequately represented. grated Rural Resource Management approach for the Contests among farmers are an effective way to following reasons: recognize and induce innovativeness and to improve the sustainability of impacts and benefits of Farmers identify constraints and work only with improved practices. technologies they are really interested in. They are Farmers report that the benefit of integrated rural not instructed which technologies should be resource management technologies can be observed adopted and to what extent. in the improved condition of natural resources and Integrated rural resource management modifies higher yields. Systematic assessment still needs to be existing technologies in a stepwise manner so that done. farmers become accustomed to improved farming Facilitating the spread of integrated rural resource practices and are not overwhelmed by externally management technologies from farmer groups' trial introduced technology packages. plots to the entire farm holdings of individual Capacity building through participation in multi- farmers, together with intensification of farmer stakeholder workshops helps all parties and espe- training, involvement of schools, and implementa- cially women farmers become more confident to tion of effective communication channels from articulate their own needs and problems. researchers to farmers and back, remain challenges. Because of the way in which multistakeholder events are organized, farmers who are involved feel Source: Statement by Peter Lusembo, Centre Manager Mukono, 2004. agriculture operating in a global market while addressing resource-limited farmers, small-scale food processors, and poverty in rural areas. The agenda for many extension pro- many local traders are women, and so research and exten- grams will need to shift from an exclusive focus on agricultural sion need to engage with them if agricultural science hopes production to a broader range of services relating to marketing, to provide information and technology they can use. Partic- environmental conservation, poverty reduction, and off farm ipatory research in many of its modes not only allows for activities. Participation changes the roles of extension special- but also enables scientists to engage with women users. ists--from messengers and advisers to facilitators--and may Women experimenting and learning in the fields. Farmer require change in organizational structures and moves toward Field Schools bring farmers together in the field to explore cost sharing. Participatory approaches will change, organiza- tional structures, facilities afforded local communities (e.g., how to improve production by experimenting in the fields. resource centers for information and capacity building), and Because women all over the world are in the field--plant- financing mechanisms (Alex and others 2004: 9). ing, weeding, harvesting--FFSs suit women at least as much as men in many countries. The FFSs began with rice fields in the Philippines but expanded to multiple crops in the early GENDER EQUALITY AND PARTICIPATORY 2000s and are now experimenting with animal production APPROACHES systems, crop-animal systems, and even market systems. The Overview of this Module explains why the construction The FFS perspective is an example of how the community of robust innovation systems depends on the engagement of takes ownership of the methodology and runs with it. limited-resource farmers, food processors, traders, and con- Although the perspective does not specifically focus on gender sumers, both men and women. When looking at agricul- equity, the FFSs meet in the fields where women work, and tural innovation processes through the gender lens, partici- with their central role, they naturally become members and patory action research springs to the forefront because it leaders of the FFS groups (CIP-UPWARD 2003). Figure 7.2 focuses on how to identify, involve, and learn from the illustrates how the sphere of influence of the FFS methodol- potential users of developing technology. More than half of ogy has broadened from integrated pest management to THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER AND PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH 275 Figure 7.2 Changes in the Focus of Farmer Field Schools IPM/Crop Crop management Rice IPM Systems Mangoes Sweet Resource potatoes ICM management IPPM Horticulture Community Flowers forestry Livestock Soil fertility management Other focus HIV/AIDS Literacy training Water conservation Savings Food security & nutrition Advocacy Democracy Life Source: CIP-UPWARD 2003. Note: ICM = integrated crop management; IPM = integrated pest management; IPPM = integrated production and pest management. encompass soil fertility and water conservation over time. It (box 7.9). On the other hand, the International Livestock shows the different "waves" in adapting the FFSs. Research Institute chose to locate its headquarters in East Controversy surrounds the cost effectiveness of the Africa, where men manage cattle, and attention began to forms of participatory research that engage farmers in focus on labor-saving technologies for women only after medium- or long-term learning processes (for example, research about farming systems generated data on their FFSs; see Quizon, Feder, and Murgai 2001), for the most predominant role in crop production. part because basic and adaptive technology development and human and social capacity building are evaluated inde- Box 7.9 Peru: Taking Care with Culture-Bound pendently as research or extension, respectively. As a result, Assumptions multi-institutional impacts and long-term benefits to rural communities have not been assessed to date. When the Small Ruminant CRSP (Collaborative Expanding research to include productive activities man- Research Support Program)­­Peru began work in aged by women. One of the most tangible and visible indigenous communities in the highlands, it called impacts of participatory research is the way it has been the men together to discuss how to improve man- able to lead researchers to focus on the productive activi- agement and health practices. Although the men ties that women engage in. In the Andean region until the came to the meetings--always requesting support late 1980s there was almost no information available on for cropping systems--it was only after two years, the health, nutrition, and production parameters of local when a practice session for castration was set up, breeds of sheep and cattle, yet Andean crops, especially that the men stated point blank that it was the women who should be called in because they man- potatoes, had been studied for years. It is now well docu- age the animals. mented that on farms in the high Andes, where both hus- band and wife are present, men make more management Source: Fernandez 1994. decisions regarding crops, while women manage livestock 276 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION Participatory research in the Andes also brought to the Box 7.10 Technology Can Shift Control fore the role of women in biodiversity management, whereas in East Africa it highlighted their role in manag- ing indigenous vegetables. Making these lessons part of their goals, the International Potato Center research In the Andes some women still shear their sheep with knives and can win a contest for speed and agenda has been broadened to include sweet potatoes and cleanliness against men who use shears. Hand other indigenous tuber crops managed by women in shears were initially provided through extension Africa. Recognition of the role of women in genetic programs to men. Women soon realized that once resource management resulted in the Participatory Plant the men took over the shearing, they also took Breeding effort, a subprogram of the Participatory control of the wool that had previously been a Research and Gender Analysis Program, a cross-center product that they processed and sold. effort of the CGIAR. The Participatory Research and Gen- der Analysis Program is currently being downsized, in part Source: Fernandez 1994. because of its limited impact on research geared to meet the needs of women smallholders over the last decade. This decision speaks to the size of the institutional chal- Enabling rural innovation lenges facing those who recognize the importance of Best practices for improving women's involvement in inno- women's contribution to innovation systems. vation processes are those that promote equity through rep- Policy issues to increase equality through participation in resentation and participation. During the last few years a research. Until recently, linking processes of technology gen- group of action-oriented researchers from the Center for eration with those of income generation and agroenterprise Tropical Agriculture and the African Highland Program have development was generally left to organizations that focus developed a strategy for gender-responsive research. They on one but not both. On the one hand, agricultural research have brought together many of the lessons learned over the organizations have largely focused on increasing the pro- last quarter century and have set them out as elements in a ductivity of food crops in small-scale farming systems but process that can foster innovation systems. In the words of have neglected linking farmers to markets to diversify and the multidisciplinary team, "the strategy at the community- increase their incomes. On the other hand, initiatives to link level seeks to eradicate gender discrimination, and promote farmers to markets have been spearheaded by government gender equity in key areas such as participation in groups agencies, the private sector, and to some extent nongovern- and committees, leadership positions, decision-making, mental organizations. However, these initiatives have tended asset ownership, gender differentiated enterprise options and to focus on export crops using top-down approaches. Few food consumption crops" (Sanginga and others 2004). have looked at building farmers' capacity to identify and The strategy promotes gender and equity in the access to develop enterprise opportunities, to match market oppor- technologies and market opportunities, as well as in the dis- tunities with investment in improving the resource base, tribution of benefits and additional incomes to different and to build local capacity to solve problems and to gener- categories of farmers. The researchers who have worked to ate and access technologies through farmer participatory pull the strategy together have chosen to encourage and sus- research (Sanginga and others 2004). Research documents tain active participation and cooperation of both men and innumerable cases in which the introduction of new tech- women while creating gender awareness at the community nology in small-scale farming systems has resulted in a level through interactive adult education methods. This is shift in the control over the production from women to easier said than done, so the following three critical gender men, especially when increased cash income is involved questions must be kept on the table and revisited at each (box 7.10). When researchers take into account the link node in the process: between technology generation and income, possible shifts in control over resources from women to men can be avoided. Who has access to and controls resources? Who does what, when, and where? Who benefits from what and how? GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED The discussion below summarizes the experiences in project When these questions are revisited often, strategic decisions design and implication and the lessons learned. can be made to ensure that gender equity is in the making. THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER AND PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH 277 These principles are the basis of the Participatory Learn- around particular resources emerged as the dominant strat- ing and Action Research Project, which tracked changes in egy for reempowerment, and it became clear that the user men and women farmers' knowledge regarding community groups were willing to play active roles in managing the by-laws. Over a five-year period, women's confidence resources they had chosen as their focus. As a result, antag- improved, and perceptions of their status within the com- onism and tensions declined, and the first steps toward a munities changed. Most men and women farmers inter- genuine partnership were taken, with two-way flows of viewed (95.6 percent) indicated that women's participation information and active facilitation of user-group initiatives in decision making and community leadership positions by the Forestry Commission.3 had improved over the last three years. On average, women represented between 34 and 50 percent of the membership Identifying market opportunities and selecting in village by-law committees and policy task forces. Individ- community agroenterprises ual interviews and focus group discussions revealed that men's respect for and consideration of women had Formation of farm and market research groups that improved considerably. Both men (85.7 percent) and include women to select, test, and evaluate marketing women (88.2 percent) shared the opinion that the project opportunities, technology options, and approaches to sus- significantly enhanced women's self-esteem and their confi- taining their natural resources can help ground the priori- dence to speak in public.1 tization of opportunities and constraints.4 In both the Andes and East Africa, women are powerful actors in the local market. Harnessing their knowledge and experience Building and managing effective partnerships in participatory market research that identifies and evalu- Resilient innovation systems require the building and man- ates market opportunities for competitive and profitable aging of effective partnerships. In the case of rural commu- crop and livestock products is critical. Women are also key nities and small-scale farms, men and women are very opinion makers about incentives for investment that can strategic partners who will need to negotiate agreements for improve the community and family resource base to the resources (loans, information resources) and negotiate with benefit of the greatest number of members. other local stakeholders (input and other traders, transport, Increased income among resource-limited farmers has more and less influential neighbors). A key to effective part- been shown where the International Center for Tropical nerships is balanced representation that can seldom benefit Agriculture's (CIAT) rural agroenterprise approach has women unless they are empowered to recognize themselves been used. In Malawi both men and women farmers as equal partners. earned $2.50 per day compared to the national average of less than $1.00 per day. The integration of gender in the community agroenterprise approach has resulted in more Building on community assets and opportunities equity in the sharing of benefits for some of the enterprise Participatory diagnosis that makes community assets and crops compared to other traditional cash crops, such as opportunities visible will facilitate the active involvement of tobacco. However, as the crop becomes more and women in realistic plans for the future that can lead to con- more commercialized, the income share of women is crete action strategies for the present.2 becoming smaller, although the absolute amounts of In the Mafungautsi State Forest in Zimbabwe, the Center money they earn increases. An example of this trend can for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) began its be seen in Malawi, where the income share of women goes activities with transformation training that made it possible down as the crop shifts from a traditional subsistence to bring groups of people from the villages around the for- bean crop managed by women to a commercial crop with est together for a series of "visioning" and action planning formal markets.5 meetings. Natural subgroupings emerged according to the nature of the resource that people were interested in or Strengthening social capital and empowering engaged in harvesting (legally or illegally). Beekeeping and rural communities timber harvesting tended to interest only men, thatch grass harvesting cut across gender lines, whereas broom grass If women are to broaden their sphere of influence beyond harvesting seemed to be of particular interest to women and the household, community skills to leverage resources and to especially women-headed households. Social organization negotiate the right to control and manage them are critical. 278 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION Effective empowerment is directly related to the capacity of GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS men and women farmers to organize to leverage informa- FOR PRACTITIONERS tion, production resources, and marketing opportunities. Prioritization and selection of agroenterprise options that Identify research issues using participatory diagnosis ensure household food security and local safety nets make it involving both women and men farmers. imperative that women be present when research questions Encourage producer men and women to provide infor- for redirecting production or increasing market share are mation on local, indigenous, and traditional ways of put forward. dealing with the identified research issues. Ensure diverse gender perspectives by suggesting that Participatory monitoring and evaluation initial "data collection" be done in separate groups with Monitoring and evaluation are critical to any innovation or by women and men. process and should provide for tracking the participation of When issues are identified that either women or men find women and other vulnerable groups. However, it should not relevant, work on at least one issue of importance to each be an add-on but rather an ongoing process that is born gender group. with the partnerships and activated in the preplanning When building community teams for participatory stage. Monitoring and evaluation criteria need to be negoti- research (for example, Comités de Investigación Agrícola ated among all stakeholders and must take into account Local, FFSs, and Participatory Technology Development changes in the innovation system as a whole rather than [PTD]), and if the issue is of interest to both men and changes in a single practice or product. women, be sure that half the members of the group are The purpose of the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Pro- women. gramme is to enhance the contribution of agriculture and Innovate ways of registering information and document- natural resource systems to improved rural livelihoods, ing processes that make findings visible to all group increased food and nutrition security, and sustainable natu- members and the wider community. ral resource management. It seeks to integrate the disciplines Use methods, techniques, and tools that facilitate involved from production to consumption in integrated agri- group analysis and information sharing (for instance, cultural research for development. The integrated agricul- photographs, drawings, straightforward charts, and tural research for development approach emphasizes the tables). establishment of broader partnerships and innovation plat- Celebrate each new idea, suggestion, or way of doing forms to strengthen participation, build linkages with policy something, even if it is not evident how it can be imme- processes, and stimulate institutional change. The program diately incorporated into the task at hand. developed through a process of competitive selection of con- Ensure that all group members (women, men, young, cept notes and full proposals. Research teams discussed how and old) have a voice in or a contribution to every meet- to identify indicators on gender, poverty, and vulnerability in ing or activity, no matter how small. a participatory manner with project beneficiaries.At the same Explore ways that group members can share information time, basic principles of comparison were discussed and with other groups or within their own community. incorporated into preliminary plans for baseline studies.6 Beware of practices and attitudes that are exclusionary. THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER AND PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH 279 T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Gender Approaches to Agricultural Extension andTraining espite women's importance in agricultural produc- D these, 38 percent were women. The share of women stu- tion, agricultural extension and training (AET) dents across regions ranged from 27 percent in sub-Saharan during the training and visit (T&V) period Africa to 41 percent in Asia and the Pacific. focused almost exclusively on men.1 Women were seen pri- A recent World Bank thematic study on agricultural edu- marily in their reproductive role and far less often in their cation and training (World Bank 2007) synthesizes research productive roles in agriculture. Advisory and other services from 15 African countries. In Benin, for instance, 20 percent are still largely provided by men. Structural adjustment mea- of the students in the Colleges of Technical Agricultural sures did not allow extension systems to recruit new staff, let Education were women. In Ethiopia's 25 agricultural techni- alone to improve the staff gender balance, although NGOs cal training centers, only 11 percent of enrolled students and working in extension generally have a better gender balance. 9 percent of graduated students in 2005 were women. Simi- Despite the increasing involvement of women and espe- lar gender imbalances appeared at the university level, in the cially women's groups in AET over the past decade, chronic College of Agriculture, Hamaraya University School of underinvestment in the knowledge and skills of women is a Graduate Studies, where women graduates made up less particular handicap for agriculture, especially in agriculture- than 3 percent of graduates between 1979 and 2003. In based African countries. Not surprisingly, gender inequality Cameroon's University of Dchang, 22 percent of students in remains a constant theme in any analysis of agricultural devel- the Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences were opment, including analysis of AET's role in development. women, but almost half of these (44 percent) were concen- Each Module in this volume calls attention in various trated in the Faculty of Economics and Sociology (that is, ways to opportunities for agricultural investment, growth, not in agricultural sciences). In Mozambique women within and income that have suffered as a result of persistent gen- the Faculty of Agronomy and Forestry Engineering, Univer- der blindness in agricultural institutions and development dade Eduardo Mondlane, accounted for 28 percent of projects. Within AET institutions, women remain under- undergraduates and 35 percent of graduates in 2005­06, represented as students, instructors, extension agents, and and one-third of the teaching staff were women. Fewer than researchers, and agricultural innovation processes are one-fifth of students at the Agrarian Institute of Boane hardly ever directed at women. This omission continues Agricultural Collage were women. despite evidence that farm productivity increases when Young women generally are not encouraged to focus on women farmers receive the same advisory services as men science--particularly biology and agricultural science--in (Bientema 2006). secondary school, with the result that African women's par- ticipation in agricultural sciences in universities is roughly half of that in other fields. A United Nations Educational, TRENDS IN WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) survey in AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION ANDTRAINING 1998 found than only 8 percent of agricultural faculty mem- In tertiary education about half of the more than 22 million bers were women, compared with more than 50 percent in students enrolled in all fields of study in 57 developing many European countries. countries were women in 2000­04 (fig. 7.3). Only 3 percent These data reflect the continuing challenges for higher of these students were enrolled in agricultural sciences; of education institutions to meet the needs of women who 280 Figure 7.3 Percentage of Women Students in Higher Education by Developing World Region, 2000­04 60 50 40 30 Percentage 20 10 0 SSA APC LAC MENA Total SSA APC LAC MENA Total (21) (12) (13) (11) (57) (21) (12) (13) (11) (57) Agricultural sciences All fields of study Source: Adapted from Beintema 2006. Note: The number of countries included in regional totals is shown in parentheses. SSA = sub-Saharan Africa; APC = Asian-Pacific countries; LAC = Latin America and the Caribbean; and MENA = Middle East and North Africa. aspire to business or scientific careers in agriculture. Some urban areas--that the number of women matriculating has positive changes are gradually happening, however. exceeded the number of men, presenting university admin- UNESCO reported that the share of women students in the istrators with yet another dilemma related to the men- agricultural sciences increased during the 1990s (Beintema women student ratio. 2006). Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania pro- vides an impressive example of what can be accomplished. KEY GENDER ISSUES The university has vigorously assessed and upgraded its academic programs and surveyed graduates, employees, The mission of AET is to train people to contribute to agri- and private and public job markets. Ultimately it increased cultural productivity in ways that will increase economic its graduate output of women tenfold over the last decade growth and reduce poverty. In the last decades AET institu- and raised their share in Sokoine enrollment from 17 to 29 tions have suffered from neglect as resources have declined percent. In the College of Agricultural Studies at Sudan and less attention has been paid in general to educational University of Science and Technology, women student institutions, their functioning, human capital development, enrollment increased from 10 percent in the 1980s to 72 and facility management. Women have been increasingly percent in 2007 (Gebre-Ab 1988; Idris 2007). The momen- underrepresented at all levels of AET institutions, from tum of these successful approaches must continue for the postsecondary to tertiary and higher education, although effectiveness of AET programs to increase. In the Sudan detailed gender-disaggregated data are available only very example, the major impetus for increased enrollment of sporadically or not reported at all. women was a policy that set the intake of women students As agriculture and rural development have gained at a minimum of 30 percent and furthered the construction renewed attention in recent years because of globalization, of new housing for women. Enrollment by women has trade liberalization, and changes in information and com- grown so vigorously during the last decade--not only munications technology, the question of human resources because of new university policies but also because of ris- in agriculture has also come to the fore. International con- ing women's literacy and secondary enrollment rates in cern over the environment, natural resource management, THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER APPROACHES TO AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND TRAINING 281 health care (HIV and AIDS as well as chronic ailments such improve women's access to postsecondary, tertiary, and as malaria and malnutrition), and women's empowerment higher education by supporting basic literacy and sec- have brought special impetus to intersecting discussions of ondary education are warranted. agriculture, rural development, poverty reduction, and Offer special science courses for girls to fulfill the prereq- livelihood strategies in rural and urban spaces. Many of uisites for higher education. Enhance educational offer- these discussions have cast new light on gender issues in ings in agriculture, food processing, preservation and agriculture, given women's central role in household food preparation, and nutrition. security, health, and nutrition. Clearly, AET institutions Build awareness and provide career counseling for boys must address gender issues on many different levels if they and girls. Young people need to be aware of professions are to develop human resources to address new realities in in agriculture and rural development, such as farming, agriculture and development.2 extension, teaching, agribusinesses, private sector occu- The key gender issues in AET and actions to address them pations, or public service. can be broken down under a few overarching themes.3 First, recognize women's roles in agriculture, and remove Third, enable women to participate in higher education: obstacles to fulfilling them: Establish infrastructure for women students. Provide Perceptions of agriculture as a domain for men, profes- sufficient accommodation and dormitory space, with the sionally or otherwise, and the undervaluing or sheer accompanying service, sanitary, and child care services invisibility of women's contributions to agriculture and and consideration of family obligations. food production must be changed through extensive Provide financial aid, scholarships, and grants for women. research and through communication and political action using the resulting data. Fourth, ensure a nondiscriminatory environment for Traditions, customs, and culture hinder women from women students and staff in agricultural education and train- receiving agricultural extension and other support ser- ing institutions: vices or production inputs. Often their mobility is cur- tailed, especially but not exclusively in remote locations. Allocate budgetary resources for gender sensitization Extension workers, facilitators, and students should be courses for all staff and students in the training institution. motivated and supported to reach women farmer groups Introduce and enforce policies to prevent discrimina- and remote locations, or transport systems should be tion, sexual harassment, and acts of violence on the basis provided for the groups to reach service locations. of gender, ethnicity, or other types of diversity. Provide Extension services often seem to follow a "man-to-man" mechanisms for reporting such abuse confidentially and technology transfer approach in which men extension staff without recrimination. work with men farmers. Not only are women neglected, Support gender-sensitive policies and undertake initia- but the messages and information provided to the men do tives that address HIV and AIDS and other sexually not reach them. Extension support should be given directly transmitted diseases in AET institutions for staff and to rural women in their multiple roles as farmers, environ- students. mental custodians, and household managers. Rural women's educational and training opportunities Fifth, revise the curriculum to reflect current and prospec- are often limited and "discriminatory" if legal measures tive needs and interests: do not mandate primary and secondary schooling for boys and girls, which is the first step toward vocational Revise and modernize curricula in higher agricultural and technical training. education to ensure that they include socioeconomic and gender analysis training for men and women students. Second, give women better opportunities for agricultural Ensure that the curriculum is relevant to women's roles learning: and contributions to agriculture, agribusiness develop- ment, and household management. Literacy and secondary education of women are prereq- Provide teaching materials, tools, and facilities for uisites for higher education. Where literacy is high, applied and practical training, such as facilities for women's enrollment rates are high. National efforts to developing appropriate household and farm technologies 282 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION or laboratories for food processing, preservation, and Achieving better gender balance in AET graduates preparation. Targeted recruitment policies, affirmative action initiatives, Introduce recent approaches, such as "livelihood diversi- academic enrichment programs, and earmarked scholar- fication," into the curriculum. Identify such indigenous ships all can increase women's enrollment. Various measures knowledge domains, skills, and beliefs that can serve as to achieve gender balance have been suggested and tested, entry points for students to carry out action research in such as developing gender-sensitive curricula, introducing urban, periurban, rural, and remote locations with lim- new admission policies, providing adequate accommoda- ited infrastructure (roads, energy, schools, and health tion for women students, proposing quota systems, and services) and limited access to roads and markets. Pro- recruiting more women lecturers (Abdelnour and Abdalla vide support for faculty and students to undertake new 1988). Other measures include monitoring dropout records research on livelihoods diversification activities relevant by gender (to retain women students) and introducing poli- to rural women, such as gardening and trading. cies against sexual harassment. These measures deserve to Use gender mainstreaming as a management tool in the be tested systematically to ensure that a country's best training institution to promote equity and effectiveness minds are engaged in its development. Box 7.11 gives a in resource use and to ensure that gender-disaggregated more extended list of interventions to recruit, retain, and data are collected and reported. promote women in agricultural training institutions. Sixth, promote training markets, which could serve devel- opment projects, private extension service providers, and pub- Improving women's opportunities to benefit from lic extension services: higher agricultural education Access to higher agricultural education is essential for Hire women experts as consultants for situation-tailored women to enter agricultural careers at all levels, from the training for staff. This will provide women with field to research and academic organizations, to national and employment opportunities and, at the same time, will international institutions for agricultural policy, and to give them an opportunity to sell their training skills in national and international development institutions. Case the new markets. studies by organizations in the field in the Caribbean Com- munity, Côte d'Ivoire, Jordan, Nigeria, and the Philippines GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED revealed that women's completion of higher agricultural studies did not necessarily translate into an equal opportu- The following discussion summarizes the experiences in nity to benefit from that education; nor did it prevent dis- project design and implication and the lessons learned. crimination against women in employment and public life.4 Box 7.11 Actions to Help Tertiary Education Institutions Recruit, Retain, and Promote Professional Women Establish policies that acknowledge the dual role of Address both overt and subtle harassment of women women (as professionals and homemakers) Develop more practical and service-oriented curricula Reduce the stress of more committee work and that appeal more to women and are more in keeping greater non-research-track demands with the needs of twenty-first-century graduates Provide mentoring (especially with regard to con- Address the stigma attached to affirmative action tract negotiation, workloads, priorities, perfor- appointments, and reduce the bias against women mance, and career track) where affirmative action is not a factor Recognize broader experience when appointing Consider offering flexible work schedules to women women and setting salaries and men Broaden and weigh the service component in pro- Set up a crèche and after-school care facilities for motion criteria staff and students Source: Muir-Leresche 2006. THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER APPROACHES TO AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND TRAINING 283 Few women were found in the top positions in agricultural At all levels--secondary, tertiary, or postgraduate-- institutions, whether in teaching faculties, government posi- interdisciplinary approaches must be considered in devel- tions, NGOs, or the private sector. Improving opportunities oping the coursework needed to complete AET require- for women to benefit from their agricultural education is ments. Courses on food and nutrition, food processing and even more of a challenge than improving women's access to preservation, water, fuel, and environmental sanitation higher AET (see box 7.12 for recommended measures). management are equally important to men and women stu- dents. Traditional technical agricultural subjects must be complemented by courses in natural resource management, Revising curricula and expanding learning options environment, and other topics that are important to small- Updated information is needed about labor market demands holder agriculture, including household food security and to revise curricula and practical competency requirements, household resource management, which are critical to all especially for modern agribusiness management and global household welfare and livelihoods (Eckman 1994). development issues, such as trade and markets, in industrial- Using household resource management as an entry point ized and developing countries. allows extension workers to strengthen their understanding Teaching methods should be updated to cover informa- of different client groups' constraints, opportunities, and tion and communication technologies and problem-solving needs, which will enhance men and women farmers'learning techniques. Knowing how to apply theoretical knowledge and mobilization to improve their livelihoods (box 7.13). and use it creatively is critical for success. Men and women Because access to tertiary education is often limited to students and teachers benefit from learning how to conduct women from privileged families, more attention could be socioeconomic and gender analyses, which can be applied to given to education and training contents for these profes- various technical agricultural fields and ultimately enhance sions at vocational and postsecondary levels, so that women the understanding of gender roles in agriculture and rural students coming from "average" or poorer families would development (FAO 2003). have opportunities to be trained for such technical jobs. Box 7.12 Improving Opportunities for Women to Benefit from Their Agricultural Education 1. Measures to better prepare women students for agri- prises or to become established as farmers. These cultural careers at all levels, such as increasing non- measures could also include assistance to women traditional agricultural occupations for women and agriculturists and extensionists to provide their increasing practical work and skills training in man- clients with inputs, credit, and other services. agement, research, extension, and specializations for 5. Measures to professionalize agricultural occupations which there is a job market in the country. Women to make them more attractive. also need greater opportunities to take part in post- 6. Measures to improve salaries and emoluments, graduate and in-service training in skills necessary especially for those working in rural areas, and to for career advancement. eliminate disparities in salaries of men and 2. Legislative measures to prevent discrimination in women. hiring and employment and to prohibit harassment 7. Organization of women agriculturists in professional on the basis of gender. associations, which can act as pressure groups to 3. Measures to improve working conditions for women, promote women's access to agricultural education taking into consideration family responsibilities. and occupational opportunities. These could include flexible working hours, provi- 8. Gender sensitization at all levels of national and sion of child care facilities, maternity and paternity international governmental and nongovernmental leave, and flexibility in posting women with family bodies dealing with agricultural development poli- responsibilities in the field. cies and planning, including research institutes. 4. Measures to provide financial aid and services to women to set themselves up in agricultural enter- Source: Marilee Karl, "Higher Agricultural Education and Opportunities in Rural Development for Women: An Overview and Summary of Five Case Studies," Report No. 40997-AFR, FAO, Rome, www.fao.org. 284 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION Box 7.13 Revitalizing the Dialogue on Household Resource Management "Household resource management" has been defined The major challenge has been to develop learning by Engberg as the "process of making decisions about and research activities that enhance problem-solving how to maximize the use of resources, such as land, approaches for typical tasks in rural households, which water, labor, capital, inputs--whether purchased or can be grouped as follows: produced on-farm--cash, agricultural credit, and agri- cultural extension" (Enberg 1993: 2). Each of these 1. Subsistence production: crop production/gardening, resources is accessed and managed by women and men livestock and poultry, forestry, hunting and gather- differently, based on the gender division of responsibil- ing, home manufacturing, food processing, home ities and management. construction and maintenance, and domestic/ Curriculum reorientation and relevant training in household activities agriculture and home economics have been a concern for 2. Home production: intrahousehold reproduction: car- FAO, other "food and nutrition" agencies (such as the ing for, rearing, and educating children; attending to World Health Organization, International Fund for Agri- the elderly, sick, dependents, and visitors; inter- cultural Development, and the World Food Program), household obligations such as rituals and cere- bilateral development partners (Canadian International monies; and community service Development Agency and the Finnish International 3. Market production: participation in the local econ- Development Agency), and national and international omy--wage labor, services, trading, and business; professional organizations (International Federation for participation in the larger economy--commercial Home Economics) since the 1980s, when rural develop- farming, business, or industry ment agendas increased their attention to rural poor and 4. Social activities and personal needs: recreation, smallholder farm families.It was recognized that the roles sports, family relations, and personal care. of household members (men, women, the elderly, and youths) in managing farm and household resources and production activities needed to be considered in develop- Within this approach, the AET graduates as future ing training units and curricula, so that students would development practitioners, policy makers, and plan- graduate with the skills to improve rural livelihoods. ners are able to better understand, analyze, and address Several approaches to teaching about household resource farm household needs and gender roles in task alloca- allocation and management have been reconceptualized. tion, time and financial management, household food Corresponding training units have been developed, security and nutrition, decision-making dynamics, and tested, and evaluated in various institutional settings, in communication to meet the changing development both English- and French-speaking countries and cul- demands of rural households (Hamada, Kirjavainen, tures (Eckman 1994; Engberg 1993; FAO 2002, 2004). and Gapasin 2002). Source: Author. Strengthening outreach, linkage, and partnership multiple technical expertise in agricultural production, programs postharvest crop handling, rural processing, value-added A recent Kellogg Foundation study on AET programs in agriculture, agroforestry, enterprise development, and credit African countries has documented various partnering serve smallholders, including women farmers. strategies undertaken by donors, NGOs, educational insti- Sokoine University also "produces" highly employable tutions, and bilateral organizations (Kingslow 2007). These men and women graduates. A recent tracer study was done include formal, informal, and in-service AET programs that to review programs offered by various university depart- benefit small-scale farmers and rural communities. For ments in relation to the current and future job market and instance, Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania pro- determine which labor market demands should be reflected vides outreach programs in which agricultural researchers in courses and skill sets. The assessment revealed that 28.2 and tertiary-level faculty work in rural communities. Their percent of tracked economics and agribusiness graduates THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER APPROACHES TO AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND TRAINING 285 were women and were employed not only in government The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently pro- but also in banking institutions and local and international vided $13 million for educating and training African NGOs working in agriculture (SUA 2005). Sokoine Univer- women in the agricultural sciences under a four-year grant sity also has expertise and degree programs in food science to the CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program. The grant will and technology and in home economics and nutrition directly benefit 360 women in agricultural research and (www.worldagroforestry.org), which give graduates addi- development, along with some 40 institutions in sub-Saha- tional competencies to work with household food security ran Africa (specifically in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, issues in nutrition research and training institutions in mul- Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia). Com- tiple workplaces. petitive fellowships with three capacity-building cornerstones Furthermore, Sokoine University has a strong commit- (mentoring, science skills, and leadership development) will ment to strengthening linkages across the agricultural be provided. The AWARD program will operate in close part- research, education, and extension systems, with active men nership with several of Africa's agricultural research networks and women farmer participation. It also offers a "sandwich" and universities as well as CGIAR agricultural research centers partnership program with U.S. universities in which stu- (www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org). dents study abroad and then undertake applied research in their home country (which also helps to ensure that stu- Monitoring a gender perspective in tracer studies dents return to work in their home country or region; Kingslow 2007). Many U.S. universities are looking to Tracer studies that survey graduates of institutions of higher rebuild and revive the tertiary training programs offered in education are often seen as an important tool of institu- the 1980s to students from developing country universities. tional development, especially when employment markets Universities in the Nordic countries have also imple- are changing rapidly. Knowledge of graduates' whereabouts mented partnership programs between research faculties and and working conditions and retrospective assessment of AET institutions in developing countries. For more than 20 their course of study might stimulate debate on revising and years the University of Helsinki has conducted partnership initiating programs. Many tracer studies have remained programs in farming systems and agroforestry research and gender blind, however, beyond disaggregating respondents supported long-term tertiary and higher education programs by gender, and they have lacked gender-aware reporting. for both men and women students and professionals with Systematic gender monitoring is needed in tracer studies, Sudanese universities (two major universities involved in this from their design to final reporting, to ensure that gender- program are the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of Khar- relevant information is collected and analyzed and thus use- toum University and the Shambat College of Agriculture of ful for policy making, AET planning, curriculum develop- the University of Science and Technology, Khartoum). ment, and human resource management. Between 1996 and 2000, 15 tracer studies were done in seven African countries (Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Promoting scholarships, grants, and mentoring Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda), sponsored mainly programs for women by the Association of American Universities (AAU) Study Recent initiatives to strengthen gender integration in AET Program on Higher Education Management at the Univer- include the provision of scholarships earmarked for women sität Kassel in Germany. About 8,000 graduates participated to attend technical and higher educational institutions for in the studies. They answered a lengthy questionnaire degree and exchange programs in agriculture and life sci- about the transition from higher education to work, job ences. These scholarships have been provided by various search, employment conditions, use of knowledge and foundations, including Winrock International, African skills, appropriate position and job satisfaction, and retro- Women Leaders in Agriculture and Environment (AWLAE), spective assessment of study conditions. Because all studies the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation. used nearly the same questionnaire, the resulting data offer Carnegie stipulates that the study or research program must an extraordinary opportunity for a comparative analysis.5 be "partnered" regionally among at least three universities. In the United States, a Food and Agriculture Education Some professional organizations have also introduced pro- Information System (FAESIS) has been set up to explore fessional mentoring programs on postgraduate career and analyze data on employment opportunities for college advancement opportunities for women agriculturalists, graduates between 2005 and 2010 (CREES 2005). FAESIS scientists, and managers. data are collected from institutions offering courses in food, 286 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences in specific ment and provision of supportive and preparatory train- areas.Gender and ethnicity of the graduates are also analyzed. ing courses for men and women in science, mathematics, or related subject areas to facilitate admission to second- ary and higher agricultural education. Engendering training components in agricultural Gender statistics. Introduce gender statistics and gender- development projects sensitive indicators to decision makers in line ministries Training is increasingly a component of many agricultural and institutions to justify and facilitate the increase of development projects. Training often omits gender perspec- women's opportunities to be trained in agriculture at all tives, however, unless gender training is explicitly included levels (vocational, technical, and tertiary). Carry out gen- in the project's human resources development plan and spe- der-disaggregated human power surveys in various sec- cific gender criteria are used to nominate students for tors to obtain data to guide decisions, and if needed advanced study, in-service training, or short courses to include an admission quota for women to narrow the upgrade skills. gender gap. A good example is the World Bank's Land Administra- Institutional partnerships. Link with national institu- tion Project in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, which tions, professional associations, private sector allies, and systematically monitored gender perspectives and analyzed women's political action networks to obtain support and best practices. The gender dimension of its training compo- infrastructure for women's advanced education, includ- nents has become visible and made a notable impact, ing dormitories, practical training laboratories, class- because the development of educational and training pro- rooms, and appropriate technology facilities. Such facili- grams included both men and women, which eventually led ties will enhance the integration of household-focused increasing numbers of women to become involved in imple- practical training and entrepreneurial activities in the menting project activities. An institutional liaison with the curriculum. Lao Women's Union strengthened the project's capacity to Incentives and retention. Enhance women staff retention address gender issues at local levels (World Bank 2005). in training institutions and higher education establish- FAO has developed and extensively disseminated an ments through job creation, recruitment policies, benefit instructional tool for extension advisers working with rural sharing, and a working environment with defined sexual women that contains various checklists and training tools harassment policies. The alternative is the continuing designed for use at various levels in formal and less formal loss of women to overseas employment. educational settings and in a range of cultural settings.6 The Donor and lender dialogue. Initiate dialogue with the six instructional units cover (1) the rationale for working donor community to enhance awareness and mobilize with rural women; (2) information on rural women; (3) resources for reviewing, assessing, and strengthening the contacting rural women; (4) time and location of extension management of education for agriculture (including activities; (5) access to credit, inputs, and technology; and forestry, fisheries, livestock, and home economics) and (6) communication methods and techniques. Another rural development at postsecondary, tertiary, and post- learning Module, produced by the World Bank, provides a graduate institutions. Establish liaisons with national checklist of strategies to consider when addressing gender policy makers to raise awareness and enhance their polit- issues in the education and training components of agricul- ical will and interest in ensuring equal opportunities for tural development projects (box 7.14). women and men students and staff to advance and work for agricultural education and extension. Link financial support to AET institutions to increasing numbers of GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR women trainees and women trainers and to successful PRACTITIONERS integration into the labor market. Partnership in implementation. Seek partnerships with Admission and recruitment policies. Revisit the admission international agencies with mandates in food, agricul- policies in AET institutions. Advise and initiate negotia- ture, and natural resources and invite gender specialists tions with AET administrators and policy makers to to train a cadre of men and women trainers in agricul- introduce aggressive recruitment policies with affirma- tural colleges in basic socioeconomic and gender analysis tive action for women (for example, a minimum intake skills. Introduce instructional approaches and build quota for women of 30 percent). Discuss the develop- capacity to raise awareness of gender roles in family THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER APPROACHES TO AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND TRAINING 287 Box 7.14 Strategies to Address Gender Issues in the Education and Training Components of Agricultural Development Projects Increase women's enrollment in agricultural Engage agricultural college staff and students in courses gathering project preparation data on gender issues Conduct campaigns in secondary schools to pro- Increase training for women in projects mote agriculture as a career for women Increase girls' enrollment in secondary schools and Include minimum targets for training of women particularly in science courses agricultural technicians Provide scholarships for women to attend agricul- Make study tours and training abroad accessible to tural courses at colleges or universities women staff Provide supplementary, precollege courses in sci- Set minimum targets for training of women farmers ence and other subjects as needed Consider conducting agricultural training with lit- Provide separate boarding facilities for women or a eracy activities completely separate college if necessary Include a functional literacy component in agricul- Encourage parents' visits to training colleges to help tural training courses them ascertain that the facilities are suitable for Include specific targets for women and men partici- their daughters pants in agricultural training, depending on their literacy levels Increase training in gender issues for everyone Collaborate with other ministries, agencies, or NGOs on functional literacy Appoint a staff person with gender expertise as a Include a grassroots management training compo- teaching/training coordinator to review gender nent to train rural women farmers in business man- issues in all training modules agement techniques, financial management, human Insert modules on gender issues in agricultural col- resource management, marketing, and running lege and university courses small businesses, for example, as in the World Bank's Include gender issues in in-service training and use pilot projects in Burkina Faso, India, Malawi, Nige- information from gender studies to prepare train- ria, and Senegal, developed by the Economic Devel- ing sessions opment Institute (EDI) and in FAO's numeracy Send teachers on short-term training courses in projects for women entrepreneurs in West African gender issues countries (Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, and Ghana). Source: World Bank 2002. relations, health management, and nutritional well- tion, leadership, negotiation, and mitigation and to train being in HIV and AIDS care, operating a farm enterprise, staff to analyze such current issues as the impact of envi- and fostering community participation. Use external ronmental degradation, rural-urban migration, resettle- expertise to develop training course content in organiza- ment, demographic trends, and conflict resolution. 288 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION T H E M AT I C N OT E 4 Labor-SavingTechnologies and Practices I n most developing countries, rural women's triple and women responsible for planting, weeding, harvesting, responsibilities of farm work, household chores, and and postharvest activities such as threshing, winnowing, and earning cash to supplement family incomes--tasks that grinding. All these tasks take up a great deal of time and often add up to a 16-hour day--are well documented. energy, a burden that can be reduced in one of two ways: Although even men from poorer families now have access to improved technologies for use in farming and nonfarm Making existing tasks easier and increasing productivity enterprise activities, most women still struggle through of existing labor and draft power their day using traditional technologies that are labor inten- Changing farming practices to methods that use less sive and time and energy consuming. farm power. Domestic chores such as collection of water and fuelwood divert women's use of time from farming tasks and nonfarm Increasing farm power enterprise activities. This is a particular problem in areas of Improved technologies can increase labor productivity in labor scarcity such as sub-Saharan Africa, where women's farming, but they have mostly been adopted in relation to time-poverty and lack of access to improved technologies men's tasks, often with negative consequences for women. lead to low agricultural yields and low levels of food security. For example, tractors and animal-drawn plows have been A wide range of technologies could help address some of used by men to increase the acreage under cultivation, leav- women's labor constraints. Over the last 30 years many ing women to struggle with an increase in weeding and har- development projects and programs have aimed at reducing vesting using only handheld tools. This adds to women's women's time-poverty by increasing their access to these workload but can also result in major crop losses if weeding technologies. Many barriers remain to the adoption and is done late or with insufficient care.Although many women sustained use of these technologies, however, and women now undertake men's tasks because of migration by men or are still overburdened. In fact, women's workload is increas- death from HIV and AIDS, manufacturers and suppliers of ing in some regions as a result of deforestation, droughts, farming equipment seem to be unaware of this changing rural-urban migration, and the spread of HIV and AIDS division of labor and continue to distribute ploughs that are (Bishop-Sambrook 2003). too heavy for women or have handles they cannot reach (IFAD 1998). KEY GENDER ISSUES Tools and equipment appropriate for women's tasks (for Rural women in developing countries divide their time example, planting, weeding, and grinding) do exist, but among farming, domestic, and nonfarm activities, with the many barriers block their adoption. Of all women's land- focus varying among regions, type of household, and farm- related tasks, weeding with handheld hoes is the most pun- ing systems. ishing and time consuming, causing fatigue and backache. Long-handled hoes are available that could reduce the strain of squatting using traditional short-handled hoes, but in On-farm activities many parts of Africa these are rejected for cultural reasons. The roles of men and women in farming are well defined, Manufacturers of farm implements make different weights with men responsible for land clearing and preparation of hoes, including very light ones that are better suited to 289 women's needs, but most women continue to use heavier poorer and landless households who used to be hired by hoes because they are unaware of the full range of available farmers to undertake these tasks. In addition, extension tools. Lighter implements suitable for use with donkeys are agents interacted only with men. Because women had no available, and, unlike with oxen, no taboos exist for women knowledge of the drum seeders and were not involved in working with donkeys. A donkey-drawn intercrop cultiva- decisions to adopt them, they had no opportunities to tor could reduce weeding time per acre from two to four acquire them on a cooperative basis as a way of earning weeks to two to four days, but women lack the cash to pur- income through providing hire services to farmers (Paris chase such equipment, and men see no need to purchase and Truong Thi Ngoc Chi 2005). The drum seeders are now donkeys and equipment for their wives when the work can being transferred through an IFAD/IRRI program to be done manually at no cost. In addition, animal-draft tech- Bangladesh. Without any transfer of lessons on gender nologies are seen as being men's domain, and animal trac- learned from the Vietnam experience, the same outcomes tion training courses tend to be restricted to men (IFAD can be expected, with only men owning the seeders and the 1998). Even when donkeys and equipment are distributed to poorest rural women losing jobs and experiencing an women through development projects, constraints on sus- increase in poverty (IFAD 2006). tained use arise. For example, in one project in Uganda, Grinding mills, cassava graters, and oil expellers are now women lost their donkeys through lack of cash to pay for to be found in almost every village in the developing world. drugs to keep their animals healthy (GRTI 2006). Some are owned by community organizations and women's Plastic drum seeders, which have been widely promoted groups, but most are owned by individual entrepreneurs, through the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) who are mainly men. The rapid spread of these processing and other organizations in Southeast and South Asia, enable technologies has been fueled by the increasing availability of farmers to sow rice seeds directly instead of broadcasting or energy supplies in rural areas and by the significant profits transplanting rice seedlings. These seeders have proved very that can be made from operating rural processing enter- popular with farmers because they lower production costs prises. Rural mills cut the time involved in hand pounding or through reduced use of seeds and labor and because they grating from several hours to only minutes and undoubtedly give higher yields. Data from an IRRI-supported project in have improved the lives of millions of women (box 7.15). Vietnam show that the time spent by women on tasks such Two problems exist, however. First, the mills have opened as gap filling and hand weeding is vastly reduced. This has up investment opportunities for men rather than for proved popular with women from better-off households women, who cannot afford to buy them. They also exclude who now have more time to spend on child care, income- women from the poorest farm households, who cannot generating activities, and community activities, but it has afford to pay for milling services. Second, as with drum resulted in the loss of livelihoods for the many women from seeders, when large numbers of women have earned their Box 7.15 Nepal and Botswana: Labor- and Time-Saving Crop-Processing Technologies In Nepal mechanized mills were found to reduce the time In Botswana sorghum mills have reduced the time needed to process one kilogram of rice from 19 minutes needed to process 20 kilograms of sorghum from two to 0.8 minute, but women were walking for 10 to 180 to four hours to two to four minutes. Pounding tradi- minutes to reach the mill and waiting an average of 30 tionally takes place in the evening, whereas the mills minutes for their turn. Such behavior has been noted in operate only in the mornings. Women have solved this many parts of Asia and Africa and suggests that women problem by sending grain to the mill with their chil- are more concerned with the energy savings than the time dren on the way to and from school. savings connected to mechanical crop processing. Sources: ITDG 1986; Spence 1986. 290 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION living by manually processing crops for local farmers, rural agriculture can be a health hazard to the women who apply mills can result in the loss of a valuable source of income them if the wrong products or equipment is used and no with dire consequences if no alternative remunerative work training in application methods is provided (Bishop- can be found. Such women can be assisted in various ways. Sambrook 2003). In Bangladesh in the 1980s, mechanized rice mills were leading to the displacement of about 100,000 women per Domestic chores year. The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), a large NGO, introduced a program to organize Tasks such as water and firewood collection, cooking, clean- these women into cooperative groups and provided them ing, child rearing, and health care take up inordinate with loans so that they could purchase their own mills and amounts of women's time and divert their labor from farm- share in the benefits of the new technology (Ahmad and ing and income-generating activities. Numerous programs Jenkins 1989). and projects have been introduced with the aim of improv- ing access of rural populations to water and energy supplies and providing infrastructure such as rural roads and rural Changing farming practices health clinics aimed at increasing mobility and access. Increasing access to farm power, including access to mecha- Interventions to reduce time spent by women on domes- nized equipment, is one way of solving women's time and tic chores fall into two categories: (1) integration of energy constraints related to on-farm activities, but it is also women's needs in mainstream infrastructure projects and possible to reduce the demand for power by changing farm- (2) projects aimed at delivering time- and energy-saving ing practices. A good example is the adoption of conserva- technologies directly to women. Infrastructure projects tion agriculture or zero/minimum tillage agriculture, which aimed at supplying piped water, electricity, and rural roads overcomes the critical labor peaks of land preparation and are dealt with in Module 9 and are potentially important weeding by planting directly into mulch or cover crops, with ways of reducing the time women spend collecting water weed control being done through cover crops and mulch as and firewood and transporting crops from fields and to well as by hand with the use of herbicides. markets. However, it will take decades for piped water and Although IFAD, FAO, and others have implemented the grid to reach the majority of poor rural communities. In projects to introduce such practices, results have been the meantime labor-saving technologies and practices such mixed. For example, in the FAO-supported Conservation as rainwater harvesting projects, protected springs, and Agriculture and Sustainable Agriculture Development improved stoves have a significant role to play. In a similar Project in Kenya and Tanzania, yields increased and time fashion, even where rural roads have been built, women still spent on land preparation, planting, and weeding was much need access to appropriate transport technologies such as reduced. Women in poor farm households benefited from a wheelbarrows, bicycles, and donkey carts to assist with car- decrease in labor pressure, but women in landless house- rying loads along these roads. holds received fewer opportunities to work in planting and seeding, although this effect could be cushioned by higher LOW-COST WATERTECHNIQUES labor requirements in harvesting if yields were sufficiently increased (Maguzu and others 2007). Women's involvement in community-based water schemes Increased yields are an incentive to the adoption of con- has been significant, and women have benefited from them servation agriculture, which still faces numerous challenges. both practically, in terms of time savings and improved One of these challenges is cultural resistance to a farming hygiene, and strategically in terms of increased voice and system that keeps crop residues as soil cover and involves control (box 7.16). no-till practices, both of which are considered signs of lazi- ness because a plot that is not thoroughly prepared with a Improved stoves clean seedbed looks"dirty."However, it is the dirty soil cover and trash that prevent the weeds from growing. Conserva- Fuelwood is collected free from surrounding forest or scrub tion agriculture is no more expensive than conventional areas and used by women in traditional open fires or in agriculture, but it can involve the need for cash to purchase improved biomass stoves to cook meals and provide space inputs up front and to purchase tools suitable for direct heating. The collection of fuelwood is one of the most time- planting. In addition, the use of herbicides in conservation consuming tasks undertaken by rural women, with the THEMATIC NOTE 4: LABOR-SAVING TECHNOLOGIES AND PRACTICES 291 Box 7.16 Kenya: Women and Community-Based Water Programs The nine-year IFAD-supported Central Dry Area the land. However, the women who do participate have Smallholder and Community Services Development made their voices heard and gained respect in the com- Project started operation in Kenya in 2001 with the munity. The time spent by women in collecting water objective of reducing severe poverty. The water pro- has been significantly reduced from half a day to only grams introduced through the project involve commu- minutes through projects such as construction of nity-based action to ensure sustainability. Water user protected access to springs close to the village. Water associations have been established that own, operate, quality is also much improved. Time is spent instead on and maintain the water supply facilities. Women repre- tending kitchen gardens and rearing cows and goats for sent only 29 percent of the members of the water user milk to be sold for cash, and women no longer need to associations, mainly because membership is registered withdraw their daughters from school to help them in the name of the man head of household who owns fetch water. Source: Matuschke 2007. amount of time increasing as supplies become scarcer as a Rural transport technologies result of deforestation. The provision of fuel encompasses One way of easing the burden of women's work is to time spent not only in actual travel, cutting, and carrying increase their access to carrying devices, such as donkeys, but also in the preparation of fuel for burning and use, wheelbarrows, and carts. In addition to helping with the which can take more time than the actual collection itself. In collection of water and fuelwood, such technologies can addition, cooking on traditional stoves is time consuming also help women with a range of other transport tasks and requires constant attention, so it prevents women from related to carrying tools to and from the fields, carrying engaging more fully in other tasks.1 crops from fields to grinding mills and markets, and trans- After three decades of projects aimed at introducing porting children and the elderly to health clinics. Many improved stoves, millions of women still prepare meals studies undertaken over the years show that African women using traditional open fires, and continued attempts by typically spend up to 2,000 hours each year on transporta- development agencies to introduce improvements still face tion tasks, which is three to four times greater than the time difficulties (Bishop-Sambrook 2003). Major obstacles spent by men (Barwell and Calvo 1987; Blackden and include women's lack of access to cash and the unwilling- Wodon 2006). Despite their heavier transport burden, ness of their husbands to contribute when cooking can be women have fewer opportunities than men to use transport undertaken free of charge on an open fire. Attempts by technologies to alleviate it (Fernando and Porter 2002). development projects to solve this problem by distributing Carrying heavy loads along a road may be better than stoves free of charge have rarely proved successful and often struggling along a rough path, but only marginally so. Partic- have been counterproductive (Ghertner 2006). Widespread ularly inAfrica,women have had very few alternatives between uptake of improved stoves requires that women have con- head-loading/walking and movement by conventional car, trol of their own source of income or that their husbands bus, or truck. Where public transport systems exist, they pro- see sufficient economic benefits from the use of the stoves to vide a reasonably cheap way for women to travel to market or warrant investing in them. to health clinics, but they are not without their difficulties. An increasing number of projects are introducing stoves Women often are left behind or stranded along the route when that use alternative fuels such as biogas, ethanol, and liquid preference is given to men customers or to those traveling a petroleum gas, which have many benefits in addition to sav- longer distance. Harassment and safety are major concerns for ing time for women (box 7.17).A detailed review of the range women traveling long distances alone. One group of women of energy technology options that could assist women can be in Kenya solved this problem by registering as a cooperative to found in the recent FAO publication Energy and Gender Issues obtain a loan and then buying their own bus, which operates in Rural Sustainable Development (Lambrou and Piana 2006) successfully as a profit-making enterprise and gives preference and from ENERGIA, the International Network on Gender to women cooperative members (Kneerim 1980). and Sustainable Development (www.energia.org). 292 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION Box 7.17 China and Sudan:Alternative Fuels for Domestic Cooking The IFAD-supported West Guangxi Poverty Alleviation wood stoves and easier to tend. However, many women Project in China has involved the introduction of 2.73 stop using their LPG stoves after a while and revert to million biogas tanks that have been built by villagers. charcoal stoves, even though the cost of fuel per month An estimated 7.65 million tons of standard coal and is more expensive. One explanation is that currently 13.40 million tons of firewood are saved annually. Sim- LPG is available only in large containers that last for a ilar IFAD-supported projects implemented elsewhere full month. With no tradition of saving money, women in China save women time for more agricultural pro- have a cash flow problem when their containers are duction as well as improving the living environment empty and revert to buying small amounts of charcoal and producing high-quality organic fertilizer. The on a daily basis. Efforts are now being made to pro- Wulin Mountains Minority Areas Development Project mote a savings culture to overcome this problem. In includes a credit component aimed directly at women's addition, the private company that supplies LPG in income-generating activities so that they can use Sudan has realized there is a potentially large market released time to earn extra cash. for its product in rural areas and is planning many In Sudan, after initial fears about the safety of liquid innovations, including better distribution systems, propane gas (LPG), women now like the new LPG smaller containers, and provision of credit to assist stoves because they are cleaner and quicker than fuel- with stove purchase. Sources: Bates 2007; Dianzheng 2007; IFAD 2007. Improved roads make it possible to use a range of interme- who used them to collect and sell wood from resources diate means of transport that would not be appropriate for use closest to the homestead, leaving women to travel even far- on rough rural paths and that, in theory, can result in a signif- ther to get fuelwood for domestic use (Venter and Mashiri icant reduction in the time and effort spent by women on 2007). In India, when bicycles were introduced through a transportation tasks. For instance, the use of a wheelbarrow literacy program, women learned to ride and had limited with a payload of 50 kilograms compared with head loading access to their husband's bicycle. This increased women's (20-kilogram capacity) can reduce the time spent on water self-confidence and increased their involvement in commu- transport by 60 percent (Mwankusye 2002). However, there is nity activities, but it also meant that they had to undertake a range of sociocultural and economic barriers to women's work such as marketing that was not expected of them when access to such intermediate means of transport.Wheelbarrows they were less mobile (Rao 2002). often are rejected by women who are used to standing straight while head loading and find it physically discomforting to Off-farm activities bend and push these devices. Carts are expensive and often owned by men who use them for their own purposes and do A major objective of projects that introduce labor-saving not provide their wives with access, even when they have been technologies and practices is to help women divert time distributed through development projects aimed at assisting from subsistence farming activities and domestic chores entire rural households.As seen earlier, using draft animals for into more productive, income-generating enterprises. Often farm activities and transport is often seen as a men's activity, the most remunerative of these enterprises are intensive in and training is given only to men. their use of water, fuelwood, or both, and involve laborious An interesting aspect of intermediate means of transport production and processing methods using traditional tech- is that they often result in a changing division of labor niques and technologies. This can require quantities of within the household. Sometimes this is to women's advan- women's time that simply may not be available to them. In tage, but it can also add to their workload or deprive them some circumstances increasingly scarce water supplies and of new economic opportunities. In one project in South rising costs of fuel can threaten the existence of women's Africa, in which donkey carts were distributed to help with traditional food-processing industries unless they can gain fuelwood collection, the carts were monopolized by men access to improved technologies and practices. THEMATIC NOTE 4: LABOR-SAVING TECHNOLOGIES AND PRACTICES 293 Brewing is a major source of income for most women in money through manufacturing lamps in Bangladesh, sub-Saharan Africa but accounts for up to 25 percent of manufacturing and marketing clay liners for improved stoves total wood fuel consumed by the average household and in Kenya, making biomass briquettes for sale in Malawi, and requires time-consuming energy management. Interven- operating diesel generators as businesses and selling energy tions include design and dissemination of improved stoves services in Mali (UNDP 2001).One benefit from the provision for home brewing in the expectation that women will invest of rural electricity is the ability to work on income-generating in the stoves if they lower costs of production. but continu- activities, such as crafts in the evenings, which effectively ous fire management affects fuel efficiency more than tech- "extends" as opposed to saves time. While this increases earn- nology design, a fact often missed in development projects ing opportunities, it also increases women's workload (Clancy that have failed to consult with women entrepreneurs.2 and Kooijman 2006). Innovative practices that break with tradition and establish cooperative brewing enterprises using larger-scale technolo- GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED gies could provide a more satisfactory solution. The examples in box 7.18 show that when women are Findings are divided into two major groups: properly consulted and involved in the design and adapta- tion process, there can be significant benefits for rural Those that relate to the dissemination of labor-saving women involved in food-processing enterprises and for technologies and practices in terms of appropriateness, rural artisans involved in the production and sale of the acceptability, and fit with priority needs improved technologies on which they are based. Those that relate to the impact of these technologies on Finally, the increasing demand for time- and energy-saving different types of women in terms of meeting practical technologies can in itself form the basis for income-generating and strategic needs and sustainability. activities for women. In India illiterate women from eight states have been trained as"barefoot solar engineers" to estab- Dissemination lish solar energy systems in areas where the electricity supply is either nonexistent or highly erratic.3 Other examples of Many of the labor-saving technologies introduced through women's involvement in energy production include earning development projects or available through commercial Box 7.18 West Africa: Women's Role in Innovation Most women in the coastal areas of West Africa make a is grating the tubers, which can take a whole day using living through smoking and selling fish. In collabora- traditional manual technologies. A mechanized grater tion with women users, a local technology institute was developed by an artisan carpenter in Benin State developed an improved oven that is now widely used at the behest of his three wives, and the original pro- throughout the region. The new oven enables women totype has been adapted by local artisans over time in to undertake three smoking cycles a day, whereas only response to the suggestions of women users of the one cycle was possible with the traditional technology. graters. Time spent on grating is reduced from one Most women spend the same time processing more day to around 15 minutes, but women cannot afford fish, but some time savings still exist because the new to own the graters they have helped to design. Most technology is easier to operate and allows women to are owned by men who hire women operators. Thus, tend to other household tasks while the fish is being although the graters lead to a reduction in the time smoked. One unexpected consequence of this prof- women spend on grating cassava (time that they itable technology is that men are beginning to take over divert mainly to other economic activities such as what has traditionally been a women's industry and making more gari and engaging in retail trade), they compete with them. do not benefit from profits on the grating process, and In Nigeria, the most time-consuming aspect of the profit made from gari processing (as opposed to preparing gari, a convenience food made from cassava, grating) is very small. Sources: Adjebeng-Asem 1990; ILO/Netherlands government 1985; Sandhu 1989. 294 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION channels have not found widespread acceptance among rural Even when labor-saving technologies are appropriate, women. Several reasons account for this. Sometimes, as is the culturally acceptable, and meet a priority need, many factors case with many semimechanized crop-processing technolo- limit women's access to these. As seen with farm implements gies, they are not much more efficient than traditional in East Africa, women often do not know the range of tech- technologies and so do not merit the extra investment nologies that are available. Traditional government exten- involved. In other cases the technologies have been imported sion services provide a narrow range of information that, in from other countries and introduced without adaptation or the case of agriculture, is normally restricted to seeds and have been adapted by local manufacturers and artisans with- fertilizers rather than tools (IFAD 1998), and extension out proper consultation with proposed users. When, as a workers tend to relate to men rather than women. Com- result, these do not meet the specific needs of the users, they mercial companies rarely do market research or supply tend to be rejected. When research and development institu- information to potential clients, and local blacksmiths are tions, local manufacturers, and artisans have been able to rarely linked to outside sources of information. Box 7.19 find a way to relate to women users and to incorporate their lists some good practices for dissemination. ideas into the design and adaptation process, as was the case Although many programs such as IFAD's First Mile with smoking ovens and cassava graters in West Africa, then Project promote the use of new information and communi- improved technologies have been successfully disseminated. cations technologies to get information to women and men Ways need to be found to replicate such experiences in other farmers about market prices, they have not gone far enough developing countries such as those in East and Southern in using these as a way of supplying information about the Africa, where there is very little interaction between black- range of available labor-saving technologies.4 Some NGO smiths who produce farm equipment and rural women who initiatives are moving ahead on this front. One such initia- are their potential clients. tive is the network of village kiosks and coordinating hubs In some cases, women reject labor-saving technologies that has been set up by the M. S. Swaminathan Research for sociocultural reasons, such as taboos on working with Foundation in India to link rural women virtually with sci- oxen or using long-handled hoes. Although it is important entists and technologists, who can respond to their prob- to be sensitive to cultural issues, they can represent a major lems and requests for information (Fairless 2007). Other constraint on economic development. Sometimes taboos examples include the various initiatives of Women of have been overcome as a matter of necessity as with African Uganda Network (WOUGNET) in Uganda that seek (in col- women using oxen when they are forced to take over men's laboration with government programs) to use the Internet farming tasks as a result of increased migration and the to bridge the gap between researchers, extension workers, spread of HIV and AIDS. In other cases, such as Senegalese and women farmers (various WOUGNET newsletters at women using long-handled hoes and Indian women riding www.wougnet.org). bicycles, communities have simply accepted change in Another major barrier to women's access to labor-saving response to external stimuli. Examples such as these can be technologies is their lack of access to cash and reluctance on used as role models for women and men in other parts of the part of their husbands to contribute toward such tech- the world. nologies when they feel that the work can be done (as it Box 7.19 Good Practices for Dissemination Involve women users in the development and adap- through information and communication tech- tation of labor-saving technologies and practices nologies Disseminate examples of women overcoming cul- Disseminate information on the value of women's tural barriers to use of labor-saving technologies time in subsistence activities and practices and encourage exchange visits Enable women to use time saved by labor-saving tech- Strengthen and develop programs to spread infor- nologies and practices in income-generating activities mation on labor-saving technologies and practices through credit, training, and access to markets Source: Authors. THEMATIC NOTE 4: LABOR-SAVING TECHNOLOGIES AND PRACTICES 295 always has) free of expense by women. As long as women's activities. Ministries of agriculture, industry, and rural labor is perceived as having little or no value, then little development can also assist through support to rural black- progress can be expected. However, experience shows that smiths and artisans who produce appropriate tools and two strategies can be effective. First, research findings that equipment for agricultural production and processing and put an economic value on women's time spent on survival through ensuring that commercial distributors are better tasks can be more widely disseminated to decision makers informed about the needs of rural producers. and rural communities as a tool for advocating for the Any one technology can have a differential impact on introduction of labor-saving technologies on economic women in different regions and levels of household status. grounds. Second, strategies can be introduced that increase Generally women in poor and landless households living in the chances of the time saved by women being redeployed in areas of labor surplus such as Asia are more likely to be dis- economically productive ways so that they are better able to placed by labor-saving on-farm technologies than helped by cover the costs of labor-saving devices. This was the case them. In these circumstances, more programs such as those with the IFAD biogas project in China that provided loans introduced by BRAC in Bangladesh are needed if the poor- for women's income-generating activities as an integral part est women are to share more equally in the benefits associ- of the project (box 7.17). ated with modern farm machinery. Even in conditions of Access to training and technical skills has also proved to labor scarcity, rural women are not always able to benefit be a barrier to women's use of technologies because it is fully from the mechanization of their more arduous tasks. often men rather than women who are targeted for training In most of Africa the majority of rural mills and oil presses opportunities. When women are given the chance to learn are owned by men entrepreneurs. Thus, although most new skills, as with the women barefoot solar engineers in women have access to these technologies, they do not own India (see above), they show that they are well able to put them or control the significant profits to be made from their this to good use. Experience also shows that women are operation. Attempts have been made to promote coopera- extremely good at sharing new knowledge with each other tive ownership with mixed results. However, experience and that peer training and exchange are often more effective shows that when the need and the benefits are great enough, tools in spreading improved technologies than formal train- as with the case of the women's bus cooperative in Kenya, ing courses. women can take control of their lives through ownership of a modern technology. This issue of access versus ownership and control relates Impact directly to the distinction between meeting practical and Reaching women with labor-saving technologies is only half strategic needs. Many projects result in practical benefits, of the battle. Experience shows that outcomes are not always such as reduced time spent in collecting water or fuelwood, as expected and that any short-term practical benefits can but fewer of them meet strategic needs in terms of changing sometimes be lost if the use of the technologies does not the balance of power within the household or increasing lead to longer-term strategic changes. Measuring impact is a women's ability to negotiate effectively with local decision difficult task. Although it is easy to put a figure on the makers. An effective way of increasing women's status amount of time that women can save through using a par- within the household and community is to increase their ticular technology, it is much more difficult to trace how earning capacity, thus strengthening the argument for women make use of this time. Sometimes the time is simply labor-saving technologies that provide women time to used to collect more water or fuelwood, farm more land engage in income-generating activities. than was possible before, or reduce the amount of time that Finally, labor-saving technologies can have some unex- children must spend on such activities. Sometimes it is used pected results. For example, they can lead to changes in the to earn more income. And sometimes it is put into social division of labor within the household or to men taking and community activities such as visiting friends and fam- over women's traditional industries when they become ily or attending literacy classes and committee meetings. more profitable. To the extent these changes deprive women Often it is split among all such uses. All are important, but of income-earning opportunities, they need to be addressed policy makers and development planners can and do influ- through measures that support women's ownership and ence choices through changing taxes on imported tools and control of the technologies involved. In addition, short-term equipment, subsidizing water or electricity provision, and gains that women derive from some labor-saving technolo- providing credit and training related to income-generating gies can be lost if there is no system in place to maintain and 296 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION repair them. Training women to undertake such tasks can and cost-effective manner. Support measures include train- serve the double purpose of keeping systems in operation ing, assistance with commercialization of technologies, and and providing a useful source of income. fostering linkages with women clients and outside sources of information. The use of information and communica- tion technologies can play an important role in building GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR linkages between women clients, artisans, research and PRACTITIONERS development institutions, and the private commercial Different aspects of women's work and lives are so inter- sector, both locally and globally. twined that it makes little sense to try to deal with one aspect When one group of women benefits from labor-saving in isolation. Thus, rural transport projects should not be technologies and practices at the expense of another, mea- dealt with separately from water supply, rural energy supply, sures are needed to assist the losers in diversifying into and health provision projects. Furthermore, programs that alternative ways of earning an income. This can involve var- incorporate measures to reduce the time women spend in ious organizing strategies and provision of credit, skills subsistence activities should have components that facilitate training, and information on new economic opportunities. women's increased involvement in income-generating activ- In general, women's access to credit and rural finance facili- ities. Integrated approaches are needed if women's strategic ties is essential in situations in which women have little or and practical needs are to be met effectively. no cash or assets and their subsistence activities are given no Programs and projects should reduce emphasis on value. More attention also needs to be given to ensuring imported technologies and support local blacksmiths and women's equal access to training and extension services and artisans instead. This will increase women's voices in the to linking women with local artisans, technologists, and design and adaptation process and better ensure that tools commercial distributors through information and commu- and equipment can be maintained and repaired in a timely nication technologies and other channels. THEMATIC NOTE 4: LABOR-SAVING TECHNOLOGIES AND PRACTICES 297 I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Peru: Natural Resource Management in the Southern Highlands he Management of Natural Resources project in T the southern highlands of Peru--known by its What's innovative? Natural resources are locally acronym, MARENASS--uses a highly innovative developed and managed in ways that mesh with methodology developed with 13 rural communities in and support the organizational and cultural Chumbivilcas, Cusco, during the 1980s.1 The methodology, strengths of Andean communities. Women are the called Pachamama Raymi, assists rural communities to major actors in the management of these resources. mobilize funds and knowledge to manage locally developed natural resources in ways that suit the organizational and cultural strengths of rural communities in the Andes. The executed by the Mukono Agricultural Development Centre MARENASS project, funded by a loan from IFAD to the of Uganda's National Agriculture Research Organisation government of Peru, began operations in 1997 (table 7.4). It (NARO). During the four years of the project, rural com- scaled up the work initiated with the original 13 communi- munities in a number of districts enthusiastically received ties to reach 360 communities, with the assistance of a small and adapted the Pachamama Raymi methodology (Fernan- technical support unit and farmer specialists/knowledge dez and Lusembo 2002). sharers. The project involved entire communities--men, The following sections of this Innovative Activity Profile women, children, and elders--in a series of contests to on the MARENASS project are excerpted from the IFAD recover, adapt, and innovate technologies for sustainable Web site (www.ifad.org). natural resource management. PACHA MAMA RAYMI ANDTHE MARENASS Although the project ended in 2005, the government of PROJECT Peru continues to monitor the impact of the methodology and has found that many communities continue to use it on The literal meaning of "Pacha Mama Raymi" is Festival of their own. In 2002 the World Bank's Agriculture and Rural Mother Earth. The methodology draws upon the cultural, Development (ARD) Division supported the use of the mythological, and religious traditions of Andean communi- methodology for the Rural Resource Management Project ties in relation to the cultivation of "Mother Earth." These Table 7.4 Marenass Project Data Project cost $15.2 million IFAD loan $12.3 million Borrower's contribution $2.9 million Percentage transferred to communities 80% of total project cost Project cost per community $40,000 per community; average of $350 per family. Capital formation in the communities very quickly surpassed that amount. Number of participants 20,015 families in 360 communities (average 55 families/community) Source: Compiled from "Plan de Trabajo Institucional Proyecto de Recursos Naturales en la Sierra Sur del Peru `Pacha Mama Raymi,'" Abancay, Peru, 2003. 298 traditions allow productive natural resources to be managed 50 percent. The women's groups have invested in activities while still respecting the vision and needs of local farmers. that showed large enough returns for the enterprises to Pacha Mama Raymi uses competitions to promote new grow after paying back the credit. Ideas about social and technological practices among villagers to improve natural family equity disseminated through gender and other resource management, agricultural production, and living types of training, combined with the increased empower- conditions. The families or communities that best apply the ment of villagers, have led to a more equitable distribution advice provided by technical staff and that achieve the top of benefits among the poorest. Women in particular enjoy results earn a cash prize presented at a Mother Earth festi- improved status because of the training and their val. The competitions are a catalyst--an efficient and effec- increased ability to manage funds. The greater visibility tive means of sharing, disseminating, and replicating local and prestige of women with respect to their productive technological innovation throughout the entire project area. and reproductive roles and contribution to the family have also led to a more equitable sharing of responsibility within families, further enhancing women's status and Farmer-to-farmer training position. Women and children have more time to improve MARENASS provides technical services based on the trans- their living conditions and concentrate on education. To fer of resources to communities. The funds enable commu- continue supporting women's roles as key decision makers, nities to hire, supervise, and evaluate technical staff directly. women will need access to further training in managing The communities themselves select people who are to par- microcredit and microbusinesses. ticipate in farmer-to-farmer training. This approach has kept service costs low and encouraged the broad-based BENEFITS AND IMPACTS acceptance and adoption of new technologies by the com- munities. Continued support (in the form of stronger train- The project and the community use"talking maps"to estab- ing programs and adequate funding) will be important to lish goals and a plan of action that begins with training and develop local service markets and ensure that supply meets dissemination activities within the community. Talking farmers' demands. maps portray the community graphically at three levels: the past (30 years before the project), the current situation (as of the project start-up date), and the future (in 20 or 30 Economic outlook years). Based on these maps, each year communities develop MARENASS has shown that the key to overcoming poverty a community plan of action. This instrument enjoys wide in the harsh conditions of the southern highlands of Peru is social acceptance (bolstered by the competitions between to rehabilitate and conserve productive natural resources. communities) and is the true basis for "real and participa- The surplus generated by agricultural production and small tory" planning in the community. businesses, as well as the prizes won by villagers in the com- Activities in resource management and conservation are petitions, have increased beneficiaries' financial and fixed organized and executed by the communities themselves, assets, such as housing, corrals, terraces, irrigation infra- using their own means: families or communities make structure, and pastureland. Further substantial increases in investments beforehand (mainly in labor but also materi- production are expected, and farmers will need to enhance als), and although they may later win an award, it will never their links to markets and diversify production to ensure equal the value of the investment. that they can sell surplus produce. The competitions between communities are the instru- ment that has made it possible to achieve two objectives: first, community cohesion, and second, mass dissemination Women as key decision makers of resource management techniques and their subsequent Women's groups were entrusted with the administration of application. Although the level of participation in the com- small funds providing small amounts of credit for the devel- petitions between families is quite variable (averaging 40 opment of microbusinesses such as agricultural production percent of families in each community), by decision of the and livestock breeding and fattening. Some groups are also assembly, the competitions between communities necessar- working to preserve biodiversity through the recovery of ily involve all families in each community. The competition seeds of native species and the development of small nurseries. and the award provide the strong initial impetus. Later, The fund has been successful: average capitalization is around concrete results become the incentive to continue with the INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: PERU: NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS 299 practices introduced: production improvements that trans- among the poorest sectors of the community. As noted, the late into higher earnings for the farmers, thanks to more improvement in women's status within the family and effective use of their productive natural resources and the community has been due to better training for women, consequent appreciation in the value of those resources, their capacity to manage funds, and firm encouragement of which constitute their main asset. their participation. The funds for organized groups of women have helped to The most immediate impact of the improved practices finance the microbusinesses they manage. In several com- has been to reduce women's workload, because women have munities mixed groups of men, women, and young people traditionally been responsible for feeding and herding ani- have formed. Most groups have their own bank accounts; mals and for small-scale sales of small livestock and agricul- the others use the community account. The MARENASS tural products. Improvements in the quantity, quality, and funds are transferred into these accounts, as are the rev- diversity of family production are making it possible for enues of the microbusinesses. The businesses managed by women not only to cover the basic needs of their families the women run the gamut from agricultural production and but also to contribute financially (sometimes for the first livestock breeding and fattening to micromarketing and time) to family income through retail sales of small sur- microcredit operations, which extend loans directly to users pluses. Feeling more secure about their families' well-being under agreements established by the group itself, stipulating has given the women a new sense of self-assuredness. the form of repayment. As mentioned, some groups also MARENASS project activities have emphasized"capacity- recover seeds of native species and develop small nurseries. building," recognizing that local stakeholders are pivotal to This fund has achieved remarkable success. About 50 per- facilitating its interventions. The project thus has had a very cent of the women's groups have been able to begin a great impact on stakeholders' proficiency in all three dimen- process of capitalization. The project has been remarkably sions of "capacity": knowledge, know-how, and the ability to successful in fostering widespread use of technologies for take action. land management such as terracing and crop rotation that The management of funds has enhanced the capacity of are part of farmers' shared cultural heritage but had been women's group members to engage in commerce in addi- abandoned (farmers say they were "forgotten," although it is tion to enhancing their prestige. In most cases women's likely that they were supplanted by technologies such as groups have mastered the theory and practice of teamwork external input use that were suitable only for capital-intensive (pooling and joint marketing of goods; mutual support farming on high-potential land). The most positive results among participating families) and avoided the individualis- are seen in the practices employed in the environment near- tic attitudes that result from the break-up of communities. est to and worked most intensively by families, where the The families and communities participating in MARE- quantity and quality of produce for home consumption NASS have taken ownership of the project and, with it, of have improved. something that they felt was already theirs: the terraces, The impact of MARENASS on human capital is directly the houses, the water, the pastures, a technology with a related to the improvement in living conditions as a result of high labor content that produces high returns with little or (1) lightening the burden of everyday tasks for the family, no external input. But, above all, they have taken owner- especially women; (2) greater, more varied, and more stable ship of a "friendly" project that has offered technologies production throughout the year (with a consequent reduc- within their reach and rooted in their culture and ancestral tion in vulnerability); (3) refurbishment of physical assets practices. The project's sustainability depends largely on and improvement of homes; and (4) acquisition of new this concept of "regaining ownership" and on acceptance goods (increased family economic activity). These improve- of the idea, often repeated by community members: "We ments are behind the optimism expressed by all those inter- are MARENASS." viewed. Security about their potential for growth utilizing the resources at their disposal forms the basis for their claims. LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER The ideas about social and family equity disseminated APPLICABILITY through the gender and citizenship training for both women and men, combined with the empowerment of par- ticipants and groups under MARENASS, have fostered The successful methodology used by MARENASS was increased attention to and better--that is, more equitable, based on the transfer of decision making and respon- effective, and representative--distribution of benefits sibility for planning and financial resources to the 300 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION communities, privatized services of technical assistance enjoying greater physical and financial assets and and farmer-to-farmer training, and the supply of low- food security. external-input technology to farmers. It is estimated that the return on project investments in In strengthening the social fabric of the communities, the terms of increased value of beneficiaries' assets ranges project has succeeded in respecting and maintaining between $3 and $5 for every dollar spent by the project local values and culture. on the communities. Providing training in management of funds has been key A high level of participation exists in community activi- to women's engagement in business ventures and, in ties. People identify closely with MARENASS and have turn, in providing them with economic empowerment. endorsed the methodologies that seek the best alterna- An innovative aspect of the project is the use of compe- tives and adopt the most relevant technologies. titions to evaluate and reward the best approaches The communities say: "We are MARENASS. We do the devised by communities to manage natural resources. work, we make the decisions, we irrigate and we improve Twenty-five thousand families have moved from a sub- our homes, our farms, our pastures. . . . What we do, we sistence existence and are now producing a surplus and do for ourselves and it remains here for us." INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: PERU: NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS 301 I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 Tanzania: Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Development PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION tainable agriculture and rural development through the following: he Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development T (SARD) initiative was launched at the World Sum- Reducing the workload and time spent for agricultural mit on Sustainable Development as a multistake- production, therefore enabling people to diversify their holder umbrella framework designed to support the transi- livelihoods, develop businesses, and gain time for educa- tion to people-centered sustainable agriculture and rural tion, family care, community development, and political development and to strengthen participation in program empowerment and policy development. A major objective of the project on Increasing crop yields, especially by reducing drought Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Agriculture and sensitivity and dependence upon purchased fertilizers Rural Development is to derive lessons about the feasibility (with their widely fluctuating prices) of conservation agriculture (CA) for small-scale and Increasing production and agricultural earnings resource-poor farmers.1 Enhancing crop biodiversity and diversifying food intake The project, which started in 2004, aims to facilitate and Fostering the development of secure livelihoods for other accelerate the adoption of profitable CA practices by small- rural actors such as rural artisans and small-scale entre- scale farmers in five districts in Tanzania and five districts in preneurs. Kenya. The project builds on CA pilot activities in both countries. Over the long term the project will contribute to Two main concepts inform the project and its intended improved food security and rural livelihoods and lay the approach: foundation for CA to expand and support sustainable agri- culture and rural development. The technical concept of conservation agriculture (CA), which combines minimal soil disturbance (reduced tillage, minimum tillage, direct planting); permanent soil What's innovative? Energy-efficient agricultural cover with the crop itself or with the utilization of cover production technologies, combined with partici- crops, residues, or mulch; and crop rotations/associa- patory methodologies, enable farmers to adopt tions, through crop sequences, intercropping, relay crop- farming practices that reduce labor and raise yields ping, and/or mixed crops. and incomes. Women, the main providers of agri- The methodological concept of using participatory extension cultural labor, benefit most from the reduced labor approaches to introduce the CA concept. Both FAO and needed for conservation agriculture. Equal train- IFAD have good experience with FFSs, which emphasize ing and extension opportunities are offered to farmer-driven and farmer-first methodologies. A major women and men. challenge of the project was to combine this participatory methodology with a clear technical farming concept. The project, now in its second phase, has more than 120 FFSs Aside from fostering environmental sustainability operating in 10 districts and directly involving 3,000 farm- through soil and water conservation, the CA project aims ers. In addition to farmers,the project also aimed to involve to contribute to the social and economic pillars of sus- extension workers, researchers, and, most important, the 302 private sector. The private sector was emphasized as a way sidered when forming all FFSs to ensure that women could of ensuring that farmers would have agricultural inputs learn about CA and extension services to the same extent as and services, specialized CA tools and equipment, and men. Each FFS runs experiments on a test plot, and each farm power by the end of the project. farmer is obliged to dedicate part of his or her own land to one or more CA techniques. The project is funded by the German Ministry of Agri- Animal-drawn instruments such as rippers and manually culture and Consumer Protection. The main implementing operated instruments such as the jab planter, as well as seed agencies include FAO, the African Conservation Tillage Net- for staple and cover crops, are supplied by the project. The work (ACT), the Ministry of Agriculture (Kenya), the Kenya animal-drawn ripper allows for reduced tillage because it Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), the Ministry of cuts furrows into the soil rather than inverting it completely. Agriculture and Food Security (Tanzania), and the Selian The manually operated jab planter allows for planting Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) (Tanzania). operations to be done through the soil cover with no tillage. By using the jab planter, the farmer does not have to prepare the field before planting, thereby saving time. Farmers BENEFITS AND IMPACTS have to share these instruments because they are expensive. If The following summary of benefits and impacts is drawn the equipment is unavailable, farmers must revert to conven- from a study undertaken in Arumeru District of Tanzania tional farming or adapt practices using traditional tools, such by ACT (Maguzu and others 2007) and from an IFAD/FAO as the planting stick or the hands. Table 7.5 shows that jab study in Tanzania in 2002 (Bishop-Sambrook and others planters are, on average, five times less costly than a no-till 2004). Particular emphasis is given to the role of women and ripper and four times less costly than the conventional ripper. the reduction in their workloads as a result of adopting CA This price differential, in addition to the fact that they are practices. easier to use, makes the jab planter popular with smallholders. Arumeru District is located in the Arusha region of Tan- The adoption of CA has had three main impacts, dis- zania. Farming is rain fed, and 90 percent of the population cussed in the sections that follow: it has reduced the relies on agricultural activities for a living. Sixty to seventy demand for household labor, increased food security by percent of arable land is cultivated using tractor-drawn discs achieving higher yields, and increased household income. and draft animals. The remaining 30­40 percent of land is cultivated by hand hoes. The quality and effectiveness of Reduced labor requirements these methods, as well as their suitability for women, vary widely. The main staple food crop is maize, which is inter- Farmers in the district depend mainly on family labor but cropped with beans or pigeon peas. may also hire labor for certain tasks such as weeding.Women Traditionally rural women in Tanzania are marginalized. and children are traditionally responsible for planting and The man household head makes all decisions concerning weeding, while men are responsible for preparing the land. agricultural production. In addition, agricultural equip- With conventional agriculture, men guide the animals and ment is owned by men, even though women are responsible the plow as women walk behind to place seeds in the ridge for most agricultural work. The prevalence of HIV and and cover them with their feet. Weeding is particularly AIDS in the district is high. As a result, families have had to tedious and may take up to 28 days per hectare. In addition, sell their assets, the availability of family farm labor has hoes often tend to be obsolete or not adapted to women's decreased, and children have left school to help their fami- use. With the adoption of CA practices, labor requirements lies' farm. The labor shortages have reduced agricultural are not only greatly reduced (table 7.6), but the workload production and food security. Women have been especially affected by these developments, because their workloads Table 7.5 Cost of Conservation Agriculture have increased considerably as they care for HIV sufferers, Implements attend to household chores, and manage farm operations Implement Price ($) simultaneously. The adoption of CA practices that reduce No-till ripper 195.00 labor requirements was therefore expected to benefit Conventional ripper 136.50 women significantly. Jab planter 35.10 By 2006 the project had established 11 FFSs involving 325 farmers (148 men and 177 women). Gender was con- Source: Adapted from Maguzu and others 2007. INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 2:TANZANIA: CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 303 Table 7.6 Labor Requirements with Conservation and Conventional Agricultural Practices Conservation agriculture Conventional agriculture Farming Labor/acre Time/acre Labor/acre Time/acre activity (no. people) Implement (days) (no. people) Implement (days) Land 2­3 Ripper and 3 2­4 Plow 3­4 preparation slashers Planting 2 Jab planter 2 3 Draft animals 3­4 Weeding 8­10 performed Hand hoe 1 8­10 performed Hand hoe 1 once twice Source: Adapted from Maguzu and others 2007. shifts to some extent, because men work alongside women in has benefited equally from CA. A number of issues must be planting operations once a jab planter is available. considered in developing plans to encourage wider dissem- Lower labor requirements associated with CA practices ination of CA techniques. affect women and other family members differently. Poor Attitudes toward CA can present strong, deep-rooted women-headed households benefit from lower labor challenges. Farmers are considered good and hard-working demands, because a decrease in labor pressures frees family by their peers if they keep their fields clean and plow members from the requirement of working in the field. them. Farmers who keep crop residues as soil cover on Children can pursue their education uninterrupted by sud- their fields and use no-till practices are considered lazy. den labor shortages. Women in landless households have Grazing rights are another concern. The practice of allow- fewer opportunities to sell their labor, but higher crop ing community livestock (particularly cattle) to graze on yields--and thus higher labor requirements for harvest- harvested fields endangers the soil cover used in CA. ing--could cushion the reduction in hired labor opportuni- Grazing rights should be addressed through community ties. Additional employment opportunities for rural women laws or codes of practice. laborers as a result of higher yields would have an immedi- As mentioned, women in poor households are likely to ate effect on household livelihoods, as additional income is benefit from the reduced labor requirement of CA, but used for schooling and medical care. women from landless households may simply lose their Women in farm households spend time released by CA source of income unless alternative jobs are created in har- on household chores and income-generating activities, such vesting increased yields of maize and cover crops. Careful as raising chickens, tending vegetable plots, or selling crops attention should be given to analyzing the potential impact at local markets. More time is also spent participating in of CA on all categories of women, and plans must be made communal activities or simply taking more rest. to provide income-generating alternatives for those who may lose their source of livelihood. A major consideration in the adoption, sustainability, Increased yields and incomes and diffusion of these practices is the cost of inputs and Farmers who adopted CA practices reported higher yields. specific tools. At the moment, these are available through Yields of maize rose by 40 to 70 percent, and increased yields the project at a subsidized rate, but their cost and limited were also reported for the cover crops, some of which bring availability may represent major constraints if farmers have higher returns than maize in the market.Yield increases lead to rely on commercial distributors, because commercial directly to greater household food security and, if surpluses supply channels have yet to be built up. Commercial chan- are sold, to higher incomes. nels are expected to open when demand rises. Demand is created through farmers' success stories, demonstrations, and promotional activities. Women (who have less access to LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER cash and credit than men) will be most affected by the cost APPLICABILITY of inputs and tools. Special rural finance mechanisms to Although CA obviously has yielded some benefits, barriers deal with this problem will need to be built into dissemina- to adoption remain. Another concern is that not everyone tion strategies. 304 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 3 Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools: Empowering Orphans andVulnerableYouth Living in a World with HIV and AIDS n 2007 an estimated 33.2 million people worldwide were I living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), What's innovative? The Junior Farmer Field and which may lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome Life Schools (JFFLSs) have a unique learning (AIDS) (UNAIDS 2007). The HIV and AIDS pandemic has methodology and curriculum, which combine had devastating impacts on food security and rural develop- both agricultural and life skills. The JFFLSs' dual ment within households, communities, nations, and regions, focus on life and agricultural skills creates a double and these impacts will endure long into the future. Because impact, strengthening life skills and protecting HIV and AIDS affect people's physical ability to work, their rural young people from shocks such as HIV and spread in rural areas has negative repercussions for agricul- other diseases in the immediate term, while creat- tural production and therefore food security. The quality of ing long-term food security and livelihood oppor- life in households affected by the disease can decline drasti- tunities that empower rural young people over the cally, and their vulnerability--physical, economic, and long term, thus minimizing their vulnerability to social-- may rise commensurately.1 For biological and socio- destitution and coping strategies. An innovative aspect of the JFFLSs is the way cultural reasons, HIV and AIDS have a greater effect on children are encouraged to develop as people; a women and girls than on men and boys. The level of infection school timetable includes cultural activities such as can be three to five times greater among women.2 singing, dancing, and theater. This allows the chil- The pandemic may lead to an increase in women's work dren to grow in confidence while keeping local cul- burden, as women are often the primary carers for the sick. tural traditions alive. They are also likely to take on new roles in agricultural production and in caring when other members of their household can no longer work because of illness. Given the major role women play in household food security, Consequently, women and children are often forced into HIV and AIDS are likely to affect household food security high-risk activities to secure food and/or income for by reducing the time women spend in securing and themselves or their families (Izumi 2006). As the disease preparing food and in generating income (thus reducing wipes out entire generations of parents, their indigenous their purchasing power for food). The sale of assets to agricultural knowledge is disappearing, and the mentoring cover medical costs further erodes households' resilience and apprenticeship opportunities for teaching children to the impact of HIV. To accommodate these burdens, girls about livelihood strategies have vanished as well. are removed from school more often than boys to help HIV and AIDS have left an estimated 143 million orphans with caring for the sick, agricultural production activities, worldwide. Research on HIV and AIDS, gender, and food and household tasks. In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV and security by FAO has highlighted the urgent need to work AIDS have exacerbated women's and children's vulnerabil- with boys and girls who have lost one or both parents to the ity with respect to property rights because of the growing disease, as well as with other vulnerable young people, to incidence of "land grabbing," which occurs when a help them develop the agricultural and livelihood skills and deceased husband's relatives take land and other productive knowledge they will need to sustain themselves and their assets away from the surviving woman and her children. families in the future and to forge a place for themselves in 305 their society. To assist them, the Gender, Equity and Rural The emphasis on life skills is there because many of the Employment Division of FAO, in collaboration with the children attending the JFFLSs do not have parents who can World Food Programme (WFP) and other partners, sup- share those socializing skills that we all need to live a ports the creation and development of Junior Farmer Field healthy and balanced life. The JFFLSs address such issues as and Life Schools (JFFLSs) in countries where the prevalence HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention, sensitization on of AIDS is highest: Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozam- gender equality, child protection, nutritional education, bique, Namibia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zam- good hygiene, and the prevention of human, crop, and live- bia, and Zimbabwe.3 stock diseases and their treatment. Efforts are made to ensure that the different needs of boys and girls are identi- fied and met when covering the life skills components. PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION Emphasis is placed on participatory educational theater The JFFLS program seeks to improve the livelihoods of vul- and social animation to explore sensitive issues such as sex- nerable youths, give them opportunities for long-term food uality, sexual health, children's rights, gender roles, and security, and minimize their vulnerability to malnutrition, HIV and AIDS. abuse, and high-risk activities. The program aims to achieve For 12 months, a multidisciplinary team of facilitators these goals by increasing vulnerable and orphaned youths leads participatory sessions with a group of about 30 girls and children's knowledge of improved agricultural practices and boys who range in age from 12 to 18. These sessions are for sustainable local development and working toward given two to three times a week in the field and classroom, greater gender equality and empowerment.4 after regular school hours. The JFFLS methodology is an adaptation of two success- ful participatory learning approaches: the Farmer Field INNOVATIVE FEATURES Schools developed for adult farmers in Cambodia and the Farmer Life Schools (FLSs). In JFFLSs the FFS and FLS The learning methods and content of the JFFLSs break with approaches have been adapted to the needs and situations of classical approaches to education and apprenticeship in sev- orphans, vulnerable children, and youths. Experience has eral ways. Boys and girls have equal access to learning, and shown that JFFLSs tend to be more effective when they are school resources are distributed fairly among them. Equal connected to adult FFSs implemented in the same area. For distribution of school meals to boys and girls presents an example, since FFSs in Mozambique have been included in alternative to local practices in many communities, where the National Ministry of Agriculture Work Plan, the inte- more food is often allocated to boys, resulting in higher lev- gration of JFFLS graduates into existing farmers' associa- els of malnutrition among girls. tions has been strongly encouraged. Food support is important for a successful JFFLS program The program provides boys and girls with training in tra- because it provides an initial incentive for the JFFLS partici- ditional and modern agricultural techniques and in the life pants to enroll, attend sessions, and have enough energy to skills that will foster their capacity to solve problems, build participate in the learning process. In general, all children social relationships, take responsibility, and acquire a range who attend a JFFLS receive some type of school meal. of practical survival skills. One of the objectives of the JFFLS program is to promote Children learn practical agricultural skills by doing prac- the creation of gender-equal attitudes, not only through the tical agricultural tasks in an allocated plot or field. The chil- equal exercise of roles and responsibilities, but also through dren, who are 12­18 years of age, are trained for periods the development of the capacity to critically assess relation- from 6 to 12 months (depending on where the schools are ships and links (box 7.20). set up) following the local cropping cycle. Children learn The schools stress the active participation and indepen- about local agroecological conditions, field preparation, dence of all participants in an effort to build their confi- sowing and transplanting, weeding, irrigation, integrated dence and self-esteem and help them take charge of their pest management, utilization and conservation of available own lives. Experiential learning methods are emphasized. resources, utilization and processing of food crops, harvest- Facilitators strongly encourage participants to express ing, storage, and marketing skills. The choice of agriculture- themselves freely, to engage actively in discussions, and to related activities varies, as it depends on the agroecological find their own answers to the problems identified.5 Initia- location of the school. tive, creativity, and innovation are rewarded. 306 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION Box 7.20 Promoting Gender Equity through Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools Through the Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools, girls Girls and boys share tasks in the JFFLSs. For example, and boys learn to question unhealthy gender norms they weed and water, and girls as well as boys present and to participate in agriculture--and life--in a gen- agroecological systems analyses. Ultimately, transmitting der-equitable manner. The curriculum in the JFFLSs gender-equitable attitudes to students depends very includes exercises that address gender issues. The much on gender-equitable attitudes among the facilita- "Planning for the Future" module introduces the daily tors. In the training course for facilitators, participants clock exercise, which amply illustrates how women, usually are asked to present two theatrical scenarios: a men, girls, and boys spend their time differently classroom with a gender-aware teacher and one with a because of socially imposed expectations. The cropping teacher who reinforces traditional gender norms. calendars exercise emphasizes the different roles men Through humor, the theatrical session effectively and women play in producing different crops and live- demonstrates how girls and boys are treated differently stock, and it illustrates their use and control of in many classrooms, which leads to a more general dis- resources. Girls and boys also discuss why these differ- cussion of customs and what the community might do ences exist and whether they really must exist. to address injustices. Source: FAO 2007. The activities cover a range of topics and are based on a Business skills and entrepreneurship, the focus of the sec- standard program with Modules that follow the agricul- ond year/agricultural cycle of the JFFLS, in which partic- tural calendar: ipants explore how to take everything they learned about agriculture and life and transform it into livelihood Life cycles, in which participants get acquainted with the opportunities. learning field and each other and explore the similarities between plant and human life cycles BENEFITS AND IMPACTS Planning for the future, in which participants undertake initial agricultural planning and explore future aspirations Women and girls, for a number of socioeconomic reasons, Growing up healthy, in which participants explore what it often have limited access to productive resources, technol- takes to grow a healthy crop, and how good hygiene and ogy, and information, resulting in lower agricultural pro- nutrition can help them grow up healthy ductivity. By providing skills that can help women attain the Diversity, in which participants explore how diversity in same degree of access to these resources, the program can food production helps support food security, and how have a positive impact on agricultural and food production. gender equity and respect for diversity help strengthen Nutrition education is also likely to have a positive impact the community on the nutritional well-being of community members. The Protection, in which participants learn how to protect the training on gender issues,6 children's rights, and human crop from pests and disease, and learn how to protect rights has the potential to change perceptions of the role themselves from threats such as HIV, violence, and and status of women and children in households and com- exploitation munities, which may eventually lead to long-term behav- Water for life, a short Module that coincides with the ioral changes that favor gender equality. rainy season, exploring crop water management and More specifically, preliminary assessments indicate that the revisiting the issue of hygiene JFFLSs are already producing benefits, such as the following: Care and loss, which coincides with the harvest: partici- pants learn how to maximize output in the face of agri- Building women's and girls' confidence and providing cultural losses and how to conserve and store food for the them with the skills that lead to their empowerment future and, at the same time, explore how to care for their Offering new role models for girls through innovative own psychosocial health and plan for their own futures. education INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 3: EMPOWERING ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE YOUTH LIVING IN A WORLD WITH HIV AND AIDS 307 Markedly improving self-esteem, as seen in students' The work of the JFFLSs should be strongly linked with sec- increased self-confidence, satisfaction, pride in school toral activities and other sector-wide approaches. Identifica- performance, and capacity to share their newly acquired tion of an appropriate host institution (such as the Ministry of knowledge with others in their communities Agriculture, Education, or Social Development) has also Improving academic performance: anecdotal evidence proved crucial. The growing popularity and initial success of suggests that the academic performance of JFFLS par- the JFFLSs have led to more requests for enrollment. A poten- ticipants surpasses that of students attending standard tial solution to this problem, which would also strengthen schools because of the participatory approaches used in links between the JFFLSs, local schools, and other relevant the JFFLSs institutions, is the progressive integration of some of the pro- Improving both individual and community farming gram's content and methods into national school curricula.7 knowledge and skills. The JFFLS participants have more If students who complete the JFFLSs are to put their practical skills, greater expertise, and higher prestige knowledge to use, they will require secure access to land and within their home communities. Once perceived as a other vital resources. This issue is especially serious among burden, the students are now regarded as valuable youths, single-parent families, and households led by resources for their households and communities. orphans, but in the long term all participants in the pro- gram require better access to resources, credit, and other facilities to use their skills, stimulate economic activity, LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER increase incomes, and ultimately eliminate the need for the APPLICABILITY JFFLS program. Changes in national policies of investment The JFFLS approach addresses basic issues of access to and action will also be necessary. The JFFLS approach shows appropriate education and skills for rural communities, that educational and training goals (including the promo- particularly for young people and especially in communities tion of gender equity) can be linked effectively, at the local affected by HIV and AIDS, where farm livelihoods must be level, with the goals of health and agricultural extension ser- sustained despite the lack of adult labor and tutelage. By vices in combating the multifaceted impacts of HIV and addressing gender-equality issues during the adolescent AIDS--directly and indirectly, immediately and in the long years, when attitudes and behaviors are more flexible and term--on individuals, households, and communities. open to change, JFFLSs give participants the opportunity to narrow gender gaps and transform gender relations. JFFLSs NOTES are also proving to be a valuable instrument at the local level for meeting the nutritional, food security, and livelihood Overview needs of orphans and vulnerable children, in ways that are This Overview was prepared by Maria E. Fernandez (Cen- consistent with national strategies, policies, and operations. ter for Integrating Research and Action, University of Experience has shown that school feeding programs are North Carolina-Chapel Hill) and reviewed by Marilyn critical for attracting children in the JFFLSs, especially Carr, Ira Matuschke, Catherine Ragasa, and Mary Hill children from food-insecure and vulnerable households. Rojas (Consultants); Magdalena Blum, Rosalia Garcia, Josef The WFP's assistance in the pilot schools was crucial in Kienzle, Clare O'Farrell, and Florence Tartanac (FAO); this respect. Maria Hartl (IFAD); Nienke Bientema (IFPRI); Burt Swan- The selection of an appropriate host institution is of cru- son (University of Illinois); and Eija Pehu (World Bank). cial importance and has immediate and long-term implica- tions for the implementation and potential up-scaling strat- Thematic Note 1 egy of the JFFLS approach. This Thematic Note was prepared by Maria E. Fernandez In Mozambique and Uganda, JFFLS sites were imple- (Center for Integrating Research and Action, University of mented in conjunction with faith-based organizations or North Carolina-Chapel Hill) and reviewed by Rupert Best local NGOs, or were linked to formal primary schools. In (CIAT); Marilyn Carr, Ira Matuschke, Catherine Ragasa, Mozambique the institutional link to formal schools pro- and Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Magdalena Blum, vides more practical entry points. Several models have been Rosalia Garcia, Josef Kienzle, Clare O'Farrell, and Florence tested. To date, excellent results have been attained when a Tartanac (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Nienke Bientema formal link is created between the JFFLSs and formal (IFPRI); Burt Swanson (University of Illinois); and Eija schools, or between the JFFLSs and Farmer Field Schools. Pehu (World Bank). 308 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION Thematic Note 2 3. Much of the discussion draws on Karl (ibid.). This Thematic Note was prepared by Maria E. Fernandez 4. Ibid. (Center for Integrating Research and Action, University of 5. Harald Schomburg,"Tracer Studies in Africa: Compara- North Carolina-Chapel Hill) and reviewed by Rupert Best tive Analysis," www.uni-kassel.de. (CIAT); Marilyn Carr, Ira Matuschke, Catherine Ragasa, and 6. See note 2 above. Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Magdalena Blum, Rosalia Garcia, Josef Kienzle, Clare O'Farrell, and Florence Tartanac (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Nienke Bientema (IFPRI); Burt Thematic Note 4 Swanson (University of Illinois); and Eija Pehu (World Bank). This Thematic Note was prepared by Marilyn Carr (Consul- 1. Pascal Sanginga, Annet Abenakyo, Rick Kamugisha, tant) and reviewed by Ira Matuschke, Catherine Ragasa, and Adrienne Martin, and Robert Muzira,"Tracking Outcomes Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Theodor Friedrich, Josef of Participatory Policy Learning and Action Research: Kienzle, and Florence Tartanac (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Methodological Issues and Empirical Evidence from Par- and Eija Pehu (World Bank). ticipatory Bylaw Reforms in Uganda," paper prepared for 1. Elizabeth Cecelski, "Re-Thinking Gender and Energy: Farmer First Revisited, Institute of Development Studies, Old and New Directions," ENERGIA/EASE Discussion Sussex, www.farmer-first.org. Paper, May, www.energia.org. 2. Articles on participatory diagnosis can be found at 2. Mike McCall, "Brewing Rural Beer Should Be a Hotter www.idrc.ca/en, www.fao.org/participation and www.iied.org. Issue," Boiling Point No. 47, HEDON Household Energy 3. Ravi Prabhu, Carol Colfer, Chimere Diaw, Cynthia Network, www.hedon.info. McDougall, and Robert Fisher, "Action Research with Local 3. Shruti Gupta, "Barefoot, Female and a Solar Engineer," Forest Users and Managers: Lessons from CIFOR's Research India Together (Oct. 19), www.indiatogether.org. on Adaptive Collaborative Management," paper prepared 4. The First Mile Project is supported by the government for Farmer First Revisited, Institute of Development Studies, of Switzerland and implemented in collaboration with the Sussex, www.farmer-first.org. Agricultural Marketing Systems Development Pro- 4. Examples can be found at www.ciat.cgiar.org/ipra. gramme of the government of Tanzania. It aims at using 5. Jeremiah Njuki, Susan Kaaria, Pascal Sanginga, Elly information and communications technologies to build Kaganzi, and Tennyson Magombo, "Empowering Commu- linkages between producers and consumers. See nities through Market Led Development: Community www.ifad.org/newsletter/update/2/6.htm for more infor- Agro-Enterprise Experiences from Uganda and Malawi," mation on the First Mile Project. paper prepared for Farmer First Revisited, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, www.farmer-first.org. Innovative Activity Profile 1 6. Adrienne Martin, "So What Difference Does It Make? Assessing the Outcomes and Impacts of Farmer Par- This Innovative Activity Profile was prepared by Maria E. ticipatory Research," paper prepared for Farmer First Fernandez (Center for Integrating Research and Action, Revisited, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) and reviewed by www.farmer-first.org. Catherine Ragasa and Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Eija Pehu (World Bank). 1. Javier Cabero and Willem van Immerzeel, "Building Thematic Note 3 Learning Networks for Small-Scale Farmers: Pachamama This Thematic Note was written by Leena Kirjavainen Raymi as an Innovative Knowledge Management System," (Consultant) and reviewed by Marilyn Carr, Mary Hill Knowledge Management for Development Journal 3 (2): Rojas, and Bill Saint (Consultants); Magdalena Blum and 52­63, www.km4dev.org/journal. Clare O'Farrell (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Nienke Bein- 2. Vargas-Lundius, Rosemary, in collaboration with Annelou tema (IFPRI); and Eija Pehu (World Bank). Ypeij. 2007. Polishing the Stone. A Journey through the Promo- 1. The introduction and data are drawn from the recent tion of Gender Equality in Development Projects. Rome: Inter- research synthesis by World Bank (2007) and from Bein- national Fund for Agricultural Development. tema (2006). 2. Marilee Karl, "Higher Agricultural Education and Innovative Activity Profile 2 Opportunities in Rural Development for Women: An Overview and Summary of Five Case Studies," Report No. This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Marilyn Carr 40997-AFR, FAO, Rome, www.fao.org. (Consultant), Ira Matuschke (Consultant), and Marietha MODULE 7: NOTES 309 Owenya (IFAD) and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa and addition, governmental structures from the Ministries of Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Theodor Friedrich, Josef Agriculture and Education are increasingly taking over key Kienzle, and Florence Tartanac (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); roles in the management and conceptualization of the pro- and Eija Pehu (World Bank). gram (such as monitoring, training, and impact assessment). 1. Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development/Food and Agriculture Organization, "Conservation Agriculture (CA) for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development REFERENCES (SARD)," www.fao.org. Overview Berdegué, Julio. 2001."Cooperating to Compete: Associative Innovative Activity Profile 3 Peasant Business Firms in Chile." Department of Com- This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Hadiza Djibo munication and Innovation Studies, Wageningen Uni- (FAO) and Marina Laudazi (Consultant), with inputs from versity and Research Centre, the Netherlands. Carol Djeddah, Patricia Colbert, Francesca Dalla Valle, Brian Food and Agriculture Organization and World Bank. 2000. Griffin, and John Hourihan (FAO), and reviewed by Cather- Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems for Rural ine Ragasa and Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Maria Hartl Development (AKIS/RD): Strategic Vision and Guiding and Annina Lubbock (IFAD); and Eija Pehu (World Bank). Principles. Rome: FAO and World Bank. 1. From 2005 to 2007, the number of people dying from Roseboom, Johannes, Matthew McMahon, Indira Ekanayake, HIV and AIDS-related illnesses has declined in part because and Indu John-Abraham. 2006. "Institutional Reform of of the life-prolonging effects of antiretroviral therapy. HIV Agricultural Research and Extension in Latin America and and AIDS remain the primary cause of death in Africa the Caribbean." en breve Newsletter No. 90, May, Latin (UNAIDS 2007). America and the Caribbean,World Bank,Washington, DC. 2. A variety of factors, such as lesser socioeconomic status, Spielman, David J., and Regina Birner. 2008. "How Innova- can jeopardize women's and girls' ability to choose safer tive Is Your Agriculture? Using Innovation Indicators and and healthier life strategies and place them at greater risk of Benchmarks to Strengthen National Agricultural infection. Innovation Systems." Discussion Paper, World Bank, 3. The JFFLS approach may also prove effective in regions Washington, DC. hosting refugees or afflicted by conflict. Schools have been Swanson, Burton. 2008a. "Global Review of Good Agricul- set up for young refugees in northern Kenya at the Kakuma tural Extension and Advisory Service Practices." Draft, refugee camp and are being established for former child sol- Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. diers in South Kordofan (Sudan). FAO's ESW will be pilot- ------. 2008b. "Module 1: Basic Concepts Relating to the ing the approach toward the end of 2008 in the Dadaab Development and Evolution of Agricultural Extension refugee camp (Kenya) and Darfur (Sudan). and Advisory Systems." Part of E-Learning Course on 4. Situation where men and women benefit equally from Agricultural Extension, draft, World Bank-ARD, Wash- what the world has to offer and can contribute equally to ington, DC. society. World Bank. 2007a. Enhancing Agricultural Innovation: How 5. Local facilitators always include at least one extension to Go beyond the Strengthening of Research Systems. worker, a teacher, a nurse and/or community animator Washington, DC: World Bank. (dealing with health, youth, and sports). Volunteers identi- ------. 2007b. The World Development Report 2008: fied by the community also are part of the team. Strategic Agriculture for Development. Washington, DC: World partners such as WFP and UNICEF provide technical Bank. expertise and learning materials. 6. Extension workers and facilitators receive training in gender issues through the Socio-Economic and Gender Thematic Note 1 Analysis (SEAGA) Programme. 7. The institutional framework of the program can be Anderson, Jock, and Gershon Feder. 2003. "Rural Extension strengthened, in relation to local stakeholders (community- Services." Policy Research Working Paper 1976, World based organizations, NGOs), as well as with governments and Bank, Washington, DC. international partners. Communities and local stakeholders Birner, Regina, Kristin Davis, John Pender, Ephraim (particularly faith-based organizations and primary schools) Nkonya, Ponniah Anandajayasekeram, Javier Ekboir, can be involved in the management of the program, eventu- Adiel Mbabu, David Spielman, Daniela Horna, Samuel ally leading to the local ownership of many of the JFFLSs. In Benin, and Marc J. Cohen. 2006. "From `Best Practice' 310 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION to `Best Fit': A Framework for Analyzing Pluralistic CIP-UPWARD. 2003. "Farmer Field Schools: from IPM to Agricultural Advisory Services Worldwide." Develop- Platforms for Learning and Empowerment." In Interna- ment Strategy and Governance Division Discussion tional Potato Center, Users' Perspectives with Agricultural Paper Series 37, International Food Policy Research Research and Development. Los Baños, Laguna, Philip- Institute, Washington, DC. pines. Center for Rice Development in Sub-Saharan Africa Fernandez, Maria E. 1994. "Women's Agricultural Produc- (WARDA). 2006. News release, Africa Rice Center. tion Committees and the Participative-Research-Action Colmenares, Maria Magdalena, and Andrea Pereira. 2004. Approach." In Tools for the Field: Methodologies Hand- "Rural Women as Axis of Family and Community book for Gender Analysis and Agriculture, ed. Hilary Sims Empowerment in the Agricultural Extension Project of Feldstein and Janice Jiggins, 239­43. West Hartford: Venezuela."Draft paper for ICR Report No. 29081, World Kumarian Press. Bank, Washington, DC. Fernandez, Maria E., and P. Lusembo. 2002. "Farmers Lead- Mercoiret, Marie-Rose. 2001. "Enhancing the Capacities of ing Change: A Learning Approach to Involving Small- Rural Producer Organisations: The Case of Agricultural Holders in Agroecosystem Revitalization Management Services and Producer Organisations Support Pro- Strategies." National Agricultural Organization of gramme (PSAOP)--Senegal." Working Paper, World Uganda, Kampala. Bank, Washington, DC. Poats, Susan, Marianne Schmink, and Anita Spring, eds. Stroud, Ann, Engerok Obin, Rajiv Kandelwahl, Francis 1988. Gender Issues in Farming Systems Research and Byekwaso, Chris Opondo, Laura German, Joseph Tanui, Extension. Boulder: Westview Press. Olive Kyampaire, Beda Mbwesa, Alex Ariho, and Africare Probst, Kirsten, and Jürgen Hagmann. 2003. "Understand- and Kabale District Farmers'Association. 2006."Managing ing Participatory Research in the Context of Risk Prone Change: Institutional Development under NAADS."Work- Environments." AGREN Network Paper 130, Overseas ing Paper No. 22, African Highlands Initiative, Kampala. Development Institute, London. Swanson, Burton. 2006."The Changing Role of Agricultural Quizon, Jaime, Gershon Feder, and Rinku Murgai. 2001. Extension in a Global Economy." Journal of Agricultural "Fiscal Sustainability of Agricultural Extension: the International Extension and Education 11 (3): 5­17. Case of the Farmer Field School Approach." Working ------. 2008. "Global Review of Good Agricultural Paper, Development Research Group, World Bank, Extension/Advisory Service Practices." Draft, Food and Washington, DC. Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome. Rhoades, Robert E., and Robert H. Booth. 1982. "Farmer Van den Ban, Anne W., and Helen S. Hawkins. 1996. Agri- Back to Farmer: A Model for Generating Acceptable cultural Extension, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Agricultural Technology." Agricultural Administration 11: World Bank. 2006. "Module 3: Investments in Agricultural 127­37. Extension and Information Services."In Agriculture Invest- Sanginga, Pascal, Rupert Best, Colletah Chitsike, Robert ment Sourcebook, 105­50. Washington, DC: World Bank. Delve, Susan Kaaria, and Roger Kirkby. 2004. "Enabling Rural Innovation in Africa: An Approach for Integrating Farmer Participatory Research and Thematic Note 2 Market Orientation for Building the Assets of Rural Communities." Uganda Journal of Agricultural Sciences Alex, Gary, Derek Byerlee, Marie-Helene Collion, and 9: 942­57. William Rivera. 2004. "Extension and Rural Develop- ment: Converging Views on Institutional Approaches?" Agriculture and Rural Development Paper No. 4, World Thematic Note 3 Bank, Washington, DC. Braun, Ann R., Graham Thiele, and Maria Fernandez. 2000. Abdelnour, H. O., and A. W. Abdalla. 1988. "Junior Colleges/ "Farmer Field Schools and Local Agricultural Research Institutes of Agriculture in the Sudan: Review and Analy- Committees: Complementary Platforms for Integrated sis of Current Curricula and Means of Orienting Them to Decision-Making in Sustainable Agriculture." Agricul- the Needs of Rural Development." Food and Agriculture tural Research and Extension Network Paper No. 105, Organization (FAO) Project (GCP/SUD/030/FIN), Work- Overseas Development Institute, London. shop Paper, College of Agricultural Studies, Khartoum Chambers, Robert, Arnold Pacey, and Lori Ann Thrupp, eds. Polytechnic, Khartoum North, Sudan. 1989. Farmer First: Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Beintema, Nienke M. 2006. "Participation of Female Agri- Research. London: Intermediate Technology Publications. cultural Scientists in Developing Countries." Brief MODULE 7: REFERENCES 311 prepared for Women in Science: Meeting the Challenge, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). 2005. Training adjunct to the CGIAR Annual General Meeting, Wash- Needs Assessment, Job Markets, and Tracer Studies for ington, DC, December 4. SUA Degree Programmes. Final consultant reports of K- Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Ser- Rep Advisory Services Limited, Development Associ- vice of the United States Department of Agriculture ates Ltd., and Afrozone. Morogoro, Tanzania: Sokoine (CREES). 2005. Employment Opportunities for College University. Graduates in the U.S. Food, Agricultural, and Natural World Bank. 2004. "Agricultural Education and Training," Resources System, 2005­2010. CREES and Purdue Uni- Gender in Agriculture: A World Bank Learning Mod- versity College of Agriculture. ule. Washington, DC: World Bank. Available at Eckman, Karlyn. 1994. "Rural Households and Sustainabil- http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/ ity: Integrating Environmental and Gender Concerns TOPICS/EXTGENDER/0,,contentMDK:20208195~ into Home Economics Curricula." Working Paper, Food pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:336868,00. and Agriculture Organization, Rome. html. Engberg, L. 1993. Rural Households, Resource Allocation ------. 2005. Gender Issues and Best Practices in Land and Management: An Ecosystems Perspective. Hand- Administration Projects: A Synthesis Report. Washington, book with Case Studies. Rome: Food and Agriculture DC: World Bank. Organization. ------. 2007. Cultivating Knowledge and Skills to Grow Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2002. FAO Gen- African Agriculture. A Synthesis of an Institutional, der and Development Plan of Action 2002­2007. Rome: Regional, and International Review. Washington, DC: FAO. Also available at www.fao.org. World Bank. ------. 2003. Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis (SEAGA) Macro Level Handbook: Gender Analysis in Thematic Note 4 Macro-Economic and Agricultural Sector Policies and Pro- grammes. Rome: FAO. Also available at www.fao.org. Adjebeng-Asem, Selina. 1990. "The Nigerian Cassava ------. 2004. Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis Grater." In Tinker, Tiller, Technical Change, ed. Matthew (SEAGA)--Rural Households and Resources: A Guide for Gamser, Helen Appleton, and Nicola Carter, 80­96. Extension Workers. Rome: FAO. Also available at London: IT Publications. www.fao.org. Ahmad,M.,and A.Jenkins.1989."Traditional Paddy Husking: Gebre-Ab, N. 1988."Agricultural Manpower Utilization and An Appropriate Technology under Pressure." In Women Training at Intermediate Level in Northern Sudan." Sur- and the Food Cycle, ed. Marilyn Carr, 11­16. London: IT vey and Analysis Report for Training Agricultural Tech- Publications. nicians for Rural Development Project (GCP/SUD/030/ Barwell, Ian, and Christina Malmberg Calvo. 1987. Makete FIN), Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. Integrated Transport Project. Oxford: IT Transport. Hamada, Dorothy, Leena Kirjavainen, and Dely Gapasin. Bates, L., ed. 2007. Smoke, Health and Household Energy: 2002. "Gender Issues in Household Resource Manage- Vol. 2. Rugby, U.K.: Practical Action. ment: A Pilot Study." Indonesia: Summary Report, World Bishop-Sambrook, Clare. 2003. "Labour-Saving Technolo- Bank, Washington, DC. gies and Practices for Farming and Household Activities Idris, Yousif Mohamed Ahmed. 2007. Personal Communica- in Eastern and Southern Africa." Joint study by Interna- tion. Dean College of Agricultural Studies, Sudan tional Fund for Agricultural Development and Food and University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan. Agriculture Organization, Rome. Kingslow, M. E. 2007. Agricultural Education and Training in Blackden, C. Mark, and Quentin Wodon. 2006. "Gender, Africa; A Survey of Programs. Battle Creek, MI: W. K. Kel- Time Use and Poverty."Introduction in Gender, Time Use logg Foundation. and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, ed. C. Mark Blackden Marilee, Karl. 1997. "Higher Agricultural Education and and Quentin Wodon, Working Paper 17, World Bank, Opportunities in Rural Development for Women: An Washington, DC. Overview and Summary of Five Case Studies." Food and Clancy, Joy, and Annemarije Kooijman. 2006. "Enabling Agriculture and Organization (FAO), Rome. Available at Access to Sustainable Energy: A Synthesis of Research www.fao.org. Findings in Bolivia, Tanzania and Vietnam." Final draft, Muir-Leresche, K. 2006. Improving Approaches to Effective University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands. Teaching and Learning: Tertiary Agricultural Education. Dianzheng, Liu. 2007. "Bringing `Natural' Light to Remote Nairobi: World Agroforestry Center. Households in China." Making a Difference in Asia and 312 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION the Pacific, Newsletter 15 (March/April 2007).Also available Study of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam." Gender, Technol- at www.fao.org. ogy and Development 9: 158­84. Fairless, Daemon. 2007. "From Wheat to Web: Children of Rao, Nitya. 2002. "Cycling into the Future: the Pudukkottai the Revolution." Nature News (Oct. 22). Experience." In Balancing the Load: Women, Gender and Fernando, Priyanthi, and Gina Porter, eds. 2002. Introduction Transport, ed. Priyanthi Fernando and Gina Porter, in Balancing the Load: Women, Gender and Transport. 151­68. London: ZED Books. London: Zed Books. Sandhu, R. 1989. "Women and Fish Smoking." In Women Gender and Rural Transport Initiative (GRTI). 2006."Donkey and the Food Cycle, ed. Marilyn Carr, 71­78. London: IT Project in Uganda." GRTI Country Report 14, World Publications. Bank, Washington, DC. Spence, Nancy. 1986. "Impact of Technology on Women in Ghertner, D. Asher. 2006. "Technology and Tricks: Intra- Crop Processing." CIDA. Household Technology Improvements and Gender Stud- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2001. ies." Gender, Technology and Development 10 (3): 281­311. "Generating Opportunities: Case Studies on Energy and Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG). Women." UNDP, New York. 1986. Internal Report on Nepal. Venter, Christo J., and Mac Mashiri. 2007. "Gender and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Transport: Towards a Practical Analysis Framework for 1998. "Agricultural Implements Used by Women Farm- Improved Planning." Paper prepared for 26th Annual ers in Africa." IFAD/FAO, Technical Advisory Division. South Africa Transport Conference, Pretoria, July. ------. 2006. "Agricultural Technology and Transfer to Poor Farmers in Bangladesh." Making a Difference in Asia and the Pacific Newsletter 8 (January/February 2006). Innovative Activity Profile 1 Also available at www.fao.org. Fernandez, Maria E., and P. Lusembo. 2002. "Farmers ------. 2007. "Wulin Mountains Minority-Areas Develop- Leading Change: A Learning Approach to Involving ment Project, China." Supervision Mission Report: Small-Holders in Agroecosystem Revitalization Manage- Crosscutting Issues (May 2007). ment Strategies." National Agricultural Research Organi- International Labour Organization (ILO) and Government sation, Kampala. of the Netherlands. 1985. Field Report on Post Adoption Studies, Technologies for Rural Women. Geneva: ILO. Innovative Activity Profile 2 Kneerim, Jill. 1980. Village Women Organize: The Mraru Bus Service. New York: Population Council. Bishop-Sambrook, Clare, Josef Kienzle, Wilfred Mariki, Lambrou, Yianna, and Grazia Piana. 2006. "Energy and Marietha Owenya, and Fatima Ribeiro. 2004. Conserva- Gender Issues in Rural Sustainable Development." Gen- tion Agriculture as a Labor Saving Practice for Vulnerable der and Population Division, Food and Agriculture Households. Rome: International Fund for Agricultural Organization, Rome. Development and Food and Agriculture Organization. Maguzu, Catherine W., Dominick Ringo, Wilfred Mariki, Maguzu, Catherine W., Dominick Ringo, Wilfred Mariki, Marietha Owenya, Flora Kola, and Charles Leseyo. 2007. Marietha Owenya, Flora Kola, and Charles Leseyo. 2007. "Arumeru District." In Conservation Agriculture as Prac- "Arumeru District." In Conservation Agriculture as Prac- tised in Tanzania: Three Case Studies, ed. Richard Shetto tised in Tanzania: Three Case Studies, ed. Richard Shetto and Marietha Owenya, 1­48. Nairobi: African Conserva- and Marietha Owenya, 1­48. Nairobi: African Conserva- tion Tillage Network. tion Tillage Network. Matuschke, Ira. 2007. "Case Study: The Central Dry Area Smallholder and Community Services Development Project (CKDAP), Kenya." International Fund for Agri- Innovative Activity Profile 3 cultural Development, Rome. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2007. "Getting Mwankusye, Josephine. 2002. "Do Intermediate Means of Started: Running a Junior Farmer Field and Life School." Transport Reach Rural Women?" In Balancing the Load: FAO, Rome. Women, Gender and Transport, ed. Priyanthi Fernando Izumi, Kaori, ed. 2006. Reclaiming Our Lives: HIV and AIDS, and Gina Porter, 39­49. London: ZED Books. Women's Land and Property Rights and Livelihoods in East Paris, Thelma, and Troung Thi Ngoc Chi. 2005."The Impact and Southern Africa--Narratives and Responses. Cape of Row Seeder Technology on Women Labour: A Case Town: HSRC Press. MODULE 7: REFERENCES 313 Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Innovative Activity Profile 3 2007. 2007 AIDS Epidemic Update. Geneva: UNAIDS. Djeddah, Carol, Rogério Mavanaga, and Laurence Hen- drickx. 2006. "Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools: Experience from Mozambique." In AIDS, Poverty, and FURTHER READING Hunger: Challenges and Responses, ed. Stuart Gillespie, Overview 325­39. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. Available at www.ifpri.org. Swanson, Burton. 2007. Enhancing Agricultural Innovation: How to Go beyond the Strengthening of Research Systems. See also the GAL eSourcebook for additional case studies at Washington, DC: World Bank. www.worldbank.org: Innovative Activity Profile 4--First Mile Project. Innovative Activity Profile 5--Sudan: Strengthening Agri- Thematic Note 1 cultural Technical Training Using a Gender Lens. National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE). n.d. "Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA)." Available at www.manage.gov.in. 314 MODULE 7: GENDER IN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AND EDUCATION M O D U L E 8 Gender Issues in Agricultural Labor Overview Making the rural labor market a more effective pathway out of focuses specifically on the gender equalities in the agricul- poverty is . . . a major policy challenge that remains poorly tural labor market and the implications to project and understood and sorely neglected in policy making. program design. --World Bank 2007 Gender inequalities in all labor markets are pervasive. Gender inequalities in the agricultural sector are more diffi- otal labor in agriculture has declined in most coun- T cult to quantify but are equally extensive. Reducing labor tries, and this trend will continue as countries inequalities makes good development sense. Reducing labor industrialize. Over half of all laborers worldwide, market segmentation and wage inequalities improves the however, rely on the agricultural sector. In sub-Saharan mobility of labor and increases employment. Simulations of Africa and South Asia, 70 percent or more of the labor force Latin American economies show both a reduction of poverty works in agriculture. In many regions more women than and an increase in economic growth by increasing women's men are employed in agriculture. In the Middle East more labor force participation; a 6 percent expansion of growth than twice as many women work in agriculture as men, and was shown to be possible if men's and women's wages were in South Asia close to one-third more women are working equal (Tzannatos 1999). in the sector than men (fig. 8.1). Most work in agriculture is Increasing labor opportunities and returns for poor onerous, and the returns are lower than in other sectors. women in rural areas is pro-poor and improves family and Improving the quality and quantity of jobs in rural areas, and social welfare as increasingly evidenced in literature. Increas- in agriculture, for both women and men, has been identified ing women's earnings and share of family income has been as a means of promoting economic growth and reducing shown to empower women by strengthening their bargain- poverty (Heintz 2006; World Bank 2007). The most signifi- ing power in the household. Empirical evidence shows that cant positive impact on agricultural labor will come through women invest more than men in the development of chil- creating a dynamic rural economy in both the agriculture dren;1 thus, higher levels of employment and earnings for and the nonfarm sectors, focusing primarily on creating a women not only contribute to current economic growth but good investment climate (World Bank 2007). This dynamism also have intergenerational implications (see relationships in will assist poor men and women laborers, who both face fig. 8.2). A global increase in women-headed households, many constraints in terms of lack of access to resources which are asset-poor, heightens the importance of improv- and power. ing employment opportunities to reduce poverty. An extensive literature exists on labor issues in general The contribution of women's work to family and society and agricultural labor issues in particular. This Module is significant, through their productive and reproductive 315 Figure 8.1 Percentage of Women and Men in Agriculture by Region, 2007 80 70 Females Males 60 50 40 percentage 30 20 10 0 & & Asia Asia and East World Europe Asia Africa Union East Pacific Africa (CIS) South Economies the America CaribbeanMiddle Sub-Saharan North Southeast EuropeanSouth-East Commonwealth States Latinthe & & Developed Central (non-EU) Independent of Source: ILO 2006 (see also table 8.1). Figure 8.2 Relationship between Women Labor Force employment for rural women can increase confidence, Participation (LFP), Poverty, and Economic Growth promote participation in community activities, and con- tribute to a perception on the part of women of a better life Women have improved education and (Vargas-Lundius 2007). health DEFINITIONS ANDTRENDS Increased women's LFP, This section defines and discusses the trends in agricul- productivity, and tural labor. earnings Improved children's Definitions of agricultural labor Greater decision- Increased well-being making and income/consumption Agriculture in this Module entails all production, marketing, income control expenditure and processing activities related to agricultural products, Better health including crops, livestock, agroforestry, and aquaculture. Agri- Differential savings and education cultural labor means human efforts in these areas; agricultural wage labor consists of those activities that are remunerated. Current poverty Agricultural labor,given this definition,can take place on-farm reduction and economic growth (for example, agricultural production activities such as plant- Future poverty reduction and ing, weeding, harvesting, milking, or fishing) or off-farm (for economic growth example, agroprocessing activities such as cleaning, cutting, packaging, labeling, or marketing). Agriculture is not syn- Source: Based on Morrison, Raju, and Sinha 2007. onymous with the rural sector, although most agricultural activities take place in rural areas. Increasingly, however, roles; however, if the quantity and quality of that work are agroprocessing activities take place in factories that may be poor, or if they reinforce patriarchal gender practices, the located in semiurban areas closer to marketing or export negative effects on their health and that of their children can sites. Agricultural labor can be unpaid (such as on-farm attenuate the development impact.Yet, to the extent that the family labor), paid-in-kind (such as barter or labor exchange), empowerment of women is an end in and of itself, responsible self-employed (such as marketing of one's own produce), 316 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR or wage labor. Given the coexistence of these forms of labor body of literature has debated the "feminization" of labor across crop and noncrop products, the measurement of markets.2 This discussion has, however, been for the most agricultural labor is challenging, as will be discussed below. part based on analyses of data on urban employment statis- This Module focuses largely on on-farm agricultural tics for industrial or middle-income countries. Assessing labor and agricultural wage labor, with the emphasis on wage levels and trends in agricultural labor, particularly by gender labor. The constraints based on gender differences facing in poor countries, is far more difficult. To the extent that agricultural entrepreneurs (self-employed producers, farm- women are concentrated in both unpaid and casual labor, ers, and business owners), such as access to land, markets, their efforts in agriculture are grossly underrepresented. The and technology, are detailed in other Modules (see Modules 2008 World Development Report estimated agricultural labor 4, 5, 7, and 12). Strong linkages exist between these different from multiple country surveys and identified key trends; agricultural categories: these economic activities can all be some of these trends are summarized below. conducted by the same person. A small business owner may There is declining agricultural labor. Labor in the agricul- also be working on a farm or in another business as a laborer. tural sector is declining for both men and women, with the The Module focuses on agricultural wage labor but recog- exception of women in the Middle East and North Africa nizes that improvements in labor conditions are dependent (see table 8.1). Although men are migrating out of agricul- on other subsectors (for example, finance, marketing, and ture faster in some areas, the declines in women's agricul- rural infrastructure). tural employment are also significant. Over the long run, Wage laborers may work in formal markets, where work- migration out of agriculture is necessary. Migration poses ers make individual agreements, or bargain collectively with opportunities and risks for both men and women. Young employers to secure contractual agreements about wage and women who migrate from rural areas for work are particu- benefits. But the majority of agricultural wage laborers in larly vulnerable to abusive contracts and work situations. many countries, particularly women, either are working on Underage Khmer, Lao, and Myanmar girls migrate to work land owned by spouses, families, or neighbors or are hired in agriculture in Thailand, where some are held captive in informal markets. Most women working in agriculture working under poor conditions (Pearson and others 2006). thus typically do not have contracts that provide them More women than men work in agriculture. Data show direct control over the returns to their labor or that legally that when both self-employment and wage labor are con- oblige employers to provide benefits or adhere to existing sidered, women provide more employment in agriculture labor laws. This Module provides a detailed analysis of sev- than men in many regions (see tables 8.1 and 8.2). Women eral areas of intervention designed to promote decent work represent a larger proportion of laborers than men in the in agriculture throughout developing countries, focusing agricultural sectors of Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the largely on issues related to women's employment. The Inno- Middle East and North Africa. Women also dominate in vative Activity Profile in this Module provides a best practice some Caribbean and Central American countries, especially example from Thailand. in economies with low per capita income. And women's proportion in agricultural wage labor markets has increased, although it still lags behind that of men in all Trends in gender and agricultural labor regions. Further regional data are also presented in table 8.3. The agricultural workforce is estimated at around 1.1 billion, The number of waged women workers in agriculture is of which 450 million are estimated to be hired farm work- rapidly increasing because of globalization, high-value agri- ers (Hurst, Termine, and Karl 2005). The number of waged cultural production, and the "casualization" of labor. One workers, including women wage workers, is growing even stimulus for the growth in women's agricultural wage labor though the agricultural workforce as a whole is shrinking. has been the "industrialization" of agriculture, particularly Migrant labor in agriculture is increasing. As agriculture the growth of high-value agriculture production and agro- industrializes and global competition increases, downward processing for export. Vegetable production can require up pressure on the costs of employment leads to more informal to five times more labor than cereal production. Between and flexible employment contracts, termed the"casualization" 1986 and 1994 in Chile, women agricultural workers in the of labor. Independent smallholder farmers increasingly sup- fruit export industry increased by more than 20 percent, plement their earnings with wage labor. These trends have and men agricultural workers declined by 20 percent important gender implications. (Lastarria-Cornhiel 2006). Table 8.4 shows the high pro- The growing proportion of women in the labor force has portion of women workers for some of these crops. These been one of the most striking trends of recent times. A large trends and the implications for labor conditions for women MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR 317 Table 8.1 Men's and Women's Share in Total Employment by Sector, 1997 and 2007 Employment in Employment in Employment in agriculture (%) industry (%) services (%) 1997 2007 1997 2007 1997 2007 Women World 43.5 36.1 16.8 17.6 39.6 46.3 Central and Southeast Europe (non-EU) and CIS 26.9 19.2 22.2 17.9 50.8 62.8 Developed Economies and European Union 5.3 3.2 16.7 12.5 78.1 84.3 East Asia 51.9 41.0 22.8 25.5 25.3 33.5 Latin America and the Caribbean 14.6 10.7 13.6 14.5 71.9 74.8 Middle East 28.4 31.0 20.0 18.8 51.5 50.2 North Africa 31.2 32.6 19.1 15.2 49.7 52.2 South Asia 74.0 60.5 11.2 18.4 14.7 21.1 Southeast Asia and the Pacific 50.3 43.4 13.9 16.3 35.8 40.3 Sub-Saharan Africa 74.8 67.9 5.9 5.8 19.2 26.4 Men World 40.0 34.0 24.0 25.6 36.1 40.4 Central and Southeast Europe (non-EU) and CIS 27.0 19.8 33.2 32.6 39.8 47.6 Developed Economies and European Union 6.7 4.6 37.1 34.3 56.1 61.1 East Asia 44.6 36.3 25.6 28.0 29.8 35.7 Latin America and the Caribbean 28.6 24.7 24.8 27.1 46.5 48.2 Middle East 19.6 12.5 27.2 28.0 53.3 59.4 North Africa 36.6 32.9 20.1 22.3 43.3 44.8 South Asia 53.5 42.9 17.0 23.0 29.5 34.1 Southeast Asia and the Pacific 47.7 44.3 19.4 21.0 32.9 34.7 Sub-Saharan Africa 70.0 62.4 10.4 12.4 19.6 25.2 Source: ILO 2006. Note: CIS = Commonwealth of Independent States. are documented in Thematic Note 3 on Labor-Intensive Bank 2007). Between 25 and 50 percent of labor in the Export Agriculture. Chilean fruit export market is contracted. Casualization in Growth in agricultural employment has come in areas Chile, and many other countries, has a distinct gender bias: such as horticulture, floriculture, aquaculture, pigs, and Between 52 and 70 percent of temporary workers are women, poultry, in which factory-style operations are possible and whereas permanent workers are mostly men (Barrientos economical. Economies of scale apply, so the bulk of the and Barrientos 2002). Under these temporary employment work is carried out by paid employees (ODI 2007). Women conditions, women are subject to low levels of protection in figure prominently in these sectors, such as shrimp-processing terms of wage levels, employment security, health and safety, plants in Argentina, Bangladesh, India, and the Pacific and environmental standards and social protection. Islands and poultry processing in Brazil. An increasing Representation of women in traditional labor institutions is number of these industries employ labor under temporary weak. The deregulation, globalization, and competitive pres- conditions or through third parties. sure described above have also been influential in, or have A rapid expansion in the use of contract labor has been accompanied, the erosion of trade unionism and traditional seen, with labor provided on a third-party basis to producers. forms of collective action, although, for example, foreign In India men casual workers increased from 65 percent in direct investment is not necessarily detrimental to rights to 1972 to 80 percent in 2002; women casual workers increased association and collective action (Brown 2007). Where collec- from 89 percent to 92 percent over the same period (World tive bargaining functions, it can play a role in protection 318 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR Table 8.2 Rural Employment by Sector of Activity and Type of Employment, Selected Countries East Asia and the Pacific Europe and Latin America Middle East (excl. China) Central Asia and the and North South Sub-Saharan Sector of Activity (%) (%) Caribbean (%) Africa (%) Asia (%) Africa (%) Men Agriculture, self-employed 46.8 8.5 38.4 24.6 33.1 56.6 Agriculture, wage earner 9.4 10.1 20.9 9.4 21.8 4.0 Nonagriculture, self-employed 11.5 7.4 9.2 8.8 11.8 6.9 Nonagriculture, wage earner 17.4 31.4 17.2 30.9 15.4 8.6 Nonactive or not reported 14.4 27.5 13.4 26.0 14.6 21.7 Women Agriculture, self-employed 38.4 6.9 22.8 38.6 12.7 53.5 Agriculture, wage earner 5.7 5.4 2.3 1.0 11.4 1.4 Nonagriculture, self-employed 11.3 1.6 11.7 2.8 2.9 6.8 Nonagriculture, wage earner 8.4 18.1 11.5 3.9 2.7 2.8 Nonactive or not reported 35.5 46.9 51.2 53.3 64.3 32.7 Source: World Bank 2007, table 9.2. wages. New forms of national and transnational movements one of the principal barriers to women's employment and have emerged,including women's associations such as the Self- may be a principal reason for the larger proportion of women Employed Women's Association (see Thematic Note 1) and in agricultural activities. In labor markets women pay for the international movements, such as those against child labor or inflexibility by being consigned to the informal sector or to toward fair trade.3 These movements increasingly have the jobs with lower wages. Studies demonstrate that the provision power to influence labor conditions.(see Thematic Note 3). of affordable child care increases women's labor force partic- ipation and earnings (Deutsche, Duryea, and Piras 2001). KEY GENDER ISSUES Unemployment and the casualization of labor This section discusses the gender issues specific to agricul- tural labor markets. More women than men as a proportion of their labor force are seeking work but unable to find it in almost all regions of the world. In 2003 the global women's unemployment Women's time allocation rate was 6.4 percent compared to 6.1 percent for men (Elder Worldwide, women are the primary workers in the"reproduc- and Schmidt 2004). Women living in rural areas are more tive economy": maintaining households, raising children, likely than men to be unemployed or underemployed and preparing food, and taking care of sick and indigent relatives, without access to a cash income. Men are more able to including parents. In rural areas where these activities are migrate for employment, whereas women have primary more onerous because of the paucity of basic services such as responsibilities for households. The proportion of women electricity and water, women are more constrained. In the among categories of nonpermanent workers is increasing Middle East and North Africa, IFAD found that solutions to (ILO 2003). Women are the first to be laid off, because water and fuel supply freed women to participate in income- casual and seasonal laborers have little security. earning activities.4 Concomitantly, practitioners must avoid interventions (such as new technologies) that increase Wage gaps women's labor without corresponding financial benefits (Deutsch, Duryea, and Piras 2001). Women represent the largest group of "unpaid" workers in Parental care for children consumes a significant propor- both rural and urban areas.Globally the proportion of women tion of women's time. Lack of adequate child care represents who are "contributing family workers" is 34.5 percent, MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR 319 Table 8.3 Regional Characteristics and Key Issues of Women's Agricultural Labor Characteristics of women's Key issues for women's Region agricultural labor force agricultural labor Central and Southeast Europe Low percentage of men and women in Rural productivity low (non-EU) and Commonwealth of agriculture, but high percentage of Labor legislation not enforced Independent States (CIS) women vs. men Women not included in agricultural Employment to population ratios: Formal market stronger in most countries productivity-enhancing programs, Women: 45.6%; men: 63.8% Wage inequities in formal market such as training Working women in agriculture Young women's employment to population (2007): 19.2% ratio higher than for young men Working women in wage jobs (2007): 78.5% Latin America and the Caribbean Considerable variability across countries Women's employment opportunities in Employment to population ratios: High on-farm labor (some countries) rural and urban areas low Women: 47.1%; men: 73.7% Low ratio of participation in agriculture in Occupational segregation Working women in agriculture comparison to men's participation Social protection for women in growing (2007): 10.7% Growing women's informal labor market informal agricultural labor markets Working women wage and salaried participation jobs (2007): 64.6% Highest rates of occupational segregation North Africa Lowest women's employment levels of Low productivity of on-farm labor Employment to population ratios: all regions Heavy household labor burdens Women: 21.9%; men: 69.1% Only region where women's employment Social constraints to market work Working women in agriculture in agriculture increased Limited access to nonagricultural (2007): 32.6% Wage labor concentrated in urban areas employment Working women in wage and salaried More women in rural areas than men due jobs (2007): 58.4% to migration High percentage of women as on-farm labor Women responsible for small livestock South Asia High percentage of informal Unequal access for women in formal Employment to population ratios: agricultural labor sector employment Women: 31.4%; men: 78.1% Higher percentage of women in Few legal protections Working women in agriculture agriculture (60.5% of women vs. Undeveloped labor market institutions (2007): 60.5% 42.9% men) Working women in wage and salaried High percentage of self-employment jobs (2007): 15.5% Overlap of culture and caste with gender in discrimination Occupational segregation in wage market Southeast Asia and the Pacific Highest women's labor participation Improvement in work conditions in Employment to population ratios: High percentage in agriculture agroprocessing and agricultural wage Women: 62.5%; men: 78.4% High involvement in fisheries markets needed Working women in agriculture Overlap of culture and race with gender Discrimination in all forms to (2007): 43.4% in discrimination be addressed Working women in wage and salaried jobs Large gender wage gap (2007): 39.2% Sub-Saharan Africa High percentage of on-farm labor Limited employment opportunities for Employment to population ratios: Gender-specific on-farm tasks and crops women in rural areas Women: 56.9%; men: 79.7% Occupational segregation in wage market Unequal access for women in informal Working women in agriculture Large involvement in informal sector sector development (2007): 67.9% (processing) Few legal protections, especially for Working women in wage and salaried jobs Growth in women's labor in informal workers (2007): 15.5% high-value crops Undeveloped labor market institutions Unskilled labor force Productivity levels of women's labor low Sources: ILO 2008; World Bank 2007. Note: Data for North Africa exclude Middle East data, but Middle East data are similar; data exclude East Asia. 320 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR Table 8.4 Proportion of Women Wage Laborers in Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. The high-value High-Value Crops agricultural export industry is highly segmented and gender segregated, as discussed in Thematic Note 3. Women as share Stereotyping of gender roles is ubiquitous. For example, a Country Crop of workers manager in a cut-flower-processing plant in Kenya said that Northeast Vineyards 65% of field workers "women are more dexterous, which is good for flowers" Brazil (Collinson 2001). Confining women to a limited number of Chile Fruit 50% of temporary workers occupations has high equity and efficiency costs, and it con- tributes to misallocation of labor and suboptimal investments Colombia/ Flowers 60­80% of workers Mexico in women's education because girls'potential is usually gauged Kenya Horticulture 70­80% of packing, through current market opportunities (Tzannatos 1999). labeling, and bar coding Sinaloa, Vegetables 40% of field workers Violence, health, and safety Mexico 90% of packers The high prevalence of women in casual, low-paid employ- South Africa Deciduous 69% of temporary ment with limited security leads to other abuses. Violence fruit workers and sexual harassment in the workplace are more frequent Uganda Flowers 85% of workers under these conditions. Men supervisors control decisions Sources: Dolan and Sorby 2003; ILO 2003. concerning work performance and hence remuneration for the "task." Studies have shown that women must trade sex compared to 24.9 percent of men (ILO 2008). In agriculture for job security, markets, and other employment benefits women labor on family farms but rarely control farm that should be part of the labor contract. In studies of the income. When women are employed, they are usually paid cut flower industry in Kenya, women reported that super- less than men, even for the same tasks. In India the average visors required sexual favors for job security, and refusal wage for agricultural casual work is 30 percent lower for could lead to dismissal (Dolan, Opondo, and Smith 2002). women than for men, 20 percent lower for the same task This harassment occurs in spite of company codes of (World Bank 2007). Studies indicate that wage gaps between conduct that prohibit such behavior. An example cited in men and women in many sectors have narrowed over time, Module 13 of this volume indicates that the increasing but they persist in many countries. Recent studies in agropro- competition between local fish traders, who are generally cessing show large wage gaps. For example, in Bangladesh women, and external buyers is resulting in risky fish-for- women fry catchers and sorters earn about 64 percent of sex exchanges that have negative social consequences for what men fry catchers and sorters earn (USAID/GATE local fishing communities. Project 2006). The prevalence of HIV and AIDS rises in communities where unequal labor relations leads to increased sexual activ- ity in the workplace. An additional safety risk for women Occupational segregation arises under shift work that entails traveling at night. How- In general, women and men work in distinct activities that ever, regulations controlling women's access to different jobs offer different rewards and career opportunities, even when can be discriminatory (see Thematic Note 2). they have similar education and labor market skills. In agri- Women face health hazards in the cultivation of many cultural production, women usually produce the food crops crops reporting back pain and pelvic problems in rice culti- for the household, whereas the men are responsible for vation and weeding. Agricultural work can be arduous for crops that will be marketed or sold. Some tasks are "femi- both sexes, but to the extent that women are concentrated in nized," such as weeding on the farm, or poultry processing specific activities, they will experience greater exposure to and flower packing in the factory, despite evidence of the some risks. Occupational safety risks can be high in factories ability of men to perform these tasks equally well in other and agroprocessing plants, including equipment accidents, companies or countries. The reverse also holds, and gener- exposure to unsafe conditions, and contact with chemicals ally men run equipment and handle tools, jobs that usually and toxic substances. Women who work in fish- and shrimp- require training and elicit higher wages. Occupational seg- processing experience arthritis and other negative health regation is particularly strong in some countries in South effects of standing or sitting in wet, cold environments for MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR 321 10 to 12 hours a day (USAID/GATE Project 2006). In a KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROGRAM AND recent study of the fish and shrimp industry in Argentina, PROJECT DESIGN the majority of the women interviewed held temporary jobs The following summarizes the key principles and guidelines and therefore had no medical or social coverage. More than in designing gender-responsive projects and programs. two-thirds of the women interviewed work more than five Details and concrete examples are presented in Thematic days a week, and 63 percent work more than eight hours a Notes 1­3 and Innovative Activity Profile 1. day (Josupeit 2004). Health risks in the growing horticulture industry include exposure to toxic products through inadequate training and Ensuring equitable agricultural labor impacts when protective clothing, poor hygienic conditions, and physical designing policies and programs demands and long hours. Every year at least 170,000 agri- Remarkably, gender impact is still frequently ignored in the cultural workers are killed as a result of workplace accidents, design of policies and programs. Most, if not all, policies and some 40,000 of these are from exposure to pesticides and programs designed to impact economic growth in (ILO 2003). To the extent that women predominate in some urban or rural areas, agriculture, or industry will have gen- of these activities, they have greater exposure. See Thematic der impacts on agricultural labor. These impacts can result Note 3 for a more detailed discussion. in a positive change in the gender distribution of participa- Under conditions of temporary, seasonal, or limited con- tion and returns on labor, as industrial growth in China has tracts, no health insurance is provided. Where there are no promoted opportunities for young women, but in each case on-site medical facilities, these women, in greater propor- the earnings, productivity, and employment impacts must tion than men, bear the cost of medical services. In factories be examined. or on plantations, such as in fruit-producing areas in South A gender analysis is important for development policies Africa, medical facilities may be few or lacking, and workers and programs directed at agriculture. A review of the gender may even be dependent on employers for transport to med- effects of trade agreements shown in box 8.1 demonstrates ical facilities. Gender and child labor Box 8.1 Gender Impact of Trade Agreements In certain areas the issues of gender and child labor overlap. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that some 70 percent of child labor occurs in agriculture (ILO Labor demand: Relative prices of factors change 2003). Studies of the fisheries industry in India indicate that demand for labor, and sectors expand and contract. If women are located in sectors with comparative 60 percent of workers in the factories are young women and advantage for trade, they will benefit from employ- girls under the age of 25 and as young as 14.5 A recent study ment, and, if not, they will be displaced. In of the cotton industry in India estimated that 450,000 chil- Zimbabwe a reduction in tariffs on imported clothing dren under the age of 14 are working in hybrid cotton fields, closed the domestic industry, which employed pre- mostly in Andhra Pradesh, under conditions of "bonded dominantly women. labor" (Ventkateswarlu n.d.). Girls may be particularly at Wages: The convergence of factor prices as a result risk in some countries because they are the least likely to get of liberalizing trade is postulated to benefit both con- schooling. A study in Ghana showed that children between sumers and producers. But in regions where unions the ages of 12 and 16 frequently quit school to work on agri- are weak or nonexistent, workers may not be able to cultural farms and plantations.6 In Ecuador children between capture these benefits. In Mauritius, following liber- the ages of 9 and 11 work in the flower plantations (ILO alization in the 1970s and declines in wages, between 2000). The hazards for working young girls are great: physi- 1985 and 1995 wages rose and women benefited from employment in the growing textile sector. But in the cal abuse, no protective gear, and exposure to chemicals that maquila sector in Mexico, with a very elastic supply may increase risks to reproductive capacity, little informa- of labor, wages fell between 1980 and 1999. tion on hazards, and no medical services. However, surveys also indicate that families would prefer to send their children Source: Gammage, Jorgensen, and McGill 2002. to school but need the income additional family members provide (ILO 2004). 322 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR the price, employment, wage, and consumption effects and Extending legal rights frameworks for women differing impact on men and women. agricultural laborers to increase decent work Agricultural labor rights are mainly determined by labor law, and particularly by two broad groups of norms: those Designing gender-equitable agricultural labor concerning all workers, both men and women (minimum programs and projects wage, safety and health, trade union rights, and others), and Given that agriculture is a declining sector, expanding those specifically concerning women (nondiscrimination, agricultural labor markets is not a policy objective on its maternity benefits,"protective"legislation) (FAO 2006). Inter- own, for men or women. Other policies must complement national legislative frameworks exist largely through UN policies targeted at improving the quantity and quality of and ILO forums. The promotion of these international con- rural labor. Facilitating migration out of the rural sector ventions has assisted in improving labor conditions in may be more urgent in some countries. An increase in adopting countries, although not all are implemented to the nonfarm opportunities implies a potential reduction in same extent. Most of the conventions and recommenda- the supply of agricultural laborers, which would increase tions are outlined in Thematic Note 2. agricultural wages. Even if international conventions have been ratified, national legislative frameworks may be inadequate. For example, Kenya does not have explicit provisions against sex Generating more rural employment opportunities, discrimination (FAO 2006). And, where legislation exists, an on- and off-farm affirmative action strategy is usually necessary to implement The World Development Report 2008 argues that the most the legislation. Beyond labor law, other norms such as family significant positive impact on agricultural labor will come law and case law are also relevant. For instance, in some through creating a dynamic rural economy in both the agri- countries family law allows the husband to demand his con- culture and the nonfarm sectors, focusing primarily on cre- sent for his wife's signature on an employment contract or ating a good investment climate. Key government actions allows him to terminate the contract. Case law can establish should be taken to "secure property rights; invest in roads, a basis for women's employment rights. See Thematic Note electricity, and other infrastructure; remove price interven- 2 for a more detailed discussion. tions adverse to rural products; develop innovative approaches Labor contracts also function as a legal framework regu- to credit and financial services; and aid in the coordination lating women's labor rights and responsibilities. Recently of private and public actors to encourage agro-based industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) codes, established by clusters" (World Bank 2007). companies (often under pressure of international and The promotion of dynamic regional towns and small cities national nongovernmental organizations [NGOs]), have is crucial to improve conditions for rural laborers through become important instruments for establishing standards of spillover effects. In Indonesia, even within rural areas, wage decent work. Although many definitions of CSR can be employment as a percentage of total nonfarm employment found, most of the codes have grown out of demand from increases with village size (World Bank 2007). Many rural social groups and consumers that corporations "treat stake- workers migrate to try to find better jobs, often in urban holders in an ethical or responsible manner"(Hopkins 2004). areas or manufacturing industries. Many poor households The Fair Trade and Ethical Trading Initiatives are two groups in developing countries now combine farm and off-farm of stakeholders that have established standards, institutions, activities seasonally. Improvements in communications and and infrastructure to bring about change in corporate transport have created conditions for the large-scale inter- behavior, Not all codes of conduct (or codes of practice) nal movement of people. In India up to 40 percent of some benefit women and men equally, and greater attention needs villages commute daily to urban areas. Patterns in China are to be paid to gender impacts of these codes. Codes of con- similar. Policies that support development in semirural areas duct and their application in the horticulture industry are will reduce the burden of migration on households. Active discussed in Thematic Note 3. labor market programs, described below, can be instrumen- Multilateral organizations are in a position to encourage tal in facilitating the successful migration from rural to national government actions on promotion of ratification urban areas. The challenge is to ensure that these programs of international labor conventions, support for develop- and policies remain gender-neutral or reduce gender ment of national legislation and implementation frame- inequalities where they exist. works, and promotion of affirmative action strategies. One MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR 323 example is external support for the integration of gender reduced work burdens when returning home, and greater into Chile's legal framework. Presenting the economic argu- economic independence (World Bank 2007). ALMPs have ments to governments and companies for improvements in been successfully implemented in Organisation for Economic labor conditions is a cost-effective component of a strategy. Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries to reduce Overall arguments for improved labor allocation as well as the risk of unemployment and to increase the earnings capac- research in areas such as productivity enhancement and ity of workers. Particular interventions include employment social protection should be presented. services, training, public works, wage and employment sub- sidies, and self-employment assistance. A recent evaluation indicated that although ALMPs were not a panacea for Increasing employment opportunities and unemployment, some types of interventions, properly active labor market programs designed, could be effective for some workers (Betcherman, Rural wage employment has the potential to provide an Olivas, and Dar 2004). Many findings from industrialized escape route from poverty for many women. Increasing countries seem to apply broadly to transition countries, but employment is best achieved through sound economic poli- this is not always true in the case of developing countries cies to stimulate the private sector. However, governments (on the basis of what is still a small sample of studies). The and other organizations can facilitate the process under ingredients for successful interventions, however, do seem conditions of market failures or instability, such as economic to apply for all countries. Good design features include downturns, and, in the case of agricultural laborers, seasonal comprehensive packages of services, programs that are ori- fluctuation and periodic market volatility. ented to labor demand and linked to real workplaces, and Affirmative action programs address discrimination in careful targeting. Nevertheless, it should not be assumed the market where social factors create barriers to full market that women will be automatic beneficiaries of these pro- information. Affirmative action employment programs can grams. To ensure that women benefit as much as men in promote gender equality in the formal sector in countries ALMPs, gender analysis should be included in the design. with fairly well-developed labor markets and reasonable law The most effective set of ALMPs were employment- enforcement. Despite concerns about reverse discrimina- based training (Betcherman, Olivas, and Dar 2004). The tion and productivity costs, recent studies from the United interventions that are successful often feature an integrated States find little empirical evidence that affirmative action package of services (education, employment, social as hires are less productive than other workers (Holzer and needed) to complement the training. Employment services Neumark 1999). Programs do not have to be restricted to are generally the most cost effective of the ALMPs. quotas but can include special recruitment efforts, broader Public works programs have variable success rates at screening practices, and special assistance programs, such as short-term income transfer and even more uncertain effects training and changes in hiring, pay, or promotion standards on long-term employment. Longer-term employment (World Bank 2001). effects are more often found where these programs generate In cases of downsizing, governments and other organiza- viable infrastructure. In India the Maharashtra Employ- tions can provide employment information and networking, ment Guarantee Scheme, designed in large part to fill the unemployment insurance systems, small start-up loans, and seasonal employment gap due to seasonal fluctuations, legal aid and can develop training capacity and new venture famines, and natural disasters, has been able to provide sig- services (USAID/GATE Project 2005). nificant amounts of work, leading to increased wages in the In an economic downturn or under other economic or economy, although other rural employment generation sector-specific changes, a wide range of programs have been projects have not been as successful (ODI 2007). Public attempted to lower unemployment rates: these programs works programs in South Africa with the objective of con- have been termed active labor market programs (ALMPs). tributing to long-term employment, including the popular ALMPs, used in Europe to reduce unemployment, have Work for Water program, have generated interest among been implemented in many countries, but their application planners. Although the infrastructure and social impacts are in agriculture has been largely to support migration out of positive, few studies document whether skills development the sector. For example, a job-matching program for in equipment use or financial management has succeeded in migrants in China provided off-farm employment to about increasing rural employment. In any type of public works 200,000 upland laborers over six years. Women made up 25 program, the design must consider gender roles to avoid percent of these laborers and reported more confidence, excluding women.7 324 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR Reducing wage gaps and strengthening institutions occupational segregation during 1996­2000 through supply- ing semiskilled training and work experience to urban, low- Women must be able to recognize the wage differential, income, young people in specific trades that are in demand understand the legal context, and organize within institutions in the productive sector (Betcherman and others 2004). or create new ones to negotiate equal wages and engage with employers, and employers must also comply with legislation. Stronger community organizations, including unions and Improving social protection women's organizations, can raise the issues. The disproportionate number of women in casual and sea- One of the means of raising awareness of women's rights sonal jobs and the attendant risks for women and children among workers has been to strengthen local organizations have heightened the need to increase social protection for by training on alliance formation and networks. The ILO women in all sectors of the labor market. Social protection can has developed a program with Danish and Norwegian sup- focus on reducing risks or on maintaining assets.8 In the con- port (Women's Education for Integrating Women Members text of agricultural labor, social protection refers mainly to in RuralWorkers'Organizations) with the objective of increas- medical and unemployment benefits and pension provision. ing empowerment of rural women in Tamil Nadu and Mad- The extension of public social protection programs to hya Pradesh. The program has two objectives: increasing temporary, casual, and seasonal laborers will address some awareness in trade unions of ILO standards as applied to of the issues of gender inequity in agricultural labor. (Box 8.2 gender and promoting the involvement and representation provides several brief examples of social protection programs.) of women in trade unions. Small grants were provided by Unemployment insurance, health insurance, and pension USAID to assist Latin American organizations working to programs are all inaccessible to temporary and casual workers improve women's labor conditions (WID TECH 2003b). in most developing countries. General agreement holds that These grants facilitated training in worker's rights and the the private sector should not have to bear the full cost of sponsoring of community awareness events. The role of these programs, but the balance between private and social unions is discussed in Thematic Note 2. costs and benefits needs to be evaluated. Barrientos and Barrientos (2002) develop a social responsibility matrix and Diversifying occupational choice discuss the roles of each stakeholder (see Thematic Note 3). To achieve the full economic benefit from employment, women need to have greater choice over their occupations. Box 8.2 Social Protection Programs Education programs can help through scholarships and mentoring programs and through ensuring curricula are not biased toward segregation by theme and occupation lines. Affirmative action programs have been successfully Turkey has taken steps to establish public social secu- implemented in some countries. rity schemes for agricultural workers. A voluntary One of the most effective ways of ensuring gender bal- program was established in 1983. Contributions paid at a prescribed level for at least 15 working days ance is to increase the number of women among "front-line each month provide entitlement to old-age, invalid- staff" (IFAD 2000). Programs and projects can hire qualified ity, or survivor's pensions. A number of trade union women candidates or train women for occupations associ- initiatives have evolved from pressure from workers' ated with "segregated" occupations, such as hiring women organizations.In Argentina,Union Argentina Traba- extension staff (for example, in Sudan) or by giving exten- jadores Rurales y Estibadores (UATRE: Union of sion responsibilities to women's group promoters. In Ghana Rural Labourers and Dock Workers) operates a community-selected women extension volunteers have health and unemployment fund, and the union's proved effective as an interface between women's groups and initiative to extend protection to large numbers of government extension services. In other countries, such as unregistered and unprotected workers was recently Cambodia and Indonesia, women volunteers have been formalized in national legislation.A national registry trained as auxiliaries for animal vaccination (IFAD 2000). of agricultural workers and employers (RENATRE) Women can be trained in workplace safety programs (WID was an important first step to the development of an unemployment fund and benefit system. TECH 2003b) as agricultural or fisheries extension workers or fishnet weavers trained to become fisherwomen. The Source: ILO 2003. "Projoven" program in Peru is noted to have reduced MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR 325 Programs to extend social protection to workers in the infor- Box 8.3 Nicaragua and Guatemala: Improving mal sector in India and temporary agricultural workers in Information for Health, Security, Chile present an opportunity to assess the costs and benefits of and Safety these programs (see Thematic Note 1). A recent approach to extending social protection can be A representative sample survey was introduced by found through private sector codes of conduct. These codes the Maria Elena Cuadro Women's Movement in are increasingly being applied along the global value chain Nicaragua, which represents over 7,000 women in horticulture. Building the business case for improving members. As the influence of the organization has labor standards performance is critical to engage the private grown through publicity campaigns and increased sector (see Thematic Note 3). The role of social dialogue membership, information from the survey supports should not be neglected because collective bargaining is arguments for better work conditions. The publi- instrumental in improving social protection. cation of the results has been influential. In Guatemala organizations for women in maquilas supported occupational health work- Improving health, security, and safety shops and formation of health and hygiene com- mittees; women represented workers to lobby Providing a healthy workplace and maintaining the health of companies for compliance with environmental workers should be good business, but managers of compa- health standards (Izabal Labor Union). nies may have to be convinced of the economic benefits of, or be forced into, applying basic standards. Health concerns Source: WID TECH 2003a. for women include violence and sexual harassment in the workplace, exposure to HIV and AIDS, as well as occupa- tional safety issues surrounding, for example, accidents and labor force, it is even worse. Estimates of temporary women exposure to unsafe conditions, chemicals, and substances. workers in horticulture in Chile alone vary from a low of Overtime and night shifts can also create safety concerns for 57,000 to a high of 162,500. Each program, project, or women, although these can also be used to restrict women activity should have gender-disaggregated data to support from employment categories. it, or the means to collect the data built into the initiative. Improved information and data provided by laborers Efforts should be made to integrate gender-disaggregated and labor organizations concerning a perceived problem variables into international, national, and local statistical can help lead to its resolution (see box 8.3). Dissemination databases on labor markets. UNIFEM has supported redef- of policies is important, and the implementation of training initions of work and labor to ensure that data on unpaid programs is necessary. and informal sector workers, much of which would be in The workplace is an extremely effective center for HIV agriculture, are included in employment databases (Chen and AIDS awareness campaigns. Plantations in Uganda and others 2005). Detailed and accurate costs are also were experiencing extremely high rates of mortality, but as required to convince governments and employers of the government campaigns were complemented by company efficiency and effectiveness of programs that promote information and condom distribution, the mortality rate women's labor market participation. has fallen significantly. Human rights work in some regions has been expanded to domestic violence and its social and economic repercussions. Some companies have MONITORING AND EVALUATION recognized the cost of violence and facilitated support for Table 8.5 gives some ideas for indicators and sources of veri- abused women. fication, though clearly modifications are required for each specific program. Further information is provided in Module 16 Monitoring and Evaluation. Increasing the information base Depending on the country or region, it may also be rele- Integral to convincing governments, businesses, and civil vant to consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both society of the efficacy of change is accurate, up-to-date as comparative indicators and when collecting data), analysis based on reliable statistics. The quality of agricul- because women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usu- tural labor data is weak, and for the women agricultural ally in the most disadvantaged situation. 326 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR Table 8.5 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Agricultural Labor Indicator Sources of verification and tools Number of entrepreneurs or business operators trained in occupational · Program records health and safety issues and corporate social responsibility Incidence of occupational health and safety incidents, and measures taken · Administrative records to prevent future incidents · Review of procedures as against local and national regulations training records Spread of HIV and AIDS, prostitution, alcoholism, and other problems from · Community health surveillance in-migrant workers, compared with baseline · Health records · Local authority reports Differences in wage and employment conditions, if any, between women · Case studies and other disadvantaged groups, and men for positions of comparable · Labor audits content and responsibility · Project management information system or administrative records Percentage of time spent daily in household on paid and nonpaid activities, · Gender analysis disaggregated by gender and age · Time use studies Age of school leaving, disaggregated by gender · School records Percentage of women and men in activist or leadership positions in labor · Union records unions Membership of unions or informal labor networks, by gender and compared · Stakeholder interviews with number of men and women in workforce · Union or labor group records Number of women and men receiving training on labor standards, social · Program records clauses, and employment rights per quarter · Training records · Union records Access of women and men to social security and unemployment insurance · Government social security records · Stakeholder interviews · Union or other insurance scheme records Change in number of cases of women and men accessing legal advice regarding · Legal authority records labor rights (measured over a set period before the project intervention and · Records of paralegals compared with a set period after the project intervention) Change in knowledge in sample group (the general community, employers, or · Group interviews or focus groups legal tribunal staff) regarding labor rights and dispute resolution procedures · Interviews, before and after Change in women's and men's perceptions of levels of sexual harassment · Focus groups experienced before and after program activities · Stakeholder interviews Number of women and men from district employed in agricultural · Administrative records enterprises, annually Over a set period, an increase of x percent in household incomes from · Household surveys agriculture or forest enterprise-based activities among women-headed · Project management information system households and poor households in program areas Socioeconomic data from statistics office Changes over x-year period of project activities in household nutrition, health, · Household surveys, before and after education, vulnerability to violence, and happiness, disaggregated by gender · Project management information system · School records Proportion of household income coming from women and girls versus men · Household surveys and boys Source: Authors, with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR 327 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Gender and Informal Labor he term informal economy is widely used and can T INFORMAL WORK IN AGRICULTURE refer to such disparate economic activities as The following categories of agricultural labor are considered shoeshine workers in Calcutta, garbage collectors part of the informal sector: (1) agricultural laborer--spouse or in Cairo, or street cassava sellers in East Africa. The impor- otherfamilymembers,generallyunpaid;(2)wagelaborer,forcash tant characteristics of activities in the informal economy or in-kind compensation, on small, family-owned agricultural are a mode of organization different from a firm or corpo- land; (3) casual wage laborers on registered agribusiness; and ration, unregulated by the state, and excluded from (4) seasonal wage laborer on registered agribusiness. In devel- national income accounts (Swaminathan 1991). Chen and oping countries, and in some industrial countries, almost all others (2005) add that "the workers in these activities are agricultural labor could be considered informal. not likely to be protected by labor legislation or organized In general, rural women are the main producers of the by formal trade unions." The ILO defines informal work as world's staple crops--maize, rice, and wheat--which pro- self-employment in small unregistered businesses and vide up to 90 percent of the rural poor's food intake. wage employment in unregulated and unprotected jobs Women are involved in sowing, weeding, applying fertilizer (ILO 2002).1 and pesticides, and harvesting and threshing of crops. Informal workers include those for whom marginal, risky, Moreover, in many countries they are responsible for the and low-paid work is better than no work. Such workers do household's legumes and vegetables and participate in the not have any safety net and earn low income or benefits pro- livestock sector, feeding and milking larger animals and rais- vided by an uncertain or dangerous job. There is also a clear ing poultry and small animals, such as goats, guinea pigs, gender dimension to such employment: in general, women rabbits, and sheep. Furthermore, rural women provide most are less likely than men to have formal jobs, more likely to postharvest labor, arrange storage, and take care of han- work in the informal economy, and, within the informal dling, stocking, processing, and marketing of the produce. economy, more likely to work in the lowest-paid and most Studies have shown that rural women in particular are precarious forms of employment. responsible for half of the world's food production and pro- The largest number of informal workers is in the devel- duce between 60 and 80 percent of the food in most devel- oping world, where institutions providing regulation and oping countries. However, women generally do not own the support to business and labor are the weakest. Although land on which they labor, and in many cases they remain informal work does provide income, it does not necessarily unremunerated for their family labor. provide a wage sufficient to meet household needs. In the As agriculture becomes industrialized with globalization, short run such employment provides a means of livelihood women remain concentrated in the labor-intensive parts of to a majority of women workers. However, income gaps the agricultural value chains, without contracts and with between formal and informal workers remain, and so there low wages and limited benefits. In horticultural enterprises is a concentration of poverty and related antisocial activities one of the growth areas in developing countries, women are and a degradation of the environment. A poor and deprived concentrated in the "cool chain" distribution and the retail women's labor force leads to unhealthy future generations end, both of which are more labor intensive and dominated and wide income disparities. 328 by women's employment (Lund and Nicholson 2003). The sources and depending on what type of employment pro- horticultural sector is discussed in Thematic Note 3. Fish- vides the main source of employment income. eries and poultry are other agricultural industries in which Today in India as in many other developing countries, women represent a significant part of the informal labor the informal or the unorganized economy accounts for an force. Women assist spouses in artisanal fishing, net prepa- overwhelming proportion of the poor and vulnerable pop- ration, and fish cleaning and marketing (see Module 13). In ulation (table 8.7). In 1990­2000, informal women workers the growing fish and shellfish industries, women work in the in India made up 85 percent of all workers, most of whom labor-intensive parts of the value chain, as in the horticultural were employed in agriculture. The wage gap is significant industry. Women are also involved in the growing poultry globally between women and men workers. Women tend to processing industry as casual and seasonal laborers and dom- be employed in a wider variety of levels compared to men, inate informal food preparation and street vending in many so their earnings can be more fragmented. areas, such as sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, for example, all In the 1960s and 1970s it was widely assumed that, informal cowpea processors and street vendors are women. worldwide, development of the modern economy would shrink and absorb informal sector employment. Instead, the CHARACTERISTICS OF LABOR INTHE global economy has shown a tendency to encourage precar- INFORMAL SECTOR ious forms of work. The modern industrial system has not expanded as fully in developing countries as it did at an ear- Informal employment is particularly important in develop- lier period in industrial countries. Informal production ing countries, where it constitutes one-half to three-quarters more typically takes place in family businesses or in single- of nonagricultural employment, and for the year 2000 the person units, whereas traditional, more personalized sys- shares specifically are 78 percent in Africa, in the range of 45 tems of production and exchange still exist in agricultural to 85 percent in Asia, and 57 percent in Latin America (see and artisan production. But in today's global economy, both table 8.6). Women's collaborative, self-help, and traditional traditional and semi-industrial relations of production and practices and initiatives in the informal sector are a vital exchange are being inserted into the global system of pro- economic resource (Chen 2004). duction. Also, women are highly involved in traditional and Within the informal economy, women are concentrated home-based work, which is on the rise because of shrinking in work that is insecure and badly paid, with high risks of overhead costs of formal employment. poverty. A gender gap in earnings exists across almost all employment categories, including informal wage employ- ment and self-employment. Therefore, a hierarchy of earnings LESSONS LEARNED AND GUIDELINES FOR is found in different types of informal employment, ranging PRACTITIONERS from employers and self-employed workers, mainly men, at Understanding the gendered impact of economic and social the top to home-based workers, mainly women, at the bottom. policies is critical. The impact of policies on men and women This corresponds to a hierarchy of poverty risk among is not the same because men and women are involved in dif- households, depending on whether they have some formal ferent types of activities, have different ownership of sources of employment income or are limited to informal resources, and have different needs in relation to health and education. Recognizing that a single policy prescription for the informal economy would not be able to help improve the Table 8.6 Informal Employment in Developing conditions of such workers is very important.A good practice Countries should be participatory and inclusive and allow for policies to Informal Latin America be developed through consultation with informal workers employment as a and the themselves and through consensus of relevant government percentage of Africa (%) Asia (%) Caribbean (%) departments and other appropriate social actors. New jobs 93 n.a. 83 Nonagricultural 78 45­85 57 employment Labor laws need to govern informal sector work Urban employment 61 40­60 40 A legal framework is an important prerequisite to improve Source: Charmes 1998 (updated 2000). labor conditions; however, it is not sufficient to change THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND INFORMAL LABOR 329 Table 8.7 India:Type of Workers Distributed by Gender Share of Workers, 1999­2000 (%) Type of Worker Gender Rural Sector Urban Sector All India Casual worker Men 45.98 24.28 37.77 Women 78.55 38.79 68.54 Self-employed worker Men 42.01 33.64 38.84 Women 15.53 21.03 16.92 Employer Men 1.50 1.45 1.48 Women 0.49 0.41 0.47 Regular wage/salary earner Men 10.52 40.63 21.91 Women 5.42 39.77 14.07 Total Total men 72.25 82.48 75.81 Total women 27.75 17.52 24.19 Total All 100.00 100.00 100.00 Source: Various rounds of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) survey data. conditions. Thematic Note 2 discusses international, different locations along the Atlantic coast. The women feel national, and other legal frameworks in detail. Experience in that this tool has improved their competitiveness in the Ghana demonstrates how laws can affect the informal sec- local market. They have a Web site to enable the nearly 7,500 tor. Labor laws there were outdated and fragmented and did members to promote their produce, monitor export mar- not fit with the work conditions guaranteed in Ghana's kets, and negotiate prices with overseas buyers before they constitution. However, in 2003 the New Labour Act was arrive in Senegal (Hafkin and Taggart 2001). negotiated through a tripartite process, involving the gov- The Centre for Mass Education in Science, an NGO ernment, trade unions, and employers. The act applies to all founded in Bangladesh in 1978, uses a flexible skills training workers (excluding the armed forces, police, and others). program that leads to immediate income generation. The The major objective of the act was to extend important pro- program is directed at adolescents and youth who cannot tective elements secured by formal workers to informal afford school and must work. It serves about 20,000 students workers. It contains special provisions relating to temporary in 17 rural areas and has a specific gender empowerment and casual workers that allow them to benefit from the pro- program aimed at helping young women fight discrimina- visions of collective agreements, such as equal pay for work tion and stereotypes and obtain more skilled employment. It of equal value, access to the same medical provisions avail- identifies and pilots small, untried income-generating activ- able to permanent workers, full minimum wage for all days ities in villages, including soap and candle making, solar in attendance, and public holidays (Government of Ghana electrification, and computer use (ILO 2002). 2003). Such laws can be examples for other developing ICTs can also be used by informal producers to increase countries with growing informal labor forces. productivity and competitiveness. The National Development Dairy Cooperative in India, whose 10.7 million member- owners produce the major share of processed liquid milk,intro- Information technology and skills training duced a computerized system to measure and test the milk for informal workers that small producers delivered to their local collection centers, In Africa many women entrepreneurs who are traders-- reducing perceptions of malfeasance and underpayment. In ranging from those microtrading in foodstuffs to those Samoa, through a computerized system, dairy farmers, many doing large-scale import-export trade--are in need of market of whom are women, receive immediate payment by using an information and are beginning to use information and identification card and save considerable time. In many communications technologies (ICTs). In Senegal the Grand centers the entire transaction takes no more than 30 seconds Coast Fishing Operators Union, an organization of women from delivery to payment. The system is currently installed at who market fish and are fish producers, uses ICTs to 2,500 milk collection centers, benefiting more than 50,000 exchange information on supply and demand between their dairy farmers (Jhabvala and Kanbur 2002). 330 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR Social protection for the informal sector Box 8.4 India: National Commission for Enterprises South Africa has a healthy private pension regime for its pop- in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) ulation of 40 million. The pension is a vitally important source of household security, plays a role in the promotion of One of the major highlights of the Fourth Report small enterprises, and has a household income-smoothing of NCEUS (2007) was the official quantification of function: families spend it on "social" items such as children's unorganized or informal workers, defined as those schooling and transport to health services and use it for agri- who do not have employment security, work secu- cultural inputs and for small enterprise development.A num- rity, and social security. These workers are engaged ber of signs of its importance in local and rural economies are not only in the unorganized sector but in the visible: major hire purchase firms have changed their collec- organized sector as well. tion schedules to coincide with pension days, and clients of a Examination of the regulatory framework for microfinance organization have asked for coordination ensuring minimum conditions of work for unor- between pension payment dates and dates of microfinance ganized wage workers shows that (1) there is a lack loan repayments (Chen, Vanek, and Carr 2004). of comprehensive and appropriate regulations in India and (2) even where regulation exists, inade- Although most of the labor force in Costa Rica is not cov- quate and ineffective implementation mechanisms ered by occupationally related social insurance, a voluntary exist. The commission reviewed and analyzed the insurance is available for independent workers, own-account various perspectives on a comprehensive legisla- workers, and unpaid workers (family workers, housewives, tive framework for unorganized wage workers and and students). It is aimed at those either who have never con- made appropriate recommendations. The com- tributed to a health or pension plan or who did not do so for mission established at a very high government long enough to accumulate adequate benefits. To join, fami- practice level the need to make separate policies lies must have a per capita family income that is lower than for informal workers and women workers. the basic basket of food products determined by the Statistics Source: NCEUS 2007. Institute. The insurance is funded by the contributions of the state and the individuals who join. This is an interesting example of where a country with a good history of social pro- vision is attempting to adjust in flexible ways to changes in informal economy workers excluded from other social the labor market--in this case the increasing numbers of security systems. The program is run by an NGO and informal workers (Martínez Franzoni and Mesa-Lago 2003). financed through member contributions and grants from Over 90 percent of India's workers are in the informal development agencies. economy (including agricultural workers), with little, if any, In Brazil the Rural Social Insurance Program is a rare statutory social security (see box 8.4). Most are casual labor- Latin American example of state-sponsored social protec- ers, contract and piece-rate workers, and self-employed, own- tion for those outside the formal sector. The program is a account workers. The government of India recently launched noncontributory pension and disability program for the the Unorganised Sector Workers' Social Security Scheme on a rural poor, instituted by the 1988 constitution, which pilot basis in 50 districts. The scheme provides for three basic extended basic pension benefits to elderly and disabled protections: old age pension, personal accident insurance, people in informal rural employment. It has not only alle- and medical insurance (Lund and Srinivas 2000). viated poverty but has also led to recipients moving from The ILO Work Improvement in Neighbourhood Develop- subsistence agriculture to sustainable household produc- ment (WIND)2 project in Vietnam is an example for improv- tion. Ancillary social benefits include increased school ing health conditions for rural people. ILO WIND is a volun- enrollment among children in beneficiary households tary, participatory and action-oriented training program that (Lund and Srinivas 2000). promotes practical improvements in agricultural households India's welfare funds, many of which are sponsored in the through the initiatives of village families. It is currently being state of Kerala, are also good examples of effective social pro- adapted to local conditions, translated and pilot-tested in tection for informal workers. Many funds have been started Ethiopia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, and Senegal. for informal workers in both agricultural and nonagricultural In Bolivia the Mutual Health Insurance Scheme covers enterprises, including head-load workers, in 1981; fishermen, basic health services for its members, half of whom are 1986; cashew workers, 1988; coir workers and khadi workers, THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND INFORMAL LABOR 331 1989; agricultural workers, 1990; tailors, 1995; beedi workers, of personnel, handling and control of agrochemicals, haz- 1996; and bamboo workers, 1998. Welfare funds may be con- ardous waste containers, and expired pesticides. The work is tributory or tax based, or a combination thereof. In the tax- based on a set of standards issued by the ministry that includes based programs, a tax is levied on the production or export of suggestions from businesses in the sector. The results from the goods. Workers have access through the funds to different inspection of 770 farms were delivered in March 2002. types of coverage, some of which may be medical care, edu- The Occupational Health Commission in Chile has pro- cation of children, housing expenditures, and other forms of moted a special program for women seasonal workers that assistance. Coverage varies across the projects; some require covers five aspects: supervision of occupational health condi- cards to access benefits (Subrahmanya 2000). tions, supervision of pesticide use, health examinations, Approaches have also been developed to address health information on health rights, and training. In the fisheries care for the informal sector. The Indian government has sector tripartite roundtables have been established in three started a health initiative as described in box 8.5. In Chile the regions of the country where most women fishery workers are Ministry of Health's national program of Occupational Health concentrated to reach consensus on measures for improving Surveillance has been underway since 2001 in nine regions of their working conditions. In this context information work- the country, covering basic health, risk prevention, protection shops have been conducted on occupational health, firms have been inspected, child care centers have been opened, and meetings of women fishery workers have been held. Box 8.5 India: Health Insurance Plan for Workers in the Unorganized Sector Networks, organizing, and institutional support The government of India has designed a Health Three networks of informal workers have established good Insurance Scheme for the Unorganized Sector practice standards for organizing and providing support to Workers to be implemented by the Ministry of these workers: Streetnet, Women in Informal Employment: Labor and Employment. The eligibility criteria for Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), and HomeNet. Box getting benefits in the program are being planned 8.6 summarizes relevant information on these groups. so that informal workers living below the poverty These networks have been effective in providing training to line would be beneficiaries. Innovatively for India, informal workers in finance and leadership skills. The the beneficiaries will be issued smart cards for the organizations disseminate relevant information to members purpose of identification. The in-patient health and have had input into legislative processes in various care insurance benefits would be designed by the countries. WIEGO has been effective in working with inter- respective state governments based on the require- national organizations to raise the profile of workers in the ments of the people and geographical area. The regional governments have to incorporate at least informal sector. the following minimum benefits: coverage of the informal workers and their families (units of five); Develop better targeting mechanisms total sum insured Rs. 30,000 per family per year on Women also tend to be concentrated in more vulnerable a family floater basis; cashless attendance to all cov- types of informal employment, in which earnings are very ered ailments; hospitalization expenses, taking care of most common illnesses with as few exclusions as low and unreliable. The average earnings from these types of possible; all preexisting diseases to be covered; and informal employment are too low, in the absence of other transportation cost (actual with a maximum limit sources of income, to raise households out of poverty of Rs. 100 per visit) within an overall limit of (UNIFEM 2005). Identifying households by types is impor- Rs. 1,000. The program is not specific to women tant, between those with primary income from informal workers, but the criteria of workers below the work and those with primary income from formal work. In poverty line would ensure that many women work- a study conducted for India, poor households were defined ers would be covered under this plan. by examining household member-level data (National Sam- Source: National Advisory Council, "Draft, The Unor- ple Survey Organisation 1993­94, 1999­2000, 2004­05). ganized Sector Workers'Social Security Bill,"Government The study found that more women belong to poor house- of India, New Delhi, http://pmindia.nic.in/nac/commu- holds with earnings from the informal sector (Sinha and nication/Draft_Unorganized_Sector_Workers_Bill.pdf. Sangeeta 2000). Targeting such households for specific wel- fare benefits would benefit poor informal women workers. 332 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR Box 8.6 Informal Worker Networks "At the first international meeting on street vendors, and protect street vendors, (2) global trade and held in Bellagio, Italy in 1995, a group of activists from investment policies to maximize opportunities (and 11 countries adopted an International Declaration that minimize threats) associated with globalization for set forth a plan to promote local and national policies home-based workers, (3) social protection measures to support and protect the rights of street vendors" for women informal sector workers, (4) organization (Chen, Vanek, and Carr 2004). For the next several of women informal sector workers and their repre- years, they organized regional meetings of street ven- sentation in relevant policy-making bodies at all lev- dors in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and provided els, and (5) statistics on the size and contribution of support to newly emerging local and national associa- the informal economy. WIEGO now has affiliates in tions of street vendors in several countries. "StreetNet over 25 countries, as well as project partners and International was formally established in November activities in more than 12 countries. At the interna- 2002 and held its first International Congress in March tional level WIEGO has been effective at raising the 2004, attended by 58 delegates from 15 organisations, visibility of the informal economy in public policy at which an International Council was elected for a forums and at working with the ILO and the United three-year term" (Chen, Vanek, and Carr 2004). Nations (Chen 2004). WIEGO: Women in Informal Employment: Glob- HomeNet: Recently the government of India asked alizing and Organizing was established in early 1997 representatives of SEWA to participate in the formula- with India's well-known Self-Employed Women's tion of a national policy on home-based work. Home- Association (SEWA) as a founding member. Through Net now has active member organizations in over 25 a consultative planning process, WIEGO identified countries and publishes a newsletter that reaches five priorities for its work: (1) urban policies to promote organizations in more than 130 countries (Chen 2004). THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND INFORMAL LABOR 333 T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Labor Rights and Decent Work for Women Agricultural Laborers P romoting gender equality in legal entitlements framework for the realization of human and labor rights relating to agriculture is crucial for two main rea- relevant to women agricultural laborers. The right to work sons: first, the empowerment of women is a highly without discrimination is recognized in the Universal Dec- important end in itself, and second, the legal empowerment laration on Human Rights (UNDHR, articles 2 and 23), as of women is "essential for the achievement of sustainable well as in the International Covenant on Economic, Social development" (Cairo Programme of Action on Population and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, articles 2(2) and 6­8) and the and Development, para. 4.1). Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimina- tion against Women (CEDAW, article 11). The rights included in these documents are the right to choose freely LABOR RIGHTS LEGISLATION: INTERNATIONAL, an occupation, to enjoy a just and favorable remuneration, NATIONAL,AND CUSTOMARY1 to work in safe and healthy conditions, and to form and join Agricultural labor rights are mainly determined by labor law, trade unions. Women have a right to employment opportu- and in particular by two broad groups of norms: those con- nities and treatment equal to men, including equal pay for cerning all workers, both men and women (for example, min- work of equal value. Women also have the right to enjoy imum wage, safety and hygiene, and trade union rights), and special protection during pregnancy and paid maternity those specifically concerning women (for example, nondis- leave and the right not to be dismissed on grounds of preg- crimination, maternity leave, and "protective" legislation). nancy or maternity leave. Among the ILO's conventions, the One of the important challenges for agricultural labor core labor standards dealing with freedom of association workers has been ensuring the coverage of labor law in the sec- and collective bargaining, nondiscrimination in employ- tor. In some countries agricultural workers have been deliber- ment and occupation, and the elimination of forced labor ately omitted from the law. For example, in Brazil labor law and child labor are recognized internationally as a mini- was differentiated for agricultural and nonagricultural work- mum floor of principles and rights that all countries must ers, to the considerable disadvantage of agricultural workers, respect. In addition, a number of other ILO conventions are until the dualistic laws were completely repealed in 1988 (FAO relevant for women agricultural laborers. (See table 8.8 for a 2006). Although in many countries labor laws should extend more complete description of international conventions to agricultural workers, in practice little motivation is present and covenants.) for compliance by many of the agricultural organizations and Some countries, unfortunately, have not ratified these agribusiness companies. Where there is pressure for compli- conventions, and the challenge remains for those that have ance, means have frequently been found to circumvent com- to implement the adopted legal frameworks through enact- pliance--for example, through third-party contracts. The fol- ing national legislation and appropriate regulations and lowing sections outline the existing international frameworks, enforcement mechanisms. Ratified ILO conventions are with reference to some national examples. supervised, and the ILO Committee of Experts plays a role in revealing and removing gender inequalities. These issues are discussed in greater detail below. Relevant international law Another deficit in the legislative framework is that tem- The United Nations and ILO have adopted a series of inter- porary and casual workers are not explicitly covered by most national instruments that provide an international legal legislation. Recent changes in approach at the ILO stress 334 Table 8.8 International Law Governing Rights for Women Agricultural Laborers International Law Dates and Articles Provision C89 Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised)a 1948 Makes provision that women without distinction of age shall not be employed during the night in any public or private industrial undertaking, or in any branch thereof, other than an undertaking in which only members of the same family are employed ILO Convention 95--Protection of Wagesa 1949 Makes provision of the partial payment of wages in the form of allowances in kind, considering that such allowances are appropriate for the personal use and benefit of the worker and his family; and the value attributed to such allowances is fair and reasonable ILO Migration for Employment (Revised) 1949 Provides guarantees for lawfully migrant workers, Convention 97 without discrimination on the basis of sex ILO Equal Remuneration Convention 100 1951 Equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value ILO Convention 99 Minimum Wage Fixing 1951 Creates adequate machinery whereby minimum Machinery (Agriculture) Conventiona rates of wages can be fixed for workers employed in the agricultural sector ILO Maternity Protection (Revised) Convention 183 1952 Entitles pregnant workers to a maternity leave of at (103 remains in force in the countries that have least 12 weeks (with no fewer than 6 weeks after ratified it) childbirth); allows additional leave in case of late delivery or pregnancy-related illness; prohibits dismissal while on maternity leave; entitles women to medical and cash payments, provided through either compulsory social insurance or public funds; and allows work interruptions for nursing purposes ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) 1958 Prohibits discrimination in both opportunity and Convention 111 treatment and provides for affirmative action C129 Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Conventiona 1969 Maintains a system of labor inspection in agriculture Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UNDHR) 1948, Arts. 2, 23 Right to employment opportunities and treatment equal to men, including equal pay for work of equal value Right to social security in cases of retirement, unemployment sickness, invalidity, and old age ILO Termination of Employment Convention 158 1982 Prohibits dismissal on grounds of sex, marital status, and absence during maternity leave Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 1979, Art. 11 Right to employment opportunities and treatment Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) equal to that of men, including equal pay for work of equal value; principle of nondiscrimination explicitly envisages the elimination of discrimination against women "by any person, organization, or enterprise" Right to social security in cases of retirement, unemployment sickness, invalidity, and old age International Covenant on Economic, Social and 1976, Arts. 2(2), 6­8 Right to employment opportunities and treatment Cultural Rights (ICESCR) equal to that of men, including equal pay for work of equal value Right to social security in cases of retirement, unemployment sickness, invalidity, and old age C171 Night Work Convention, 1990a 1990 Takes measures to ensure that an alternative to night work is available to women workers, and that the income of the woman worker shall be maintained at a level sufficient for the upkeep of herself and her child in accordance with a suitable standard of living (Table continues on the following page) THEMATIC NOTE 2: LABOR RIGHTS AND DECENT WORK FOR WOMEN AGRICULTURAL LABORERS 335 Table 8.8 International Law Governing Rights for Women Agricultural Laborers (continued) International Law Dates and Articles Provision ILO Night Work (Women) (Revised) Convention 89 1948, 1990 Prohibits women's work at night (defined) for some and Protocol industrial occupations (not for agricultural work; this convention is increasingly seen as discriminatory and not promoted) ILO Plantations Convention 110 and Protocol 1958, 1982 Protects the labor rights of plantation workers, without discrimination on the basis of sex. Plantation is defined, and specific crops are listed, excluding small-scale production Contains guarantees as to recruitment, annual paid leave and weekly rest, compensation for injury, trade unions, and maternity protection Source: FAO 2006. aAdditions from ILO 2006. that the spirit of the regulations applies to all workers, and tions as well. In 1973 the military government of Chile particular attention is currently being paid to informal restricted collective bargaining to firm-level unions. Tempo- economy workers, implicit in the Decent Work for All dec- rary workers are excluded from these unions; as a result, laration. The ILO has developed methods for constructing women who are largely employed in these positions have no country profiles based on normative indicators as a tool for access to union organizational skills or bargaining power progress toward decent work. Country profiles on occupa- (Barrientos and Barrientos 2002). tional safety and health are available for many countries Moreover, some national legal systems include plans of (Zarka-Martres and Guichard-Kelly 2005). A recent study of action and/or institutional machinery to promote gender Ethiopia's Poverty Reduction Strategy paper shows that the equality and the advancement of women. In many cases framework for decent work standards can be applied even to these instruments were adopted in the aftermath of the Bei- least developed countries (Buckley 2004). Signs are encour- jing Declaration and Platform for Action. These plans of aging that some governments, such as Chile and South action have been useful in promoting an institutional Africa, are taking steps to incorporate informal workers framework to negotiate public-private partnerships and under labor legislation. Chile established the Program for support more localized measures to ensure gender equality. Women Seasonal Workers in Export Agriculture.2 In Brazil Councils for Women's Conditions have been estab- National legal systems, and women's legal status within lished. In Mexico several states have established commis- them, differ greatly from country to country. However, sim- sions for the advancement of women. South Africa formed ilarities are appearing more and more often across countries. the Commission for Gender Equality to monitor and evalu- Most constitutions prohibit discrimination based on gender, ate laws and make recommendations and established the although the principle might be qualified in some cases to Equality Review Committee through the Promotion of exempt family and customary law. For example, the Kenyan Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 2000 constitution exempts family law and customary law, areas of to monitor the operation of that act. law that are crucial in shaping women's rights in agriculture. Some constitutions contain an affirmative action clause, and Customary law attempts to promote gender equality may be embodied in legislation. In South Africa the Promotion of Equality and In many developing countries, national laws and policies are Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 2000 prohibits little implemented in rural areas. This limited implementa- unfair discrimination on grounds of gender and sex in both tion results, on one hand, from a lack of institutional capac- public and private life and envisages affirmative action. ity for enforcement, entrenched sociocultural practices, a Legislation other than that which directly addresses gen- lack of financial resources, inadequate knowledge of legal der equality can have an impact on women's labor condi- rights, and a lack of perceived legitimacy of official rules and 336 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR institutions. On the other hand, customary legal systems are before the state was called to fully comply with international commonly applied in much of Africa, in many parts of Asia, human rights obligations (FAO 2006). and by indigenous communities in Latin America. Custom- Labor law does not prohibit sex discrimination in all ary law is a body of rules basing its legitimacy on "tradition" countries. For example, neither Fiji nor Kenya has explicit (FAO 2006). Great diversity is found in customary law provisions against sex discrimination (FAO 2006). Fre- resulting from a range of cultural, ecological, social, eco- quently where there is a provision, no sanction is recom- nomic, and political factors. These traditional legal systems mended. Affirmative action measures are envisaged only in may contain rules disadvantageous to women in areas such some cases. as income control or asset disposition. The practice of sign- Only some countries have adopted legislation addressing ing wives' wages over to husbands has been largely removed, sexual harassment in the workplace. Field studies document but other practices may persist. In Latin America women that this is a major problem affecting women working in often must ask for their husband's authorization before plantations and in factories, as in many other workplaces. undertaking a job and quit if their husband tells them to Discrimination in the workplace or in employment based (FAO 1994). On the other hand, some customary law may on sexual orientation is also rarely addressed in developing be more advantageous to women and provide them access countries. The prevalence of HIV and AIDS has important to specific rights not protected under civil laws. Customary labor market implications, some of which may be gender legal systems evolve over time and can be changed. specific. With the growth of HIV prevalence in many coun- Beyond labor law, other norms such as family law and tries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the average age of case law are also relevant. For instance, in some countries, the active labor force is declining, and girls as well as boys family law allows the husband to demand consent for his are forced into working earlier. Workplace discrimination in wife's signature on an employment contract or allows him the face of HIV and AIDS is a major challenge for labor law to terminate the contract (FAO 2006). Women may also be (Fenwick, Kalula, and Landau 2007). Southern African affected by norms founded on religious principles or inter- Development Community has developed a Code on HIV pretations. These norms may be applied in countries and AIDS and Employment, which was introduced in 1992. because they are recognized in the legislation or followed in The code emphasizes human rights principles regarding practice. These norms frequently govern matters such as nondiscrimination and confidentiality and provides a series family relations and inheritance and may affect the existence of specific recommendations about how to manage HIV or exercise of women's rights. However, as with customary and AIDS in the workplace. In 2001 the ILO developed the law, these norms vary significantly from locality to locality Code of Practice on HIV and AIDS and The World of Work. and country to country. These norms are also flexible and Provisions exist for maternity protection in many coun- change over time. tries. However, the requirements for application of the pro- tection may be very demanding and de jure or de facto exclude women agricultural workers (who are concentrated KEY GENDER ISSUES IN LABOR RIGHTS in seasonal and temporary labor force). Considerable varia- OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS tion is also found in the provisions of maternity leave. In The legal and extralegal frameworks providing social pro- cases where maternity leave is paid by the employer, the cost tection and promoting gender equity and decent work con- of women's labor is higher, creating an economic disincen- ditions for women are proliferating and improving. More tive for their employment. countries are enacting legislation, and more forces are creat- Most laws and standards apply only to permanent labor- ing a demand for better legislative frameworks. However, ers in agricultural and other sectors. Seasonal and tempo- some issues remain and require continued attention. rary laborers, many of them women, are omitted and suffer Women's access to employment may be restricted by fam- the worst of labor conditions. Large-scale migration also ily law norms requiring authorization of the husband. Some poses a challenge to the protective capacity of labor law in of these norms have been challenged through courts and at many countries (Fenwick, Kalula, and Landau 2007). Docu- the local level, but many are still applied in practice. The legal mented migrants, those who enter a country legally, likely case Maria Eugenia Morales de Sierra v. Guatemala chal- work under favorable conditions; undocumented migrants, lenged the civil code in Guatemala that allowed a husband to the majority, are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse and oppose the employment of his wife. The case, initiated in do not have recourse to the protection afforded by labor 1995, was raised to the Inter-American Commission in 2001 laws. The informalization or casualization of work has THEMATIC NOTE 2: LABOR RIGHTS AND DECENT WORK FOR WOMEN AGRICULTURAL LABORERS 337 increased, resulting in a reduction in the number of perma- can negotiate terms of codes and advocate for compliance to nent full-time employees. In Namibia casualization is most existing codes within the country and with firms. predominant in the construction industry, followed by the fishing, retail, and manufacturing sectors (Klerck 2002). Supporting legal reform Although casual labor is not new in agriculture, as the agri- cultural sector matures, the potential for decent work, In some countries information about and analysis of labor which increases with the development of most sectors, laws are limited. A recent study of labor laws in southern diminishes with an increase in informal contracts. Africa noted that the very limited information made an Workplace safety and exposure to chemicals are two of evaluation of the coverage difficult (Fenwick, Kalula, and the most important areas that require stronger legal protec- Landau 2007). The lack of information is particularly relevant tions for all workers within the sector. Although strong to sub-Saharan Africa. international standards have been set, most of which are Legal reform can be promoted by international organi- supported at the national level, these are generally not zations, particularly with regard to international conven- applied in the agricultural sector. Regulations in these areas tions and covenants. Dialogue with national leaders on the are applicable to all persons regardless of age or gender, but economic benefits of gender equity in labor markets should recent concern over the potential for increasing birth defects be initiated. has an added gender dimension to exposure to toxins (see In Uganda a Gender Coalition has been created to sup- Thematic Note 3 for a more in-depth discussion). port the implementation of the International Finance Cor- Not all laws support the rights of women to decent work. poration and World Bank­supported Gender and Growth For example, women's access to some agricultural work may Assessment (GGA) recommendations. Following lobbying be hindered by "protective" legislation prohibiting women's from the coalition, GGA recommendations have been night work in the agricultural sector. Prohibitions may incorporated into four labor reform bills covering employ- reduce women's choices while attempting to protect them. ment, occupational safety and health, labor disputes, and Cargill's Sun Valley poultry factory in Thailand has chosen labor unions, which were passed in 2006. The Ministry of to provide all workers with transport, which enables both Finance, acting on GGA recommendations, commissioned men and women to work night shifts and overtime and new legal drafts of the Companies Act, the Chattels Transfer reduces the risk of nighttime travel. Although this is clearly Act, and other bills (Cutura 2006). The GGA is a tool that in the interest of the company, it also provides those can be used to bring information on gender and labor to employees who desire to work more with safe transit (see government, the private sector, and labor organizations. By Innovative Activity Profile 1). In Yemen laws that protect documenting links to economic growth, the GGA becomes women from working late hours or require employers to a persuasive tool for change. provide child care centers if they employ a certain number Recently legislators in various countries have paid of women make it more costly for the private sector to hire greater attention to gender aspects of labor relevant to agri- women rather than men (World Bank 2005). The ILO Com- culture. In South Africa, women farm workers until mittee of Experts has raised this point with the government recently had very little protection. In 1993 legislation on of Yemen. minimum labor standards was extended to agricultural workers. Moreover, the Employment Equity Act of 1998 prohibits direct and indirect unfair discrimination in access LESSONS LEARNED AND GUIDELINES and treatment on grounds of gender, sex, pregnancy, mari- FOR PRACTITIONERS tal status, and family responsibility. Where discrimination Many actors are involved in the process of ensuring gender is alleged, the burden of proof is placed on the employer. equity and decent work for men and women in agricultural The act also provides for affirmative action, including pref- labor markets. Government plays an important role by erential treatment and numerical goals, in establishments enacting laws, extending information and training on laws, employing 50 or more workers (including agricultural and establishing structures for enforcing the laws. National employers) (FAO 2006). and international NGOs can provide information, train Some countries have tackled specific issues that typically NGOs, and act as watchdogs. Private sector entities such as concern women workers, especially on plantations. Brazil- buyers can assist by developing codes and ensuring that they ian Laws 9029 (enacted in 1995) and 9799 (enacted in are applied and that compliance is monitored. Trade unions 1999) prohibit employers from requiring sterilization or 338 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR pregnancy certifications or examinations as a condition for member companies on socially responsible business policies employment, and bar employers from conducting intimate (Government of Chile 2004). examinations of employees. Several countries have adopted specific norms on sexual harassment in the workplace Raising awareness of conditions and rights (such as the 1995 Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of the Philippines) that apply equally to farms and plantations. Increasing the availability of resources in communities on (FAO 2006). legal rights and documenting labor conditions that violate Developments have also come through judicial decisions. existing standards are important avenues for combating gen- In India guidelines on sexual harassment in the workplace der inequities in the sector. In Latin America examples exist were developed by the Supreme Court in Vishaka v. of advocacy and public awareness to increase the awareness Rajasthan and Others (AIR 1997 SC 3011), building on the of women's issues within the community and nationally. An Indian constitution and the CEDAW. Lawsuits have also annual campaign, "Work, yes--but with dignity!" is run by been brought by women agricultural workers, although the the Maria Elena Cuadro Women's Movement in Nicaragua. overall number of these cases remains low. In South Africa The movement also conducted a representative survey of 20 case law has been developed under the Extension of Security percent of women in the factories to identify actual labor of Tenure Act of 1997, which protects from eviction persons conditions. The results have been effective when used in dia- occupying land with the consent of the land owner, includ- logues with business and government (WID TECH 2003). ing farm workers. A particularly important case is Conradie Increasing the monitoring of labor conditions can also v. Hanekom and Another (1999 (4) SA 491 [LCC]), in which contribute to an increased awareness of conditions and the South African Land Claims Court set aside an eviction establish the conditions for change. COVERCO (Commis- order against two farm workers, husband and wife, sion for the Verification of Corporate Codes of Conduct), employed on the same farm. Having dismissed the husband, an NGO based in Guatemala, has pioneered the effort in the landowner had sought to evict both. The court held that advancing independent monitoring of working conditions the wife had a right as an employee not to be evicted under in Guatemala's garment factories and agricultural export the 1997 act, and her eviction order was set aside. The court industries. COVERCO monitors conditions and evaluates also held that the act guaranteed to her the right to family compliance with standards established in codes of conduct life, so that her husband (who after his dismissal was no and national and international law. COVERCO has also longer a protected "occupier") had a right to reside on the built a coalition of NGOs engaged in monitoring and assists land as a family member (FAO 2006). in the capacity building of these NGOs. A study of condi- In addition to its traditional strategies for adopting reg- tions of women working in coffee plantations, funded by ulations and supervision and providing information about USAID, was relevant in developing Starbuck's code of con- rights, the government of Chile has adopted a program to duct for coffee purchases. The government of Chile has improve access and working conditions for women, known engaged private sector companies in several activities to as Good Labour Practices for Equal Opportunity between promote the development and adoption of good codes of Men and Women. This has involved developing a strategy labor practices. Thematic Note 3 discusses codes of conduct. for ongoing dialogue with the private sector. The initiative includes activities for sensitizing the business sector; recog- Increasing access to legal advice nizing firms that adopt good labor practices to promote equal opportunity between men and women; establishing Increasing women's access to reliable, affordable legal advice standards for good labor practices; and conducting studies is another means of improving their capacity to achieve leg- and producing practical guidance for implementing these islative support. The Beijing Platform for Action called on policies, the contents of which relate to measures inherent governments "to ensure access to free or low-cost legal ser- to the work process, the reconciliation of occupational and vices including legal literacy, especially designed to reach family life, economic measures, and health coverage. Activi- women living in poverty" (para. 61[a]). Legal support ties include the preparation of model codes of good labor might be as simple as locating documentation of marriage practices in two of the country's major firms; the sponsor- in the case of the death of a spouse or facilitating access to ing of seminars and joint work with the Foreign Investment identification cards, as was determined in Brazil (in the case Committee, the Chile-United States Chamber of Com- of land transfer, but this could apply to pension access) merce, and Acción Empresarial, a body that advises its (Guivant 2001). A movement of legal and paralegal NGOs is THEMATIC NOTE 2: LABOR RIGHTS AND DECENT WORK FOR WOMEN AGRICULTURAL LABORERS 339 integral to improving access to the legal system through leadership skills, assist women already in leadership posi- training and awareness raising, counseling and legal assis- tions, train women union members in legal rights, and pro- tance, individual and public litigation, and representation vide legal advice for women (WID TECH 2003). and advocacy (FAO 2006). Where there are no unions, or existing unions do not meet women's needs, other organizations have been instru- mental in raising specific issues for action. Women's organ- Promoting role of women in institutions that govern izations in Central America have implemented education women's labor rights and capacity-building programs for women working in Women need to be involved in areas of government that maquilas (factories) (see WID TECH 2003 for examples). have control over labor law. Although ministries devoted to The National Fishworkers Forum in southern India has women's and children's affairs have been notably marginal- been effective in raising the conditions of migrant women ized and ineffective in many countries, examples may be workers in fish-processing plants (Nayak 2005). Both inter- identified of change when specific issues are addressed national and national NGOs have become instrumental in (such as Chile). raising awareness of gender inequalities and workplace con- Where unions exist, a need is present to promote gender ditions in developing countries. For effective change, devel- awareness. CEMUJER, an NGO in El Salvador, used a small opment of civil society organizations within relevant coun- USAID-funded grant to help women in unions develop tries is a prerequisite. 340 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Gender and Employment in Labor-Intensive Export Agriculture gricultural exports are significant to foreign A consequences for gender equality, but specific challenges exchange earnings, employment, and government such as occupational segregation and environmental health revenues of the poorest countries. Agriculture must be addressed to achieve positive outcomes.1 The The- accounts for 61 percent of employment and 14 percent of matic Note also includes a presentation of governance gross domestic product (GDP) in developing countries and structures that affect export markets including corporate an even higher proportion in the least developed countries social responsibility, fair trade, and codes of conduct. (85 percent of employment and 36 percent of GDP). Trade in traditional agricultural commodities (such as bananas, TRADITIONAL EXPORT COMMODITIES: coffee, grains, and tea), on which developing countries PLANTATION AGRICULTURE largely depend, has been beset by adverse world market con- ditions, restrictive macroeconomic policies, excessive mar- Conditions for laborers on plantations remain dire in spite of ket controls, and political instability. The decline of rev- years of publicity and awareness. Permanent employees have enues from these classic export commodities, coupled with better conditions and wage rates, but the increasingly high trade liberalization and structural adjustment reforms, has proportion of temporary and seasonal labor implies that prompted many countries to diversify their export portfo- most laborers are working under poor conditions. As has lios into specialty crops and higher-value agriculture prod- been highlighted throughout the discussions of the agricul- ucts (floriculture, high-protein meats, horticulture, and tural labor force, women are concentrated in these less stable processed food products). By 2000 high-value agricultural employment positions and thus suffer the worst conditions. exports were estimated to account for approximately two- The concern about child labor has recently brought work thirds of total agricultural trade (Dolan and Sorby 2003). conditions on plantations back under scrutiny. Studies on The wage labor force in agriculture is highly concen- plantation banana production in Ecuador and sugarcane in trated in the export sector: large labor forces still exist on the Philippines, among others, have highlighted the scale of plantations growing traditional commodity exports, and in child labor and the hazards these children face at work, recent years rising numbers of laborers are involved in the including heat, heavy work, long hours, wounds, and risk of production or agroprocessing of high-value commodities. poisoning from pesticides (de Boer 2005; Pier 2002). Gen- Participation in commodity chains for high-value com- der inequities also persist. Women face violence and sexual modities provides considerable opportunities for growth harassment. Box 8.7 provides an overview of problems faced and poverty reduction. Yet labor conditions under the new by women working on plantations. export markets echo the frequently degrading conditions Although initiatives by governments, private companies, found on plantations. and NGOs have addressed labor conditions, one of the most This Thematic Note addresses the labor issues of gender serious problems facing companies and their labor forces on and identifies some of the main features and conditions of these large-scale agricultural plantations is the decline in work in traditional plantation production and in high-value prices over recent years as demand has stabilized and pro- agriculture export production. Women face similar issues of duction has increased. Coffee is one of the most important discrimination in both these areas of employment. Partici- examples: prices have declined because of new technology pating in high-value export industries can bring positive that uses lower-quality beans and increased coffee production 341 agriculture can be an engine of growth for developing coun- Box 8.7 Gender Issues on Plantations tries, and the employment it generates is empowering for women, it is characterized by several shortcomings (Dolan and Sorby 2003). Discrimination in access to employment, with women concentrated in subordinate and lower- paid jobs in the fields and men in higher posi- GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES: CORPORATE tions, particularly as supervisors and headmen SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, FAIRTRADE,AND Discrimination in access to training and voca- CODE OF CONDUCT tional courses The following sections describe corporate social responsi- Discrimination in allocation of benefits, such as housing bility, fair trade organizations, codes of conduct, and their Discrimination within trade unions (regarding gender dimensions. participation and access to leadership positions) Sexual harassment Corporate social responsibility Wage differentials,with higher wages for positions typically held by men (such as sugarcane cutters) The concept of corporate social responsibility is still evolv- than for women's positions (such as weeders) ing. However, CSR increasingly refers to the ethical treat- Source: Mbilinyi and Semkafu 1995. ment of stakeholders by corporations (Hopkins 2004). CSR covers actions in areas as broad as the environment, health, human rights, governance, corruption, and labor practices. Because CSR has largely grown "up" from stakeholder con- with the entry of Vietnam and growth from crops in Brazil. cerns into corporate actions, the number of international, Coffee prices reached their lowest level in 30 years in 2001. multinational, and national principles, charters, and codes The declining prices limit producers' capacity to improve has proliferated. workers' conditions and cause workers to lose what little CSR initiatives have led to the development of several negotiating power they had. The world market conditions sets of standards on which companies base codes of con- for tea are similar, although not as drastic as those for coffee. duct (many of these are listed in table 8.9). Some codes One of the strategies used to raise the prices of the primary have received attention in the development field because product has been to focus on specialty markets; however, of their focus on agricultural producers. The Ethical Trad- these products count for only a small part of the market. For ing Initiative, established in the United Kingdom in 1998 example, currently the specialty coffee sector accounts for as a tripartite forum of NGOs, companies, and trade only about 6 to 8 percent of production (World Bank 2007). unions, is one of the largest initiatives. The Fair-Trade No studies exist that show whether or not companies enter- Labelling Organisations (FLO) International was estab- ing into specialty production have passed on any of the price lished in 1997 as an umbrella organization of 17 national premium to workers. See Module 5 for a further discussion of fair trade labeling initiatives. marketing of traditional export crops. HIGH-VALUE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES: Fair trade organizations AGROPROCESSING INDUSTRIES Fair trade initiatives try to provide better market access and For many developing countries, declining revenues from better trading conditions to small-scale farmers. This traditional commodities and the opportunities of a global- includes a price premium for producers to be invested in ized market have led to the adoption of high-value agricul- social and environmental improvements and sometimes tural exports. Over the last decade, these exports have gen- improved conditions for workers. Fair trade products repre- erated significant amounts of foreign exchange, contributed sent only a small percentage of world agricultural trade; to the upgrade of agricultural production skills, and created however, in the last 10 years fair trade has emerged as an substantial opportunities for waged employment and self- increasingly popular tool to create markets. In 2005 alone an employment. Women in particular have been able to profit estimated $100 million was provided to producers and their from these new labor market opportunities both as small- communities above the conventional price for these goods holders and as wage employees. However, although high-value (Farnworth and Goodman 2006). The yearly growth of fair 342 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR Table 8.9 Principles, Charters, and Codes of Practice for Fair Trade, Ethical Trade, and Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts Initiatives Date Main Issues Governmental- or intergovernmental-led: Ethical Trading Initiative (U.K. government London, 1998 Labor practices in trade and NGO) European Union Principles Brussels, 2001; revised 2002 Multistakeholder International Labour Organization Geneva, 1977; revised 2000 Employment Tripartite Declaration on Transnational Corporations Organisation for Economic Co-operation Paris, 1976; revised 1977 Employment, triple bottom line (financial, and Development Guidelines social, and environmental indicators) indicators U.S. Model Business Practices Washington, DC, 1996 Community, corruption, environment, health and safety, labor, law UN Global Compact New York, 2000 Human rights, labor, environment NGO-led: Account Ability 1000 London, 1999 Social and ethical "assurance" Amnesty International HR Guidelines London, 1998 Human rights and security Fairtrade Labelling Initiative FLO established 1997 Market access and trading conditions for small farmers Global Reporting Initiative Boston, 1997; revised 2002 Multistakeholder, triple bottom line indicators ICFTU Code of Practice Brussels/Geneva, 1997 Labor and trade union issues SA8000 London, 1998; revised 2002 CSR and labor Company-led: Caux Principles Minnesota, 1994 Multistakeholder Fair Labor Association (FLA), United California, 1998 Labor practices States Global Sullivan Principles United States, 1999 External stakeholders ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Brussels, 1991 Environment, health, and safety Development World Economic Forum Davos/Geneva, 2002 Corporate governance Trade-union-led: ICFTU/ITS Basic Code of Labor Practice ICFTU/ITS Working Party on MNCs, Labor practices December 1997 Source: Based on Hopkins 2004. trade volume has been around 20 percent since 2000, Note that product-specific fair trade standards exist for although the products represent only a small percentage of bananas, cane sugar, coffee, cocoa, cut flowers, fresh fruit, world agricultural trade. The biggest volumes have been fruit juices, honey, rice, sports balls, tea, and wine. In gen- reached for bananas and coffee. eral, gender issues have been underrepresented in the codes The FINE criteria, presented in box 8.8, represent the and agreements. goals of the fair trade coordination platform. FINE is the informal coordination platform composed of the following Codes of conduct, gender, and labor conditions representative bodies: FLO (Fair-Trade Labelling Organisa- tions International), IFAT (International Federation for Codes of conduct covering employment conditions of Alternative Trade), NEWS (Network of European World southern producers exporting to European markets mush- Shops), and EFTA (European Fair-Trade Association) roomed throughout the 1990s. Over 200 codes related to (Develtere and Pollet 2005). worker welfare specifically were identified at the beginning THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER AND EMPLOYMENT IN LABOR-INTENSIVE EXPORT AGRICULTURE 343 ductive rights, maternity or paternity leave, or protection Box 8.8 The FINE Criteria for pregnant women or child care. The key criteria: KEY GENDER ISSUES The following sections discuss the key gender issues in For workers, fair wages, good housing, health export agriculture industries. and safety standards, and the right to join trade unions No child or forced labor The informalization of labor in high-value Programs for environmental sustainability agricultural industries For small farmers' cooperatives, a democratic structure that allows members to participate in Labor relationships in these new industries vary consider- the cooperative's decision-making process. ably. Global poultry production generally employs a perma- nent labor force. In the cut flower industry, the proportion Moreover, the trading terms must include the of the permanent labor force can be as low as 35 percent, following: although companies in Kenya and Zimbabwe have up to 50 percent permanent workers. However, these examples are A price that covers the cost of production exceptional, and great variability exists across companies A social premium to improve the living and and countries. In the Colombian cut flower industry, only working conditions 16 percent of the workforce is temporary, and workers are Partial advance payment to prevent small generally hired for the full year. But in Ecuador, the tempo- producer organizations from falling into debt rary labor force is hired on a short-term basis, and contracts Contracts that allow long-term production planning. are often terminated prior to the date of conversion to per- manent status (Dolan and Sorby 2003). Source: Develtere and Pollet 2005. Subcontracting is a dominant feature of the labor force in high-value export crop production. In Colombia compa- nies contract with former supervisors to provide labor for of this decade, with over 20 codes applying to agriculture in piecework. These laborers are hired for periods as short as developing countries (Blowfield 2000). Many companies two weeks or as long as several months. The lack of a direct adopt codes to reduce the risk of negative exposure related to relationship between company and employee makes the poor employment practices within their supply chain. The employee more vulnerable. Across many of the countries large number of codes implies great variability in content: recently studied, women are concentrated in the temporary, some codes integrate international conventions relating to casual, and seasonal labor forces. In the Chilean fruit indus- gender discrimination and inequality, yet other codes make try, women represent 50 percent of temporary laborers but no mention of gender at all. The variability extends to the only 5 percent of permanent laborers. auditing of codes (Barrientos, Dolan, and Tallontire 2001). Barrientos, Dolan, and Tallontire (2001) developed a Occupational segregation and wage discrimination three-level framework for analyzing the gender sensitivity of codes in labor practices. The levels range from those that Occupational segregation in plantation agriculture is standard both men and women confront in employment (for exam- practice. Many of the tasks are divided according to physical ple, collective bargaining, contracts, discrimination, free- strength, but another division is related to the use of equip- dom of association, safety and hygiene, wages, and work ment. Men are usually accorded jobs that involve training and hours) to broader socioeconomic issues that affect women's use of light or heavy equipment. This segregation leaves ability to access employment types (for example, domestic women in lower-paying positions and provides them with responsibility, education, gender relations, and social norms limited upward mobility. Women form the majority of the tea and practice). An evaluation of two relevant codes, SA 8000 pickers on plantations in Sri Lanka and rarely participate in and ETI, within this framework reveals that although both other occupations. Prior to 1978 women's wages for picking effectively address issues at Level A, neither is strong in were lower, but now a uniform wage is applied. But women extending coverage to Levels B and C. Neither covers repro- work longer hours for the same wage, and tradition in the 344 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR areas studied showed that wages are still frequently turned employment. A second set has to do with the social and eco- over to the husband (Wickramasinghe and Cameron n.d.). nomic consequences of the increase in women's time bur- Wage disparity results as well from discriminatory under- dens, an increase that affects the health and well-being of valuation of the work in occupations in which women are women and their families. The extent of these implications concentrated. Occupational segregation is prevalent in horti- varies considerably across industries and countries, but they cultural industries as well, and women are frequently placed do signal cause for concern. Nevertheless jobs in these in work categories based on perceptions of "women's" attrib- industries provide many women with the best chance they utes and tasks related to domestic work. For example, a strong have for improving their lives in a context of limited to non- gender division of labor prevails in production of high-value existent alternatives. crops on smallholder farms such as vanilla producers (Kasente and others 2000), the cut flower industry, and poul- Occupational health and safety and sexual try production. Women are responsible for the highly labor- harassment intensive tasks of harvesting, planting, processing, and weed- ing, while men perform activities related to feed production, One of the most serious problems on large plantations is the fumigation, irrigation, precultivation, and slaughter houses. lack of adequate protective measures and training related to The occupational sectors in which women are concentrated the use of fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides. Aerial are usually accompanied by the poorest benefit packages and spraying of bananas in Ecuador exposes all workers, but in lowest wages, as illustrated in table 8.10, which shows the gap activities in which either men or women are concentrated, for wage earners in the Kenyan horticulture industry. The one gender may be more affected than the other. Crowded wage differences largely reflect job segregation as described conditions in housing, poor sanitation, and drinking water earlier. Wage gaps for similar jobs are difficult to calculate in fields or factories are all cited in studies of plantations. with such extreme occupational segregation. In the flower, poultry, and vegetable industries, women are most vulnerable to repetitive stress and joint injuries. Rota- tion of jobs can reduce these injuries, and the poultry indus- Costs versus benefits try has introduced this practice (Dolan and Sorby 2003). The employment versus empowerment debate is difficult to Exposure to chemicals during storage, mixing, and resolve in the context of high-value agriculture industries. On spraying is far too common in these industries. Problems the one hand, employment can (and does) engender some arise in particular from the use of pesticides and other tangible gains for women, who often obtain access to an inde- chemicals in confined spaces, such as greenhouses and pendent income stream, increased autonomy, and new social packinghouses, where exposure tends to be high and the networks. Data also show that certain employment benefits, workforce is largely women. Effects of chemical exposure such as education, health care, and training, bolster women's can include skin irritation, respiratory problems, nausea, "human capital"and further women's empowerment. In con- and dizziness. The longer-term effects can be more serious. trast to their informal income-generating activities, which Some health concerns are specific to women: damage of have long been overlooked, women's participation in waged reproductive organs and damage to unborn children (mal- work also makes them more visible in the economy. formed fetuses, higher instances of miscarriage). Although However, women also experience clear costs by working most countries have established occupational health stan- in agroprocessing industries. One set of costs arises from the dards, compliance is variable in the horticulture industries. often poor working conditions and flexible and insecure Some of the harmful exposure is due to inadequate training. Table 8.10 Kenya:Wages in Horticulture by Skill Level and Gender Packinghouse Farm All Type of Labor Men Women Men Women Men Women Unskilled 21.00 17.80 12.80 12.60 15.00 14.70 Semiskilled 22.00 23.30 17.00 14.10 17.40 19.40 Skilled 49.00 n.a. 15.30 n.a. 23.80 n.a. Source: Dolan and Sorby 2003. Note: Figures in Kenyan shillings; on April 16, 2001, 10 Kenyan shillings equaled $0.12912. THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER AND EMPLOYMENT IN LABOR-INTENSIVE EXPORT AGRICULTURE 345 In Uganda evidence suggests that spraying is conducted tive in the country's major agricultural business organiza- when workers are unprotected in greenhouses (Dikjstra tions through the Public-Private Committee on Women 2001 in Dolan and Sorby 2003). Seasonal Farm Workers. Child labor is still evident in many traditional export Social protection from market actors generally protects crop production systems. Children as young as 11 years old only workers in the formal market. In Chile social protec- work on banana plantations in Ecuador, sugarcane planta- tion is government mandated but privately provided. In tions in the Philippines, and tea plantations in Sri Lanka (de both Chile and South Africa low coverage is provided for Boer 2005; Pier 2002). temporary workers in agriculture from these sources. How- Sexual harassment on plantations is widespread. Women ever, roles are in place for both corporations and unions at are frequently concentrated in menial tasks, such as tea leaf this level. One of the significant differences between tradi- picking, with men supervisors who abuse their positions by tional plantation export crop production and the relatively requesting sexual favors in exchange for job security, newer industries focused on high-value export crops is the bonuses, or lighter workloads. Studies in many countries degree of unionization. Workers on large-scale plantations have found evidence of sexual harassment in many factories for crops such as tea and coffee are more likely to have union and fields (Dolan and Sorby 2003). Its prevalence is medi- representation than those companies in cut flowers or veg- ated by local gender norms. etables. Several explanations may be given for this imbal- ance, including the differing ages of the industries, the deliberate sabotage of unions by multinational and national GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED companies, and the predominance of casual, temporary, Several methods may extend social protection to informal and seasonal labor in the industry, which is a result of both workers. A social responsibility matrix outlines the roles of the nature of the products and management decisions. various stakeholders in a global value chain. The social A more recent approach can be found through private responsibility matrix for the horticulture sectors in Chile sector codes of conduct. Initiatives in developed coun- and South Africa provided in table 8.11, which was devel- tries--for example, the Fair Trade Initiative and the Equi- oped by Barrientos and Barrientos (2002), outlines interna- table Trading Initiative--have raised premiums on prices of tional and state actors, market actors, community actors, commodities for companies that are willing and able to and household resources. comply with the prescribed standards. Pressure from civil International and state actors, such as the ILO and groups and NGOs in industrial countries on buyers has national labor laws, set the legislative framework (details are increased the demand for these products. discussed in Thematic Note 2). For example, Chile has Codes of conduct have been particularly important in developed a strategy for mainstreaming the gender perspec- the high-value crops area. The initiative on the part of the Table 8.11 Chile and South Africa: Social Responsibility Matrix for Informal Workers in Horticulture Domain Domestic International State Labor inspectorate Economic Commission of Latin America and the Ministries Caribbean, European Union, International Labour National government Organization, International Social Security Association, World Health Organization,World Bank Market Employers/producers Ethical trade initiative Exporters Importers Labor contractors Multinational enterprises Private insurance and welfare providers Supermarkets (pensions, health, etc.) Trade unions Community Church organizations Consumer organizations Community organizations International NGOs Domestic NGOs Political parties Trade unions Household Extended household Migrant relatives Source: Barrientos and Barrientos 2002. 346 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR operate in complex value chains, in which suppliers deal with Box 8.9 Uganda Code of Practice multiple buyers and agents, so any one buyer has limited influence. Communication and monitoring weaknesses also limit the application of the codes of conduct. The Uganda Code of Practice for the Horticulture Another major problem with codes of conduct is com- Sector, finalized in 2002, sets down strict guidelines pliance. External and independent monitoring is the surest for farmers and managers in occupational safety, way of evaluating adherence to the codes, but few industries worker welfare, discrimination, and equal pay. The have initiated these procedures. This has been highlighted in code puts the industry ahead of other agricultural a case study of South Africa that identifies that the labor sectors in labor standards, while bringing Uganda in line with other flower exporters in the region.An inspectorate is poorly resourced and lacks the capacity to ILO report released in 2000 found that flower monitor widely dispersed, isolated farms (Barrientos, farms provided workers accommodation, free tea Kritzinger, and Roussouw 2004). Private or nonprofit and lunch, medical care, adequate leave, prompt organizations also play an important role in monitoring payment of salaries and salary advances, and the codes of conduct.2 Codes of conduct can be advantageous right to leave for the day at 5 P.M. to companies, but a code of conduct is not necessary to A study conducted in 2006 by the Canadian motivate a company to implement good labor practices. The International Development Research Centre case of Cargill's Sun Valley poultry factory in Thailand indi- found that most women employees are hired as cates that good policies lead to high productivity (see Inno- permanent workers with full benefits. The report vative Activity Profile 1). claimed that all workers have contracts and get 60 Access to the fair trade market is also an incentive for days of paid maternity leave. They also have a doc- corporations to enact equitable labor practices. An example tor and dispensary where drugs are distributed at very low cost to workers and their families with involving a large banana plantation in Ghana shows how a money raised for a medical fund for operations or traditional plantation can provide better conditions for the for family members who suffer complications. The workforce (see box 8.11). study also indicated that a fully equipped lab for Better work environments can also be achieved through HIV and malaria testing was being established for partnerships between private companies, NGOs, and gov- floricultural workers. ernments. One such example is a cashew nut factory in Mozambique. Established by a private entrepreneur, the Source: Asea and Kaija 2000. government cashew institute and other organizations con- tributed to the development of a guaranteed loan. A USAID- financed NGO assisted in the design of the factory, and a horticulture industry in Uganda to provide consistent Dutch NGO, SNV, has assisted with marketing. In 2002 the labor practices through a code of practice is described factory had two cashew plantations with 50 tons of produc- in box 8.9. tion per year. Workers receive a free meal at work, and A recent multicountry review of codes of conduct by the according to their contracts they have access to health assis- Ethical Trading Initiative concluded that the overall impact tance, paid annual holidays, and severance pay in case of of these codes was positive, particularly on health and safety, professional illness or work accidents. A trade union has but the effect on important gender issues such as discrimi- been set up, and a child care facility has been constructed, nation was minimal (Institute of Development Studies where women can leave their children if they bring a child 2007). The greatest concern was that few codes cover tempo- care provider with them (Kanji 2004). rary workers, and therefore the codes exclude a large propor- tion of women in many industries (see box 8.10). Codes of GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS conduct are frequently less relevant to informal employment FOR PRACTITIONERS conditions, and they are weak or negligible in their coverage of issues such as equal pay and sex discrimination. Few codes Ultimately, standards for decent work and gender equity extend to employment-related issues such as reproductive need to be enacted at the national level, as presented in The- rights, child care provision, or sexual harassment. Reasons matic Note 2, but initiatives organized by multiple stake- for the deficiencies in the application of codes center on the holders within industries, preferably including labor as well inability of the buyers to enforce principles. Many companies as suppliers and buyers, can be an effective intermediate THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER AND EMPLOYMENT IN LABOR-INTENSIVE EXPORT AGRICULTURE 347 Box 8.10 Ethical Trading Initiative The Ethical Trading Initiative Impact Assessment, imple- have had little impact on the improvement of "less mented by the Institute of Development Studies in Sus- visual issues," such as freedom of association and no sex, found that codes of labor practice were having a discrimination. No workers at the sites felt more able to positive effect on improving certain "visual issues." The join a trade union as a result of codes (although unions biggest impact was on health and safety, with positive had already existed before codes on some sites in the changes found on 20 out of 25 sites. This led to improve- study). Codes had little effect on discrimination in the ments in the lives of workers' families through obser- hiring, training, and promotion of women and vance of health and safety at home. For example, banana migrant workers. Another important finding was that workers no longer hugged their children while wearing regular and permanent workers were most likely to overalls used for pesticide spraying. Other changes were have benefited from changes resulting from codes. in better adherence to legal minimum wages and docu- Casual and migrant workers (international or internal) mented employment benefits for regular workers. On a were found in all case study countries, and the use of Costa Rican banana plantation, women had seen some third-party labor contractors was found in most coun- decline in occupational segregation, although they were tries except Vietnam. These workers were least likely to not better represented at management levels. have benefited from the implementation of codes of Codes are helping to raise supplier awareness of the labor practice, and on many sites they faced significant need to comply with national regulation. But codes discrimination. Source: Institute of Development Studies 2007. Box 8.11 Access to the Fair Trade Market Can Significantly Improve Working Conditions The Volta River Estates, Ltd. (VREL) is a Ghanaian- directly to workers, who choose investments through a registered commercial plantation that has been pro- premium committee, consisting of two management ducing bananas for the European fair trade market members and eight worker representatives, all chosen under the Oke label (marketed by Agrofair) since 1996. through elections. Bicycles were a recent investment by VREL is the only exporter of bananas from Ghana, in the company when workers received a particularly the top 40 Ghanaian companies for both turnover and large premium. Permanent employees get paid annual number of employees, and one of only two initiatives and sick leave as well as maternity leave. Only 16 per- in Ghana serving the fair trade market. The company cent of VREL employees are women, partly because of has 900 full-time workers. VREL meets the social and the nature of the work, but mainly because of social labor standards established by the Fair Trade Organiza- and economic constraints. VREL, however, has estab- tion and Max Havelaar, and it has increased wages to 30 lished a development project and has focused on percent above Ghana's minimum wage. One-third of increasing gender participation. Health care is pro- the fair trade premium is allocated toward meeting vided for workers through an on-site clinic, and the environmental standards, and two-thirds is given company is considering building a hospital. Source: Mick Blowfield and Stephanie Gallet, "Volta River Estates Fairtrade Bananas Case Study," www.nri.org; www.vrelor ganic.com/fairtrade.htm. step, particularly where multinational companies operate in discussions. Multilateral organizations have the opportunity countries with weak governance. National and intermediate to articulate a strong policy position in international con- initiatives include the following: ventions and debates, securing the rights of women working Raise the gender implications of the growth of agroprocess- in these industries. The gender implications of high-value ing and production of high-value agricultural exports in global agricultural export production could be highlighted and 348 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR disseminated in a variety of forums, raising the profile of Ensure temporary workers are covered under codes of con- these issues in policy circles. duct. Suppliers are more willing to respond when a critical Support ratification of international conventions. Follow- mass of buyers request codes of labor practices. Collabora- ing the recommendations in Thematic Note 2, national gov- tion between buyers can help to enforce the message of ernments need to be encouraged to ratify ILO conventions. inclusion of temporary workers. Social auditors need to International standards are binding to all countries. The include casual migrant and contract workers in monitoring economic and social arguments for applying these stan- and engaging with trade unions and NGOs who are aware dards should be presented at the national level to relevant of these workers. Local multistakeholder initiatives can play policy makers. Incorporating informal workers fully under an important role, such as that of the Wine Industry Ethical existing labor legislation must be given top priority. Trade Association (WIETA) in South Africa. Bringing labor Identify appropriate institutions to educate women on their contractors into the dialogue is a more effective means of employment rights, the content of codes, and relevant national ensuring improved labor conditions. regulations. In high-value agriculture women's empower- Enable local organizations to participate in monitoring of ment requires education and training and must be based on codes of conducts relevant to labor standards. Involvement of participatory approaches to development. The development civil society organizations should be encouraged in moni- community could advocate for the provision of training and toring and auditing labor standards and the social aspects of educational programs to workers. These programs also codes of conduct. This involvement is essential to protect could disseminate information on labor standards, social and enhance the working conditions and employment clauses, employment rights, and the content of codes of rights of all workers in these industries. A need is also pres- conduct. Supporting the entry of temporary, casual, and ent to establish mechanisms for ongoing and confidential seasonal laborers into labor unions will eventually bring reporting of violations of the code by all groups of workers, greater awareness of their issues. including those in less secure and temporary work. For Expand codes of conduct. In general, retailers in the example, Kenya stakeholders in the flower export industry United Kingdom and continental Europe have progressed developed their own participatory auditing methodology.3 much further than the United States in the application of The entry of rural women in developing countries into labor codes. Consequently companies supplying retailers the industrializing agricultural labor market can expose in European markets are more likely to provide better them to new risks and poor employment conditions, but employment conditions and more equitable opportunities these jobs can also create new opportunities to raise living to men and women. A wider range of agribusiness compa- standards for the rural poor. Additional work is required in nies and large retailers, in the United States and in other more countries, particularly in Asia, to better understand major demand markets, could be encouraged to support the role that national and international organizations can the introduction and monitoring of codes throughout have in improving labor relations and reducing gender their supply chains, thereby extending the coverage of inequalities. For example, the East Africa Business Summit labor standards. from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda has been held annually Support the inclusion of gender issues in codes of conduct. since 2002. In 2003 participants resolved to increase their Several gender issues are not adequately covered in codes of sourcing of inputs from small- and medium-size enter- conduct addressing labor conditions in developing countries. prises, with a target of 25 percent of total inputs (Kivuitu, Policies against sexual harassment must be given more impor- Yambayamba, and Fox 2005). Gender equity and the links to tance, especially training across companies. Codes are not improved productivity should be raised on the agendas of effective if workers are not aware of the principles in the codes. these and similar meetings. THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER AND EMPLOYMENT IN LABOR-INTENSIVE EXPORT AGRICULTURE 349 I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Thailand: Cargill's Labor Improvement Program for Sun Valley Foods hailand's relatively low wages afford considerable T Agriculture Project for USAID, John Lawler described the competitive advantage in labor-intensive industries strategy Cargill implemented to improve productivity in its with low skill requirements. A large number of Thai poultry business (Lawler and Atmiyanandana 2000). Western companies have established labor-intensive facto- Cargill's strategy was not radical, but it was equitable and ries in poultry, shrimp, and other agroprocessing industries. family friendly, and it yielded important lessons about the In 1995 Cargill's Thailand division, Sun Valley Foods--the potential of company-led gender-sensitive policies in an third-largest poultry processor in Thailand, accounting for industry dominated by women laborers. about 10 percent of the country's exports--began to evalu- Thailand has one of the highest proportions of women ate human resource management problems. Chief among working outside the household (47 percent). The Thai gov- these was a high voluntary turnover rate among its largely ernment has implemented policies to improve working women workforce. In 1995 turnover was 100 percent. There conditions for women. The current constitution prohibits was also a high rate of absenteeism, and although accident discrimination, including employment discrimination and injury rates were low for the industry, room for based on gender. However, legislation to prohibit gender improvement was identified. In a study for the Gender discrimination in the private sector has not been enacted. For example, employers in Thailand often advertise job openings specifically restricted to men or women, depend- What's innovative? Sun Valley management devel- ing on the type of job. oped a series of initiatives in human resource Cargill has operated in Thailand since the early 1960s management, including a range of family-friendly through two companies in addition to Sun Valley. Sun Val- policies as well as cultural and gender-sensitive ley, with a workforce of about 3,900, is a fully integrated incentives such as the following: poultry business that produces raw chicken that is further processed (skinned, deboned, and so on) before sale. Almost Promoting a culture of community and family all of the company's output is exported. The processing through training on company values plant, located in Saraburi, employed 1,500 or more when Providing some supplementary assistance, such as payment toward hospitalization fees, and operating at peak capacity. In the processing plant supervi- reassigning pregnant women to work that was sion and work activities were regulated, with teams of 40 to not physically taxing and did not normally 50 workers headed by a supervisor and one or more assis- require them to work overtime tant supervisors. Employees wore uniforms that were color Giving financial assistance for the schooling of coded to indicate general job category. Job and work pace employees' children, along with some scholar- were highly routinized, requiring manual dexterity. Because ships for students with particularly good of the care required in production work, individual workers grades and work groups had a significant impact on productivity, Providing free bus service to and from work, despite the work pace set by assembly line technology. Base which women particularly viewed as a friendly pay for production workers was the local minimum wage. policy. Jobs were highly segregated. Almost all the workers in the feed mill were men, as well as most of the workers involved in 350 slaughtering animals. In contrast, the vast majority of work- Security Act, but Sun Valley provided some supplementary ers who processed the chickens after slaughter were women. assistance, such as payment toward hospitalization fees. In An analysis of the production facility identified several addition, Sun Valley reassigned pregnant women to work sources of turnover. Job dissatisfaction led to employees quit- that was not physically taxing and did not normally require ting and absenteeism. Family responsibilities were a second them to work overtime. cause. Day care did not seem to be such a problem because of Sun Valley also provided financial assistance for the the availability of extended family members, but medical care schooling of employees' children, along with some scholar- required more time off, and employees frequently ended up ships for students with particularly good grades. The com- quitting to care for family members. Turnover meant that the pany also implemented an educational program to improve company was not recovering the training costs of employees. literacy and made provisions to allow employees to attend Sun Valley management knew that employees with more classes several hours per week outside of normal work than a year of service had double the productivity of employ- hours and receive pay. The program served to build ties to ees with only six months of service. the company. Free bus service was provided to and from work; other companies provided buses but charged for their use. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND SPECIFIC Women in particular viewed this as a friendly policy. Many ACTIVITIES lived far from the plant and were concerned about their safety traveling alone, particularly at night. Sexual harass- Between 1995 and 2000 Sun Valley management determined ment was prohibited in company policies that were widely to turn the employment record around for the company and disseminated, and in interviews women indicated that developed a series of initiatives in human resource manage- there were far fewer problems than they had experienced in ment. Those initiatives included a range of family-friendly other companies. policies as well as cultural- and gender-sensitive incentives. The company introduced several programs that linked pay to performance. It initiated performance appraisals to BENEFITS AND IMPACTS determine annual pay increments and promotion opportu- nities. Employees were given bonuses for length of service. The benefits from the program accrue to both the company Annual bonuses were paid to employees based on overall and the employees. company performance and were larger for longer-term employees. Bonuses were attached to specific indications, Company costs and benefits such as chicken mortality rates in barns of the grow-out farms. Other bonuses were specifically linked to daily atten- Data are not available on the additional costs of these dance, and Sun Valley paid a special award annually to those improved human resource programs, but the main cate- with perfect attendance. gories of costs included wage-related costs, such as bonuses The company also promoted a culture of community and costs for education programs, transport, and health and and family through training on company values. Supervi- safety improvements. The benefits of the programs in terms sors were most often women, who were promoted from of increased productivity clearly exceeded the cost outlay. within the ranks of production workers, which worked well During and following the period of implementation of in Thailand's culture. These supervisors could arrange short these policies, the company continuously met or exceeded or even extended leaves of absence without pay to allow an its financial performance goals. In 2000 Sun Valley embarked employee to handle family emergencies, such as a sick child on an ambitious expansion program to increase production or family member; and short-term leave without pay was capacity by 30 percent. In 2001 the company received Thai- allowed during the harvest season. These policies enabled land's National Health and Safety Award. employees to take time off for medical and family emergen- cies but encouraged them to return. Employee benefits Although maternity leave with pay is required by Thai law, interviewees indicated that other companies and Employees cited an improved work environment at the employers discourage workers from using it. Medical care company. Sun Valley's policies provided significant eco- for pregnant workers was covered under the Thai Social nomic benefit at the individual and household levels by INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1:THAILAND: CARGILL'S LABOR IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FOR SUN VALLEY FOODS 351 reducing the cost of unemployment and the costs of company codes of conduct or employment practices do not employment search for women who needed to take leave. rely on an employment contract, legislation, collective agree- The education program had both direct and indirect bene- ment, or common law. When the corporation is responsible fits: women expressed considerable benefit from the educa- for the production of norms governing the workplace, there tion program, both as an example to their children and in is no minimum standard, no guarantee of consistency, and no terms of personal accomplishment. The safety programs monitoring or compliance mechanisms. The current prolifer- and improved transport increased safety and likely reduced ation of company codes of conduct has been criticized for the risk of violence for women, benefits that are not easily these deficiencies. Where national employment legislation quantified but are important for well-being. and collective action organizations are weak, however, multi- national and transnational corporations may be instrumental in setting standards. These companies, as the Cargill example LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER shows, can establish the economic, financial, and social value APPLICABILITY of these standards. In addition, in a competitive environment Several of the lessons learned by Sun Valley can be applied as labor markets tighten, such standards may create addi- more widely. tional social benefits as other companies adopt labor stan- The private sector can independently contribute to dards in order to compete. improved working conditions. The management of Sun Val- ley was seeking means to address problems affecting the NOTES profitability of the company and identified several policies to solve problems of absenteeism and turnover. These Overview strategies might now work in all industries. In fact, in stud- The Overview was written by Kristy Cook (Consultant) and ies of the costs of applying codes of conduct, researchers reviewed by Nata Duvvury and Catherine Ragasa (Consul- have indicated that for some companies, especially small tants); Eve Crowley, Libor Stloukal, and Paola Termine companies, compliance costs are onerous (Collinson 2001a, (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Sriani Ameratunga, Peter 2001b). The most significant costs tend to be health and Hurst, Mary Kawar, Susan Maybud, Martin Oelz, and safety costs, due to equipment, and the costs of auditing and George Politakis (ILO); Ratna M. Sudarshan (Institute of Social Studies Trust); Steve Wiggins (ODI); and Elena Bar- management systems. Ironically, improving working condi- dasi and Rekha Mehra (World Bank). tions without certification may be the best option for some 1. A summary of these studies is presented in World Bank companies in which these practices can increase productiv- (2001), appendix 4. ity, or in which companies can benefit from the CSR pub- 2. See World Bank (2007), articles by D. Elson, G. Stand- licity without certification. ing, and S. Horton, among others. Improved work conditions can benefit the corporate bottom 3. Both of these movements are well documented by non- line. Improved work conditions can benefit corporations in governmental and international organizations, including several ways. The Sun Valley examples illustrate that pro- NGOs, research organizations, the United Nations, and ductivity increases can be substantial. Declines in health trade unions. expenditures, and a reduction in turnover and absenteeism, 4. IFAD,"Experience Sharing from the Rural Development are more easily measurable than good worker morale and a Project for Taourirt-Taforalt in Morocco: Coping with Con- positive workplace environment, but all of these factors straints to Reach Women," www.ifad.org. increase worker productivity. Improved working conditions 5. In India it is legally permissible for children over the age at Sun Valley increased business sustainability through rais- of 14 to work. However, large numbers of children under ing the company's profile within the country. More qualified this age work full time. workers are likely to be drawn to a company with a good 6. Guy Blaise Nkamleu, "Children at Risk in the Agricul- reputation, and the national and local business environ- tural Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: Determinants of Child ment should be improved. Labor Participation in the Cocoa Farming of Coôte d'Ivoire," There are challenges in relying on voluntary labor standards. paper presented at Sixth Annual Global Development Net- Labor market regulation is a blend of specific rules negotiated work Conference, Dakar, Senegal, www.gdnet.org. by parties (either individually or collectively) to an employ- 7. Cecilia Luttrell and Caroline Moser, "Gender and Social ment relationship and general legislative imperatives that Protection," draft paper for Department for International establish baseline entitlements for workers. Voluntary Development, www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/ 352 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR gender/key-issues/gender-and-social-protection&id George Politakis (ILO); Ratna M. Sudarshan (Institute of =22475&type=Document. Social Studies Trust); Steve Wiggins (ODI); and Elena Bar- 8. Specialists at the World Bank define social protection as dasi and Rekha Mehra (World Bank). consisting of public interventions "to assist individuals, 1. This section is drawn largely from FAO's "Gender and households and communities in better managing income Law: Women's Rights in Agriculture" (FAO 2006). risks" (Holzmann and Jorgensen 1999). The ILO, on the 2. Government of Chile, "Report on the Implementation other hand, sees social protection as defined by basic rights: of the Beijing Platform of Action Presented by the Govern- "Entitlement to benefits that society provides to individuals ment of Chile to the United Nations Division for the and households--through public and collective measures-- Advancement of Women. Response to the Questionnaire," to protect against low or declining living standards arising April, www.un.org. out of a number of basic risks and deeds" (von Ginneken 2000 as quoted in Barrientos and Barrientos 2002). Thematic Note 3 Thematic Note 1 This Thematic Note was written by Kristy Cook (Consul- tant), with inputs from Catherine Ragasa (Consultant) and This Thematic Note was written by Anushree Sinha Hild Rygnestad (World Bank), and reviewed by Nata (National Council for Applied Research [NCAER]), and Duvvury (Consultant); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Eve Crowley, Kristy Cook (Consultants), with inputs from Catherine Libor Stloukal, and Paola Termine (FAO); Sriani Amer- Ragasa (Consultant), and reviewed by Nata Duvvury (Con- atunga, Peter Hurst, Mary Kawar, Susan Maybud, Martin sultant); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Eve Crowley, Libor Stloukal, Oelz, and George Politakis (ILO); Ratna M. Sudarshan and Paola Termine (FAO); Sriani Ameratunga, Peter Hurst, (Institute of Social Studies Trust); Steve Wiggins (ODI); and Mary Kawar, Susan Maybud, Martin Oelz, and George Poli- Elena Bardasi and Rekha Mehra (World Bank). takis (ILO); Ratna M. Sudarshan (Institute of Social Studies 1. This discussion draws heavily on research by recent Trust); Steve Wiggins (ODI); and Elena Bardasi and Rekha authors on nontraditional agricultural exports (see Barrien- Mehra (World Bank). tos, Kabeer, and Hossain 2004; Dolan and Sorby 2003; 1. ILO popularized the notion of the informal sector in the Tallontire 1999). early 1970s and has a long history of contributing to the con- 2. In England a group of NGOs organized by Christian ceptual and policy debates about the informal economy. Var- AID has worked with supermarket chains to ensure that the ious expert groups, such as the Delhi Group on Informal Sec- African women who pick and pack fruits and vegetables are tor Statistics, have sought to distinguish between the informal being fairly treated. sector and informal employment. The concept of informal 3. Ethical Trading Initiative, "Final Report of the ETI employment refers specifically to the activity undertaken by a Multi-Stakeholder Seminar on Colombia Flower Industry," person as the unit of observation. The term informal employ- www.ethicaltrade.org. ment is used by the ILO Task Force (2002) to mean employ- ment that has no secure contracts, worker benefits, or social protection. The major component of such employment is (a) Innovative Activity Profile 1 self-employment in the informal sector and (b) paid employ- ment in informal occupations. The latter could also be in the This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Kristy formal sector, and certain evidence can be found of such Cook (Consultant) and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa employment. Informal workers employed in the formal sec- (Consultant); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Eija Pehu (World tor do not get similar wages/benefits as formal workers. Bank). This Profile draws heavily from Lawler and 2. See also www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/cond Atmiyanandana (2000). trav/pdf/agri_wind.pdf and www.ilo.org/public/english/ protection/condtrav/workcond/agriwork/agricult.htm. REFERENCES Thematic Note 2 Overview This Thematic Note was written by Kristy Cook (Consul- Barrientos, Armando, and Stephanie Ware Barrientos. 2002. tant) and reviewed by Nata Duvvury and Catherine Ragasa "Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the (Consultants); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Eve Crowley, Libor Horticulture Global Value Chain." Social Protection Dis- Stloukal, and Paola Termine (FAO); Sriani Ameratunga, cussion Paper 0216, Human Development Network, Peter Hurst, Mary Kawar, Susan Maybud, Martin Oelz, and World Bank, Washington, DC, June. MODULE 8: REFERENCES 353 Betcherman, Gordon, Karina Olivas, and Amit Dar. 2004. Social Protection Discussion Paper Series No. 9904, "Impacts of Active Labor Market Programs: New Evi- Social Protection Unit, Human Development Network, dence from Evaluations with Particular Attention to World Bank, Washington, DC. Developing and Transition Countries." Social Protection Hopkins, Michael. 2004. "Corporate Social Responsibility: Discussion Paper 0402, World Bank, Washington, DC. An Issues Paper." Working Paper No. 27, Policy Integra- Also available at www.worldbank.org. tion Department, World Commission on the Social Brown, Drusilla K. 2007. "Globalization and Employment Dimension of Globalization, International Labour Orga- Conditions Study." Social Protection Discussion Paper nization, Geneva, May. 0708, World Bank, Washington, DC, April. Hurst, P., P. Termine, and M. Karl. 2005."Agricultural Work- Chen, Martha Alter, Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, James ers and Their Contribution to Sustainable Agriculture Heintz, Renana Jhabvala, and Christine Bonner. 2005. and Rural Development." Sustainable Development Progress of the World's Women 2005: Women, Work and Department, Food and Agriculture Organization SD Poverty. New York: United Nations Development Fund Dimensions, Rome. for Women. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Collinson, Chris. 2001. "The Business Costs of Ethical Sup- 2000. An Overview of Gender Issues in IFAD-Assisted ply Chain Management: Kenya Flower Industry Case Projects. Gender Perspective, Focus on the Rural Poor. Study. Final Report." NRI Report 2607, Natural Rome: IFAD. Also available at www.ifad.org/pub/ Resources Institute, Chatham, U.K., May. gender/engl_ 1.pdf. Deutsch, Ruthanne, Suzanne Duryea, and Claudia Piras. International Labour Organization (ILO). 2000. ABC of 2001. "Labor Markets and Employment, in Empowering Women's Workers' Rights and Gender Equality. Geneva: ILO. Women to Achieve Food Security." 2020 Focus No. 06, ------. 2003. "Decent Work in Agriculture." Background Brief 07. Also available at www.ifpri.org. Paper for International Worker's Symposium on Decent Dolan, Catherine, Maggie Opondo, and Sally Smith. 2002. Work in Agriculture, Geneva, September 15­18. "Gender, Rights and Participation in the Kenya Cut ------. 2004. Girl Child Labour in Agriculture, Domestic Flower Industry." NRI Report No. 2768, Natural Work and Sexual Exploitation. Rapid Assessments on the Resources Institute, Chatham, U.K. Cases of Philippines, Ghana and Ecuador. Volume 1. Dolan, Catherine, and Kristina Sorby. 2003. "Gender and Geneva: International Programme on the Elimination of Employment in High-Value Agriculture." Agriculture Child Labour Headquarters. and Rural Development Working Paper 7, World Bank, ------. 2006. "Global Employment Trends Model." ILO, Washington, DC, May. Geneva. Elder, Sara, and Dorotea Schmidt. 2004. "Global Employ- ------. 2008. "Global Employment Trends for Women, ment Trends for Women, 2004." Employment Trends March 2008." ILO, Geneva. Unit, Employment Strategy Department, International Josupeit, Helga. 2004. "Women in the Fisheries Sector in Labour Organization, Geneva. Argentina, Uruguay, and Southern Brazil." FAO Fisheries Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2006. "Gender Circular No. 992, Food and Agriculture Organization, and Law. Women's Rights in Agriculture." FAO Legisla- Rome. tive Study 76, Rev. 1, FAO Legal Office, FAO, Rome. Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susan. 2006. "Feminization of Agricul- Gammage, Sarah, Helene Jorgensen, Eugenia McGill, with ture: Trends and Driving Forces." RIMISP­Latin Ameri- Marceline White. 2002."Trade Impact Review." Women's can Center for Rural Development, Santiago, Chile, Edge, Global Trade Program, Washington, DC, April. November. Heintz, James. 2006. "Globalization, Economic Policy and Morrison, Andrew, Dhushyanth Raju, and Nistha Sinha. Employment: Poverty and Gender Implications." 2007."Gender-Equality, Poverty and Economic Growth." Employment Policy Unit, Employment Strategy Depart- World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4349, ment, International Labour Organization, Geneva. Gender and Development Group, Poverty Reduction and Holzer, Harry J., and David Neumark. 1999. "Assessing Economic Management Network, World Bank, Washing- Affirmative Action." NBER Working Paper W7323, ton, DC, September. National Bureau for Economic Research, Cambridge, Overseas Development Institute (ODI). 2007. "Rural MA, August. Employment and Migration: In Search of Decent Work." Holzmann, Robert, and Steen Jorgensen. 1999. "Social Pro- Briefing Paper No. 27, ODI, London, October. tection as Social Risk Management: Conceptual Under- Pearson, Elaine, Sureeporn Punpuing, Aree Jampaklay, Siri- pinnings for the Social Protection Sector Strategy Paper." nan Kittisuksathit, and Aree Prohmmo. 2006. "The 354 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR Mekong Challenge. Underpaid, Overworked and Chen, Martha Alter, Joann Vanek, and Marilyn Carr. 2004. Overlooked: The Realities of Young Migrants in Mainstreaming Informal Employment and Gender in Thailand. Vol. 1." Mekong Sub-regional Project to Com- Poverty Reduction: A Handbook for Policy-Makers and bat Trafficking in Children and Women, International Other Stakeholders. Ottawa: Commonwealth Secre- Labour Organization, Bangkok. tariat/IDRC. Tzannatos, Zafiris. 1999. "Women and Labor Market Chen, Martha Alter, Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, James Changes in the Global Economy: Growth Helps, Inequal- Heintz, Renana Jhabvala, and Christine Bonner. 2005. ities Hurt and Public Policy Matters." World Development Progress of the World's Women 2005: Women, Work and 27 (3): 551­69. Poverty. New York: United Nations Development Fund USAID/GATE Project. 2005."Enhancing Women's Access to for Women. Markets: An Overview of Donor Programs and Best Government of Ghana, Ministry of Labour. 2003. "New Practices." Report prepared for the Greater Access to Labour Act, 2003 (Act No. 651)." Official Gazette, 2003- Trade Expansion (GATE) Project, Development & Train- 10-10, 1­69. ing Services, Arlington, VA, October. Hafkin, Nancy, and Nancy Taggart. 2001."Gender, Informa- ------. 2006. "A Pro-Poor Analysis of the Shrimp Sector in tion Technology and Developing Countries." Academy Bangladesh." Report prepared for the Greater Access to for Education Development, Washington, DC. Trade Expansion (GATE) Project, Development & Train- International Labour Office (ILO). 2002. "Women and Men ing Services, Arlington, VA, February. in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture." ILO Vargas-Lundius, Rosemary, with Annelou Ypeij. 2007. Pol- Report, Geneva. ishing the Stone--A Journey through the Promotion of Jhabvala, Renana, and Ravi Kanbur. 2002. "Globalization Gender Equality in Development Projects. Rome: Interna- and Economic Reform as Seen from the Ground: SEWA's tional Fund for Agricultural Development. Experience in India." Revised version published in India's Ventkateswarlu, D. n.d. "Child Labour and Trans-National Emerging Economy: Performance and Prospects in the Seed Companies in Hybrid Cottonseed Production in 1990s and Beyond, ed. Kaushik Basu, 293­312. New York: Andhra Pradesh." India Committee of the Netherlands, Oxford University Press. the Netherlands. Lund, Francie, and Jillian Nicholson. 2003. "Chains of Pro- WID TECH. 2003a. "Economic Opportunities and Labor duction, Ladders of Protection: Social Protection for Market Conditions for Women: Perspectives from Latin Workers in the Informal Economy." School of Develop- America: Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil." Paper pre- ment Studies, Durban, South Africa. pared for USAID by WID TECH, Development Alterna- Lund, Francie, and Smita Srinivas. 2000. "Learning from tives, April. Experience: A Gendered Approach to Social Protection ------. 2003b. "Economic Opportunities and Labor Mar- for Workers in the Informal Economy." International ket Conditions for Women. Perspectives from Latin Labour Organization, Geneva. America: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras." Paper pre- Martínez Franzoni, Juliana, and Carmelo Mesa-Lago. 2003. pared for USAID by WID TECH, Development Alterna- Las Reformas Inconclusas: Pensionesy Salud en Costa Rica. tives, Washington, DC, April. San José: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. World Bank. 2001. "Engendering Development through National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Gender Equality in Rights, Resources and Voice." Policy Sector (NCEUS). 2007. "Report on Conditions of Work Research Report, World Bank, Washington, DC. and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganized Sector." ------. 2007. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture Fourth Report of NCEUS, New Delhi. Also available at for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. http://nceus.gov.in/Condition_of_workers_sep_2007.pdf. National Sample Survey Organisation. 1993­94. Report No. 4.9 of 50th Round Survey of "Employment and Unem- Thematic Note 1 ployment." Central Statistical Organisation, government Charmes, Jacques. 1998."Informal Sector, Poverty and Gen- of India. der: A Review of Empirical Evidence." Background paper ------. 1999­2000. 55th Round, Schedule 10.0 on for World Development Report 2001: Attacking Poverty. "Employment and Unemployment." Central Statistical Washington, DC: World Bank. Organisation, government of India. Chen, Martha Alter. 2004. "Women in the Informal Sector: ------. 2004­05. 61st Round, Schedule 10.0 on "Employ- A Global Picture, the Global Movement." SAIS Review 21 ment and Unemployment." Central Statistical Organisa- (1): 71­82. tion, government of India. MODULE 8: REFERENCES 355 Sinha, Anushree, and N. Sangeeta. 2000. "Gender in a and Reccommendations Promoting Gender Equality." Macroeconomic Framework: A CGE Model Analysis." ILO, Geneva. Paper presented at the Second Annual Meeting of the Klerck, Gilton. 2002. "Trade Union Responses to the `Flexi- Gender Planning Network, Kathmandu, November ble' Workforce in Namibia." African Sociological Review 6 22­24. (2): 98­129. Subrahmanya, R. K. A. 2000. "Welfare Funds." In The Unor- Nayak, Nalini. 2005. "Sharpening the Interlinkages: ganized Sector: Work Security and Social Protection, ed. Towards Feminist Perspectives of Livelihoods in Coastal Renana Jhabvala and R. K. A. Subrahmanya, 38­73. New Communities." Institute of Social Studies Trust, Delhi: Sage. Ecumenical Resource Center, United Theological Col- Swaminathan, Madhura. 1991. "Understanding the Infor- lege, Bangalore, June 6. mal Sector: A Survey." WIDER WP 95, Helsinki. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Popu- United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM). 2005. lation Division of the UN Department for Economic Women's Informal Employment in Efforts to Combat and Social Information and Policy Analysis. 1994."Cairo Poverty and Gender Inequality. New York: UN. Programme of Action." General agreement on the Pro- gramme of Action during International Conference on Thematic Note 2 Population and Development (ICPD), Cairo, Egypt, September 5­13, 1994. Available at http://www.dirittiu- Barrientos, Armando, and Stephanie Ware Barrientos. 2002. mani.donne.aidos.it/bibl_2_testi/d_impegni_pol_inter "Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the naz/a_conf_mondiali_onu/c_conf_cairo_e+5/a_cairo_ Horticulture Global Value Chain." Social Protection Dis- poa_engl_X_pdf/cairo_dich+pda_engl.pdf. cussion Paper 0216, Human Development Network, WID TECH. 2003. "Economic Opportunities and Labor World Bank, Washington, DC, June. Market Conditions for Women. Perspectives from Latin Buckley, Graeme J. 2004. "Decent Work in a Least Develop- America: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras." Paper pre- ing Country: A Critical Assessment of the Ethiopia pared for USAID by WID TECH, Development Alterna- PRSP."Working Paper No. 42, Policy Integration Depart- tives, Washington, DC, April. ment, National Policy Group, International Labour World Bank. 2005. "Republic of Yemen. Women in Local Organization, Geneva, July. Economic Development." Water, Environment, Social Cutura, Jozefina. 2006. "Making the Investment Climate and Rural Development Department, Middle East and Work for Women." Uganda Gender and Growth North Africa Region, Report 332259-YEM, Aden, Assessment Project, Smart Lessons in Advisory Ser- December 6. vices, International Finance Corporation, Washington, Zarka-Martres, Monique, and Monique Guichard-Kelly. DC, August. 2005. "Decent Work, Standards and Indicators." Inter- Fenwick, C., E. Kalula, and I. Landau. 2007. "Labour Law: A national Labour Organization Working Paper No. 58, Southern African Perspective." Discussion Paper Series No. ILO, Geneva, August. 180, International Institute for Labour Studies, Geneva. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1994."The Legal Status of Rural Women in Nineteen Latin American Thematic Note 3 Countries." FAO, Rome. Asea, Patrick K., and Darlison Kaija. 2000. "Impact of the ------. 2006. "Gender and Law. Women's Rights in Agri- Flower Industry in Uganda." Working Paper No. 148, culture." FAO Legal Office, FAO, Rome. International Labour Organization, Geneva. Government of Chile. 2004."Report on the Implementation Barrientos, Armando, and Stephanie Ware Barrientos. 2002. of the Beijing Platform of Action Presented by the Gov- "Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the ernment of Chile to the United Nations Division for the Horticulture Global Value Chain." Social Protection Dis- Advancement of Women. Response to the Question- cussion Paper 0216, Human Development Network, naire." April. Available at www.un.org. World Bank, Washington, DC, June. Guivant, Julia S. 2001. "Gender and Land Rights in Brazil." Barrientos, Stephanie Ware, Catherine Dolan, and Anne Tal- Paper prepared for the UNRISD Project on Agrarian lontire. 2001. "Gender and Ethical Trade: A Mapping of Change, Gender and Land Rights, Social Policy and the Issues in African Horticulture." Working Paper for Development Programme Paper No. 14, United Nations Department for International Development, ESCOR Research Institute for Social Development, June. Research Report. Also available at www.nri.org. International Labour Organization (ILO). 2006. "Gender Barrientos, Stephanie Ware, Naila Kabeer, and Naomi Hos- Equality and Decent Work: Selected ILO Conventions sain. 2004."The Gender Dimensions of the Globalization 356 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR of Production."Working Paper No. 17, Policy Integration in Africa? Insights from Kenya and Zambia." Perspectives Department, International Labour Organization, on Corporate Responsibility for Environment and Geneva, May. Development No. 3, International Institute for Environ- Barrientos, Stephanie Ware, Andrienetta Kritzinger, and ment and Development, London, July. Hester Rossouw. 2004. "National Labor Legislation in an Mbilinyi, Marjorie, and Ave Maria Semakafu. 1995. "Gender Informal Context: Women Workers in Export Horticul- and Employment in Sugar Cane Plantations in Tanzania." ture in South Africa." In Chains of Fortune: Linking Sectoral and Working Discussions Papers,Agriculture, SAP Women Producers and Workers with Global Markets, 2.44/WP.85, International Labour Organization, Geneva. 103­32. London: Commonwealth Secretariat. Pier, Carol. 2002. "Tainted Harvest: Child Labor and Obsta- Blowfield, Mick. 2000. "Ethical Sourcing: A Contribution to cles to Organization on Ecuador's Banana Plantations." Sustainability or a Diversion?"Sustainable Development 8 Human Rights Watch, New York. (4): 191­200. Tallontire, Anne. 1999. "Gender Issues in Export Horticul- de Boer, Jennifer. 2005. "Sweet Hazards: Child Labour on ture." NRET Working Paper 3, February. Sugar Cane Plantations in the Philippines." Terre des Wickramasinghe, Ananda, and Donald Cameron. n.d. Hommes, the Netherlands. "Human and Social Capital in Sri Lankan Tea Planta- Develtere, Patrick, and Ignace Pollet. 2005. "Co-operatives tions: A Note of Dissent, Culture beyond Universal and and Fair-Trade."Background Paper commissioned by the National Cultural Dimensions." Department of Business Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Administration, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Cooperatives (COPAC) for the COPAC Open Forum on Lanka. Also available at www.management.ac.nz. Fair Trade and Cooperatives, Berlin, Catholic University World Bank. 2007. World Development Report 2008: Agricul- Leuven and Higher Institute of Labor, Leuven, February. ture for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. Dolan, Catherine, and Kristina Sorby. 2003. "Gender and Employment in High-Value Agriculture." Agriculture Innovative Activity Profile 1 and Rural Development Working Paper 7, World Bank, Washington, DC, May. Lawler, John, and Vinita Atmiyanandana. 2000."Gender and Farnworth, Cathy, and Michael Goodman. 2006. "Growing Agribusiness Project (GAP) Case Study. Cargill Sun Val- Ethical Networks: The Fair Trade Market for Raw and ley, Thailand." International Program and Studies, Uni- Processed Agricultural Products (in Five Parts) with versity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, September. Associated Case Studies on Africa and Latin America by Collinson, Chris. 2001a."The Business Costs of Ethical Sup- Nabs Suma (Africa) and Sarah Lyon (Latin America)." ply Chain Management: Kenya Flower Industry Case RIMISP-Latin American Center for Rural Development, Study. Final Report." NRI Report 2607, Natural Santiago, Chile. Resources Institute, Chatham, U.K., May. Hopkins, Michael. 2004. "Corporate Social Responsibility: ------. 2001b."The Business Costs of Ethical Supply Chain An Issues Paper." Working Paper 27, Policy Integration Management: South African Wine Industry Case Study. Department, World Commission on the Social Dimen- Final Report." NRI Report 2606, Natural Resources Insti- sion of Globalization, International Labour Organiza- tute, Chatham, U.K., May. tion, Geneva, May. Institute of Development Studies (IDS). 2007. "Corporate FURTHER READING Codes of Labour Practice: Can the Most Vulnerable Workers Benefit?" IDS Policy Briefing, Issue 35, Overview Brighton, U.K., April. Also available at www.ids.ac.U.K. Department of International Development (DFID). 2004. Kanji, Nazneedn. 2004. "Corporate Responsibility and "Labour Standards and Poverty Reduction." U.K. Women's Employment: The Cashew Nut Case." Perspec- Department of International Development, May. tives on Corporate Responsibility for Environment and International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). Development No. 02, International Institute for Environ- 2005. "Toward Achieving Gender Equality and Empow- ment and Development, London. ering Women," ICRW, Washington, DC. Kasente, Deborah, Matthew Lockwood, Jessica Vivian, and International Labour Organization (ILO). 2002. "Women Ann Whitehead. 2000. "Gender and the Expansion of and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture." Agricultural Exports in Uganda." Occasional Paper No. ILO, Geneva. 12, UNRISD, Geneva. Kabeer, Naila. 2008. "Gender, Labour Markets and Poverty: Kivuitu, Mumo, Kavwanga Yambayamba, and Tom Fox. An Overview." Poverty in Focus Number 13, Interna- 2005. "How Can Corporate Social Responsibility Deliver tional Poverty Centre, Brasilia, January. MODULE 8: FURTHER READING 357 Kanji, Nazneedn. 2004. "Corporate Responsibility and Government of India, National Common Minimum Pro- Women's Employment: The Cashew Nut Case." Perspec- gram. "Unorganized Sector Workers Social Security Bill, tives on Corporate Responsibility for Environment and 2005," www.nac.nic.in. Development No. 02, International Institute for Environ- Harriss-White, Barbara, and Anushree Sinha, eds. 2007. ment and Development, London. Trade Liberalization and India's Informal Economy. Delhi: University of Illinois. n.d. Gender in Agribusiness Project, Oxford University Press. www.ips.uiuc.edu. International Labour Organization (ILO). 2007. The Infor- USAID/GATE Project. 2005. "Enhancing Women's Market mal Economy: Enabling Transition to Formalization." Access and Promoting Pro-Poor Growth." Report pre- Background document for the Tripartite Interregional pared for the Greater Access to Trade Expansion (GATE) Symposium on the Informal Economy: Enabling Transi- Project, Development & Training Services,Arlington,VA, tion to Formalization, ILO, Geneva, November 27­29. January. Available at www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/ Wiggins, Steve, and Priya Deshingkar. 2007."Rural Employ- pol icy/events/informal/download/back-en.pdf. ment and Migration: In Search of Decent Work." ODI Kritzinger, Andrienetta, Heidi Prozesky, and Jan Vorster. Briefing Paper No. 27, London, October. 1995. "Die Arbeidsopset in die Suid Afrikaanse World Bank. 2005. "Improving Women's Lives. World Bank Sagtevrugte-uitvoerbedryf, Plaaswerkers." Werkopset Actions since Beijing."World Bank Gender and Develop- Deel III, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch. ment Group, Washington, DC, January. Nikolic, Irina A., and Harald Maikisch. 2006."Public-Private ------. 2007."Kyrgyz Republic. Poverty Assessment.Vol. II: Partnerships and Collaboration in the Health Sector: An Labor Market Dimensions of Poverty." Report 40864- Overview with Case Studies from Recent European KG, World Bank, Washington, DC, October 19. Experience." Health, Nutrition, and Population Discus- Zhang, L., A. De Brauw, and C. Rozelle. 2004."China's Rural sion Paper, World Bank, Washington, DC, October. Labor Market Development and Its Gender Implica- Sinha, Anushree, and N. Sangeeta. 2003. "Gender in a tions." China Economic Review 15 (2): 230­47. Macroeconomic: A CGE Model Analysis." In Tracking Gender Equity under Economic Reforms: Continuity and Change in South Asia, ed. Swapna Mukhopadhyay and Thematic Note 1 Ratna M. Sudarshan, 321­63. www.idrc.ca/en/ev-58060- 201-1-DO_TOPIC.html. Barrientos, Stephanie Ware, Catherine Dolan, and Anne Tal- Skinner, Caroline. 2002. "Understanding Formal and Infor- lontire. 2001. "Gender and Ethical Trade: A Mapping of mal Economy Labour Market Dynamics: A Conceptual the Issues in African Horticulture." Report 2624, Natural and Statistical Review with Reference to South Africa." Resources Institute, Chatham, U.K., July. Research Report No. 50, School of Development Studies Barrientos, Stephanie Ware, S. McClenaghan, and L. Orton. (Incorporating CSDS), University of Natal, Durban. 1999."Gender and Codes of Conduct: A Case Study from Horticulture in South Africa." Research Report to the U.K. Department for International Development, Chris- Thematic Note 2 tian Aid, London. Barrientos, Stephanie Ware, Andrienetta Kritzinger, and Basu, Kaushik. 2004. Emerging Economy: Performance and Hester Rossouw. 2004. "National Labour Legislation in Prospects in the 1990s and Beyond. Cambridge, MA: MIT an Informal Context: Women Workers in Export Horti- Press. culture in South Africa." In Chains of Fortune: Linking Charmes, Jacques. 1998."Informal Sector, Poverty and Gen- Women Producers and Workers with Global Markets, der: A Review of Empirical Evidence." Background paper 103­32. London: Commonwealth Secretariat. for World Development Report 2001: Attacking Poverty. INSTRAW. 2000. "Engendering the Political Agenda: The Washington, DC: World Bank. Role of the State, Women's Organizations and the Inter- Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development. national Community." INSTRAW, Santo Domingo. 2005. The National Rural Employment Act: NREGA Oper- International Labour Organization (ILO). 2000. "ABC of ational Guidelines. 2nd ed. New Delhi. Women Workers' Rights and Gender Equality." ILO, Government of India, National Commission for Enterprises Geneva. in the Unorganised Sector. 2007. "Report on Condition ________. n.d."Database of International Labour Standards." of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorgan- ILO, Geneva. Available at www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/con ised Sector." Government of India, Delhi. vdisp1.htm. 358 MODULE 8: GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR United Nations International Research and Training Tropical and Horticultural Products Service, Commodities Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). and Trade Division, Food and Agriculture Organization, 2000."Engendering the Political Agenda: The Role of the Rome. State, Women's Organizations and the International Dolan, Catherine, Maggie Opondo, and Sally Smith. 2002. Community." INSTRAW, Santo Domingo. "Gender, Rights & Participation in the Kenya Cut Flower Industry." NRI Report 2768, Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, U.K. Thematic Note 3 Id21. 2001a. "Fresh Off the Shelf. Gender and Horticulture Barrientos, Stephanie Ware. 2002."Extending Social Protec- in Africa," Id21 Insights Issue 36, March. Available at tion to Informal Workers in the Horticulture Global www.id21.org. Value Chain." Social Protection Unit, Human Develop- ------. 2001b."Raising Gender Sensitivity: Ethical Trade in ment Network, World Bank, Washington, DC, June. African Horticulture." Id21 Research Highlight, October Barrientos, Stephanie Ware, and Sally Smith. 2006."The ETI 9. Available at www.id21.org. Code of Labour Practice. Do Workers Really Benefit?" Institute for Development Studies (IDS). 2007. "Corporate Report on the ETI Impact Assessment 2006, Institute of Codes of Labour Practice: Can the Most Vulnerable Development Studies (IDS), Sussex. Available at www Workers Benefit?" IDS Policy Briefing, Issue 35, .ethicaltrade.org. Brighton, U.K., April. Available at www.ids.ac.uk. Bertelsmann Stiftung and GTZ. 2007. The CSR Navigator. Krier, Jean-Marie. 2005. "Fair Trade in Europe 2005 Facts Public Policies in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. and Figures on Fair Trade in 25 European Countries." Gütersloh and Eschborn: Bertelsmann Stiftung and GTZ. Fair Trade Advocacy Office, Brussels, December. Avail- Brown, Drusilla K. 2007. "Globalisation and Employment able at www.fairtrade.net. Conditions Study." Social Protection Discussion Paper Nelson, Valerie, Joachim Ewert, and Adrienne Martin. 2002. 0708, World Bank, Washington, DC, April. "Assessing the Impact of Adoption of Codes of Practice Collinson, Chris. 2001a."The Business Costs of Ethical Sup- in the South African Wine Industry and Kenyan Cut ply Chain Management: South African Wine Industry Flower Industry. Phase 1." Natural Resources and Ethical Case Study--Final Report." NRI Report No. 2606, Natu- Trade Programme, IDS, Sussex, June. ral Resources Institute, Chatham, U.K., May. Tallontire, Anne, Sally Smith, and Chosani Njobvu. 2004. ------. 2001b."The Business Costs of Ethical Supply Chain "Ethical Trade in African Horticulture: Gender, Rights Management: Kenyan Flower Industry Case Study." NRI and Participation. Final Report on Zambia Study." NRI Report No. 2607, Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, Report 2775, Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, U.K., May. U.K., May. Dankers, Cora. 2003. "Environmental and Social Standards Certification and Labelling for Cash Crops."Raw Materials, MODULE 8: FURTHER READING 359 M O D U L E 9 Gender in Rural Infrastructure for Agricultural Livelihoods Overview he provision of rural infrastructure has been a core T variation in coverage, and range of users as well as technical priority of governments for many decades to parameters for construction, rehabilitation, and mainte- improve the welfare of rural populations and nance, thus making it difficult to generalize about gender increase the productivity and value added from agriculture and infrastructure issues. The distinction between the and other economic activities in rural areas.1 The recogni- physical infrastructure and services is critical because the tion that gender equity should be an important aspect of provision of the physical infrastructure will not suffice to rural infrastructure policies and programs is more recent. achieve improvements in rural livelihoods if the technol- Various studies have increasingly documented four major ogy or the services that enable the use of the infrastructure differences between men and women with respect to rural are absent or deficient. In addition, significant regional infrastructure: (1) differences of needs for the type and and country variation exists in gender issues and the eco- location of physical infrastructure; (2) differences in priori- nomic, political, institutional, and sociocultural context ties for infrastructure services; (3) unequal opportunities to of infrastructure that needs to be taken into account participate in decision making on the choice of infrastruc- (Clarke 2007). ture services, both within the households and within the This Overview provides the framework for developing communities, or to participate in the implementation of the gender-equitable rural infrastructure policies, programs, infrastructure programs and the delivery of services; and (4) and projects and illustrates the significance and merits of significant disparities in access to infrastructure services. integrating gender equity for the sustainability of rural Rural infrastructure covers a wide range of physical infrastructure investments and services. infrastructure and derived infrastructure services. In this Module, the emphasis is on energy, transport, informa- THE FRAMEWORK AND SIGNIFICANCE tion and communication technologies (ICTs), sanitation OF GENDER FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL and hygiene services, and potable water. Other types of INFRASTRUCTURE rural infrastructure, such as irrigation, schools, health centers, administrative buildings, and markets, are not Recognition of gender in the design, implementation, and included. Irrigation is covered in Module 6, markets are use of rural infrastructure policies, programs, and projects covered in Module 5, and social and administrative infra- is vital for achieving poverty reduction and sustainable agri- structures will be referred to only briefly. Each of these cultural livelihoods. Rural infrastructure plays not only a sectors has many different services, modes of delivery, significant economic role but also a critical role in the human 361 capital development of rural populations and a fundamental The significance of gender for sustainable social role as a factor of change in the economic and social rural infrastructure: key characteristics and fabric of rural communities. Rural infrastructure and infra- differential impact structure services impact rural populations in many ways, Integrating gender in sustainable rural infrastructure policies, ranging from self-respect (in the case of sanitation and programs, and projects is a matter of development effective- hygiene), to accessing health and education, to enabling ness. Understanding the linkages between gender equity and rural populations to increase their productivity, access mar- development effectiveness is essential: what are the gains, in kets, improve their welfare, and emerge from isolation. terms of outcomes, and what are the essential characteristics Understanding those impacts on men and women as well as of rural infrastructure and derived services that must be taken the gender disparities in risks and vulnerabilities should into account when designing policies and programs. guide the work on rural infrastructure. It is important to note that the relationship between Time saving social empowerment, human capital development, and eco- nomic empowerment is not linear; it is more akin to a pos- At the heart of gender inequalities is the gendered division itive spiral (see fig. 9.1). A complex interrelationship exists of labor, access, and control of resources embedded in the between them, and the change process is iterative. A certain household economy and the household economy's interde- amount of social empowerment is needed to get women out pendence with the market economy. Although men focus of the domestic sphere into economic endeavors that lead to on market income, women juggle multiple roles supporting economic empowerment. Full-blown social empowerment the household economy, community services, and market takes a long time to achieve, such that opportunities leading income, when possible. The household economy is "invisi- to women's economic empowerment frequently also pro- ble" and uncounted in national accounts, yet the market vide opportunities for their social empowerment. Increased economy depends on it. human capital is needed to achieve economic empowerment Time is an economic good. The time costs associated and, in turn, economic empowerment enables human capital with a heavy domestic labor burden place constraints on development. Furthermore, different risks and vulnerabilities women's labor time as both family and hired labor. In the affect each gender group in each sphere. absence of physical infrastructure to support the household Figure 9.1 The Four Dimensions for Infrastructure Services Risks & vulnerability Self-empowerment equal voice in: household community Health Human Gender- Social national level education capital equitable capital equal access to leisure economic physical assets & empower- services ment Productive uses Time saved productivity Economic assets creation access to empowerment income financial assets Access to markets: Land | labor | product | financial Gender differences in the value chain Source: Author. 362 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS economy, "such as pipeborne water and electrification the men to access, design, or deliver infrastructure services tasks performed by pipes and wires in the developed world (Blackden and Wodon 2006). Because they are important are performed by women and girls--they become the living inputs to the agricultural value chain, better access to infra- infrastructure. They carry water and fuel to the home and structure facilities and services can also substantially improve take the excrement and rubbish away with a crossing of agricultural productivity, value added, and incomes. For `clean' and `dirty' functions--cooking food on animal example, in rural Mali provision of diesel-powered multi- excrement or preparing food after disposing of garbage" functional platforms that supplied not only electricity for (Grieco 2002). These activities have time and opportunity lighting but also motive power for labor-intensive work such costs for women and girls, for households, and for the as agroprocessing (milling and dehusking) and pumping economy at large. water resulted in considerable time saving, fostered the devel- The disparity in time poverty between women and men opment of processed products, and increased women's daily is the single most important economic factor that justifies earnings by $0.47.2 integrating gender equity into rural infrastructure policies, programs, and projects. Because of the greater time burden Heterogeneity and differential impact linked to the tasks traditionally assigned to women, rural infrastructure services facilitate time savings, which in turn Rural infrastructure and derived services are heterogeneous, increase women's productivity and leisure time, and there- and their specificity needs to be understood. Although they fore the welfare of the whole household and community. have common characteristics, and at times common institu- Time saved thanks to infrastructure services can be used for tional solutions, the provision of transport, energy, ICT, rest for improved health and quality of life, for girls to water and sanitation, and market infrastructure requires attend school, and for women to expand their knowledge sector-specific policies, competencies, and technical solu- and develop skills. Understanding the respective time tions. An attempt to identify the differential impacts of rural endowment or time poverty of women and men linked to infrastructure services on women and men is summarized the roles and responsibilities assigned to women and men is in table 9.1; examples illustrating most of these impacts are critical to selecting processes that enable both women and given in the discussion that follows. Table 9.1 How Infrastructure Services Affect Rural Populations Sanitation Potable Type of impact Transport Energy ICT and hygiene water Marketsa Social empowerment: Access to administrative, financial, and technical services Dignity .. .. .. Equal voice: individual, household, community Mobility within or outside the community .. Economic empowerment: Income .. Productivity .. Time saved Human capital development: Access to education .. Access to health Basic needs .. .. Leisure .. .. Risks and vulnerabilities: Security Source: Author. Note: A check mark indicates the contribution of the sector to a specific impact. .. indicates no or limited contribution. aDiscussed in Module 5. MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS 363 Conjunctive development and management processes lest the development of the infrastructure and services cause or aggravate gender dis- The provision of one type of rural infrastructure and its parities. The following sections give key issues to consider. derived services may not suffice to achieve the expected ben- efits of human capital development or social or economic empowerment; the complementary development of several Gender equity in planning and decision making infrastructure services may be needed. For example, it may Women and men rarely have an equal voice in the planning not be sufficient to improve the transport infrastructure and decision making for rural infrastructure. At the house- and services to facilitate access to schools and administrative hold level, men most often decide alone on the priorities for services, because separate latrines for men and boys and the family. Men also participate predominantly in commu- women and girls also need to be provided. In addition, men nity meetings at which decisions are made on the selection and women teachers or administrative staff need to be avail- of priorities for, and on the location of, infrastructure able or trained to address women's and men's needs. The investments. As a result, it is not uncommon that water Peru Rural Infrastructure Program is a good example of wells and adjacent washing facilities, for instance, are such a multiple infrastructure development approach (see located in areas where women are unwilling to go, or that Innovative Activity Profile 1). the road between the farmstead and the market is improved before the footpath used by women to collect water or fuel- Complementarity and sequencing of wood. Another striking illustration is the attention given to infrastructure interventions electrification versus improved woodlots or improved stoves: men favor power to listen to the radio or watch tele- Integrating gender equity may entail different sequencing of vision over women's need for cooking fuels and reduced rural infrastructure interventions from gender-indifferent indoor air pollution. The experience of the Uruguay Rural approaches. For example, improving household fuel sup- Water Program argues that women's involvement in decision plies first rather than starting first with electrification, making increased the viability of the rural water program by which is not as high of a priority for women, might lead to locating and designing the new water facilities to reflect higher welfare and economic benefits to the household and women's needs. It also increased women's social empower- to the whole community. Similarly, improving the water ment through their participation in water association boards supply and sanitation to benefit women first might yield (Sotomayor 2007). greater returns than starting with the improvement of an access road to a main market. These questions need to be Gender equity in access to rural raised and debated at the time of program or project for- infrastructure assets mulation and design through consultations with the various groups in the community. Experience from projects suggests that the equitable Finally, it must be recognized that issues of social enhancement of women's and men's social capital is not empowerment of both women and men, quality of life automatic; it depends upon whether the design and place- improvements, and human capital development are precon- ment of infrastructure was explicitly designed to develop ditions for the economic empowerment to be generated by social capital. For example, the Peru Rural Roads Program rural infrastructure services, be it at the individual, house- worked with men and women of the Andean region to hold, or community level. This has implications both for the improve main roads and smaller roads and tracks, and it design of project processes and for the sequencing of infra- involved rural women in its design and implementation. structure interventions. For example, unless processes are in After project completion, 77 percent of the women reported place to facilitate the social empowerment and human that the rehabilitated roads and tracks enabled them to development of both genders first, the economic outcomes travel farther, 67 percent felt that the improvements enabled are not likely to be gender equitable. them to travel more safely, and 43 percent felt that the improvements enabled them to obtain additional income. The percentage of women participating in and leading road GENDER-EQUITABLE SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT committees has increased slowly, and the percentage of Given the wide range of women's and men's needs for women voting in local elections, another way of having their infrastructure and infrastructure services, it is critical to voice heard, increased significantly (see Innovative Activity ensure gender equity in the planning, decision making, Profile 1, this Module). 364 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Gender equity in the management of services women in creating infrastructure microenterprises is their higher rate of illiteracy and their more limited access to Women can also participate in the management of the credit for start-ups. Women's associations are a successful infrastructure services. This is the case when women par- alternative to individual enterprises, such as the women's ticipate in water user associations, in road maintenance energy microenterprise of Char Montaz, Bangladesh, in its committees, or on the boards of rural power utilities. Such early years (see Thematic Note 2). participation is often an opportunity for improving their self-esteem and developing their decision-making capabilities. In the Peru and Bangladesh Rural Road Projects, 20 percent Gender equity in employment of the members of the road committees that were set up The construction and maintenance of rural infrastructure were required to be women. Proactive initiatives to mandate generate a significant demand for labor and therefore pro- such participation in program and project design give the vide significant opportunities for employment and income best results, but the implementation of these initiatives creation for the rural population. Providing for gender requires sensitivity to and understanding of the local cul- equity in the labor market and ensuring equal pay are ture, economic activities, social realities, and more impor- therefore essential. This is not easily achieved because of tant, it requires trust (Sotomayor 2007). numerous constraints: women's lack of time to engage in nonagricultural activities, taboos about women engaging RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND GENDER in certain labor markets such as road construction, and EQUITABLE ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT men's perceptions that women cannot handle certain Rural infrastructure and derived infrastructure services are "heavy tasks" or equipment such as chain saws and driving essential for the economic empowerment of the rural pop- machinery even though women have always done heavy ulation through access to key markets: financial, labor, and agricultural work. The integration of women in road reha- product markets, as well as other services that contribute to bilitation programs in Liberia is a good example of how this improving the value chain, especially information and can be accomplished. The program recruits labor at the training and administrative and legal services. Ensuring community level and proactively encourages women to join gender-equitable access to all these economic opportunities the labor force. Some (albeit few) of the labor recruiters and is therefore essential to maximize the economic returns and road technicians are women, which facilitates demystifying development impact of rural infrastructure programs and the work on the road. However, as women have lower liter- projects.The following sections summarize selected key issues. acy rates and lack high school diplomas and formal techni- cal skills, their participation in the labor force is still only one-quarter to one-third that of men, and men's share of Gender equity in business creation the wage bill generated by these road works is three times Given the range of works involved, the development of rural that of women's (Lallement 2007). infrastructure and related services lends itself well to the par- ticipation of small and medium-size enterprises. Although Gender equity in accessing product markets the majority of such enterprises continue to be owned, man- aged, and staffed mostly with men, recent efforts to integrate Both women and men are very active in product markets, women in the development of such businesses has given very although it appears that men predominantly procure com- positive results. In the Peru Rural Road Project, which set a mercial inputs (seeds, commercial fertilizers, and pesticides) target of 10 percent of the members of road maintenance and market higher-value commercial crops, whereas women microenterprises being women, women's participation tend to market lower-value traditional crops (cereals, increased from 3.5 percent in 2001 to 24 percent in 2006 tubers, fruit, and vegetables). Experiential evidence points (Gutiérrez 2007). Some infrastructure sectors lend them- to significant gender disparities in access to product markets, selves more easily than others to entry by women. ICT, for although this is not very well documented. These disparities example, has seen extensive women's participation, espe- are correlated to gender disparities in access to transport ser- cially where ICT-based enterprise creation is supported vices; women have less access to bulk and motorized transport with microcredit--for example, for the purchase of a tele- (see Thematic Note 2). Significant opportunities occur when phone, which becomes the main asset of the enterprise. women organize to market food crops and share transport However, in most countries one of the challenges facing costs to more distant but higher-value markets, including MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS 365 cities, which in turn enables them to earn higher incomes. markets. ICT services facilitate the flow of information on Similar benefits are generated when women organize to employment opportunities, and transport infrastructure store or partially process food crops, which raises the issue and services facilitate the movement of people. Aspects of of gender equity in access to storage facilities and in the gender equity include ensuring that broadcast information availability of energy infrastructure to sustain the cold on employment opportunities be tailored to both women chain. This has been achieved in Senegal with string bean and men's employment opportunities, and ensuring safe and growers, who are predominantly women (ESMAP-GVEP affordable transport between urban markets and rural areas, 2003; see also Module 5). in particular for women and girls, who are usually at greater Additional constraints for women to access higher-value risk of some form of harassment or violence. Well-lit bus product markets include the lack of facilities for women to stops have proven very effective in enabling women to safely stay overnight or several days, lack of child care facilities, travel to and from jobs that require periodic shuttling to and lack of separate latrines at marketplaces, and other risks from the village, such as housekeeping jobs in South Africa associated with their physical security. ICT services have or textile factory work in Bangladesh (see also Module 8). proved effective in bringing product market information to both men and women. Women are benefiting more from Gender equity in accessing other services ICT services because they have lesser mobility and literacy than men. In India, for example, telephony has enabled Access to social services, not only schools and health facilities rural women to obtain direct information on the price of but also administrative services (civil and land registration, food crops, empowering them to better negotiate prices legal services), is also highly dependent on the availability, with middlemen. reliability, and cost of rural infrastructure services. Transport infrastructure and services are possibly the most important to facilitate geographical access, but one must also consider Gender equity in accessing financial markets whether the on-site infrastructure of these other services Rural infrastructure services, in particular ICT, are improv- caters to the respective needs of women and men (for exam- ing gender equity in access to rural financial markets. Many ple, whether there are separate toilets or waiting rooms). factors have constrained access to commercial rural finance (lack of land titles and other collateral, distance to banks) by GENDER-EQUITABLE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT both men and women, but women have been at a particular disadvantage in most developing countries (see also Module All rural infrastructure and derived services affect human 3). ICT, however, breaks some of these barriers by providing development, albeit to different degrees. Understanding information to both women and men on requirements for these impacts is critical to gauging the potential economic obtaining credit and on managing income and savings, impact of infrastructure. If rural populations are in poor information that previously would have required going to a health, uninformed, or uneducated, they are unable to take bank. In this respect, ICT saves on transport costs, helps advantage of the benefits that other infrastructure services overcome the barriers linked to illiteracy by providing audi- can provide. The following sections summarize five key tory information, and removes the obstacle of women's variable impacts. inability to go to a bank because of lack of time, money for transport, or approval from their husbands. ICT also now Basic needs more often enables women to make financial transactions and empowers them to develop rural businesses. A signifi- Potable water and energy are the two most important infra- cant aspect of ICT is the facilitation of migrant remittances, structure services for human survival. The importance of on which many rural families depend (see Thematic Note 3). potable water is easily illustrated by the UNICEF (2006) report "Progress for Children: A Report Card on Water and Sanitation," which found that 88 percent of the deaths of Gender equity in access to labor markets children under age five from diarrheal diseases are caused by Improving access to nonrural labor markets is critical to unsafe water (combined with poor sanitation and lack of improving rural livelihoods and incomes. Rural infrastruc- hygiene). This is equivalent to about 4,000 children under ture, particularly ICT and transport, is a powerful means of five dying every day. By contrast, it is not yet sufficiently well enabling the rural population to access nonrural labor known that 95 percent of basic staple foods must be cooked 366 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS to be transformed into human energy (DFID 2002); as a and time. Nonmotorized transport alleviates women's and result, energy services are not yet recognized among the men's carrying burdens and can contribute to reducing Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for poverty eradi- bone and muscular diseases. ICT is used more and more cation. The gender dimension of these services relates to the often to provide rural health services, in particular for diag- primary role traditionally assigned to rural women and girls nostic work, and in more advanced rural settings for super- for the collection of water and fuelwood, child care, and fam- vised surgical treatment (Infodev 2006). ily cooking and to the time use, drudgery, and health effects of the related tasks. Both genders equally benefit or suffer Access to education from the availability or quality of water and fuel supplies. Energy, transport, and ICT are three key rural infrastructure services for improving access to education. Schools Access to information equipped with lighting and power are more effective, and ICT provides information and access to product markets, when they incorporate ICT infrastructure they can benefit credit, and other information that permit rural communities from accessing educational information from around the and households to integrate into the local, regional, national, world (Lallement and Siegel 2002). ICT also can provide and world economies. In rural areas ICTs are crucial for further teacher training and can enable rural students, girls economic and social development and, when used appro- in particular, to pursue secondary school education. Radio priately, provide a platform for communities to debate and is a critical source of information and means of lifelong to advocate for issues important to them. In many rural learning. Lighting in teachers' homes improves security and areas the shortwave radio becomes the community tele- the retention of teachers in rural areas, especially women phone, making announcements and conveying messages teachers. Children from electricity-lit homes versus those between dispersed community members. It also serves as from homes with candles or kerosene lamps gain two to the early warning system for emergencies. three years compared to their peers (ESMAP 2001). Girls benefit most because their household chores usually occupy the hours of daylight after school. Access to health The link between rural infrastructure and health is very Access to leisure strong. The impact of sanitation, hygiene, and potable water on human health is well documented and accepted. In recent The time saved thanks to rural infrastructure services, in years researchers have recognized the significant health effects particular from energy and transport, is reallocated by rural of indoor air pollution (IAP) caused by the burning of tradi- people for productive activities or leisure. Asymmetries in tional biomass fuels (wood, charcoal, animal dung) and other time poverty by gender are well documented. For example, smoky fuels (coal, kerosene). In 2000 premature deaths from in Uganda, if woodlots were within 30 minutes of the IAP were estimated by the World Health Organization at 1.6 homestead and if the water source were within 400 meters, million people, accounting for 3 percent of the global burden households would save more than 900 hours each year, of disease.In some countries IAP is the second- or third-leading with the benefits going primarily to women and girls. This cause of disease. It is responsible for a range of respiratory is close to 0.5 person-years of work (Barwell 1996). and other diseases among the 3 billion people who still rely Radio is often perceived primarily as a source of leisure on traditional fuels and burning methods for heating and for men. In reality, rural radio is a communication tool that cooking. Women and young children are disproportionately can benefit both women and men with information and affected by IAP, again because of the role assigned to them by education, and it can be listened to while people work. society for cooking and child care. The 2000­01 Uganda Many health education and agricultural radio programs are Domestic Household Survey data indicate that children aged targeted toward rural people. 6 to 11 months experienced a rate of symptoms of acute respiratory infections of 33 percent (Blackden 2006). RISKS ANDVULNERABILITIES Access to transport to emergency obstetrical care can reduce maternal and newborn mortality and reduce the loss The development of rural infrastructure is not without risks of productive capacity. Improved paths to water points or and vulnerabilities, and it is important to be aware of how fuelwood locations can save women's and girls' hardship these risks and vulnerabilities affect men and women MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS 367 differently. The following issues should be taken into account Resettlement and displacement in the development of rural infrastructure initiatives: Women, children, and the elderly are most negatively affected by loss of land or access to income resources from Security land due to displacement or resettlement for transport and other infrastructure. Payment of resettlement compensation Rural infrastructure services enhance the security of house- to those with legal title is intrinsically gender biased because holds and communities in many ways. In November 2007, land and property are usually registered in men's names. when a cyclone hit the most remote areas of Bangladesh, the Women are usually excluded from receiving compensation. solar power and telephone infrastructure enabled authorities Furthermore, they see their dependency on men increase to activate warning systems and deploy emergency assistance because of the loss of income from common property within less than 24 hours. However, various infrastructure resources, and changes in resource use patterns increase their services do have gender-differentiated effects. Where roads workload to collect fuelwood and water. Widows and are in poor condition and road transport is limited, pregnant deserted women when displaced are particularly vulnerable. women hesitate to go to the clinic for delivery for fear of Displacement and resettlement often lead to the breakdown dying on the way (Potgieter, Pillay, and Rama 2006). For of community networks, destroying an important source of women and girls, the risks of rape and harassment are help for women in hard times (see Thematic Note 1). reduced when safe basic sanitation is provided close to their households and when paths to water sources and woodlots are improved and maintained. The rural-urban divide It is also critical to be aware of increased risks in some areas and to provide the needed education, information, With increasing urbanization, the competition between and government regulation. For example, accidents occur rural and urban residents for scarce resources and services is with the improper use of bottles of liquid propane gas. Acid increasing. This is already an acute problem in many dry from discarded batteries has been used for violence against areas. For example, to provide Chennai, India, with water, a women. Although ICT has facilitated labor movements, it fleet of over 13,000 water tankers plies between the rural has also led to increased labor-trade misconduct and human sources and the city. Private trucks collect water from farms rights violations (a key issue for household employees from and villages, where wells are the main source, competing East and South Asia who migrate to the Middle East with- with village women for the resource, with little attention out any social protection). Transport infrastructure can also paid to the added time burden waiting for their turn.3 Many bring risk. Improvements in rural roads can lead to areas face similar problems supplying fuelwood and char- increases in the number of injuries and fatalities related to coal for cities. Programs for rural infrastructure services transportation (see Thematic Note 2). such as water and energy, therefore, need to take a more comprehensive approach and assess the risks inherent to the competition with urban demands, as well as the poten- HIV and AIDS tial gender impact. The Household Energy Project in Transport, mobility, and gender inequality increase the Hyderabad, India, is a good illustration of how a compre- spread of HIV and AIDS, which along with other infec- hensive rural-urban household energy policy that includes tious diseases, follow transport and construction workers both traditional biomass fuels and fuel switching can be on transport networks and other infrastructure into rural designed and implemented, with a positive impact on the areas, causing serious economic impacts. The evidence supply of energy services and on women, in both rural and overall of risk-taking behavior by transport workers, and urban areas (ESMAP 1999). their relatively higher HIV and AIDS prevalence rate com- pared to the general population, is overwhelming (see Environmental degradation and climate change Thematic Note 1). The World Bank requires that bidders for construction contracts in the transport sector provide For many years the effects of environmental degradation on HIV and AIDS education for their workforce and supply rural infrastructure services have been focal points for pol- free condoms; this is best practice and should be imple- icy makers and development practitioners. Environmental mented in all sectors and infrastructure development degradation can have significant gender impacts, such as an assistance programs. increase in women's time burden. In the hill villages of 368 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Nepal, where women perform 82 percent of the firewood Use gender audits and gender budgets to identify gaps in collection, extensive deforestation increases the time they gender balance and to analyze infrastructure budget allo- take to complete this task by 75 percent per load of fire- cations to monitor who is benefiting from services. These wood. For women in deforested areas, this translates to an tools also help increase accountability and transparency. additional 1.13 hour each day collecting firewood (Kumar Use participatory approaches consistently throughout the and Hotchkiss 1988). On the Central Plateau in Burkina policy formulation and project cycle to design, imple- Faso, where population density is high, women spend ment, supervise, and evaluate the gender-disaggregated between 32 and 35 hours each week collecting firewood effects of investments. Such approaches are critical to (Monimart 1989 in Saito, Mekonnen, and Spurling 1994). build ownership of the policies and programs. Studies in Pakistan find that as women's access to potable Include gender and poverty issues in project objectives water deteriorates, their time spent collecting water and design to prevent marginalization or delays in the increases (Ilahi and Grimard 2000). Many programs have implementation of special activities, which are essential aimed at addressing these issues with the rural communities. for analyzing and addressing gender and poverty con- For example, the Village Land Management Program in cerns. Identify well-defined targets that can be achieved Burkina Faso has implemented large-scale land, water, and through step-by-step progress. biomass conservation measures for over 15 years. Address women's time poverty with appropriate labor- Awareness of the impact of climate change on rural infra- and time-saving technology. Investment aimed at reduc- structure is increasing, especially in disaster-prone areas, such ing the domestic burden of women, given the effect on as the lowlands of Bangladesh. The reforestation of coastal productivity and labor, will substantially increase the areas and the construction of dikes are deemed to have less- benefits of other investments. For the energy sector, ened the impact of the November 2007 cyclone. In these areas improving traditional fuel use (through fuel-efficient the majority of solar home systems withstood the cyclone stoves and alternative fuels) is important. well because they are designed to be quickly dismounted, and Include labor and business opportunities for women and the warning systems gave owners the time to dismount them. men during project implementation so that they can Risk assessment and management will need to play a greater equally benefit from the market expansion resulting role in the design and management of rural infrastructure, from rural infrastructure programs. which will require the training of infrastructure engineers. A Include gender-sensitive experts in all design and review recent study in Canada documented that fewer than 50 per- teams to ensure that both women and men are equally cent of water, transport, energy, and construction engineers consulted and that the relevant components can be strongly agreed that climate change considerations would reviewed carefully and the necessary revisions proposed. affect their engineering decisions in the near future. More Structure capacity-building opportunities for project than 80 percent agreed they needed more information to stakeholders (team members and other partners) to understand the various aspects of climate change (Canada promote ownership and commitment to the objectives Standards Association 2007) (see also Module 10). of gender equity in rural infrastructure as a matter of development effectiveness for achieving the goals of improved agricultural livelihoods. PRACTICAL ISSUES FOR INTEGRATING GENDER Use gender-disaggregated monitoring and evaluation INTO POLICIES, PROGRAMS,AND PROJECTS indicators to measure gender equity in all aspects of Gender equity is a matter of development effectiveness and policy, program, and project implementation and out- should therefore be addressed throughout the project cycle. comes. To do so, use available tools, such as household Numerous factors facilitate and ensure systematic analysis surveys and sectoral surveys. When routine measures and adequate responses to gender concerns in rural infra- do not exist or are not sex disaggregated, it is important structure projects. These factors for incorporating best to assist in building systems that do so. practices can be summarized as follows: Addressing gender and poverty concerns and improving Adopt well-defined donor and government gender- rural livelihoods necessitate changes in how business is con- equity policies with adequate political and bureaucratic ducted. Achieving any degree of success in processes for pol- support to ensure the proper analysis of gender-equitable icy, program, and project design, implementation, and moni- outcomes of rural infrastructure programs. toring and evaluation requires more time and resources and MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS 369 relevant institutional changes. Furthermore, it is important to Table 9.2 regarding rural infrastructure as examples of issues continue action-research by learning as experience is gained. that should be monitored. Depending on the country or region, it may be relevant also to consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both MONITORING AND EVALUATION as comparative indicators and when collecting data), Specific indicators relevant to transport are mentioned in the because women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are Thematic Notes, but some general indicators are provided in usually in the most disadvantaged situation. Table 9.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Rural Infrastructure Indicator Sources of verification and tools Active participation by women and men in infrastructure planning and · Community meeting minutes siting, and decision making regarding levels of local contribution · Project records Functioning participatory monitoring and evaluation system recording · Community meeting minutes community involvement in planning, construction, and monitoring · Records of interviews of rural infrastructure, including gender-disaggregated data · Records of monitoring visits by community monitors and follow-up Number of women and men trained and participating in user · Bank records groups and operations and management committees (including · Committee meeting minutes bank account signatory roles) · Interviews with stakeholders · Local traditional authorities (such as a chief or local council) · Program and project records Participation in training in specific construction skills, disaggregated · Training records by gender and age Employment in infrastructure construction, disaggregated by gender, · Infrastructure committee records age, and ethnicity · Local contractor administrative records Differences in wage and employment conditions, if any, between · Case studies women and other disadvantaged groups, and men for positions of · Labor audits comparable content and responsibility · Project management information system or administrative records Changes in percentage of women in local maintenance crews, · Infrastructure maintenance committees and user group before and after program activities maintenance records · Local contractor administrative records Restoration or replacement of livelihoods of affected people · Case studies (including women and ethnic minorities) following resettlement, · Census including measurement of number of households or persons · Community monitoring committees affected; extent of loss, and replacement of homesteads and · Project management information system agricultural lands · Resettlement plans: existence and monitoring · Sample surveys Changes to livelihood sources (on-farm and nonfarm employment) · Case studies among resettled men, women (especially woman-headed · Community monitoring committees households), and other disadvantaged groups · Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) · Sample surveys Access to services and facilities (irrigation, electrification, water · Administrative records supply, and sanitation), disaggregated by gender and ethnicity · Infrastructure maintenance committees/user group records/PRA · Sample surveys Satisfaction levels with water allocation among various users (such · Focus groups as irrigation and domestic water supply), disaggregated by gender · Sample surveys Satisfaction levels among community with quality and usefulness of · Focus groups infrastructure constructed, disaggregated by gender and age · Stakeholder interviews · User surveys (Table continues on the following page) 370 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Table 9.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Rural Infrastructure (continued) Indicator Sources of verification and tools Time spent or distance walked by household members to collect · Household surveys potable water, disaggregated by gender and age · PRA Percentage of time spent daily in household on paid and nonpaid · Gender analysis activities, disaggregated by gender and age · Time use studies Age of school leaving, disaggregated by gender · School records Access to public and private sanitation, before and after project · PRA activities, disaggregated by gender · Sample surveys Uptake of new technologies such as low-fuel stoves, pumps, new · Sample surveys forms of transport, and use of ICT, disaggregated by gender and · Stakeholder interviews education level Changes to transport, handling, and storage costs for disadvantaged · Case studies groups involved in marketing surplus produce, measured by cost · Sample surveys or time spent in marketing, before and after infrastructure construction Number of women and men participating in training on higher-value · Training records crop production or small enterprise development Number of women and men receiving training in ICT · Training records Percentage of women and men in community using computers and · Computer center and Internet café records the Internet, and the frequency of use · Stakeholder interviews Changes over x-year period of project activities in household · Household surveys, before and after nutrition, health, education, vulnerability to violence, and · Project management information system happiness, disaggregated by gender · School records Spread of HIV and AIDS, prostitution, alcoholism, and other · Community health surveillance problems from in-migrant workers involved in rural infrastructure · Health records construction or using roads, compared with baseline, · Local authority reports disaggregated by gender Source: Authors, with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS 371 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 RuralTransport R ural transport contributes to rural livelihoods by flow (Tiwari 2001). A road investment alone does not increasing the mobility of people and goods and guarantee that adequate transport services will meet the facilitating access to resources that serve basic needs needs of local women and men, particularly in areas with low as well as labor and commodity markets, services (health, population density (Plessis-Fraissard 2007; World Bank n.d.). education, and financial), and information. Rural transport Although recognition is growing that transport can make infrastructure often opens the way for the development of significant contributions to achieving the MDGs and exten- water, energy, and other infrastructure. Rural transport sive research has been conducted on gender differentials in includes motorized and nonmotorized rural transport ser- access, mobility, and patterns of rural transport use, as well vices for passengers and freight (such as public and private as many successful transport pilots and activities that trucks, buses, trains, and boats as well as bicycles, animals, address women's needs and priorities, the integration of and other intermediate means of transport) and rural trans- gender and other social dimensions has not become an port infrastructure (rural roads, bridges, tracks, trails, paths, established part of doing business in the rural transport and waterways). sector. Many decision makers still assume that transport is The rapid growth of urban centers and periurban sprawl "gender neutral," that is, it benefits men and women equally. in developing countries has blurred the boundaries of rural Rural transport policy rarely incorporates national gender and urban and increased nonfarm income opportunities for policies or social and gender assessments. Conversely, rural men and women. The globalization of food produc- country gender assessments and strategies seldom address tion, distribution, and retailing based on integrated global infrastructure issues. value chains and the adoption of high-value agricultural A rural livelihoods approach to transport planning goes export production (for example, flowers, tropical fruit, and beyond conventional cost-benefit analysis to examine envi- vegetables) in many developing countries, facilitated by ronmental and social impacts as well as gender disparities. transport linking paths and roads to airports and railroads, Transport is approached in the wider context of individual, have increased options for women and men in labor-intensive household, and community development, as a means of crop production and processing (Barrientos, Kabeer, and enhancing rural economic growth and reducing poverty Hossain 2004; Dolan and Sorby 2003). and responding to women's and men's needs, not an end in Conventional rural transport planning has focused on itself (Fouracre 2001; Starkey and others 2003). road networks and the long-distance transport of produce, neglecting transport solutions for the many rural women KEY GENDER ISSUES and men who lack access to motorized transport and travel by foot on feeder roads, foot bridges, and tracks. Upgrading Gender inequality is now recognized as a serious obstacle to a rural road can increase the flow of motorized traffic with- poverty reduction and economic growth, particularly in out directly benefiting local rural people and often creates rural areas where women play significant roles in agricul- safety risks for them. There are conflicting local and ture and food security (World Bank 2001). In most through-traffic needs and impacts for national and state instances rural women have more limited access to land, highways that pass through rural villages. Local people want labor, financial, and product markets (agricultural inputs safety and access; pass-through travelers want rapid traffic and outputs). Women have more limited opportunities than 372 their men counterparts to secure employment outside of use and 85 to 90 percent of the fuelwood (Tichagwa 2000). agriculture, to increase nonfarm income, and to access In areas where water or firewood is scarce, this time and education, training, and transportation services that will effort can be substantially more. In Tanzania Masaai women facilitate their livelihood (both domestic and income walk up to 30 kilometers to the next water hole during the earning). They have fewer assets with which to pursue dry season (World Bank n.d.). their livelihood strategies and have more vulnerabilities. Headloading and backloading transport activity has direct This affects women's mobility, access, and transportation costs in human energy and time as well as health and oppor- needs and results in gender differences in the impact of tunity costs. Headloading adds an estimated 20 percent to transport interventions (Graeco 2002; Peters 2002). women's travel time. Women's heavy transport burden reduces their agricultural productivity, diminishes their abil- Gender inequality in transport burdens ity to grow and market cash crops, and limits their access to farm and nonfarm employment as well as local community Transport takes up a large amount of time and physical decision making. Headloading also causes back and neck effort in rural areas, and women bear most of that burden1 injuries (Peters 2002). Rural men and women play multiple roles (productive, reproductive, and community management), but men gen- Gender differentials in access to transport erally are able to focus on a single productive role and play their other roles sequentially. Because rural women need to In many developing countries men's control of household play these roles simultaneously and balance competing cash and intermediate means of transport (IMTs), such as claims on limited time, women's labor time and flexibility draft animals, bicycles, and carts, and social and cultural con- are much more constrained and inelastic than men's. In straints on women's mobility limit women's access to trans- addition to their prominence in agriculture and the infor- port opportunities that could reduce their transport burdens mal sector, women and girls bear nearly all of the "invisible" (Edmonds 1998). Men's control also creates differential access domestic tasks of processing food crops, providing firewood to markets, inputs, training, extension services, grain mills, and water, and caring for the elderly and the sick. Women's and financial and health services for women and men. A heavy domestic burden limits the time they can spend on multidonor report, "Can Africa Claim the 21st Century?" economic activities and restricts them to activities compat- concluded that in Tanzania reducing time burdens of women ible with domestic responsibilities. Thus, rural women face could increase household cash incomes for smallholder coffee trade-offs in time allocation between different productive and banana growers by 10 percent, labor productivity by activities, between market and household tasks, and 15 percent, and capital productivity by 44 percent; in Kenya, between meeting short-term economic and household giving women farmers the same level of agricultural inputs needs and long-term investment in capacity and human and education as men could increase yields obtained by capital. Women's time poverty and income poverty often women by more than 20 percent (World Bank 2000). reinforce each other with negative impacts. As long as the Rural transport services are often infrequent and expen- household economy is invisible, rural transport policy mak- sive. Schedules and frequency of service are based on peak ers and planners are unlikely to attempt to address the periods of travel to and from work rather than the multiple trade-offs among different productive and domestic tasks travel tasks of women who often "trip-chain," combining (Blackden 2003; Blackden and Wodon 2006; Quisumbing various domestic and caretaking responsibilities with wage- 2003; World Bank n.d.). earning trips that occur throughout the day when services For example, a UNDP time allocation study in Benin are limited (Peters 2002). The high cost of providing trans- found that women worked 67.2 hours per week and men port in areas with low population density often translates worked 50 hours. Men spent 24 hours on production, and into high tariffs unless government subsidies are provided women spent 17.5. Women spent 9.6 hours gathering wood to service operators and users. Many rural men and most and water, whereas men spent only 1.4 hour. Women spent rural women lack the resources to pay these tariffs or to pur- 13.3 hours processing agricultural products and preparing chase intermediate means of transport. Thus, if the distance meals; men spent 1 hour (Blackden 2003). In Zimbabwe, in is too great to headload crops to market, farmers must sell an average family of six persons, 90 percent of the transport to middlemen, who take a large share of the profit. For burden is headloaded, primarily by women. Women and women and men who can afford rural transport services, girls collect and carry 95 percent of the water for household only limited amounts of produce can be accommodated, THEMATIC NOTE 1: RURAL TRANSPORT 373 making the transport costs high in relation to profits from are involved in more nonfatal accidents. Less motorized sales (Plessis-Fraissard 2007). countries account for 86 percent of global fatalities (TRL and Limited access to transport has serious human costs as DFID 2000). The economic impact of road accident fatalities well. Every minute around the world a woman dies in child- and injuries represents an estimated annual $53 billion in birth, and most of these deaths are preventable. Transporta- lost production in developing countries. In India road acci- tion delay to emergency obstetrical care because of lack of dent costs account for an estimated 2 percent of gross roads, transport services, and money to pay for transport is domestic product (Tiwari 2001). one of three types of delays that can lead to medical com- Rural transport services are often dangerous. Drivers speed plications, including obstetric fistula,2 which can result in and overload vehicles and seldom give passengers enough maternal and newborn deaths (Babinard and Roberts 2006; time to safely board or exit. Women are often harassed, and Riverson and others 2005). These losses reduce labor and their goods are poorly handled (Plessis-Fraissard 2007). Lim- production capacity and threaten family welfare. ited transport service availability often means that rural women going to markets or to work in agroprocessing must wait for buses or trucks before dawn and return after dusk, Unequal access to rural transport-related placing them at risk for assault (Dolan and Sorby 2003).3 In employment and income addition, the trafficking of girls and women increases with Employment in rural transport that is dominated by men greater road connectivity, especially near major roads and in includes construction labor; provision of public or private cross-border corridors. Risk is greatest where women have low transport services, such as driving and maintaining buses, status and there is widespread poverty, such as in rural Nepal trucks, and cars; and work in public sector institutions that (Latif 2005). plan for and manage transport services. Barriers to rural women's access to transport jobs and enterprises include information networks that bypass women, perceptions of Transport, mobility, and gender inequality and the spread of HIV and AIDS "appropriate" work for women, differential pay rates for women and men, and gender inequalities in access to HIV and AIDS and other infectious diseases follow transport schooling that leave women without the necessary qualifica- and construction workers on road and other transport net- tions (Lallement 2007; SIDA 1997). Although labor-based works into rural areas, causing serious economic impacts on construction has provided an entry point for women, even human capital and agricultural productivity. Mobility and projects with gender inclusion provisions face serious chal- long absences from home make transport workers particularly lenges in institutionalizing these approaches (Tanzarn and vulnerable to HIV and AIDS, whether they work on land, sea, others 2007). Redundancy resulting from privatization of or air routes. The evidence overall of risk-taking behavior by transport services is also gender differentiated; women are transport workers and of their relatively higher HIV and AIDS almost universally the first to lose jobs. prevalence rate compared to general populations is over- whelming (International Transport Workers Federation 2007). In regions where HIV and AIDS are entrenched, more Inadequate safety and security measures women are now infected than men, and in countries where Safety and security issues are seldom adequately addressed in epidemics are just beginning, new infections among women rural transport projects even though increased road connec- outnumber those among men. Unequal gender relationships tivity also brings increased injuries and deaths, most often force millions of women, already biologically much more vul- among the poorest. Pedestrians with headloads, nonmotor- nerable to infection than men, to submit to demands for ized transport, and motorized vehicles move at very different unprotected sex and prevent them from learning about the paces on the same road, which often has little or no shoulder. casual sexual encounters of their partners. Gender differences The most vulnerable road users are pedestrians and people in risk factors, vulnerability, and the impact of HIV and AIDS riding on nonmotorized vehicles and motorcycles. People have implications for prevention, care, treatment, and coping living in rural areas are more likely to be killed or seriously mechanisms.HIV andAIDS have been particularly devastating injured if they are involved in road accidents because motor in sub-Saharan Africa, where women play a major role in agri- vehicles tend to travel faster there and trauma care is culture and food security and bear the burden of care for HIV- extremely limited (World Health Organization 2004). Men positive family members and AIDS orphans (Cook 2003; ITF are involved in more fatal accidents than women, and women 2007; Lema and others 2003; Mutemba and Blackden 2000). 374 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS The disproportionate effect of resettlement Increased infrastructure cost effectiveness, and displacement by transport infrastructure accountability, and sustainability on women Participatory, gender-inclusive assessment of transport Women, children, and the elderly are most negatively needs and transport planning identifies local needs of affected by loss of land or access to land because of dis- women and men and identifies problems and resources that placement or resettlement for transport and other infra- can affect the outcomes of a project, thus increasing the effi- structure. Payment of resettlement compensation to those ciency and outcome benefits. It builds a local sense of local with legal title is intrinsically gender biased because land ownership of the road and commitment to repair and main- and property are usually registered in men's names. Thus, tenance, which increases sustainability. It also reduces con- women are usually excluded from receiving compensa- flicts and tensions and thus prevents construction delays tion. Negative impacts of resettlement and displacement that increase costs. This process increases local-level plan- can include the increasing economic dependence of ning capacity, accountability, and transparency in use of women on men due to the loss of their income from com- local resources and more gender-equitable distribution of mon property resources, the increasing vulnerability of benefits. Also, it reduces the risks of adverse effects on widows and deserted women when displaced, and the intended beneficiaries. Involvement of local women in rural added burden for women and girls due to changes in transport planning often provides more pragmatic inputs resource use patterns, particularly the loss of familiar on road selection and design that more directly reflect local sources of fuelwood and water. In addition, the break- economic and safety needs. For example, separate consulta- down of community networks destroys an important tions with women in the Yemen Rural Access project source of help for women in hard times (Asian Develop- resulted in safety features such as speed signs and speed ment Bank 2004; Cernea 2000). bumps near schools. The women working on road mainte- nance in the Second Peru Rural Roads project improved the quality of road work because men drank less and worked BENEFITS OF GENDER-RESPONSIVE ACTIONS more regularly with women on the team. Women were The discussion addresses the key benefits of gender main- responsible for ensuring the quality of roadwork and han- streaming into rural transport projects and programs. dling payments because they were viewed as incorruptible. The economic rate of return for the project was over 30 per- cent (Caballero 2007; World Bank 2007b). Increased agricultural production, economic growth, and economic empowerment Increased human capital Construction and rehabilitation of feeder roads, tracks, and bridges and more affordable access to road and water Access to transport to emergency obstetrical care can help transport services and intermediate means of transport reduce maternal and newborn mortality and reduce the increase the productivity and incomes of men and in loss of productive capacity. Access to IMTs such as donkeys particular women farmers who rely on them more heav- for carrying water and wood can reduce domestic transport ily, by reducing time and opportunity costs and expand- time burdens and free up time for girls to attend school and ing their access to markets and inputs. For example, in for women to participate in literacy and farming and busi- Peru the rehabilitation of nonmotorized tracks in isolated ness skills training. Road access and dedicated transport communities reduced poverty from 83 percent to 74 per- services for girls can also facilitate safe access to school for cent, and 77 percent of the women traveled more fre- girls and boys and increase school attendance. Research in quently. Routine road maintenance created 6,000 jobs, 24 Nepal, a landlocked country with severe accessibility prob- percent of which were held by women (World Bank lems, showed that road access affects girls' school enroll- 2007b). Boats carry consumer products and medicines to ment more than boys'. When the school is a four-hour walk remote communities and serve as shops for their owners, from the road, boys' enrollment is 56 percent and girls' is 31 who are often women. Floating markets are widespread in percent. When the school is a 30-minute walk from the the Mekong Delta, where rural women and men also road, enrollment increases to 67 percent for boys and 51 depend on water transport to take fertilizer or seed to percent for girls (Shyam 2007). In Morocco improved, all- their fields and carry the crops for consumption and sale weather roads increased access to butane gas for heating (IFRTD 2003). and cooking. This reduced women's and girls' domestic THEMATIC NOTE 1: RURAL TRANSPORT 375 burden and tripled girls' primary school enrollment (Levy Balancing economic efficiency, engineering standards, 2004). Vietnam, a country with great dependence on water and socioeconomic transport needs transport, uses boats to carry children to and from school On the one hand, community-driven development projects (IFRTD 2003). are often very effective in social and gender inclusion and responding to local women's and men's needs but less effec- Reduced risks and vulnerability tive in meeting engineering standards or cost effectiveness and may fail to link to the larger transport grid. This can Improved rural road safety--particularly for pedestrians, result in roads that do not link to markets and that deterio- nonmotorized transport, and school areas--through safety rate quickly (Ishihara 2007). On the other hand, large, education and public awareness raising, traffic management centrally managed rural road projects are usually technically (for example, safety bumps, signs, separate paths for non- sound and cost effective but seldom address gender and motorized traffic), and enforcement can reduce unnecessary other social issues. This can result in negative impacts on disabilities, injuries, and deaths that otherwise diminish local people and in poor maintenance due to lack of local rural human capacity and productivity. sense of ownership, and in some instances conflict can delay Information, education, and mobilization programs road construction. To achieve a balance between transport linked to transport projects can raise awareness and social "software" and construction "hardware," transport change behavior to reduce transmission of HIV and program designers and managers need the capacity to for- AIDS, combat sex trafficking in rural areas where it is mulate and analyze questions about the socioeconomic and prevalent, and reduce harassment and gender violence on gender aspects of transport requirements and the implica- routes to school, transport to wage labor, or on paths tions of transport interventions. Integrating social scientists around villages. with gender and transport expertise into rural transport Equitable relocation and resettlement mitigation project teams and transport agencies is one way to achieve strategies can reconstruct the basis for rural livelihoods this. The most effective integration of gender in transport for women and their children through compensation projects has included concerted efforts to build social and transfers directly to women's bank accounts, access to gender analysis capacity and awareness in transport agen- communal land, livelihood training and employment cies. The Feeder Road Prioritization Approach, developed opportunities, health and education facilities and ser- in Ghana, combines attention to women's and men's trans- vices, and food security programs (Asian Development port needs with technical rigor and cost effectiveness in a Bank 2003; Cernea 2000). participatory process that builds local ownership (Hine, Ellis, and Done 2002). POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES Transport governance issues The sections discuss the key policy and implementation issues in gender integration into transport projects and programs. Weak governance reduces the efficiency, sustainability, and equitable distribution of benefits of rural transport inter- ventions, particularly for women who generally have little Gender-sensitive rural transport policies voice in community decision making. One common issue is Transport policies should be informed by social and gender exclusive, ineffective local governments that are fragmented, analysis to address rural women's and men's needs and con- lack planning and coordination, and have little or no trans- straints, including women's domestic labor burden. The parency and accountability. Another common issue is a lack consultation process for transport strategy development of clarity on who (national, local, or private entity) owns needs to engage a wide range of stakeholders, including and is responsible for maintenance of roads and tracks. Res- women. The rural transport strategy needs to spell out the olution of these issues within a gender-sensitive framework key institutional arrangements for the three principal areas requires aggressive interventions to improve management, of rural accessibility and mobility in gender-equitable accountability, and equity. Rural roads need to be planned terms: (1) infrastructure, (2) rural transport service, and and managed as a pivotal network in the entire transport (3) location of physical facilities such as markets, schools, chain, a network that relates to all other modes or transport and clinics (Essakali 2005; Malmberg-Calvo 1998; Starkey subsectors and in which women are prime movers (Graeco and others 2003). 2002; Rankin 1999; Starkey and others 2003). 376 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Financing also needs to be gender sensitive and transpar- requires a high level of sustained political and managerial ent, whether this includes locally raised revenues, central- commitment, which can be facilitated through awareness to-local fiscal transfers, road maintenance funds, or donor, raising, using evidence of positive outcomes to foster high- community, government, and road fund financing (Rankin level champions for gender issues in transport. The World 1999). Road funds are among the more popular forms for Bank conducted regional and country-specific training for filling road sector financing gaps by pooling fuel taxes, tolls, transport sector staff, including engineers, and as a result, and other resources under various institutional arrange- the engineers became advocates for social dimensions of ments and oversight rules. The establishment of road funds transport planning.4 The Gender and Rural Transport Ini- has increased road maintenance funding and its stability tiative (GRTI) in Africa conducted numerous training throughout Africa. It is very important to ensure represen- activities, such as the training for principal secretaries in tation of women's interests on the boards that govern the Malawi (box 9.1). (See other examples of gender sensitiza- road funds. tion in Module 2.) Gender-responsive monitoring and Accessibility planning evaluation systems Optimal accessibility is crucial to reducing rural gender- Creating a gender-responsive monitoring and evaluation based exclusion (Graeco 2002). Access is a key element in system requires appropriate baseline data, relevant sex- providing opportunities for economic and social develop- disaggregated indicators, and sustainable mechanisms for ment and thus an entry point for local-level planning data management and evaluation. It is important to mea- (Edmonds 1998).5 sure gender differences in social and economic impacts to determine the extent to which transport is contributing to the MDGs, equitable poverty reduction, and women's Box 9.1 Malawi Forum: High-Level Officials empowerment (Maramba and Bamberger 2001). Monitor- Address Gender Imbalances in Rural Travel and Transport ing and evaluation systems are essential for guiding planning and midterm adjustments, tracking the distributional effects, establishing accountability, and ensuring commitment to The principal secretaries in Malawi have a signifi- achieving gender-specific priorities (see also Module 16). cant impact on policy formation. On April 8, 1999, they signed the Makokola Declaration on Gender, which supports the need to integrate gender issues GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED into all areas of development. Because transport Recognizing significant regional and country variation in was not explicitly mentioned, GRTI conducted a workshop to increase awareness of the gender and gender and rural transport issues is important, as well as the rural transport issues and gain the secretaries' sup- institutional frameworks in which rural transport operates. port for needed changes. The principal secretaries Differences must also be examined among rural women developed a gender action plan for Rural Travel and based on livelihood strategies, age, ethnic and religious affil- Transport (RTT) with the aim to (1) ensure that iations, disabilities, and other factors. No one-size-fits-all the transport policy adequately addresses gender solution may be found. Good practices must be adapted to issues in the transport sector and RTT subsector, respond to different and changing contexts based on social (2) build the capacity for gender analysis of gender analysis that takes gender into account. Very few projects focal points in all ministries, (3) involve gender have integrated gender throughout the project. Many use focal points in decision making, (4) formulate an innovative approaches to one or two aspects of a project, effective coordinating committee among ministries such as consultation or monitoring and evaluation. to ensure progress in gender mainstreaming, and (5) develop a project to facilitate rural women's access to IMTs through, among other things, the Raising gender awareness for rural provision of credit facilities. transport decision makers Source: Gender and Rural Transport Initiative 2002. Mainstreaming gender in rural transport policy, strategy, and the design and delivery of infrastructure and services THEMATIC NOTE 1: RURAL TRANSPORT 377 The Rural Access Index for roads measures the percentage Box 9.2 Lesotho: Mapping Mobility and Access of the rural population that lives within 2 kilometers of an in Rural Areas all-season road.6 Typically this is equivalent to a walk of 20 to 24 minutes. The World Bank Transport Sector Board has established the Rural Access Index as one of the key diagnos- A pilot project focused on the potential of using a geographic information system (GIS) and partici- tic measures for the sector. It is also part of the results patory digital mapping as tools to analyze differen- measurement system launched for the 81 countries that tial impacts of existing and proposed infrastructure receive International Development Association assistance. In and services on access and mobility of men and the 48 countries for which the index has been calculated, only women in two remote river valleys in Lesotho. 56 percent of the population had access to an all-season road Participatory mobility and access mapping was in 2006, leaving an estimated 1 billion people without access. integrated into the GIS using a Global Positioning The Rural Access Index provides a measure of the need for System (GPS) device. Mobility and access maps to improved accessibility to achieve the MDGs. For example, a emergency transport, health centers, schools, grind- high correlation has been found between low access and high ing mills, and other services were generated for maternal mortality ratios as well as low school enrollment, men, women, children, and the elderly in different particularly for girls (Roberts, Shyam, and Rastogi 2006). villages. Mapping and interviews revealed signifi- Integrated rural accessibility planning (IRAP) is a tool cant gender and locality differences in mobility patterns with implications for differential impacts developed by transport planners in the International of transport investments. For example, women's Labour Organization for district-level integrated planning lack of access to IMTs results in fewer opportunities of facilities (water sources, schools, clinics, hospitals, markets, than men have to access health services in the shops, woodlots, and government offices) in conjunction region. Elderly women in particular are adversely with roads, tracks, and other transport links. IRAP is based affected by poor transport to access their pension on mapping the location of households, facilities, and trans- payments in the district capital. The study also port links, and women and men in local communities are revealed a fragmentation of services that increases encouraged to participate in the mapping exercise. IRAP has the number of trips required to access them. been successfully adopted in a range of countries in Africa and Asia (Donnges 2003). Efforts to incorporate gender Source: Walker and others 2005. issues in IRAP include analysis of the social and gender aspects of accessibility and travel patterns, origin and desti- baskets reduce travel time to fields and markets and nation studies using sex-disaggregated data, integration of increase the amount of produce or other goods that gender issues and indicators into data-collection manuals, women farmers and entrepreneurs can carry. women's representation among key informants and in One effective way of enhancing women's access to IMTs community-level planning, inclusion of women's non- has been the provision of credit to women for IMT purchases. governmental organizations (NGOs) in decision makers' Another has been to encourage joint business ventures by pools, sex disaggregation of data, and use of gender indica- women using IMTs. It is also important to work closely with tors.7 A geographic-information-system-based IRAP map women's organizations to avoid sociocultural barriers to of settlements and facilities in a district can be a powerful women's access and use of IMTs and to involve community tool for planning. A similar approach has been adopted by leaders (men and women) and get their support of women's the Ministry of Public Works in Lesotho (box 9.2). use of IMTs. It is important to ensure that IMTs are designed for women's size and strength. Facilitating local production of Gender-sensitive intermediate means of transport IMTs has produced the most sustainable use in sub-Saharan IMTs can increase women's mobility, independence, pro- Africa. Training rural women how to maintain and repair ductivity, entrepreneurship, and empowerment and IMTs can provide entrepreneurship opportunities for reduce domestic burdens. For example, in Tamil Nadu, women. It is also important to coordinate IMT initiatives India, bicycles introduced in a literacy program in the with road design to ensure safety. IMT projects designed to 1990s have increased women's mobility, independence, benefit the entire family help ensure that women's participa- and empowerment in a sustainable way. Large numbers of tion does not create domestic conflict (Edmonds 1998; Peters girls bike to school daily (Rao 2002). Bicycles with carrier 2002; Rankin 1999; Starkey 2001). 378 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Multisectoral approaches (Starkey and others 2003). The Bangladesh Second Rural Roads and Markets Project combines these benefits with A multisectoral approach to rural transport for rural liveli- women's empowerment outcomes (box 9.3). (See also Module hoods can address key access issues and contribute to 5 and Thematic Note 1.) achievement of the MDGs. Transport employment and enterprises: Inclusive employ- Multisectoral strategies: The World Bank Africa Travel and ment policies in labor-based construction, repair and Transport Project concluded that providing water was an maintenance, and other transport employment with fair important way of addressing transport needs. Africa trans- wages can increase economic and social empowerment, port programs in several countries are engaged in the prepa- particularly for women. Targets and contract requirements ration of integrated rural development plans that include the with specific clauses in bidding documents for construc- provision of basic services. Similarly, Economic and Sector Work on "Rural Infrastructure in Peru" recommends adopt- ing a territorial perspective that links rural economies to sur- Box 9.3 Bangladesh: Second Rural Roads and rounding towns and avoids separate sectoral interventions Markets Project and provides infrastructure services with stronger links to local realities and participation (World Bank 2006). The Bangladesh Second Rural Roads and Market Labor-saving technology: Nontransport interventions Project (1996­2003) provided women the oppor- sometimes provide more cost-effective solutions to reduc- tunity to access labor, product, and financial ing transport burdens than transport options. Nearby access markets for their own economic empowerment, to grain mills, wells, pumps, and wood lots and the use of where previously women had to remain within alternative fuels and fuel-efficient stoves can significantly their households without any income. A social and reduce domestic transport burdens (Edmonds 1998; Starkey gender assessment revealed a demand for mecha- 2001). A study of time saved by use of a new water supply nisms to provide women access to labor and product closer to the household found savings of 120 minutes for markets, equal wages, participation, and decision each household per day in Chad, 17­86 in Kenya, 60 in making. In response, the project reserved 30 percent Lesotho, 106 in Mozambique, and 100 in Zaire. In Zambia of the road construction jobs, 30 percent of the mar- transport efficiency more than doubled when wells were ket management committee positions, 30 percent of the shops, and 100 percent of the tree plantation used. However, in a number of projects, the failure to and maintenance work for women. The project involve women in planning for the source and location of also facilitated the formation of women's contract- new water supplies has resulted in limited or even negative ing societies, traders' associations, self-help groups impacts (Malmberg-Calvo 1994). with savings and revolving loan funds, and Fuel-efficient wood-burning stoves can also reduce trans- microenterprises for road rehabilitation. Partner- port burden. Assuming that firewood consumption and the ships were established with local government distance to collect firewood are equal to that of the average institutions for scaling up and strengthening the household in the Makete, Tanzania, the time spent on fire- activities. Gender was also mainstreamed in the wood collection would be reduced by 73 to 145 hours per government agency to ensure sustainability after year (1.4 to 2.8 hours per week) through the use of an the completion of the project and to scale up the improved wood-burning stove. The corresponding reduc- approach in other sectors, such as water manage- tion in energy would be 6 to 12.2 tonne-kilometers each year. ment, urban development, and flood protection. There was a 50 percent increase in women's In Asia improved stoves also reduce cooking time by 20 to 30 employment and equal wages. Girls' and boys' percent. The estimated total average annual time saving is enrollment in schools has increased dramatically 250 hours (4.7 hours per week) (Malmberg-Calvo 1994). as well. The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, (See also Module 7 and Thematic Note 4.) U.K. Department for International Development, Rural markets: Increasing the density of rural markets and German Gesellschaft für Technische Zusam- reduces transport time and cost and increases market menarbeit have scaled up this approach to cover access, particularly for women, given their domestic burden the entire country. and limited resources. Efficient, affordable transport ser- vices and access to IMTs can also lower the time and cost Sources: Ahmad 2007; Pulley, Lateef, and Begum 2003. required to get to markets and reduce postharvest loss THEMATIC NOTE 1: RURAL TRANSPORT 379 tion companies addressing equal opportunities for women and others 2003). It also provides a means of coordinating combined with accountability through monitoring and access to emergency obstetrical care, accessing informa- evaluation are generally needed to ensure that women are tion on market prices, and conducting business. A project hired and are paid equal wages. For example, contractors in Sierra Leone provided radios to summon vehicles to for the World Bank Mozambique Rural Roads and Bridges take women to hospitals. Another project in Uganda pro- project are required to hire 100 percent local labor, 25 per- vided VHF radios and walkie-talkies to health posts, cent of which must be women. They are also required to ambulances, medical officer vehicles, traditional birth provide HIV and AIDS awareness raising, testing, and attendants, and midwives to improve the referral system treatment for men and women construction workers and (Babinard and Roberts 2006). communities near the roads. HIV and AIDS prevention: Contract clauses on HIV and Grants and access to reasonable credit may be needed AIDS prevention and treatment for construction contracts to enable poor women and men to establish transport- were proposed by World Bank engineers in the Africa region related enterprises. For example, rural road rehabilitation as a practical approach to address the increased incidence of and maintenance projects in Bangladesh, Mozambique, HIV and AIDS where roads were constructed. These con- and Peru set quotas for women's employment. In Peru it tract requirements are now applied in the general health and was necessary to modify the criteria for participation in safety conditions in standard bidding documents of major roadwork, to accept women's agricultural experience as works contracts (more than $10 million) under World Bank relevant for the road tasks. The projects in Bangladesh lending projects for transport. The Asian Development and Peru also provided road-rehabilitation skills training. Bank has similar requirements. In Peru women's participation in road work increased The Western Africa HIV and AIDS project for the Abidjan- from 3.5 percent in 2001 to 24 percent in 2006 (Ahmad Lagos transport corridor aims to increase access to HIV and 2007; Caballero 2007). These projects enabled illiterate AIDS prevention, treatment, support, and care services for women to become entrepreneurs, establish businesses, underserved vulnerable groups (truck drivers, women and earn income for the first time. traders, and sex workers). The project distributes informa- Emergency medical transport: Motorcycle ambulances tion about HIV and AIDs as well as condoms for men and have been operating in several African countries since women, trains health officers, and promotes free movement 1998 to reduce delay in access to emergency care. The of people and goods by reducing cumbersome border- largest number of these is in eastern South Africa with a crossing procedures. The project informs women traders of dozen units each covering a 50-kilometer radius. (Babi- their rights and the documentation required for crossing nard and Roberts 2006). Ethiopia's transport agency is borders to avoid harassment at border checkpoints. It also planning innovative pilots, such as the introduction of trains women sex workers about HIV and AIDS prevention; emergency access cards, to enable the rapid transport of provides free condoms; and gives financial grants to help women in obstructed labor to the nearest capable health them find alternative employment. The project also helps facility. Work with NGOs, the Red Cross, and technical strengthen women's organizations' capacity-raising aware- schools will introduce IMTs to help transport emergency ness of the rights and needs of people living with HIV and patients. Communities will receive tools for labor-based AIDS (World Bank 2007a). construction activities, including culvert and bridge con- struction and maintenance, to help ensure year-round GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR access for emergency transport. These transport activities PRACTITIONERS will complement health and social activities (Clarke 2007; Riverson and others 2005). In Vietnam boats serve as water The following guidelines provide crucial actions needed to ambulances (IFRTD 2003). increase development effectiveness and sustainability of Information and communication technology for trans- rural transport infrastructure and services by taking into port: The rapid expansion of mobile telephones in devel- account the different constraints, opportunities, and needs oping countries can facilitate road improvement schemes of women and men and engaging them in the entire devel- and efficient use of transport services. ICT can enable opment process. Monitoring and evaluation of investment pooling of resources among a wider set of communities in outcomes and impacts using sex-disaggregated beneficiary joint operation of a vehicle or vehicles and enables multi- indicators and gender indicators of progress toward gender use of public transport facilities (Graeco 2002; Starkey equality are also essential (box 9.4). 380 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Box 9.4 Examples of Gender-Sensitive Rural Transport Results Indicators Access Increased women's and men's income from trans- port employment and enterprises Increased number of women and men within two kilometers of an all-weather road Time Reduced time required for transfer of a woman with obstructed labor to emergency care Women's and men's time reduced for domestic Reduced time required for girls and boys to travel to transport tasks (water, fuelwood, food crop collec- school tion, food processing) Increased school enrollment and completion for Women's and men's time reduced for marketing girls and boys transport tasks Women's and men's access to IMT for agriculture Women's and men's time reduced for travel to non- and domestic tasks farm employment Employment and entrepreneurship Affordability Number of women and men employed in transport Percentage of income spent by women and men on construction, transport services, and government transport tariffs transport agencies Number of men and women operating transport- Voice in transport decision making related services Number of women and men participating in road Income committees Number of women and men leading road committees Increased women's and men's income from produce Number of women and men managers in rural marketed using transport services transport agencies Sources: Kunieda and Gauthier 2007; Maramba and Bamberger 2001; Rankin 1999. Policy dialogue: Operations: Increase awareness of government officials and commu- Embed transport-knowledgeable social or gender staff nities that rural transport policies and projects are not in the implementing agency with terms of reference that gender neutral and specific interventions are needed to include gender integration. The gender sensitivity of the ensure that women benefit. implementing agency is a critical factor in achieving Ensure that rural transport policy and strategy are positive outcomes. owned by the beneficiaries through participatory plan- Develop gender action plans as roadmaps for integrating ning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation gender in transport projects. Developing a gender action that includes women as well as men. plan with stakeholder participation ensures community Inform rural transport policies, strategies, projects, and and institutional support and accountability for the project adjustments with social and gender analysis. It is implementation of the activities. essential to understand and address gender differences in Use gender-inclusive mechanisms.Participatory approaches transport needs, constraints, and potential impacts. do not automatically include women. Mechanisms are Ensure that adequate human and financial resources are needed to increase women's participation, such as inclusive allocated to addressing gender and other social dimen- consultations with women by women, quotas for road sions of rural transport at institutional, community, and construction and road committees, outreach and mobi- project levels. lization, socially responsible contract clauses, formation THEMATIC NOTE 1: RURAL TRANSPORT 381 of women producers and processors groups, and Use gender-sensitive results-based monitoring and training for women to level the playing field with men in evaluation to guide rural transport planning and transport work. investment, as well as supervision of project implemen- Work with local women's organizations, NGOs, and tation and impact evaluation. Gendered measures of networks. NGOs with strong institutional capacity and a impact need to be integrated into specific and routine government willing to partner with NGOs can mobilize monitoring processes, such as passenger and house- local support, increase women's participation and decision hold surveys on transport issues. All routine measures making, and provide training. Not all NGOs have the related to beneficiaries should be disaggregated by sex human, organizational, or financial capacity to provide and, where appropriate, age and other social character- the necessary assistance. istics. Where routine measures are not established or Provide awareness raising and technical assistance on sex disaggregated, these need to be developed to assist gender and other social dimensions of rural transport at in building the systems and capacity needed for rou- all levels. tine application. 382 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Energy aking into consideration men's and women's T through this work was integrated into the Bank's 1996 Rural different constraints, needs, and potential contri- Energy Strategy policy paper and into recent projects in butions when designing rural energy policies, pro- Burkina Faso, Lao, Mali, and Senegal. grams, and projects can significantly enhance economic and Energy has been identified as a major input for achieving social development in rural areas and promote the sustain- the MDGs, particularly in rural areas: ability of rural energy investments and services. At present, about 2 billion people do not have access to electricity for Lighting and clean water (which requires energy) can lighting and power, and 3 billion rely on traditional biomass help reduce maternal mortality. for their basic cooking and heating needs. Providing women Safe water can help reduce the incidence of water-borne and men with access to energy helps them meet their basic diseases and mortality for infants and children under five nutritional needs; 95 percent of staple foods need to be years old. cooked to be transformed into human energy (DFID 2002). Lighting and power provide higher returns to investments Providing energy also makes access to clean water possible in schools and education (longer use of facilities, higher (through pumping or purification). Gender disparities in teacher retention rate, longer study time for children). access to rural energy are significant. Women and girls bear Lighting and power are needed to create businesses and the greatest time and health burdens of providing and using generate income and employment, in particular for energy in rural areas, spending as much as three hours a day women who have less access to labor markets and collecting traditional fuels, and 1 million to 2 million of them income-earning opportunities. die prematurely every year from fume inhalation. Men make most of the decisions on the priorities and choice of energy This Thematic Note reviews selected issues and does not technologies. Because women contribute 70 to 80 percent of pretend to be exhaustive. It also offers suggestions for prac- the labor for agricultural production and household work, titioners on how to reflect women's and men's needs and energy equipment that can enhance their productivity would opportunities regularly in the design of energy policies, considerably enhance household and community welfare. programs, and projects and on how to monitor results. A substantive amount of work has been done on gender in energy over the last 20 years, both in academia and among KEY GENDER ISSUES development agencies.1 However, most of the development assistance with a gender dimension benefited fairly small proj- The following discussion looks at the key gender issues to ects, mostly for improved household fuels production and use, consider in energy projects and programs. as well as research projects that documented either the issues or the development benefits of including gender in energy Gender equity and the domestic energy crisis projects or programs. In the World Bank the work on gender in energy has been fairly limited and mostly done through the Although it is a core priority for meeting people's basic Energy Sector Management Assistance Program, Regional needs, domestic energy for household needs-- such as cook- Program for the Traditional Energy Sector, and Asia Alterna- ing, heating and cooling, lighting, and food processing-- tive Energy Program. Some of the knowledge generated until fairly recently has stayed as invisible in energy sector 383 policies, programs, and projects as household tasks are to headaches, and bruises every week (80 percent). In addition, the economy: not counted in GDP, not considered impor- the unsafe use of traditional biomass fuels causing indoor air tant. For example, in Uganda, although 90 percent of energy pollution is now recognized as a major public health issue. consumption is traditional biomass for basic needs and only Children under five years of age account for 56 percent of total 1 percent is electricity, 90 percent of investments have gone deaths from indoor air pollution, the main cause being acute to the electricity sector and 1 percent for domestic energy, lower respiratory infections. The World Health Organization according to 2003 data (Blackden 2007). (2002) estimates that 50 percent of the 2.1 million deaths of Domestic energy tasks in rural areas are disproportion- children under five annually from respiratory infections are ately women's responsibilities, especially when the main attributable to indoor air pollution, lack of adequate heating, sources of energy are collected fuelwood and animal wastes, and other precarious conditions. Women are also more at risk and where women and girls do most of the cooking. One of than men, not just from more acute lower respiratory the main characteristics of these gender disparities is the infection due to smoke inhalation but also from chronic time burden on women and girls and, to some extent, young obstructive pulmonary disease,lung cancer,pulmonary tuber- children of both sexes. Another example from Uganda illus- culosis, eye damage, and having low-birth-weight babies. trates the problem: there the transport burden of women is Finally, women are more at risk of violence (rape, beating, and four times that of men in time spent, it is five times greater injuries), and girls often miss school to assist in wood collec- in volume, and a significant share of this burden consists of tion and other food-processing-related chores, at the expense fuelwood and water. In Nepal women can walk over 20 kilo- of furthering their education. meters on each trip, and the time spent collecting fuelwood Gender-sensitive solutions to the domestic fuel crisis are is at the expense of income-earning activities or rest. By available, even if they are difficult to implement. They imply contrast, when wood sources are significantly closer to a whole range of sociological and behavioral changes, as homesteads, the time gains and therefore the potential eco- well as economic and financial incentives to broaden tech- nomic improvement to the household and the economy are nical options. Solutions range from reforestation with a spe- significant. In Zambia about 600 hours per household could cific focus on establishing conveniently located fuelwood be saved annually if wood sources were within a 30-minute sources that will reduce the transport burden for women, walk from the homesteads. Where modern fuels (kerosene, helping households obtain better stoves and switch to mod- liquid propane gas) are available and affordable, men's share ern fuels, and developing indigenous renewable energy of time spent on procuring energy on markets increases, as resources for electricity generation: documented in an Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRAD) study (Parikh and Sharma 2006) in Where efficient stoves and fuels other than biomass are Himachal Pradesh, India (table 9.3). available, women save 2 to 3 hours a day, which they can Another major characteristic of gender disparities in use for alternative productive activities or leisure.2 domestic energy is the impact on women's and children's Where mechanical energy is available to draw water, till, health.In Himachal Pradesh 19 percent of the people reported and transport crops, girls' school attendance and per- symptoms such as backaches (50 percent), neck aches, formance increase by the equivalent of one or two Table 9.3 India: Difference in Gender Responsibilities Due to Difference in Need and Uses Gender (%) Age (Average) Fuel type Men Women Men Women Agricultural residue 24.5 75.5 19.0 32.5 Cooking gas (liquid propane) 100.0 0.0 29.0 n.a. Dung cake 4.0 96.0 57.0 34.0 Kerosene 58.5 41.5 21.5 36.0 Wood 38.0 62.0 53.5 29.0 Others 60.0 40.0 51.5 41.5 Source: Parikh and Sharma 2006. Note: Young and senior women--biomass; Young men--kerosene and liquid propane gas (LPG). 384 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS grades, and when girls are educated, they can enter the becomes a commodity rather than being collected.4 job market (UNDP 2001). Consequently the integration of gender into the decision- When electric power is available for women to have making process toward the transition to safer and more access to telephones, radio, Internet, and television, they efficient fuels for cooking, lighting, and power could be develop businesses, get better prices for their crops, and accelerated if both women and men participated in income- enjoy a bit of leisure (ESMAP 2003b). generating activities. This, in turn, would mean introducing When women develop commercial energy businesses, energy solutions that free women's labor for higher income- regardless of the primary source of energy, the economic earning opportunities and providing women with opportu- value of their labor is recognized, gender relationships nities to be more effective energy suppliers, regardless of the change in the community--as seen, for example, in the fuel source: improved wood or charcoal production, liquid Char Montaz project in Bangladesh (ESMAP 2004) and propane gas or kerosene marketing, and any other energy the World Bank PROGEDE Project (World Bank supply enterprise. 2003)--and women's economic power increases. Gender equity in accessing rural energy The selection of the solutions, therefore, requires the assets and services equitable participation of women and men in decision mak- ing, as discussed in the following section. Traditional energy assets include woodlots or community forestry as well as collection rights over animal waste. Mod- ern energy assets range from individual household energy Gender equity in decision making systems--solar home systems, biogas systems, on-farm Given their traditional household responsibilities, rural windmills, dual-purpose diesel engines (for irrigation dur- women are the main decision makers regarding fuelwood ing the day and electricity generation at night)--to com- collection: when, where, and with which group of women to munity systems, such as microhydro or diesel plants and do it. Rural women also manage biomass use and adjust to community wind farms. Individual households and com- growing biomass fuel shortages by changing food-processing munities rarely have access to grid electricity generation techniques, cooking fewer meals, and changing the types of assets, but communities or farmers' associations can be the food eaten, where possible.3 By contrast, rural women tradi- owners of electricity distribution assets (for example, rural tionally tend to have limited decision-making power about electricity cooperatives in Bangladesh, the Dominican household purchases of energy commodities (candles, bat- Republic, and the Philippines). teries), including priorities in energy expenditures and Access to energy assets tends to be gender biased to investments, and choice of technologies. When it comes to women's detriment because of traditional land rights, the community decisions, men for the most part attend com- greater participation of men in community infrastructure munity-level meetings at which community investments decisions, and women's greater difficulty in accessing are discussed and decided, and they rarely report to women credit to acquire assets or services for lack of collateral. on those decisions (Agarwal 2001). At the national level few The frequent argument that women are reluctant to women are among the energy policy makers, either in rele- change does not hold. For example, the study done in vant ministries or in parliaments. However, because rural Himachal Pradesh (Parikh and Sharma 2006), docu- women are the main suppliers and consumers of energy, mented that 71 percent of women there were willing to associating women with energy would benefit individual pay to install a window to improve ventilation and reduce households, whole communities, and whole countries. indoor air pollution, and 82 percent were willing to use Educating women about energy options and technologies clean fuel (table 9.5). Informing women about energy can increase women's abilities to contribute to energy solu- solutions and encouraging them to organize to develop tions. Table 9.4 lists the areas and range of issues in which their own energy assets is one well-tested way to correct the participation of women, not only men, in decision the gender disparities in access to energy assets and making is essential. services. An example of this is found in a photovoltaic Empirical research shows that households' transition to pump project in Brazil, where the system reduces modern fuels changes when women's and men's labor is val- women's drudgery and contributes to increased economic ued as a function of income opportunities from the time activity, better health, and improved living conditions saved through using modern fuels, including when wood (Branco 1997). THEMATIC NOTE 2: ENERGY 385 Table 9.4 Energy Issues Demanding Gender-Balanced Participation Energy choice Issues Gender perspective Woodlots Plantation, location, and choice of trees for Proximity of woodlots saves family labor, mostly their calorific value; conditions of utilization; women's and girls', reduces risks of whether to continue fuelwood collection harassment, diminishes transport burden; from natural forest or wasteland or selection of trees with higher calorific value establish a plantation. reduces volume to be transported. Fuel switching Whether to move from wood to more costly Redistribution of time allocated to fuel but higher calorific value, fuels such as procurement between men and women; time kerosene and liquid propane gas (LPG; when saved by women can be reallocated to other available) for cooking; limited LPG- activities (leisure, learning, child care, distribution networks, high cost of first productive activities); higher calorific value of canister; women's time collecting, modern fuels saves women's household transporting, and preparing fuelwood and expenditures. other biomass fuels is not given any economic or financial value; when the price of modern cooking fuels increases, the poor revert to traditional fuels or women cook and eat less. Cooking fuels versus electricity Whether to invest in cleaner and more Women, girls, and small children are the main efficient cooking fuels versus electricity beneficiaries of cleaner and more efficient fuels in terms of time saved, reduced health risks. Cooking and other household Improved stoves needed for more efficient use Health gains from improved stoves may provide appliances of biomass and to reduce health risks; radio higher benefits to the family than investing in and television provide information and a radio or a television, although women and leisure girls will initially benefit more than men. Use of household energy When and for what to use power and lighting. Women will optimize the use of power and electricity to household chores, children's studying time, and nighttime productive uses before using leisure-oriented appliances. Men tend to be more sensitive to the latter use. Individual household versus Investing in energy to serve community Women tend to give higher priority than men community energy services facilities rather than individual households to investing in energy to serve a community clinic, school, or a center for productive services where they can work outside the homestead (food grinding, productive activities, telecenters). Off-grid versus grid extension Off-grid electricity solutions may be provided Women are inclined to see the immediate faster than grid-extension when benefits of off-grid solutions rather than infrastructure is limited waiting indefinitely for the grid. Institutional arrangement for Privately owned versus cooperative or Women more easily see the opportunity from energy service provision community-owned energy enterprises cooperative or community ownership for personal empowerment as well as meeting the needs of the whole community. Technical options Limited number of women managers, Women managers, engineers, and technicians engineers, and technicians in energy tend to be more sensitive to designing enterprises technical options that meet women's constraints (location of the Solar Home Systems, electrical boxes, weight of improved stoves, and others). Policy making and choices Targeting of subsidies, determination of At the national level, women decision makers priorities for investing in energy will weigh the pros and cons of targeting infrastructure and services, tailoring of subsidies for cooking fuels, which benefit programs to meet women's as well as men's women more directly versus for electricity needs connections, and will give stronger consideration to domestic and productive use of energy issues. Source: Author. 386 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Table 9.5 India: Women Willing to Use Clean Fuels in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh Yes (82.5%) No (17.5%) Reason Response (%) Reason Response (%) Easy accessibility 7.0 The place is too far away 5.0 Convenient (to turn on/off) 18.0 Supply is inadequate 7.5 Cleaner household 36.0 We forgo our share of rations 12.5 Time saving 39.0 We do not need it 26.0 It is expensive 49.0 Total 100.0 Total 100.0 Source: Parikh and Sharma 2006. Gender equity in accessing rural energy GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR business opportunities PRACTITIONERS The supply of rural energy services can be a significant busi- The bias of rural energy programs toward rural electrification, ness in rural areas, creating income and employment. The noted earlier in the discussion of issues in this Module, causes participation of women and men in various energy supply women's energy needs and solutions to be neglected. Correct- businesses tends to be technology driven, with a higher par- ing for this bias requires a shift from the supply-driven ticipation of men in such activities as electricity generation approach that has dominated numerous rural energy develop- based on diesel, microhydro, modern biogas, and solar ment programs to a demand-oriented approach. Some sug- power, whereas women's businesses are based on traditional gestions for addressing these problems and others related to biomass (charcoal and dung cakes). Providing women with gender in energy follow. opportunities to create modern energy businesses is therefore Undertake gender audits. The gender audit is a tool devel- important to correct disparities, and successful examples are oped by ENERGIA.5 Gender audits look at energy policies, now emerging from many countries (box 9.5). government practices, and institutions. They identify gaps Improved availability of energy services provides oppor- in energy and gender approaches and formulate recommen- tunities for creating new businesses. In the Philippines and dations to fill the gaps. Many governments--for example, in Vietnam, households with electricity have two or more Cambodia and Uganda--have now elected to have gender times as many businesses as households without electricity focal points in all the technical ministries to work closely (fig. 9.2). Studies also document that rural women even with the ministry of gender and social affairs. Practical sug- more than rural men become entrepreneurs as soon as gestions to ensure gender-equitable rural energy policies lighting and power becomes available, starting home-based include the following: or community-center-based businesses. In the Philippines the majority of home-based microbusinesses have been Ensure the participation of women's groups in policy started by women (ESMAP 2002). In addition, lessons from formulation. experience highlight that rural energy programs need to Systematically question the impact of rural energy policy include a "productive uses" component to couple the devel- interventions not only on women's and men's time and opment of the energy services with the development of work profiles but also on the control over the resources income-earning opportunities that can generate enough and on their social and economic empowerment. income and thus revenues to pay for the service. In Bolivia Collect and use sex-disaggregated data to monitor the rural electrification program also includes a rural ICT progress. For example, monitoring the results of a pol- and business development program, including microcredit icy intended to expand access to off-grid electricity ser- for the development of new businesses. It is critical, there- vices might reveal that women's uptake is less than fore, to ensure that both women and men participate in men's because they lack access to credit and collateral such income-generating programs. For women, such pro- such as land titles. Pricing and financing mechanisms grams enable progress toward meeting a major set of their should be analyzed for differential impacts on women strategic economic and welfare needs. and men. THEMATIC NOTE 2: ENERGY 387 Box 9.5 Bangladesh: Poor Women Bring Light and Power to the Community of Char Montaz When the project started in 1998 with ESMAP financ- fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and LED lamps, controllers ing, Char Montaz, a small remote island in the Gulf of for solar home systems, and phone chargers, and to run Bengal, had only one electrical minigrid serving a few a diesel-based minigrid and other services, such as a shops on the marketplace. Ten years later, an increasing battery-recharging station. This women-owned enter- number of households have solar home systems, and prise, now selling mostly solar home systems in Char the marketplace is well lit and includes many new Montaz and other islands and communities of southern power-based activities. A group of 35 poor women, Bangladesh, has been the major vehicle for bringing most of whom only have three to five years of primary power and light to these remote communities. Today, education, are behind this breakthrough in bringing however, they mostly employ men in the solar home modern energy services to the island. They were pro- business, while women are using the available light vided with training to organize as a cooperative and power for other types of home-based businesses microenterprise, to assemble DC lamps, compact and shops. Source: Lallement 2008. Figure 9.2 Rural Philippines and Vietnam: Households with Business Income 100 % without business 80 % with business 60 households in 40 Business 20 % 0 Electricity No Electricity Electricity No Electricity Philippines Philippines Vietnam Vietnam Source: ESMAP 2002. Provide gender-awareness and sensitivity training for policy mechanisms that will best respond to the needs of all the makers and program and project designers, including those in members of the community. The needs assessment provides financing agencies, such as the World Bank. Gender sensitivity the foundations for longer-term programs. in national rural energy policies is most likely to be advanced Integrate gender monitoring and evaluation into the full in cases where government policies related to gender equity project cycle. Implementation of rural energy programs is are already in place. usually done in a series of projects that span four distinct Adopt a demand-oriented approach. The demand-oriented phases: preparation, design, implementation, and postproject approach starts with the assumption that understanding impact assessments (Dayal 2007). Mirroring the recom- gender and poverty issues is an important part of the devel- mendation to inform the gender dimension and impact of opment and implementation of rural energy projects and rural energy policies, a need is present to integrate moni- will eventually impact the viability and effectiveness of the toring and evaluation parameters for projects at the prepa- projects. The needs assessment provides information to proj- ration stage, so that the input of the potential beneficiaries ect designers, households, and communities to make and participants helps shape the design of the project. informed decisions on the choice of rural energy technolo- Use gender-assessment tools. Numerous tools have been gies and services, institutional arrangements, and financing designed over time to conduct gender assessments,6 but two 388 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS distinct tools are recommended here: participatory assess- energy projects. The surveys involve collecting quantitative ments and socioeconomic impact surveys (ESMAP 2003a). data through questionnaires (box 9.6), random samples of The types of activities in participatory assessments include populations, and formal interviews. Participatory assessments community mapping, stakeholder meetings, focus group dis- are more focused on local conditions, whereas surveys have cussions, and other participatory techniques. Socioeconomic the merits of generating information that can be generalized surveys provide baseline data for the people living in the proj- to a broader population. A good example of a project where ect area, and when conducted at periodic intervals, they allow these tools have been used is the Lao PDR Rural Electrification the tracking of progress and the long-term impact of rural Project financed by the World Bank (World Bank 2007). Box 9.6 Topics for Survey Questionnaires Socioeconomic profile of actual and potential bene- Reasons for not connecting to the grid or purchasing ficiaries and customers improved energy services Fuel and energy use before improved electricity Barriers to the adoption of improved electricity or services, including energy from all sources, such as other technologies and services candles, biomass, batteries, electric grid, and diesel Incentives to overcome barriers to adoption of generator sets improved electricity or other technologies and services Monthly expenditures on fuels and energy, by source Appliances in households and small businesses, Potential and actual willingness to pay for energy including those with and without electricity services, by application Time use (men and women) as it relates to existing Energy use as it relates to substitutes for improved energy use and appliances. electricity services (kerosene, candles, and others) Energy use as it relates to substitutes for improved cooking/heating/cooling services (biomass, kerosene, paraffin, and ice) Source: ESMAP 2003a. THEMATIC NOTE 2: ENERGY 389 T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Information and CommunicationTechnologies I n an increasingly globalized and networked world, rural as the technologies converge further. The three defining women and men should have access to a range of characteristics of modern ICTs are their convergence, their information to enable them to make informed choices speed, and, increasingly, their comparatively low operating concerning their livelihoods, management of resources, costs. These characteristics offer a broad range of possibilities community health, and development, and to understand for information collection, manipulation, transfer and trans- and influence the policy decisions that impact them. The mission, storage, and presentation, which can be effectively role of ICTs in enabling women and men to access and com- applied in rural contexts.As technologies and software appli- pile this kind of information cannot be overestimated. cations improve and their diffusion spreads, ICTs offer rural Despite much support for the diffusion of ICTs in rural populations new ways of networking and communicating. areas, gender disparity in access to ICT services continues, ICTs complement other forms of communication that are much to women's detriment. A widespread assumption that indispensable to improving rural livelihoods (box 9.7). rural women have no real use for or interest in ICTs persists. At the time of writing, the technology of choice in terms Examples from around the world prove otherwise. of bridging the information gap between rich and poor is the ICTs are commonly referred to as comprising the con- cellular telephone and not the personal computer: "emerging verging modern-day technologies of phone, wireless, and markets will be wireless-centric, not PC-centric."1 Mobile Internet. ICTs in a rural context, however, must also include telephone subscriptions will continue to increase at a very traditional technologies, such as radio, satellite radio, and dramatic pace, rising from an estimated 15 million in 2004 to television. Over time, we can expect these distinctions to blur 191.8 million by 2014--raising the penetration level from Box 9.7 Communication for Development Communication for Development is based on the with the aim of reaching a consensus on the devel- premise that successful rural development calls for the opment problems being faced and the options for conscious and active participation of the intended ben- their solution. eficiaries at every stage of the development process. Mobilize people for development action and assist in Rural development cannot take place without changes solving problems and misunderstandings that may in attitudes and behavior among the people concerned. arise during plan implementation. Communication for Development is defined as the Enhance the pedagogical and communication planned and systematic use of communication, skills of development agents (at all levels) so that through interpersonal channels, ICTs, audiovisuals, and they may have a more effective dialogue with their mass media in an effort to accomplish the following: audience. Apply communication technology to training and Collect and exchange information among all those extension programs, particularly at the grassroots concerned in planning a development initiative level, to improve their quality and impact. Source: FAO and GTZ 2006: 3­7. 390 2.2 percent to 19.4 percent in all least developed countries.2 needs. Broadly speaking, these gender differences in a rural Wireless phones allow farmers to check prices in different context include the facets listed in table 9.6. markets before selling their produce, they make it easier for The Warana Wired Village Project in India serves to illus- people to find work, they can be shared by a village, they pose trate the unintended implications of not including women. fewer problems for the illiterate, and the content is in the local Warana lies in the sugarcane belt of the most prosperous dialect and instantly shared. regions in Maharashtra. Kiosks were set up in 70 villages and One limitation to ICT access is its dependence on a equipped with a computer and printer, which were net- dependable source of energy. Radios may run on batteries, worked to the Central Administration Building via wireless but cell phones and computers are ultimately dependent on telephony. Looking back, project staff pinpointed weaknesses a supply of electricity. In other words, the physical access to of the project, many of which were attributed to the omis- ICTs in rural areas (including community connectivity sion of women as beneficiaries. Warana neither assessed the points such as telecenters or Internet cafés) is reliant on a information needs of the community nor promoted local dependable energy infrastructure.3 ownership and participation. Because Warana did not attend At the core of ICTs is the range of interactive communica- to women and poor people's ICT access, these groups were tion tools that have the potential to support participatory marginalized.Women were not encouraged to become infor- mechanisms, enabling those with access direct engagement mation kiosk operators, and the resulting increase in men's around the decisions that affect them. The connectivity factor, digital literacy exacerbated the men-women digital divide. whether phone-to-phone or computer-to-computer, changes The poorest, landless laborers and tribal groups did not use the mode and immediacy of communications and, in the the kiosks, even though these groups would benefit the most process, fosters different organizational relationships between from the available information about employment and different stakeholders. The continuing momentum in the educational opportunities.4 development of mobile connectivity has important implica- There are a number of sociocultural factors common to tions for men and women in terms of their own mobility, women's access to and use of ICTs in rural areas worldwide: security, privacy, and the time it takes to access information. Cultural attitudes discriminate against women's access to technology and technology education: what would a WHY GENDER PERSPECTIVES MATTER IN woman farmer want with a computer? IMPROVING ICT POLICIES AND PROJECTS Compared to men, rural women are less likely to own Gender perspective is critical in ICT for three main reasons: communication assets, such as a radio or cell phone. Rural women are less likely to allocate their income to Rural women face significant disadvantages in information, use in public communications facilities, except when communication, transactions, access to services, access to they need to communicate with family or to arrange for skills and education, access to earning and employment income transfers. opportunities, and "voice." Rural women are often reluctant to visit "cyber cafés" or ICTs (the full range, including everything from radio to public Internet centers, which are often owned by men mobile phones) can be highly effective tools in addressing and visited by men. The café culture often excludes girls these disadvantages. and women from frequenting them. However,for ICT interventions to be effective (and,indeed, Rural women's multiple roles and heavy domestic respon- to avoid making women's disadvantages worse), they must sibilities limit the time they can allocate to learning and be designed and implemented in a gender-sensitive way using ICTs, until and unless they realize the potential from the start. information benefits (and time-saving elements) of using these technologies. Although gender-differentiated data are difficult to find, reports indicate gender differences--in particular that Unless gender considerations are incorporated into women's rates of Internet access and use do not automatically employment policies, ICT diffusion strategies, or national rise with national rates of Internet penetration (Hafkin 2007). policies, strategies may inadvertently result in negative An awareness of gender differences between men's and consequences that compound gender and income dispari- women's socioeconomic contexts is important in determining ties. Many developing countries are turning to the ICT sec- how to deliver ICT programs that meet these differentiated tor as a new means of attracting foreign direct investment, THEMATIC NOTE 3: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES 391 Table 9.6 Major Factors Regarding Gender Differences in Rural Populations Gender differences Major factors Higher information paucity for and among women Rural women face narrow choices of information and low perceptions of compared to men the value of indigenous knowledge.The negative effects of this poverty of information in terms of health, agriculture and livestock farming systems, harvesting and marketing, and environmental resource management put the typical rural woman at a distinct disadvantage. Women's relative lower access to and control Lack of access to and control over land, water, and energy resources is a over resources key factor of economic poverty, social exclusion, political subordination, and cultural marginalization. Relative to men, women are more likely to suffer the consequence of systemic loss of control over resources, and this also applies to their control over ICT assets. Imbalances in education and training between men Rural girls and women face a challenging set of circumstances in which and women the school system and the social structure reinforce each other and work against women's equal access to training, from primary education to higher qualifications to lifelong learning. Lack of balance in representation of women's and Whether through intermediary agencies, local government bodies, farmers, men's needs and interests associations, microcredit institutions, or capacity-building organizations, rural women lack a voice in determining or negotiating their strategic needs, and again, compared to men, are more likely to be left behind in articulating their specific interests. Communication media also play a dual role in reinforcing and challenging gender stereotypes. Different gender roles in food production In many regions of the world, women play a vital, if underrecognized and unsupported, role in food production.They have less access to extension training, affordable credit, and loans than do men.This works against their access to ICTs as well. By implication, women have less opportunity to articulate, negotiate, or act upon their concerns in the food production sector at the policy level.At the same time, research indicates that women make up to 65 percent of day-to-day on-farm decisions and 80 percent of marketing decisions. Women's greater dependence on environmental Rural women derive a significant portion of their total income from income ecosystem goods and services (forests, grasslands, lakes, and marine waters provide resources, such as building materials, fuel, fish, medicinal plants) and from small-scale agriculture. Because of this dependence on environmental income, the poor are especially vulnerable to ecosystem degradation and to physical disasters brought on by climate change, such as increased hurricanes, droughts, erosion, and flooding. Source: Author. primarily in data entry and call center facilities. These an existing institution, such as in Self-Employed Women´s facilities, however, are currently located in a handful of Associations, in which women learn to apply different kinds countries: China, India, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, and the of ICTs to a wide range of activities. Philippines. The projected development of this aspect of labor-intensive, low-skilled ICT work seems to be no ICTS RELEVANTTO RURAL WOMEN different from the route followed by the long-established garment and electronics industries: poor wages, poor work ICTs have an increasingly important role in the delivery of conditions, the absence of workers' representation, little to services and infrastructure to women in rural areas. In no skill or technology transfer, absence of career growth, many countries ICTs are an integral part, if not the under- and feminization of the low-end, low-paying jobs. Some lying platform, in the delivery of municipal services. e-commerce­based initiatives in which women are pro- This includes software applications in the budgeting and ducing crafts or handmade products to market online do forecasting, monitoring, and planning, and increasingly not in fact provide women with direct control over ICTs. the delivery of a wide array of critical services in rural They are quite far removed from the decisions and the areas. ICT software can be applied to monitor systemic applications around ICTs. In contrast, initiatives exist in infrastructural issues, such as water and sanitation services, which ICTs are integrated comprehensively throughout energy, and transport. 392 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS A growing aspect of ICTs is their potential to provide a Teacher) in Somalia was launched in 2002 by the Africa secure and mobile platform for commercial engagement and Educational Trust with the BBC World Service Trust.5 This financial transactions, with its related income, credit, and education project teaches rural Somali women and men to savings implications. ICTs can supplement or support read and write through radio programming and training. financial services through applications that extend and The program includes three teaching elements: a half-hour manage credit support to women-run rural enterprises. weekly radio program broadcast by the BBC World Service, Migrant and other income remittances that many rural print materials, and face-to-face teaching. The radio pro- families depend upon are also facilitated through SMS grams use materials almost entirely from Somalia that look (short message system) or e-mails to request money from at human rights issues, ways of sustaining the environment, relatives or to receive notice of a transfer waiting for pickup and strategies people can use to be healthy. Literacy teaching at the local post office outlet. Debit or stored-value "smart" is based on key words that emerge from the radio programs. cards are other technologies that facilitate remittances. The The radio programs are heard all over Somalia and in neigh- all-women Dhoblai Milk Cooperative Society of Naila village boring countries, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and in Rajasthan, India, has pioneered a business accounting and Yemen. In this instance, ICTs supplement and enhance more payment system, using smart cards for its members. The sys- traditional learning methods.6 tem helps maintain accurate milk supply records as well as In Bolivia, AGRECOL initiated a documentation secure payment transactions. SMART money in the Philip- methodology project to help farmers share local knowledge pines allows remittance senders in 17 countries to transfer and develop local capabilities through multimedia presenta- money electronically to their subscribers' home accounts tions.7 Earlier methods of information exchange were costly, and smart cards (see Module 3). and minimal sharing of information took place between Rural women often supplement their income from agri- those people who did and did not attend. Moreover, few cultural activities through engaging in a wide range of other women could leave their houses to participate, thus confin- activities. ICTs and the digitization of information enable ing the benefits of information exchange to men farmers. businesses and companies to locate and manage production Recognizing these limitations and the interest of farmers to away from the main site (for example, Bangladeshi village record the farmer visits (some farmers would bring tape girls sewing shoes for a local shoe-exporting company). This recorders or cameras to the exchanges), AGRECOL made has implications both for the individual employment of ICTs available to the rural farmers. Now the Quechua- women and for the growth of clusters of small enterprises speaking farmers use digital cameras, laptop computers, and and their ICT investments. ICTs offer women the possibil- multimedia projectors to record and share their local ities of both flexible locations and flexible hours through knowledge, particularly about organic agriculture and telecommuting or self-employment. Conversely, women's resource management. The local facilitators and farmers are "flexibility" may also result in casual, part-time, piece-rate, the ones who choose a topic, solicit experiences, develop a and seasonal employment. storyline and script, select appropriate technologies, carry out the documentation, edit material, create a presentation, screen the presentation with the community, and revise the GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED product until it is an accurate portrayal. Local appropriation Innovative Activity Profile 2 describes the gender approach of ICTs is evident in the ways in which local groups have of Community e-Centers established in Malaysia. Other broadened the scope of their presentations. Women have examples from the African Great Lakes Region, Armenia, benefited from the documentation process through Brazil, Fiji, India, Nepal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and increased access to information, which improves planning Uruguay are presented below. for farming and natural resource management, which in turn can increase crop yields and income. Certain features of the project are indicative of the First Addressing rural women's illiteracy issues Mile Principles outlined at the end of this Thematic Note. The Radio and mobile telephony can jump-start women's access selected ICTs emphasize oral and visual communication, to information without literacy. Simple and effective appli- which not only is in keeping with local culture but also cations have been developed and applied in the field to strengthens the processes of local knowledge that can disap- enable illiterate users to access information critical to their pear through migration and the undervaluing of local culture. socioeconomic welfare. Macallinka Raddiyaha (the Radio The documentation process can be used to build relationships THEMATIC NOTE 3: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES 393 with local authorities and other development organizations, radio and television programs that promote "positive" thereby improving the collective capacity of the community. attitudes toward women's reproductive and sexual health. The presentations have created new learning opportunities for Programs include soap operas and phone-in shows dealing rural households, and women farmers who had been excluded with issues such as HIV and AIDS, domestic violence, genital can now be reached effectively (Piepenstock, Arratia, and mutilation of women, and birth spacing. Aguilar 2006). Addressing imbalances in education and training Developing content relevant to rural women Women's digital literacy can be supported through a range The Kubere Centre in Uganda aims at improving access to of ICTs, which are an important interactive tool of educa- information for rural women on the basis of the outcomes tion. Good examples can be identified of applied forms of of information needs assessments. Women indicated that formal and informal peer learning. Planners can introduce their main interest was in farming techniques, market prices women to the concept of lifelong learning and provide them for farmer produce, and health and education issues. The with the tools to create their own teaching materials for information center has newspapers and magazines and dis- other women. Distance education through ICTs also pres- tributes leaflets and brochures on a variety of topics, many ents an important opportunity for the otherwise isolated or of which are agriculture and health related. It has Internet time-constrained woman. connectivity and makes use of World Satellite Radio as a Many rural dwellers in developing countries do not source of external information. A reporter seeks out rural perceive domestic violence and the lack of access to educa- communities and collects local information, which is tion, information, and social services as violations of basic repackaged to suit the needs and capacities of the recipients. human rights. To redress such injustices, the Digital Broad- This results in folders and leaflets and in special radio pro- cast Initiative provided access to locally produced, high- grams, produced by women for women, which are then quality information on topics that assist communities in broadcast on community radio. Women in rural communi- advancing their social and economic development efforts. ties have established listener groups and will gather to listen From 2001 to 2006 the initiative distributed vital informa- to the radio. Each of these groups has a mobile phone tion, education, and leadership training to remote rural through which they receive information on market prices communities through satellite and AM/FM radio. The proj- and with which they can phone into radio shows during ect was piloted in Nepal and was later implemented in question-and-answer sessions. The women were very Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, the Lao People's Democratic enthusiastic about both the radio and the mobile phone Republic, and Tajikistan. Tackling issues such as agriculture, because the devices were easy to use, created a sense of com- HIV and AIDS prevention, women's empowerment, law and munity, and did not require them to travel or to acquire justice, and landmine awareness, programming was distrib- complex technical skills. uted through a combination of satellite and FM/AM radio and multimedia and solar technologies selected to meet local needs and infrastructure. Because many remote listen- Enabling women to access resources ing communities lack sufficient energy resources, Equal more effectively Access distributed car batteries and solar panels to fuel satel- ICTs are becoming an integral platform for the delivery of lite receivers. In Nepal a rural women's listening group critical services to the poor. As government social and edu- spearheaded a program against the social ills of drinking cation services such as land ownership databases, registra- alcohol and gambling. Following a program on safe migra- tion for health support, and information on legal rights are tion, a young Cambodian woman decided against migra- diffused, women are better able to tap into these information tion after following the program's advice on checking the channels for their economic and strategic needs. The Well specifics of her potential job, fearing she would be trafficked Women Media Project in the Horn of Africa and African into the sex trade.9 Great Lakes Region was launched by Health Unlimited,8 a The e-Lanka Development Project in Sri Lanka uses United Kingdom­based NGO that supports communities e-government applications in education services that are affected by war or conflict to achieve better health and well- tailored to promote women's skills training.10 Telecenters being. The Well Women Media Project works with local are set up around the country to provide access to ICT ser- audiences in Rwanda and Somalia to develop interactive vices, including Internet, e-mail, and computer classes for 394 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS poor rural communities that would not otherwise have collection and dissemination capacities of the partners are access. The centers are run by rural businesswomen and developed through linkages with rural community radio men (women form the majority of owner-operators). A stations and the development of local content by the rural voucher scheme initially grants women and rural youth free women themselves. Various technologies support the Dimi- access to rural telecenters. This is phased out once they tra network. The FAO-Dimitra Web site contains an online understand the potential uses of ICT and the value of the database in English and French with information on over facilities and services; then they pay a few cents per hour to 1,420 organizations, 3,000 projects, and almost 1,000 publi- make the centers financially sustainable. The World Bank cations. In addition, Dimitra has provided information at currently lends an estimated $1 billion per year to various all levels using different media (television and radio broad- e-government projects. Services such as online access to casts, films, press articles, demonstrations, newsletters, land, voter registration, and license applications can bene- databases, and CD-ROMs).11 fit women and youth, especially when such services would Fiji's Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises N otherwise be available only in the capital. Development (FRIEND) is recognized for its creative and effective efforts to alleviate poverty by creating opportuni- ties for communities using existing skills and resources in a Representing rural women's needs and interests meaningful manner that benefit rural women. FRIEND uses As women use ICTs (including radio and video) for com- a variety of ICTs: the organization's Web site and newsletter munications and information purposes, they are able to advertise their projects, initiatives, and products; e-mails relay direct messages to policy makers and initiate change in are one of the primary means of communicating and their interests. The Rural Outreach Programme in Uganda exchanging information; mobile phones are used to reach uses a variety of information and communication strategies rural areas; a partnership with Femlink facilitates the broad- and tools to raise women's awareness about their rights. casting of community initiatives on radio programs; and Women journalists visit 10 rural districts four times a year some of the projects have been televised. FRIEND has three to conduct participatory workshops on issues ranging from programs--income generation, savings program, and gov- reproductive rights to constitutional rights to political and ernance--that are targeted in rural contexts. Almost three- economic rights. Issues raised are often adapted into plays quarters of the participants in the income generation and that are staged within the communities and tickets are sold. savings programs are women. Women are encouraged to use Between visits, communities organize into radio listening their traditional skills and locally available resources, and so clubs to discuss programs developed for rural populations. a clear message is given that local (indigenous) knowledge During field visits that last four or five days, women jour- and those who use it are valuable. FRIEND addresses gender nalists record participants' experiences, which are aired on and rural-urban disparities in unequal access to education Radio Uganda or published in local newspapers. and training by offering diverse trainings to participants In 1994 the Dimitra Project was launched by the Euro- and their families. Training courses range from leadership, pean Commission as a unique tool for women and their production, and packaging regulations to business plan- organizations to make their voices heard at the national and ning, budgeting, marketing, and savings options. FRIEND is international levels. The Dimitra network acts as a two-way committed to ensuring that rural women and men articu- communication channel by bringing information from the late their own ideas for economic empowerment and to fol- grassroots level up to decision makers and vice versa. Dimi- lowing up with the necessary support to make the ideas a tra's main goal is to empower rural women and to improve reality. In doing so, FRIEND is challenging the lack of their living conditions and status by highlighting the representation of rural women.12 extent and value of their contributions to food security and sustainable development. The network operates on Supporting women as food producers and three basic principles: (1) working closely with its 10 local natural resource managers partners in Africa and the Near East to highlight local knowledge, (2) encouraging the active commitment of The AGRECOL Andes Foundation in Brazil uses participa- civil society organizations, and (3) networking to promote tory learning settings to teach the processes of recording and and support the exchange of good practices, ideas, and cataloguing sustainable agricultural practices using ICTs. experiences using traditional and new communication tech- Local facilitators are trained to use a combination of digital nologies and tools and local languages. The information camera and computer presentation software to produce THEMATIC NOTE 3: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES 395 animated presentations. As a result, farmers are articulating content development. In addition to providing resources, their local knowledge and contributing to the construction of the rural radio Web site supports an online community of new knowledge. For instance, a group of women working radio practitioners around the world. A dedicated portal with medicinal plants and a group of beekeepers generated also provides specialized content, including a warning new group knowledge out of their individual experiences. service on food security from Simbani Africa and a news The beekeeping group went on to use ICTs to generate service that focuses on human rights and democracy, gen- materials for project management, fundraising, and market- der and development, environment, HIV and AIDS, and ing. In other words, communities will find new applications food security.14 of ICTs for their own benefit (as opposed to ICTs creating The Network and Capacity Building for Rural Women in communities for ICT benefits) (Burch 2007: 40­41). Armenia project's aims were to improve the livelihoods and The Network of Groups of Rural Women of Uruguay status of rural women and to support gender equality in the coordinates women's groups from rural areas in south and local community through teaching them ICT and its use, to central Uruguay. In 1991 rural women began organizing contribute to the establishment of a women's club that into self-help groups, and by 1994 the network was for- would promote information exchange among rural women malized. The network has five goals: (1) minimize gender and disseminate up-to-date information, and to strengthen e-exclusion, which is particularly prevalent in rural com- existing ties among various agencies and rural women munities; (2) develop access to information for activities through improving women's access to ICTs. The project in rural areas; (3) facilitate access of rural people to the work design reflects the First Mile Principles (outlined in the fol- market in equal conditions to the people with formal educa- lowing section of this Thematic Note), in particular through tion on ICTs; (4) disseminate ICT training to rural commu- its solicitation of local women's problems and needs. Not nities so they can develop social and productive activities; and only has the initiative improved the lives of the women par- (5) develop a knowledge base about on-demand ICT training ticipants, but it has also brought innovations and valuable for rural women. Member groups have various areas of skills to the villages. However, its exclusive focus on women focus--some are business oriented, focusing on their can- may alienate men and further increase women's burden to ning, cheese-making, apiculture, or woodworking activities, support household and community life. Rural men also whereas others concentrate on improving community life in need the skills and knowledge to enter the information age health and education. For one of its projects the network and to work alongside women to fight against discrimina- has collaborated with the "Women for Democracy, Equity tion, social injustice, and gender inequality.15 and Citizenship" and the Universitario Autonomo del Sur. More than 15,000 rural artisans from the desert districts The strategic partnership is aimed at strengthening linkages of North Gujarat, India, have joined the SEWA Trade Facil- among universities, research centers, gender organizations, itation Centre (STFC; www.sewa.org) in hopes of overcom- and women's organizations to develop networking and ing their poverty through enhanced trade. STFC is a unique e-learning strategies for women's digital literacy. The project grassroots commercial enterprise that connects rural also aims to increase the visibility of rural women's contri- craftswomen in the informal sector to computer operators, butions to society. Updates of this and other gender issues who sell their textile and handicraft products online. STFC and news are featured on one of the country's popular Web shareholders gain socioeconomic security and full employ- sites, Montevideo.com.13 ment through the efficient integration of the design, pro- duction, and marketing of their products and services in mainstream national and international markets. Previously Raising awareness and boosting livelihoods women's craft activity was done on a project basis with lim- for rural women ited market access. Building producer-buyer relationships International institutions such as the Food and Agriculture was difficult because different stages of production, such as Organization (FAO) have developed content, participatory designing, cutting, stitching, and finishing, were outsourced training methodologies, and partnerships that use rural to many women. As a result of scattered production, rejec- radio to raise awareness about issues critical to rural devel- tion rates frequently rose above 25 percent. After STFC opment. The FAO's rural radio program focuses on estab- worked to coordinate the supply chain and standardize pro- lishing community radio stations owned and managed by duction, rejection rates decreased to 11 percent, and the the community, connecting these stations to the Internet, length of the production cycle dropped from six months to and training broadcasters to carry out participatory two and a half months. 396 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS many rural women face is an important first step. The FOR PRACTITIONERS activity of e-mailing each other or finding local sources of information on the Web can immediately improve women's ICTs can reinforce gender differentials or help overcome regard for the potential use of ICTs. Service and training them. Enabling marginalized groups to appropriate ICTs is delivery to rural women should be a group exercise so as to as much about overcoming the "information divide" as it is build community endorsement and interaction. about pushing forward the processes of social inclusion. In Use ICTs to connect the first mile, and work with "infome- other words, closing the information and communications diaries" who are reaching women in a dynamic and learning- divide is one aspect to closing the economic and social divide oriented approach. This is probably the most important between men and women. project design factor of all. Consolidate and build on the There are good reasons for optimism about the develop- work of existing activities and outreach of NGOs, women's ment of ICTs and the benefits that may accrue to women, and groups, and associations that are already approaching their especially to poor women. This optimism, however, is condi- activities in a gender-sensitive manner. Applying an ICT tional on countries' and regions' ability to support effective, platform to their main activities not only encourages ICT proactive, and deliberate policies that push for the social familiarity among both men and women, but also promotes inclusion of women in all spheres of economic and social transparency and accountability. A Cameroonian organiza- activity and decision making. In the absence of deliberate tion for women entrepreneurs, for instance, began to offer policies, the diffusion and use of ICTs and their intended ben- computer training classes to students, ensuring that equal efits can actually exacerbate existing income and economic numbers of girls and boys had access to the classes. It divides, with the poorer sections of the population being fur- continued to run the microcredit arm of its activities, how- ther marginalized, exploited, and impoverished as a result. ever, using traditional paper accounting methods instead of ICT programs and policies must be developed to increase converting to computerization and mobile banking poor people's access to information, to enhance the transfer processes, which would have taken its ICT capacity up a of these technologies to resource-poor areas so that people notch and promoted accountability and accuracy within its can learn how to use these tools, and to improve the quality microcredit program. and delivery of education and other public services. Conduct research into existing gender information systems The following First Mile Principles are five key recom- and design ICT initiatives that build on these networks and that mendations for practitioners put forward by the Intermediate involve local participation. Don't assume that just because Technology Development Group in its report "Connecting women are using ICTs, it means that they are empowered. the First Mile: A Framework for Best Practice in ICT Projects There are numerous examples of women who earn income for Knowledge Sharing in Development" (Talyarkhan 2004): from selling cell phone services in a rural setting but who Assess ICT capacity needs among men, women, and different remain uneducated and do not access ICTs for lifelong learn- social groups, and build this into project planning, budget allo- ing. Be on the lookout for promoting ICT-related activities cation, and capacity building toward ICT. Be cognizant, in any that increase women's household burden or that place them in aspect of capacity building, training, or outreach to rural debt. It cannot be assumed that community-based ICT initia- women, that there may be a role for ICTs. Incorporate a range tives will necessarily include women in the net of beneficiaries. of interactive audiovisual and digital tools to enable men and In Sri Lanka, for instance, one pilot project was located next to women to gravitate toward different tools for different pur- a garage so that those who came to the garage for vehicle poses. In Uganda village women were given a simple micro- repairs would use the multipurpose telecenter; however, those phone and tape recorder to share their stories about the who patronize the garage are men.16 Careful planning, an abuses they faced during the long civil war during Idi Amin's ongoing commitment to addressing gendered barriers to regime. Personal stories from the war were being heard and access, and the collection of benchmark data from which to shared for the first time as a result, with significant outcomes begin monitoring progress are critical. for both individuals and the broader community alike. Build local people's capacity to use technologies and infor- Poor women and men are most effectively reached not as mation to improve their livelihoods (rather than focus on individuals but as distinct gender groups, and this requires identifying uses for new technologies). Encourage commu- both leadership at the community level and individual par- nity-driven initiatives that value indigenous information ticipation. Set aside time and space for rural women to and promote local decision making. A danger exists that familiarize themselves with both the technology and con- supply-side ICT solutions driven by donor expectations can tent relevant to their needs. Breaking this "virtual wall" that THEMATIC NOTE 3: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES 397 exacerbate development problems and gender differentials. In conclusion, technological and financial solutions to Where ICTs have been successfully appropriated at the local development problems are secondary to social solutions. level, one is likely to find a strong existing social network of The core solutions lie in building alliances, supporting users with similar interests or contexts or goals. Another dialogue, and enabling women to determine their way of looking at this is that individual access to ICTs does choices, priorities, and "ways of doing and being." While not ensure that the technology will be used by women for incremental changes are being made, these changes are their empowerment. Rather, ICTs become advantageous to still patchy and not systemic. Women continue to be left women when women are able to organize themselves around out of key decisions concerning resource allocation and information that meets or addresses their specific needs. rural livelihoods. 398 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS T H E M AT I C N OT E 4 Sanitation, Hygiene, and Potable Water S anitation usually refers to the disposal of human but also for domestic production: for example, vegetable excreta, but it may also involve wastewater and solid gardening and food processing (usually by women), brick waste. Safe sanitation, better hygiene, and better making (often by men), and animal raising (by both sexes, access to potable water can greatly improve health and often with a gender division by animal type, type of work, reduce health costs of families and nations. Diarrhea and and control over products and income). Higher levels of acute respiratory infections are the two main causes of education and economic productivity are linked to death of children. Hand washing can reduce the former by improvements of women's status and gender relations (see, 40 percent, and research indicates that hand washing also for example, Verhagen and others 2004), lower population prevents respiratory infections from spreading (Fung and growth, and more rapid economic development. Cairncross 2006; Shordt 2006). Other significant reductions Despite the social and economic benefits they provide, in infections from improved sanitation, hygiene, and water investments in sanitation and hygiene still have a low prior- supply include dracunculiasis, or guinea worm, disease ity, whereas the urgency to invest in safe water is now widely (75­81 percent), schistosomiasis (59­87 percent), trachoma accepted. Investments in these three subsectors are still pre- (up to 79 percent), and the worm loads from hookworm (26 dominantly seen as social investments and not as critical for percent) and ascariasis (60 percent) (Cairncross and Vald- economic development because many international finan- manis 2006). Half of patients with HIV or AIDS get chronic cial institutions do not perceive the opportunities to receive diarrhea. Having access to a toilet, hygiene promotion, and a return on investments in these areas. With the exception of enough water for hygiene enables patients to stay healthy and some countries, the world is on track to meet the drinking productive longer and lowers the work burden and negative water Millennium Development Goals target of halving the development impacts (such as reduced school attendance) number of those without access by 2015, but the world is for the caregivers (Kgalushi, Smits, and Eales 2004). likely to miss the sanitation target by half a billion people Good sanitation, hygiene, and water supply are also pri- (WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program 2006). orities for women and girls because of harassment and the Initially, water and sanitation programs focused on risk of rape linked to open defecation and the collection of women as beneficiaries and overlooked the necessity of water and firewood and because of their challenges in their participation in the planning, management, and observing menstrual hygiene. Finally, improvements can maintenance of community services. In contrast, men and also reduce time and energy spent walking long distances, boys were left out of hygiene programs. However, either especially for women and girls. Women often use time gains sex has its own tasks, needs, and areas of decision making for economic work in agriculture, food processing, educa- and control regarding water, sanitation, and hygiene. tion, and community development. Improvements provide These vary with age, socioeconomic status, and family girls more time for schooling, especially when separate toi- positions and culture and are subject to change over time. lets for girls are also available (FRESH n.d.). The reductions Lessons on effectiveness and sustainability have taught in time and energy spent give women involved in agricul- that both women and men must be involved in the plan- ture and the informal sector more time for child care, rest, ning, maintenance, and management of services and be and social relations. involved in program agencies, and that men must also be An improved water supply can further make it easier to involved in hygiene promotion to gain a better understanding use larger quantities of water, not only for domestic hygiene of its importance. 399 KEY GENDER ISSUES examples for and educating boys--were left out. Prevailing gender relations often made it impossible for wives and Equity issues come into play in important areas related to daughters to correct men's practices and for daughters (and sanitation, hygiene, and potable water. daughters-in-law) to correct any beliefs, knowledge, or practices of their mothers (and mothers-in-law). Equity in decision making Addressing these constraints and involving the different At the domestic level, men and women have different tasks, groups in decision making ensure that the differences in responsibilities, and authority in water supply, sanitation, knowledge, skills, and needs of the different types of actors and hygiene. Women household heads decide where and are taken into account in planning and management deci- how domestic water is collected, stored, drawn, and used and sions. Quantitative evidence from 18 completed water and also manage most of the waste, although some of the work sanitation projects in 15 countries revealed that more equi- may be done by daughters-in-law or children. Men family table participation in planning and management was posi- heads decide on larger domestic investments (such as a tively and significantly associated with better sustained and pump, tap, or toilet), and men household members handle used services (Gross, van Wijk and Mukherjee 2001; van men's work-related issues, for example, in construction. Both Wijk-Sijbesma 2002). A review of the evaluation reports of men and women often use potable water also for domestic 121 large rural water supply projects supported by multilat- production: women use it for horticulture, animal and small eral agencies (26 percent), bilateral agencies (26 percent), livestock keeping, brewing, and food processing, and men and international and national NGOs (15 percent) showed use it for large livestock keeping, brick making, and cash- that where women had been informed and participated in crop processing. Sexes and classes may compete for water decision making, 12 out of 14 scores on project performance and waste as productive resources if these commodities are and impacts were higher (Narayan cited in van Wijk-Sijbesma in short supply. Culturally, women and adolescent girls have 2002). However, very few evaluations have investigated the the highest needs for improved excreta disposal facilities linkages between approaches for gender equity on the ground because of their greater demands for privacy and safety, their and the institutional changes and supportive policies that requirements for menstrual hygiene, and their greater safety determine whether gender and development benefits will be risks. However, for health purposes, men, adolescent boys, sustained (Hunt 2004). and children should use toilets hygienically and consistently, and infants' excreta should be disposed of safely--aspects Equity in access to assets and opportunities that often require special promotional efforts. Gender and gender relations also affect management In four general areas of sanitation, hygiene, and potable water decisions at the community level. Both men and women programs, equity of access is important for women and men: generally ascribe existing community-level management of (1) information, education, and training; (2) infrastructure water and waste only to leaders who are men, often from the technologies, facilities, resources, and products; (3) finances local elite. Women in general, poor women and men, and and credit; and (4) functions and jobs. people from minority groups are less often represented on Information, communication, and education are impor- decision-making bodies, have less time and freedom to tant elements in water, sanitation, and hygiene programs. attend meetings, are under pressure to keep silent, and gen- For effective communication, a gender strategy is required erally have less power to influence the ensuing decisions, because men and women differ in the type of information their implementation, and their effects. Having women and in which they are interested and in the information chan- poor people on local management bodies can be mere win- nels they use. Both women and men need information on dow dressing if they do not actually participate in meetings, and a choice of the various technologies and designs, make decisions, and see decisions carried out as intended. because they deal with different technology-related aspects. Influenced by middle-class concepts of women as house- Women, for example, have an interest in and knowledge of wives and mothers who manage hygiene as an exclusive access and ease of use for women's needs, ease of cleaning, women's domain, hygiene improvement programs initially and children's use and safety, whereas men are interested in focused only on women and adolescent girls and bypassed costs and appropriateness for men's uses. Furthermore, pro- men and young men. This led to an increase in women's grams must take into account that men are more literate workloads, whereas men's responsibilities for family health than women and that women and men with a higher status and hygiene--in construction and financing and in setting are more often literate than poor women and men. Men and 400 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS elite men and women also speak and read the national financial managers. Training builds on their need for and language more often, not just the indigenous language. Peo- commitment to paid work in their direct environment, con- ple's access to mass media (newspapers, radio, tabloids, and tacts with other women, and the preference of both sexes to TV) and the time they spend consuming these media also deal with women workers at times when men are away from differ by, for example, sex, age, and class. In personal con- home (van Wijk-Sijbesma 1998). tacts, men tend to communicate with men and women with Access to physical facilities is not necessarily equitably women on aspects related to their roles, responsibilities, and distributed. Influence from the elite often results in water interests. Because water supply and sanitation projects are facilities being located on their land or near their houses. carried out by men technicians, who contact primarily lead- This gives them easier access to more water for consump- ers who are men, information and communication remain tion and hygiene and thus to better health. Their greater often limited to the elite who are men. However, with spe- access to land, livestock, seed, credit, labor, implements, cial strategies, poor men and women may also learn about markets, extension services, and so on further gives better- plans, opportunities, and options and take part in decisions off men and women better opportunities than poor people in planning and decision making. Hygiene promotion may to use potable water and time and energy gains produc- especially reach better-off women and girls, although they tively. In addition, such families can often make extra need it least because of their better living conditions, educa- money by selling the cheap (often subsidized) water and tion, and information access. Without equality on gender products made from the water to the poor. and for the poor, older men and adolescents, out-of-school Ownership of toilets is also higher among higher-income children, the elderly, and poor women and girls may be groups, reflecting more space, higher education and incomes, reached least, even though young and adult men, children and better access to information, credit, and subsidies. Self- under 12, and the elderly are the groups with the lowest construction with low-cost and free materials is an option for toilet use and frequency of hand washing. the poor but is hard for some groups, such as women Gender and other social constraints similarly affect household heads, people with physical disabilities, and the access to training. Requirements to speak the national lan- elderly. There are good examples of participatory allocation guage, be literate, have time for training, and be able to of subsidies with public transparency and accountability and travel make that training go mostly to men or to elite men of neighborhood and women-managed shared toilet and and women. Because of gender stereotypes in communities washing and bathing facilities, however. Biowaste that was and among program planners, managers, and staff, most once a free fuel and compost resource for the poor is increas- often men (and often the more educated and younger men) ingly lost due to recycling in biogas plants and eco-toilets. are the people trained for technical, financial, and manage- Improved hygiene also requires resources: more water, time rial tasks, whereas training on health and hygiene goes to for cleaning, new implements such as safe water-storage ves- women and adolescent girls, thus limiting equality in access, sels, and soap for personal and domestic hygiene. This makes results, and benefits. Training only young men in mainte- practicing good hygiene harder for the poor. nance and repair of water distribution points is, for exam- If gender constraints can be overcome, sanitation, ple, not necessarily the best solution, because they do not hygiene, and water supply interventions offer good opportu- routinely visit these points, have no personal interest in nities for women to become members and functionaries on keeping them working, may only want full-time jobs and planning and management committees, local maintenance salaries, and, without specific arrangements, are not workers and latrine masons, retail vendors of water, waste accountable to women users. However, it may be equally the collectors and recyclers, hygiene educators, and program case that not all women who live near water points and use staff. The work often fits the existing gender-specific work of them daily are suitable to receive the training, because they women, such as dealing with health and hygiene aspects, need enough time, freedom, recognition, capacity building, paying home visits, and communicating with other women. and compensation to do a proper job. The best experiences Women also already pay daily visits to water distribution and results have been obtained with carefully selected, facilities and with proper training are highly committed to trained, and equipped women from low-income urban and keep them working through proper maintenance and sound rural households who as licensed plumbers and masons financial management. Moreover, both women and men promote and install water connections, toilets, and rainwa- household members appreciate when women latrine ter reservoirs and work in latrine production centers. masons work within homes and compounds in the absence Trained local women have also been generally successful as of men, especially if high-quality work is delivered. THEMATIC NOTE 4: SANITATION, HYGIENE,AND POTABLE WATER 401 One final category requiring equitable access to show that poor rural women could save 7 euros per year sanitation, hygiene, and potable water is children and teach- in the cost of fertilizers by recycling urine (IFAD 2008). ers in schools. Schools are places where many children Some types of work related to recycling are done mostly gather. Risks of infection are therefore great and increase by women at home, such as composting and productively when children and teachers have no toilets or unhygienic using biodegradable waste, whereas in the collection and ones, no safe drinking water, and no water and soap for recycling of other resources, such as paper and plastics and washing hands after defecation and before eating. Schools scavenging of solid waste dumps, both sexes participate offer opportunities for participatory hygiene promotion (see box 9.8). activities to instill hygienic habits in children and create The degree to which women and adolescent girls benefit links with hygiene improvements in children's and teacher's from economic opportunities is highly dependent on the homes. Separate sanitation provisions for boys and girls in prevailing gender relations. Others in households, such as schools have encouraged parents to allow girls to continue relatives who are men and mothers-in-law, may control how attending school after the onset of puberty.1 School pro- the women and girls in the family use their time and the grams further offer opportunities to discuss gender and products and income that they generate. In such cases, poverty perspectives of sanitation, hygiene, and water sup- (younger) women may do the work but not share in the ply and equitably share hygiene work among children and decision making about and the use of the resources they teachers without discrimination based on age, sex, ethnicity, generate. Labor equality issues in the sanitation, hygiene, caste, or class. and water sector are common. Often, men most often get paid functions and jobs, whereas women are not involved or are expected to work as volunteers, or the women do the Equity in economic empowerment same work or work more hours for lower pay. Being more Bringing potable water close to homes not only has impor- tied to the home, women are also more commonly found in tant health benefits but also enhances opportunities for the the lowest-level committees and functions, whereas men economic use of water and time gains. This is especially the have functions and jobs at higher levels with the accompa- case in dry rural areas and seasons when women and chil- nying power, income, and control. dren must spend long hours collecting water, and in poor An important effect of sanitation, hygiene, and water urban and periurban areas with opportunities for related improvements is the reduction of risks and vulnerability. home industries, such as food processing, and urban forms Well-planned and executed interventions can greatly of agriculture, such as market gardening and small-livestock reduce morbidity and mortality and the involved costs raising. To ensure that especially poor women and men can (Cairncross and Valdmanis 2006). Some of these risks are use such opportunities requires careful planning. Additional gender specific because they relate to types and places of resources and inputs are required for optimal benefits and work of women and men. For example, 75 percent of those to avoid conflicts between women and men and between blinded by trachoma are women because as main care- different groups of women over sharing the available water. givers they are infected by infected children and have less Water vending to homes is generally done only by young access to health care than men (O'Connor and others men and, other than for women and children who collect 2004). Health and safety risks in informal solid waste water for the household, always involves some form of collection and recycling can also be reduced while consol- transport. If these vendors are not taken into account, a idating the economic benefits of the work (Cointreau water project may lead to the loss of such work and provoke 2006). Economic products and earnings also reduce risk vandalism against the new systems, especially when alterna- and vulnerability by helping families endure the lean times tive employment opportunities are rare. of the year when income from cash crops dries up (Verha- In sanitation, the recycling of excreta, various types of gen and others 2004). Improved water and sanitation fur- solid waste, and waste also provide opportunities for ther increase socioeconomic development because they economic empowerment of women and men. For exam- enable children, and especially girls, to start and complete ple, one year of urine from one person can support agri- school. Reducing their water collection and excreta dis- culture over an area of between 300 and 400 square posal burdens makes it possible for girls to go to school, meters. Calculations from the Stockholm Environment and separate toilets for girls allow them to remain in Institute (SEI) and the Centre for Low-Cost Drinking school when they reach the ages of prepuberty and Water Supply and Sanitation (CREPA) in Burkina Faso puberty (Burrows, Acton, and Maunder 2004). 402 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Box 9.8 Brazil: Best Practice--Municipal Partnership for Income, Health, and Environment Recife has 1.3 million inhabitants and the highest building; (3) the project Support to Selective Collection unemployment rate of urban Brazil. Poor drainage is by the Informal Sector for the street pickers, cart aggravated by poor management of solid waste. Con- pullers, and rag pickers at the main city dump, in which tamination of water by waste and incidence of WASH CBOs helped establish four pickers/pullers cooperatives (water supply, sanitation, and hygiene)-related diseases in an effort to promote more hygienic collection and are high, entailing high costs to households and the city. sorting methods; and (4) a project to upgrade the 60 Through an innovative municipal partnership that hectares around the main city dump in the municipal- provides gender-sensitive environmental and hygiene ity of Jaboatao dos Guararapes. education, people learn to separate recyclable materials Positive effects of the dump pickers' project are an at the source and to donate them to groups, coopera- increased number of participants, reduced direct tives, and community-based organizations (CBOs) of contacts with contaminated garbage, a reduced num- men, women, youth, and children, who collect, sort, ber of dump sites, an improved urban environment, and cost savings in waste collection. The projects gave and sell waste for a living. Four interdependent projects a 73 percent increase in recycled materials in two operate in an integrated manner: (1) the Voluntary years, a 62 percent annual increase in the volume of Delivery Spots project, with 40 containers for the seg- material for recycling, a 482 tons/month reduction of regated collection of recyclable goods in high-income solid waste, a 56.5 percent reduction in special oper- neighborhoods; (2) the Communal Selective Collec- ations for solid waste collection, a reduction in the tion project, in which women in households and number of dump sites from 285 to 124 (a 43.5 percent women's groups in middle-to-low and low-income reduction), a reduction in the amount of garbage neighborhoods exchange separated waste for food, collected by 5,796 tons/month, and an extension of meal tickets, or construction material for a communal 5 to 20 years of the life of the dump site. Sources: Arrais 1996. LESSONS LEARNED AND GUIDELINES FOR (Appleton and Smout 2003). The remaining text contains PRACTITIONERS gender-neutral language, such as people, users, committee members, staff, and leaders whenever referring to people. In national and international policies and programs, expand- Gender mainstreaming means being specific on the "who" ing the supply of potable water services still receives a much question, distinguishing not only between women and men higher priority than the improvement of sanitation and but also between women and women and between men and hygiene.Yet the three are very complementary. Improved san- men of different ages, economic, racial, ethnic, and cultural itation and hygiene are even more important than improved categories to end exclusion and discrimination of the disad- water supply, except when the old source of water is more vantaged. A simplified gender analysis tool (see box 9.10) than a 30-minute round trip away or when connections to the has been instrumental in distinguishing and detailing gen- home are provided. The choice also fails to reflect that women der and poverty in policies and strategies and in monitoring have a higher priority for improved sanitation than men and and evaluation. that well-planned and executed investments in hygiene pro- Qualitative and quantitative research has shown that, motion are highly cost effective for achieving better public along with good facilitation and support, the following health (Cairncross and Valdmanis 2006). Therefore, it is cru- characteristics are important for successful community cial to raise the priority level of sanitation and hygiene water supply and sanitation: a more informed and demo- improvement in national policies and investment programs cratic say for the different groups of women and men in (see box 9.9 for an example of best practices). the kinds of facilities that they will use and are able and Within the human aspects, gender and gender-equity willing to support; a greater and informed choice of the aspects in policy and strategy documents are still often lim- different interest groups in the local types of maintenance, ited to a few paragraphs on women and their involvement THEMATIC NOTE 4: SANITATION, HYGIENE,AND POTABLE WATER 403 Box 9.9 India: Best Practice--Policy Few countries have a special policy on sanitation and of India, Ministry of Rural Development, Department of hygiene. India is one exception. In 2001, it published the Drinking Water Supply 2001). Implicitly, the guideline "Guidelines for the Central Rural Sanitation Programme stresses that hygiene work in the home, which increases Total Sanitation Campaign." With regard to gender divi- after toilet installation and hygiene education, should be sion, women are mainly seen in their traditional roles as shared between women and men, boys and girls. Not housekeepers and mothers and not as, for example, addressed are (1) how lower rates of literacy among trained and paid latrine masons and solid waste recy- women and gender differences in responsibilities, inter- clers. The latter functions would relate closely to the ests, concerns, and communication channels affect infor- already common daily labor of poor women as mason mation, education, and communication (which gets 15 helpers and waste collectors. The guidelines do, however, percent of program funds); (2) training for women allocate funds for separate school toilets for girls and for (technical and social); (3) health and hygiene education women's sanitation blocks (for example, when space for for men; (4) giving women an informed choice in household toilets is lacking). It also states that"it is essen- choices of technologies and design of facilities; and (5) tial to train the community, particularly all the members gender balance in community management of sanitation of the family in the proper upkeep and maintenance of and hygiene. See also www.genderandwater.org/content/ the sanitation facilities" (emphasis added; Government download/307/3228/file/ GWA_Annual_Report.pdf. Source: Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Drinking Water Supply (2001). management, and financing systems; and locally chosen and Box 9.10 Simplified Gender and Poverty trained representatives of the different stakeholder groups Analysis--the "Who" Question dealing with management, including accountability to users (van Wijk-Sijbesma 2002). Work: Who does which work (such as physical, Typical participatory planning issues requiring consulta- organizational, and intellectual): men, women, tion and informed and joint decisions include the type of both? Poor women, men? Any patterns of technology and, in the case of a water supply or sewerage discrimination? system, the level of service (private, shared, or neighbor- Resources: Who gets resources (such as water, hood facilities); the numbers, designs, and locations of the waste, information, training, and credit): men, women, or both? Poor men, women? Any pat- facilities; local arrangements for maintenance, manage- terns of discrimination? ment, and financing; needs and arrangements for capacity Decision making: Who makes decisions at building; and arrangements for accountability and preven- which levels: men, women, both? Poor men, tion of corruption (Mathew 2006). Practical measures (see women? Any patterns of discrimination? table 9.7) help give local women more equitable participa- Control: Who has control over choices, resources, tion and influence in environments in which gender products, and income: men, women, both? Poor inequalities and technical bias favor men's participation to men, women? Any patterns of discrimination? the exclusion and subordination of women (Coates 1999). Benefits: Who gets which benefits (such as facil- For effective promotion of hygienic conditions and ities, services, jobs, and payments): men, practices, different strategies can be adopted. Social mar- women, both? Poor women, men? Any patterns keting is one option to promote one particular product or of discrimination? practice, such as the installation and use of an affordable Losses: Who loses work, resources, influence, control, benefits: men, women, both? Poor toilet, washing hands with soap at critical moments, or the women, men? What are or may be the impacts solar disinfection of drinking water. It is also possible to for the people and the services? develop programs for more comprehensive behavior change and to build capacities in communities to plan, implement, Source: Indonesian Sanitation Sector Development and manage their own hygiene and sanitation program, for Program, internal document. example, for total sanitation (Austin and others 2005, Kar and Pasteur 2005). In each, strategy measures are needed to 404 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Table 9.7 Ten Steps to Enhance Women's Participation in Projects at the Community Level 1 Contact men's leadership for understanding and support 2 Use information channels that reach women 3 Facilitate women's participation in project meetings: · Help women speak out (use vernacular language, discussion breaks, and spokeswomen) · Hold meetings at times and places suitable for women · Hold separate meetings with women when necessary · Inform women and men and invite both to attend (for example, as couples) · Make seating arrangements appropriate to women (to avoid having them sit in the back) 4 Involve women in local planning and design decisions about the following issues: · Capacity building, including for innovative jobs and positions · Choice of committee members and their tasks and accountability · Choice of local caretakers, operators, mechanics, and their tasks and accountability · Choice of technologies and designs and locations of facilities · Local financing system · Local management system 5 Enable women to choose their own representatives for trust, ease of contacts, leadership capacities, and feasibility 6 Ensure representation of women on higher-level committees and bodies 7 Help create new roles and jobs for women related to their gender interests and tasks: · Comanagers of water, sanitation, and hygiene services and programs · Construction of facilities in the home environment · Maintenance and repair of facilities · Promotion of hygiene among women (men promoting hygiene and hygiene support by men) · Tariff collection and financial management 8 Link water, sanitation, and hygiene projects and programs with income generation opportunities, especially for poor women (and men) 9 Train women in technology and management, and train men in hygiene and hygiene promotion and ensure that they can apply the training 10 Have mixed women-men project teams for technical and social aspects and train teams and management on reasons for and modalities of gender equality Source: Based on Wakeman 1995: 77. ensure that the gender and gender-equity aspects of gender-equity aspects, operate as teams and not in parallel, hygiene and hygiene promotion are incorporated for effec- and have managers who demand, appreciate, and reward tiveness and sustainability and as a human right. gender-equity approaches. At the agency support level, a first condition for main- Gender training and gender specialists and consultants streaming gender equality is understanding and recognizing can be helpful but can also make others think that the issue gender and gender factors in the broader sense: looking at has been taken care of and that mainstreaming has been positions, roles, and relations differentiated not only by sex achieved. In practice, mainstreaming is an ongoing way of but also by age, ethnicity, race, caste, class, religion, and thinking and a continuing process for which all are respon- marital status. Work toward gender equality should be one sible. The investigation of gender knowledge, skills, and of the explicit objectives of all sector agencies. Because of practices, therefore, deserves to be part of the job descrip- the multidimensional nature of the sector, having a mix of tions, recruitment processes, and performance assessments men and women technical and social specialists is essential, of all staff and managers. For an example of best practices either within single implementing agencies or through in human and organizational capacities, see Innovative cooperation between technical and social organizations, Activity Profile 1 on sanitation in Kerala, India. such as engineering firms and NGOs. However, mixed Mainstreaming also involves making gender and staffing is not enough by itself. To be effective, both techni- gender-equity aspects part of the organization's docu- cal and social workers (and, where relevant, environmen- mentation and reporting and part of the development, tal and other specialists) should have a basic knowledge testing, institutionalization, and periodic upgrading of about each other's working areas and their gender and project and program procedures. Budgets should contain THEMATIC NOTE 4: SANITATION, HYGIENE,AND POTABLE WATER 405 clear evidence of gender inclusiveness by including funds there should be a mix of quantitative and qualitative indica- not only for gender training and consultancies but also tors. Depending on the country or region and the aspects for designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating considered, it will be relevant to look especially at particu- new and more equitable gender roles for women and men larly sensitive categories, such as the poorest women and in projects and programs. In-house gender equality is fur- men, members of minority groups, and daughters-in-law ther reflected by a balance in men and women staff and and single women and men, because of their less acceptable career paths, equal salaries and benefits for equal work, situations and opportunities regarding workloads, and working conditions that make taking care of family resources, influence, control, and so on. responsibilities easier for both sexes. Because numbers do not indicate actual participation in processes and decisions, a sliding-scale system may be used to assess the degree of gender mainstreaming, for example, MONITORING AND EVALUATION in decision-making bodies and meetings: only men are Which indicators and sources of verification are chosen members; women are members but do not attend decision- depend on the level of the work (for example, policy, sup- making meetings; women attend but keep silent; women port organization, or implementation), the stages of the attend and express themselves but are not heard; women project cycle, and the type of projects and programs (sani- attend, express themselves, and influence at least one deci- tation, hygiene, water supply). Table 9.8 gives a number of sion; women attend, express themselves, and influence most possible indicators and their means of verification. Ideally and finally all decisions (Mukherjee and van Wijk 2003). Table 9.8 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender Equity in Sanitation, Hygiene, and Water Indicator Sources of verification and tools Participation of the national women's institutional framework, women NGOs, and/or · Interviews with policy makers gender specialists in the formulation and review of sector policies · Minutes of policy planning meetings Presence (incidental or systematic) and nature of gender (women's participation or · Review of policy documents gender equality) in policies Percentages, cooperation, and working relations of women and men technical, social, · Interviews and support staff in agencies and projects, by level · Staff data Percentage of budgets earmarked for gender capacity building and for activities · Financial records related to gender, and the actual expenditures · Project/program budgets Percentage of women and men active on planning and management committees at · Participatory survey different levels, including disadvantaged women/men, over time · Program and project records Distribution of projects over poorest, poor, less-, and least-poor communities in · Ranking of communities by welfare mix project or program area · Welfare classification (Participatory Rapid Appraisal [PRA]) technique by community Distribution of access over time to improved water supply, waste disposal, and · Participatory survey with welfare classification hygiene education/facilities over poorest, poor, less-, and least-poor households in and access mapping (PRA) project communities · Program and project record Functionality of facilities and services over time and degree and purposes of use by · Group interviews and focus group discussions sex and age in the different user groups · (Participatory) household survey · Project/program data Percentage of women and men trained over time in agencies and communities for · Interviews with stakeholders technical, social, managerial, financing, and hygiene work, including disadvantaged · Participatory survey with matrix counting women and men, and experiences with application · Program and project records Measured or perceived positive and negative impacts of the interventions on time · Changes according to group interviews and and water use, hygiene conditions and practices, work, positions, knowledge, skills, focus group discussions resources, capacities, incomes, and health of women and men in different age, · Prestudies and poststudies socioeconomic, and cultural groups Community satisfaction (disaggregated by gender, class, caste, and so on) with · Group interviews and focus group discussions project and program processes, implementers, and changes · Interviews, before and after Source: Author. 406 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Peru: Rural Roads Project, Second Phase he first phase of the Peru Rural Roads Project was T market integrating infrastructure, and income-generating implemented between 1995 and 1999 in 12 activities with gender equity to help alleviate rural poverty departments that ranked highest in rural poverty, and raise the living standards of rural communities" primarily in the highlands and in one jungle area. Among (World Bank 2001: 2). The specific objectives were to inte- the poorest are indigenous people, the majority of whom grate poorly accessible zones to social services and regional live in the highlands.1 The second phase, implemented in economic centers, generate employment in rural areas, and 2001­06, focused on the same 12 departments and empha- strengthen local institutional capacity to manage rural sized creating development opportunities with an emphasis roads on a sustainable basis and launch community-based on inclusion and equity, particularly for indigenous women development objectives. The project used local labor for (World Bank 2007). The third phase, the Decentralized road and nonmotorized transport track rehabilitation and Rural Transport Project (2007­12), will scale up the pro- established local microenterprises for road maintenance, gram to the entire country, with an emphasis on social with oversight by community-based road committees. A inclusion and participatory democracy. local development window (LDW) assisted communities in The focus of this Innovative Activity Profile is the second planning, skill development, and seeking funding to sup- phase, which was assessed by the World Bank Quality Assur- port local development projects once road or track access ance Group and the Independent Evaluation Group as a was established.3 highly satisfactory and highly efficient project2 that estab- The project design responded to the important economic lishes a "new demand-led paradigm for transport planning roles played by rural women and the need to help them over- and development" (World Bank 2007: 39) and is a "pioneer" come constraints on their productivity and mobility, includ- in developing performance indicators. The project also ing heavy domestic and time burdens (accessing fuel and received awards for excellence from the World Bank and the water), low literacy, language barriers,4 cultural barriers to NGO community in Peru (World Bank 2007). Recognizing their use of public transport, limited control of household that "women are a driving force in poverty reduction," the resources, and limited voice in planning of previous trans- project used innovative, participatory approaches to main- port initiatives, as well as isolation due to lack of adequate stream gender in ways that increased the impact and sus- transport infrastructure (World Bank 2001). Combined with tainability of the investment and empowered poor rural these factors are high rates of woman-headed households women (World Bank 2007). The project is supported by and migration by men (Gutiérrez 2007; JICA 2007). loans from the World Bank and the Inter-American Devel- opment Bank (IADB). Phase two investments include $50 million each from the World Bank and the IADB and $51.21 What's innovative? Key to the success of the project million from the government of Peru. was the participatory, inclusive design and imple- mentation with interconnected, complementary, gender-informed initiatives: microenterprises for PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION road rehabilitation, the development window, and strengthening local governance. The project development objective for phase two was to "improve the access of rural poor to basis social services, 407 Although gender was not incorporated in the project Community consultation workshops were organized in design for the first phase, a study of gender-differentiated villages affected by the project. Separate sessions for women impacts of road rehabilitation was commissioned and and men were convened to ensure that women were able to revealed differences that spurred a gender focus in the talk freely about transport needs and constraints. In second phase. A gender training workshop for staff of the response to local needs, particularly women's, the project implementing agency, carried out during the interface rehabilitated 3,465 kilometers of nonmotorized transport between phases one and two, used the study findings to tracks. The nonmotorized track rehabilitation involved the illustrate how gender issues cut across road rehabilitation most vulnerable and excluded parts of the rural population activities in the project. The social assessment for phase in the planning process. These tracks proved to have a two addressed gender issues; the stakeholder analysis and greater impact on economic growth and the roads, in part outreach strategy identified women as a vulnerable group because they connected previously isolated communities and called attention to the risk of low participation of with markets. women in road maintenance microenterprises and rural The LDW implemented a rapid rural poll, differentiated road committees. by sex, age, and economic status, to help ensure the inclu- Technical assistance missions from the World Bank siveness of the participatory process, particularly for assisted the project implementation unit in developing a women. The LDW developed a network of strategic part- matrix defining specific gender targets and follow-up nerships between civil society, government, and donors, actions for the implementation phase. Assistance was also built planning and fund-raising capacity and initiatives at provided to conduct a gender analysis of the project's oper- the local level, and empowered women and communities to ational procedures and develop a gender action plan. The improve their lives (Dasso 2005). The LDW took into key elements of the gender action plan included equal account women's needs, which resulted in the strong partici- opportunities for selection of women and men as microen- pation of women in the identification and implementation terprise workers (revision of selection criteria to avoid of entrepreneurial activities, as well as rural roads commit- exclusion of women), promoting gender equity in opera- tees and cooperatives. Examples of projects include fish tional procedures (revision of the operational handbook), farming in Sauce Lake, benefiting 150 families, and produc- creation of rural committees that included women's group tion of organic, aromatic medicinal plants (Caballero representatives, definition and monitoring of gender indica- 2007b; World Bank 2007). tors and gender focal points in central and field staff, and gender training. No specific human or financial resources GENDER APPROACH were allocated to gender in the project design, but there was flexibility to rearrange budget lines to target money and Through a learning process over 10 years, the Peru Rural staff time for gender actions. Roads Project has established a new, inclusive, demand-driven The implementing agency, Provias Descentralizado, paradigm for transport planning and economic development hired a Peruvian gender consultant to guide the institu- (World Bank 2007: 39). Critical elements of this paradigm tionalization of gender in Provias's operations. Under her include participatory, inclusive project design and implemen- guidance, Provias created a structure to address gender tation; gender-informed project activities; the design of a set issues, including a gender coordinator and regional focal of interconnected, synergistic elements (rural road rehabilita- points, and developed a gender training program for man- tion and maintenance, local microenterprise; LDW, and agers and field staff, evaluated barriers to women's involve- strengthening local governance capacity); and gender-sensi- ment in microenterprises for road maintenance, and tive monitoring and evaluation that informs the project. developed and monitored gender-related indicators Involvement of the NGO Caritas and its local affiliates was throughout the project cycle.5 Gender equity was part of very important in the inclusion of women in the project. Provias's policy. Training for road operators on rehabilita- tion and maintenance of roads reached 1,018 participants, Gender equity in road maintenance 35 percent of whom were women, and reached 11 percent of the direct beneficiaries.6 Engineer monitors assisted in Gender equity in the performance-based contracting the nonmotorized transport and road rehabilitation microenterprises for road and track maintenance was (Caballaro and Alcahuasi 2007a; Forte and Menedez 2005; accomplished by modifications in the project operating Gutiérrez 2006). manual requirements that recognized women's agricultural 408 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS experience and roles as household managers and leaders of BENEFITS AND IMPACTS women's organizations as qualifying criteria and that The project has increased income and household food dropped the literacy requirement. Gender awareness and security from roadwork and other microenterprise initia- quality of work were incorporated into the training. The tives for women and men. It reduced travel time for women participation of women in road maintenance was resisted at and men by up to one-half; rehabilitation of nonmotorized first, but the project prompted social change. After five years tracks significantly reduced the multitask burden of of women's participation, they proved themselves to be effi- women, which reduced the opportunity cost of their time cient and were able to overcome the initial gender stereo- and increased their productivity and mobility choices. Sev- types.7 A new perception of women characterizes them as enty-seven percent of the women surveyed said they trav- valiant, hard working, entrepreneurial, honest, and not eled more, and 67 percent said they felt they traveled more corruptible (World Bank 2006b). Women's membership in safely. Cleaner, safer tracks encouraged them to travel to sell these enterprises (24 percent) exceeded the requirement agricultural products, obtain name registration,8 deliver for 10 percent women. their babies in health centers, and participate in commu- nity meetings. Girl's access to primary education increased Gender equity in the local development window by 7 percent. As a result of the project, 100 community organiza- The LDW enhanced social capital and fostered community tions engaged in local development activities, and 500 participation with a clear gender focus, which empowered microenterprises performed routine maintenance on women through 40 percent women's participation in local roads. This created 6,000 one-year-equivalent unskilled development initiatives (IBRD/IADB 2005). The LDW can jobs, 24 percent of which were held by women, which serve as a coordination model that facilitates decentraliza- exceeded the 10 percent quota established in the gender tion. It has established a decision-making mechanism from action plan. Twenty-four percent of the members of rural the bottom up that stimulates the empowerment of local roads committees were women, and 42 percent of the men and women producers to decide their own future rural roads committee treasurers were women. (Dasso 2005: 72). Women provided pragmatic input into project design, such as the request for rehabilitation of tracks, which had more impact on poverty alleviation than on the road rehabil- Inclusive strengthening of local governance itation. Women's participation has increased the efficiency, Local Road Institutes worked with municipalities to develop quality, and transparency of road maintenance microenter- strategies for road rehabilitation. Road committees approved prises (World Bank 2007: 86). Women were more trusted the roads and tracks for rehabilitation, assigned tasks, paid because they were viewed as "incorruptible." They were wages, and organized the contribution of labor. The project more reliable in managing income because they were more required 20 percent of the members of road committees to transparent in accounts management and viewed corrupt be women. Thirty percent of the members elected by their practices more negatively than did men. They were more communities, with Caritas guidance, were women. effective at negotiating payments and trusted to ensure that the quality of the work met the agreed technical standards. Women gained trust among their colleagues by doing a reli- Gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation able job in managing funds, and they gained respect by Provias, the project-implementing agency, has continued to motivating the team to achieve quality in road maintenance. be a learning organization, based on performance monitor- Men stopped drinking during roadwork and took fewer ing. A social and impact monitoring system clarified the breaks. Women also served as treasurers in 42 percent of the expected gender-differentiated outcomes and how different road committees, ensuring transparency. local realities might affect women's participation in project Women's increased productivity contributes to overall activities. The project team also developed gender-related economic growth. Women's income improves nutrition indicators that were tracked throughout by the gender coor- and increases education of children. The participation of dinator in Provias. Women's participation in maintenance women also had a positive impact on the efficiency of microenterprises was monitored to ensure there was no bias entrepreneurship activities generated through the local against them. A gender impact assessment was conducted at development window (Caballero and Alcahuasi 2007a; the end of phase two. World Bank 2007: 84). INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: PERU: RURAL ROADS PROJECT, SECOND PHASE 409 LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER in areas where the transport conditions were improved APPLICABILITY (Valdivia 2007; World Bank 2006a, 2007: 41). Participation of the local population at all stages of the project is key to increase impacts and ensure the sustain- Including gender equity within the project development ability of investments (Provias comment; World Bank objective was the single most important element to jus- 2007: 44). Community participation played an impor- tify the allocation of human and financial resources for tant role in the development of the project by providing gender activities. guidance and advancing local development goals. Ensur- Institutionalizing gender mainstreaming in the imple- ing that women have an opportunity to express their menting agency is important. The inclusion of the gender needs during the participatory planning process is par- perspective in the agency was one of the keys to the ticularly important. This often requires separate discus- success of the project. Building on existing human and sion groups for women and meetings held in indigenous institutional resources enhanced capacity to carry out languages (Dasso 2005). sustainable gender actions. Social scientists in the project Management capacity building is crucial to guarantee a were eager to take on the gender work as a way of gain- long-term impact on gender equity and the sustainability of ing leverage within the project. Participation of this staff gender know-how. Identifying women leaders and ensur- in the design of the gender action plan enhanced their ing their participation in training workshops could have capacity to conduct gender analysis and established their been further developed (World Bank 2007: 89). ownership of the plan. Local women's organizations can be excellent allies in fos- Institutional support for gender from donor agencies and tering rural development and women's empowerment. the project implementation unit was crucial. The World Selecting a good partner is essential. Building partnerships Bank missions sent a clear message that gender was is not an easy task. It requires rules of engagement; stan- important and allocated resources for gender activities. dards for agreement; clear objectives; precise conditions, In the project implementation unit, the director sup- roles, and functions; a balance of contributions from the ported the efforts of the gender focal points to put in parties; and, most of all, trust. place mechanisms to implement the gender action plan. The local development window requires systematization to Gender champions are crucial for raising awareness of gen- expand and replicate it elsewhere in Peru. Guidelines are der issues over time and contributing to sustained gender needed on the contents, methodology, and process for work. Gender expertise was developed by the gender focal implementing the LDW, combined with training work- point in agency headquarters and the consultant hired to shops (Dasso 2005). An organized project funding logic design and monitor the project's gender agenda. Staff and is needed as well. A need is present for diversification and beneficiaries also helped mainstream gender in Provias's use of local productivity chains (IBRD/IADB 2005). operations (Caballero and Alcahuasi 2007a). The Social Gender-sensitive monitoring is very important to ensure Development Staff member in the World Bank Resident that the gender action plan is implemented and to inform Mission played a key advocacy role throughout the life of and improve the next phase of the project. Comprehensive the project, maintaining the momentum on the gender measures of direct and indirect effects of rural transport work by raising the gender issue to task managers and services and induced economic activities on women's project implementation unit staff (Ruiz-Abril 2005). welfare and access to income-generating activities are Coordination of road rehabilitation with local productive important. It is also important to measure the value activities can stimulate development and improve the effi- added from women's participation. If performance mea- ciency and effectiveness of the rural roads project. The local sures for road maintenance activities had taken the qual- development window, implemented by a large national ity of work more into account, it would have provided NGO, helped identify synergies between areas for pro- more evidence of the value added by women's participa- ductive growth, create linkages between local service tion (World Bank 2007). providers, and coordinate access to key financial services 410 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 Malaysia: Community E-Centers alaysia provides an interesting example of over- M the standpoints both of financial viability and of commu- all rural telecommunications access. The United nity engagement and participation. Nations Economic and Social Commission for CeCs can have several functions. They will enable the Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and Malaysia's Institut communities to access new knowledge and information that Tadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN) have compiled an online can be incorporated into their local knowledge and context, how-to guidebook on setting up and running a community such as information on employment opportunities, educa- e-center (UNESCAP 2006). The guidebook chronicles the tional resources, government services (for example, provid- experiences of three rural projects in Malaysia (Rural Inter- ing links to e-government), and technical information on net Centre, Medan InfoDesa, and eBario Project),1 using agriculture for their daily lives, such as information on new their successes and failures to inform community groups varieties of crops, planting techniques, and disease preven- interested in setting up their own center. Community tion. The CeCs may also be used as training centers for local e-centers (CeCs) are public-access facilities that provide people to learn and practice their computer and ICT skills, electronic communication and multimedia services. The to provide access to distance education (e-learning), for long-term goal is to reduce poverty through increased human resource training, and for business ventures. The digital literacy and greater control and access to ICTs. CeCs can also allow entrepreneurs to plan and prepare their Telecommunications access in rural areas is best pro- business arrangements and to communicate with partners vided in a community center that is open equally to men and potential clients from a distance (e-commerce). and women. In recent years, a number of CeCs have been Through the Internet students and educators can register piloted worldwide, but very few are successful, because most with educational institutions at any location in the world, of them are not financially sustainable and do not really access archival materials, or receive online instruction. CeCs engage directly with the community. The community e- can also serve distance education to students by providing centers case studies presented here have some good practice educational software packages on site and upgrading them guidelines because they address sustainability issues from as new educational packages are produced. Specialized services can also be offered to health care workers, enabling them to use telediagnostics programs, What's innovative? Community e-centers provide order supplies, convey public health information, and electronic communication services, especially in obtain specialist advice for complex health problems. In this marginalized or remote areas where ICTs are not respect CeCs serve as "virtual roads" or communication prevalent. The centers serve as avenues for provid- highways that can benefit the society. ing universal-access communications and multi- media services to rural communities, including GENDER APPROACH telephones, faxes, computers, the Internet, photo- copiers, and other equipment and services. One of The online eSourcebook has mainstreamed gender consider- the innovations is the focus on people and not just ations throughout. It lists equity-oriented questions that on technology. should be answered in the planning, monitoring, and evalu- ation stages. Questions challenge communities to articulate 411 the different groups'needs and constraints so that they can be Community participation. The members of the target met and mitigated, to identify which groups will be empow- community of the CeCs must participate in the whole ered by the CeC, to outline how gender equity can be process of setting up the CeCs. They are not only the achieved through hiring and hours of operation, and to assess ones who are aware of the needs of the community, but which types of technologies are most appropriate. The guide- also the ones who will be managing the CeCs in the long book suggests not only monitoring ICT use on an ongoing run because NGOs, government bodies, and sponsors basis but also keeping records of the distance people traveled may be able to assist for only one or two years. to the CeC and their mode of transportation. Evaluation of Roles of local champions. In the Malaysian context local the CeC's contribution to the overall socioeconomic devel- champions of the case studies are a key component in the opment of the community is recommended. Such gender success of the CeC. These local champions are passionate mainstreaming increases the potential for benefits accrued about helping their community to improve. These local to rural women and minimizes the constraints they face. champions act as catalysts and motivators to the project and persevere through setbacks. Smart partnerships. Partnerships among various stake- BENEFITS AND IMPACTS holders are required throughout the process of the devel- The short-term benefits of the three CeC case studies opment of a CeC. Stakeholders include governmental included the provision of ubiquitous, affordable, equitable, bodies (which provide approvals, funds, and advice to and quality access to ICTs. Before the eBario project began NGOs), NGOs (which provide human resources and in 1999, 90 percent of villagers had never used a computer. training to private companies and the community), pri- Now the community is world renowned as an innovative vate companies (which may assist in the forms of spon- community en route to bridging the digital divide. The sorship), and the community that will be affected by the project has spurred a local tourist industry, resulting in the project, to name a few. In the case of eBario, in addition creation of new job opportunities. These new opportunities to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and the Bario have encouraged youth and young families to remain in community, which were the main organizers of the proj- Bario and consequently have decreased the rates of rural- ect, other partners included the Marudi District Council urban migration. The project's Web site enabled local pro- (which provided approvals and the premises), govern- ducers to sell their food products and handicrafts online. ment ministries, NGOs, and private companies (Com- There are broader political ramifications: the Malaysian serv and Telekom Malaysia). government has become sensitized to the potential of ICT- Training programs. As the community will be using and induced rural development and is supporting other villages running the CeCs, the community must be prepared to to set up CeCs. be able to use and run the CeCs effectively and efficiently. Skills, such as management skills, computer literacy, and maintenance skills, are essential to the continued opera- LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER tion of the CeCs. APPLICABILITY Business plan. CeCs that intend to be financially inde- Based on the case studies, the following factors are essential pendent must have a business plan. The business plan to the success of the CeCs: provides a description of the organization, the objec- tives of the CeC, how the objectives are to be achieved, Focus on people, organization, contents, and processes the market of the business, financial forecasts, and rather than technology. The key to success is very much a earnings targets. focus on the very people the CeCs are targeting. For CeCs to work, a proper organizational structure needs to be Although CeCs may start out with external donor funding put in place. Technology implementation is generally the or a grant and may rely to a large extent on volunteer support, easiest component to implement. their goal is always to be able to generate adequate revenue Relevant to local needs. The CeC's existence and sustain- through the provision of services and, eventually, to become ability are tied to the capacity of CeCs in meeting the self-sustainable. To achieve this goal, the multipurpose CeCs actual needs of the community. Applications and services need to be managed well and provide services that are in of CeCs should be driven by the needs of communities demand, because even CeCs that are nonprofit entities (demand driven). need to be financially viable to be successful. Key factors 412 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS that have enabled successful CeCs to become sustainable Thematic Note 1 include the following: This Thematic Note was written by Mari H. Clarke (Con- sultant) and reviewed by Dominique Lallement and Community ownership is crucial: organizational struc- Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Moses Abukari, Rudolph tures should provide authority, responsibility, and man- Cleveringa, Maria Hartl, and Audrey Nepveu (IFAD); and agement of resources to the community. Indira Ekanayake and Eija Pehu (World Bank). Locally relevant content/services should be designed and 1. The specific nature of men's and women's transport tasks implemented to suit the needs of the community. varies by country, socioeconomic status, age, ethnic group, Technology options that provide affordable and universal location, household livelihood strategies, and other factors. local connectivity, including the use of multimedia (radio, 2. Obstetric fistula is a hole that forms between the vagina video, TV, and the like), must be carefully examined. and the bladder or the rectum as a result of prolonged (an Financial and operational sustainability needs to be obtained average of 3.8 days) and obstructed labor of young, often over a period of time. Sustainability has other dimensions teenage, mothers. This is prevalent where teenage marriage beyond self-financing, such as the social, cultural, political, is the cultural norm and access to emergency obstetrical and technological arenas. Social and cultural sustainability care is limited (Riverson and others 2005). is measured by whether it empowers people in the com- 3. For example, because of safety issues related to women's munity, meets the needs of various groups (men and travel after long hours in agroprocessing work in Guatemala, a company provided dormitory housing for women during women, young and old), and allows for community own- peak processing periods (Dolan and Sorby 2003). ership and engagement. Political sustainability is meas- 4. Reidar Kvam, personal communication, 2007. ured in terms of whether a stable regulatory framework to promote and support CeCs has been secured. Technologi- 5. Access has two components: (a) mobility, meaning the a ease or difficulty of travel to a service or facility and (b) prox- cal sustainability is measured in terms of whether appro- imity of the services and facilities. priate technology options were chosen for the community. 6. An all-season road is passable year-round by the pre- Financial sustainability indicates whether a CeC is fully or vailing means of transport (typically a truck or four- partially viable, whether it can recover its capital invest- wheel-drive). Occasional interruptions of short duration ment, operational expenses, and replace equipment as are accepted. All-season access is less than 40 percent in needed or can recover only operational expenses but not sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa the initial and future capital investments. (Roberts, Shyam, and Rastogi 2006). 7. International Labour Organization (ILO), "Asia Pacific Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning," Second Expert NOTES Group Meeting, September 5­6, 2000, Bangkok, www.ilo. org/public/english/employment/recon/eiip/download/ratp/ Overview ratp08.pdf. This Overview was written by Dominique Lallement (World Bank) and reviewed by Mari H. Clarke, Rekha Dayal, Catherine Ragasa, Christine Sijbesma, and Nidhi Tandon Thematic Note 2 (Consultants); Clare O'Farrell (FAO); Moses Abukari, Rudolph Cleveringa, Maria Hartl, and Audrey Nepveu This Thematic Note was written by Dominique Lallement (IFAD); and Nilufar Ahmad, Indira Ekanayake, and Eija (World Bank) and reviewed by Elizabeth Cecelski (Consul- Pehu (World Bank). tant); Moses Abukari, Rudolph Cleveringa, Maria Hartl, and 1. This Module uses the term agricultural development to Audrey Nepveu (IFAD); Tanja Winther (Oslo University); include crops, forestry, livestock, fisheries, land and water, and Douglas Barnes and Indira Ekanayake (World Bank). agroindustries, and the environment (see Sourcebook 1. In particular through UN organizations (UNIFEM, FAO, Overview). and UNDP) and bilateral agencies--namely, DFID (U.K.), 2. According to a UNIDO and International Fund for the Netherlands, SIDA (Sweden), USAID (U.S.), and, more Agricultural Development project cited in Blackden and recently, GTZ (Germany)--that have included gender as one Wodon (2006). of the main pillars of their energy assistance programs. 3. R. Srinivasan, "Stealing Farmers' Water to Quench 2. Winrock, "Grameen Shakti & Winrock Show the Way: Chennai's Thirst," InfoChangeAgenda, March, www. Biogas Offers Fuel, Health and Income Solutions in infochangeindia.org. Bangladesh," Solution Story, South Asia Energy Initiative MODULE 9: NOTES 413 Grants Project, Winrock International, Little Rock, AR, 12. www.fijifriend.com; www.genderawards.net. www.winrock.org. 13. www.genderawards.net. 3. Joy Clancy, Margaret Skutsch, and Simon Batchelor, 14. www.fao.org/sd/ruralradio; www.simbani.amarc.org. "The Gender-Energy-Poverty Nexus: Finding the Energy to 15. www.hra.am/eng/?page=organization&id=70; www. Address Gender Concerns in Development," project funded genderawards.net. by U.K. Department for International Development, www. 16. Leelangi Wanasundera,"Expanding Women's Capacities sarpn.org.za. through Access to ICT: An Overview from Sri Lanka," paper 4. Because labor is considered a factor of production, only presented at Gender Perspectives on the Information Soci- when women's labor is valued above men's labor do house- ety South Asia Pre-WSIS Seminar, Bangalore, India, April holds move from collecting fuelwood to purchasing fuel- 18­19, www.itforchange.net. wood or another fuel commodity, so that the time saved from fuel collection can be invested in other women's income-generating activities. Thematic Note 4 5. See http://energia-africa.org/GenderAudits. This Thematic Note was written by Christine Sijbesma 6. A summary of these tools is provided in ESMAP (2003a). (Consultant) and reviewed by Dominique Lallement and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Maria Hartl and Laurent Thematic Note 3 Stravato (IFAD); and Indira Ekanayake (World Bank). This Thematic Note was written by Nidhi Tandon (Consul- 1. See, for example, www.freshschools.org/water&sanita tant) and reviewed by Dominique Lallement, Kerry McNa- tion.htm. mara, and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Clare O'Farrell (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Indira Ekanayake, Kayoko Innovative Activity Profile 1 Chibata Medlin, and Samia Melhem (World Bank). This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Mari H. Clarke 1. C. K. Pralahad, quoted in The Economist, July 9­15, (Consultant) and reviewed by Dominique Lallement (Consul- 2005: "Calling an End to Poverty." tant); Moses Abukari, Rudolph Cleveringa, Maria Hartl, and 2. Andersson et al. 2007. Audrey Nepveu (IFAD); and Luz Caballero (World Bank). 3. "Sixty to 70 percent of Africa's population live in rural 1. A national household survey in 2001 found that indige- areas and rely heavily on traditional and unprocessed bio- nous people represent over 45 percent of the Peruvian mass (for example, wood, animal dung, agricultural waste) population. Nearly 64 percent of these households are poor, for their daily domestic energy needs, with limited choice and more than 35 percent are extremely poor. A small pro- and options of fuels for their productive activities. The rate portion of the indigenous people live in the Amazon region of access to modern energy in these areas has dropped to as (World Bank 2006a: 86). low as 1 percent, in some countries" (UNECA 2005: 9). 2. The net economic rate of return was 31 percent (World 4. Simone Cecchini, and Monica Raina, "Village Informa- Bank 2007: 26). tion Kiosks for the Warana Cooperatives in India," Success/ 3. "Local development window"reflects opening a window Failure Case Study No. 1 eGovernment for Development, of opportunity through which rural communities could University of Manchester, www.egov4dev.org/warana. htm; translate their expectations into actions and realities (World National Informatics Centre, "Project Proposal for Wired Bank 2001: 72). This approach builds on indigenous tradi- Village Project at Warana Nagar, Maharashtra," National tions of reciprocity, solidarity, and community work (Dasso Informatics Centre, Pune, India, www.mah.nic.in/warana. 2005: 65; World Bank 2006b: 131). 5. BBC World Service Trust, "Building Basic Education in 4. Seventy percent of the illiterate population is Peru con- Somalia," www.bbc.co.uk. sists of monolingual rural indigenous women (World Bank 6. www.comminit.com/en/node/118505;"Building Basic 2006b: 132). Education in Somalia" (February 22, 2007), www.bbc.co.uk. 5. Examples of indicators include the number of women 7. www.apcob.org.bo. involved in the maintenance of rural roads, the number of 8. www.healthunlimited.org. women attending community meetings related to transport, 9. www.equalaccess.org; "Equal Access-Making Digital and the percentage of women attending training workshops Broadcast Work for Development," www.un.org. on transport and gender (World Bank 2006b: 134­35). 10. "e Lanka Development," www.worldbank.org. 6. Training on gender and road management for project 11. www.fao.org/dimitra; "Dimitra Project, Rural Women operators (Project Implementation Unit personnel, Rural and Development," www.itu.int/net/home/index.aspx. Roads Institutes, and external consultants) and rural road 414 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS operators (microenterprises and members of road commit- Canadian Standards Association. 2007. Climate Change and tees) in three phases: sensitization on gender, gender in the Infrastructure Engineering: Towards a New Curriculum. project cycle, and decentralization and road network man- Ottawa: IHS Publisher. agement with a gender approach (Gutiérrez 2007). Clarke, M. 2007."Background Paper on Gender, Enterprise, 7. The most common reason given for excluding women and Infrastructure." Pre-conference on Enterprise from road maintenance was the assumption that the work Development, African and Global Lessons for More was too physically demanding. Husbands were also reluctant Effective Donor Practices from Women's Perspective, to authorize their wives' work on the road because men are GTZ, October 15. supposed to be the breadwinners, and both men and women Department for International Development (DFID). 2002. were concerned about what others would think of families "Energy for the Poor: Underpinning the Millennium whose women worked on the road (World Bank 2007). Development Goals." U.K. Government, London, 8. About 25 percent of the Peruvian population is August. undocumented because of limited access to name regis- Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). tration, home birthing, and other factors. Most of the 1999."Household Energy Strategies for Urban India: The undocumented people are rural, indigenous, illiterate, Case of Hyderabad." Report 214/99, World Bank, Wash- and women (Caballero and Alcahuasi 2007a: 4). ington, DC. Also available at www.esmap.org. ------. 2001. "Rural Electrification and Development in the Philippines: Measuring the Social and Economic Innovative Activity Profile 2 Benefits." Report 243/01, World Bank, Washington, DC. This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Nidhi Tan- ESMAP-Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP). 2003. don (Consultant) and reviewed by Dominique Lallement "Energy-Poverty Reduction Workshop." Dakar, Senegal, and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Field Visit, February, World Bank, Washington, DC. and Eija Pehu (World Bank). This Profile was largely drawn Grieco, Margaret. 2002."Gender, Social Inclusion, and Rural from UNESCAP (2006). Infrastructure." Final Report for the World Bank, World 1. The eBario project has been internationally recognized Bank, Washington, DC. for its innovativeness and effectiveness and has won several Gutiérrez, María. 2007. "Peru: Benefits from Gender Sensi- awards, including the Mondialogo Award (2005, Berlin), tive Approach to Rural Roads." Paper presented at work- eAsia Award (2004, Taipei), Anugerah Perdana Teknologi shop on transport and gender, World Bank, Washington, Maklumat (2003, Kuala Lumpur), Industry Innovators DC, March 22. Award for Systems Development & Applications from the Ilahi, Nadeem, and Franque Grimard. 2000. Public Infrastruc- Society of Satellite Professionals International (March 2002, ture and Private Costs: Water Supply and Time Allocation of Washington, DC), Top Seven Intelligent Communities by Women in Rural Pakistan. Economic Development and the World Teleport Association in 2001, and, recently, the Cultural Change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Gold Medal of the Commonwealth Association of Public Infodev. 2006. "Improving Health, Connecting People." Administration and Management (CAPAM) International Draft Report, World Bank, Washington, DC. Innovations Awards in Sydney, Australia, on October 25, 2006 (see www.researchsea.com). Kumar, Shubh K., and David Hotchkiss. 1988. Consequences of Deforestation for Women's Time. Washington, DC: IFPRI. Lallement, Dominique. 2007. "Opportunities for Women's REFERENCES Participation in Infrastructure Labor Market in Liberia." Draft Report, World Bank, Washington, DC, June. Overview Lallement, Dominique, and Judy Siegel. 2002. "Energy and Barwell, Ian. 1996. "Rural Transport in Developing Coun- Poverty Reduction." PowerPoint presentation at World tries." In Engendering Development, Policy Research Summit Sustainable Development­WSSD, World Bank Report. Washington, DC: World Bank. and Global Village Energy Partnership, Johannesburg, Blackden, C. Mark. 2006. "Gender and Energy in Uganda." September. Background Note for Country Assistance Strategy, World Potgieter, Cheryl-Ann, Renay Pillay, and Sharmla Rama. Bank, Washington, DC. 2006. Women, Development and Transport in Rural Blackden, C. Mark, and Quentin Wodon, eds. 2006. Eastern Cape, South Africa. South Africa National "Gender, Time Use, and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa." Roads Agency. Cape Town: HSRC Press. World Bank Working Paper No. 73, World Bank, Saito, Katrine, Hailu Mekonnen, and Daphne Spurling. Washington, DC. 1994. "Raising the Productivity of Women Farmers in MODULE 9: REFERENCES 415 Sub-Saharan Africa." Discussion Paper 230, World Bank, Department­Transport Unit (ETWTR), Washington, Washington, DC. DC, October. Sotomayor, Maria Angelica. 2007. "Mainstreaming Gender Cook, Cynthia. 2003. "Multisectoral HIV/AIDs Projects in in Water and Sanitation: Lessons from Paraguay." Power- Africa: A Social Analysis Perspective." Social Develop- Point presentation, Water Week, World Bank, Washing- ment Paper 43, World Bank, Washington, DC. ton, DC, March. Dolan, Catherine, and Kristina Sorby. 2003. "Gender and UNICEF. 2006. "Progress for Children: A Report Card on Employment in High-Value Agricultural Industries." Water and Sanitation."Report, United Nations, New York. Agriculture and Rural Development Working Paper 7, World Bank, Washington, DC. Donnges, Chris. 2003. "Improving Access in Rural Areas: Thematic Note 1 Guidelines for Rural Accessibility Planning." Interna- Ahmad, Nilufar. 2007. "Bangladesh: Women's Empower- tional Labour Organization, Geneva. ment through Rural Transport and Markets." Paper pre- Edmonds, Geoff. 1998. "Wasted Time: the Price of Poor sented at the World Bank Roundtable on Mainstreaming Access." International Labour Organization, Geneva. Gender in Transport, Washington, DC, June 20. Essakali, Mohammed Dalil. 2005. "Rural Access and Mobil- Asian Development Bank (ADB). 2003. "Gender Checklist: ity in Pakistan: A Policy Note." Transport Note 28, Roads, Resettlement." ADB, Manila. Highways and Rural Transport Thematic Group, World ------. 2004."LAO PDR: Gender, Poverty and the MDGs." Bank, Washington, DC. Mekong and Regional Sustainable Development Depart- Fouracre, Phil. 2001."Transport and Sustainable Livelihoods." ments, ADB, Manila. Rural Transport Knowledge Base. Module 5:3:a. World Babinard, Julie, and Peter Roberts. 2006. "Maternal and Bank, Washington, DC, and Department for International Child Mortality Development Goals: What Can the Development (DFID), London. Also available at www4. Transport Sector Do?" World Bank Transport Sector worldbank.org/afr/ssatp/Resources/HTML/rural_trans- Board Transport Papers TP-12, World Bank, Washington, port/ knowledge_base/English/Con tents.htm. DC. Gender and Rural Transport Initiative. 2002. "Ghana and Barrientos, Stephanie, Naila Kabeer, and Naomi Hossain. Malawi Country Reports." In Gender and Transport 2004. "The Gender Dimensions of Global Production." Resource Guide, Module 4, Country Reports 5 and 9.Wash- Working Paper 17, Policy Integration Department, World ington, DC: Africa Region Transport Group, World Bank. Commission on Social Dimension of Globalization, Graeco, Margaret. 2002."Gender, Social Inclusion and Rural International Labour Organization, Geneva. Infrastructure Services." Report, World Bank, Washing- Blackden, C. Mark. 2003. "Too Much Work and Too Little ton, DC, June 14. Time: Gender Dimensions of Transport, Water and Hine, J., S. Ellis, and S. Done. 2002."Ghana Feeder Road Pri- Energy." Paper presented at a World Bank­sponsored oritization." International Labour Organization Confer- training event, Arusha, Tanzania, February 3­7. ence, Maputo, May. Blackden, C. Mark, and Quentin Wodon, eds. 2006. "Gen- International Forum for Rural Transport and Development der, Time Use, and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa." (IFRTD). 2003."Waterway Livelihoods: Improving Rural World Bank, Washington, DC. Access and Mobility through the Development of Rural Caballero, Luz. 2007. "Peru Second Rural Roads Project: Water Transport."Toolkit, IFRTD, London. Also available Gender Mainstreaming along the Road: Walking towards at www.ruralwaterways.org. Women's Empowerment and Democracy." PowerPoint International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). 2007. presentation for World Bank Roundtable on Main- "Agenda: Challenging HIV/AIDS in Transport." Agenda, streaming Gender and Social Dimensions in Transport Issue 1. London: ITF. Programs, World Bank, Washington, DC, June. Ishihara, Satoshi. 2007."CDD and Transport: the Azerbaijan Cernea, Michael. 2000. "Risks, Safeguards, and Reconstruc- Experience." Presentation at World Bank Roundtable on tion: A Model for Population Displacement and Resettle- Mainstreaming Gender in Transport, Washington, DC, ment." In Risks and Reconstruction: Experiences of Resettlers June 20. and Refugees, ed. Michael Cernea and Chris McDowell, Kunieda, Mika, and Aimée Gauthier. 2007. "Gender and 11­55. Washington, DC: World Bank. Urban Transport: Smart and Affordable." In Sustainable Clarke, Mari H. 2007. "Progress Report on the Dissemina- Transport: A Sourcebook for Policy-Makers in Developing tion of Gender and Transport Good Practices." Paper Cities, Module 7a. Eschborn: German Federal Ministry prepared for the World Bank, Energy Transport & Water for Economic Cooperation and Development. 416 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Lallement, Dominique. 2007."Women's Economic Empow- Rao, Nitya. 2002. "Cycling into the Future: The Experience erment through Participation in Labor Markets Created of Women in Pudukkottai Tamil Nadu." In Balancing the by Bank-Financed Infrastructure Projects." World Bank, Load: Women, Gender and Transport, eds. Priyanthi Washington, DC, June. Fernando and Gina Porter, 186­205. London: Zed Books. Latif, Shireen. 2005."Gender in Road Infrastructure." Presen- Riverson, John, Mika Kunieda, Peter Roberts, Negede Lewi, tation at Transport Infrastructure and Poverty Reduction and Wendy Walker. 2005. "The Challenges in Addressing Workshop, Asian Development Bank, Manila, July 18­20. Gender Dimensions of Transport in Developing Coun- Lema, Antoine, Stephen Brushett, Negede Lewi, John River- tries: Lessons from the World Bank's Projects." World son, and Silue Siele. 2003. "Taming HIV/AIDS on Bank, Washington, DC. Africa's Roads." Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Roberts, Peter, K. C. Shyam, and Cordula Rastogi. 2006. Program (SSATP) Technical Note 35, May, World Bank, "Rural Access Index: Key Development Indicators." Washington, DC. Transport Sector Board Transport Paper 10, World Bank, Levy, Hernan. 2004."Rural Roads and Poverty Alleviation in Washington, DC. Morocco." Paper presented at the Scaling Up Poverty Shyam, K. C. 2007. "Rural Accessibility and Gender Differ- Reduction Conference, Shanghai, May 25­27, Session ences in School Enrollment in Nepal." Paper presented at C1, Case 2, World Bank, Washington, DC. the World Bank Roundtable on Mainstreaming Gender Malmberg-Calvo, Christina. 1994. "Case Study on the in Transport, Washington, DC, June 20. Role of Women in Rural Transport: Access of Women Starkey, Paul. 2001. "Local Transport Solutions: People, to Domestic Facilities." Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Paradoxes and Progress: Lessons Arising from the Spread Policy Program (SSATP) Working Paper 11, World of Intermediate Means of Transport." Sub-Saharan Bank, Washington, DC. Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP) Working ------. 1998. "Options for Managing and Financing Rural Paper 56, World Bank, Washington, DC. Transport Infrastructure." Technical Paper 411, World ------. 2002. Local Transport Solutions for Rural Development. Bank, Washington, DC. London: Department for International Development. Maramba, Petronella, and Michael Bamberger. 2001. "A Starkey, Paul, Simon Ellis, John Hine, and Anna Ternell. 2003. Gender Responsive Monitoring and Evaluation System "Improving Rural Mobility: Options for Developing for Rural Travel and Transport Programs in Africa: A Motorized and Non-Motorized Transport in Rural Areas." Handbook for Planners, Managers and Evaluators." Sub- Technical Paper 525, World Bank, Washington, DC. Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP) Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Working Paper 55, World Bank, Washington, DC. (SIDA). 1997. Handbook for Mainstreaming a Gender Per- Mutemba, Shimwaayi, and C. Mark Blackden. 2000. "The spective in the Rural Transport Sector. Stockholm: SIDA. Gender Dimensions of HIV/AIDS: Putting Gender on Tanzarn, Nite, Jeff Turner, Meike Spitzner, and Rolf Hennes. the MAP." Technical Note, World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007."Labor-Based Methods: A Key Area for Mainstream- December. ing Gender in the Road Infrastructure Sector." Paper pre- Peters, Deike. 2002. "Gender and Transport in Less Devel- sented at the 12th Regional Seminar for Labor Intensive oped Countries." Paper commissioned by UNED Forum Construction, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa, October. for expert workshop on "Gender Perspectives for the Tichagwa, Wilfred. 2000. "Gender and Rural Travel and Earth Summit 2002," Berlin, January 20. Transport: Zimbabwe." Report prepared for the World Plessis-Fraissard, Maryvonne. 2007. "Planning Roads for Bank Gender and Rural Transport Initiative, World Rural Communities." Paper presented at the Low Volume Bank, Washington, DC. Roads Conference, Austin, June 24­27. Tiwari, Geetam. 2001."Social Dimensions of Transport Plan- Pulley, Tülin Akin, Shireen Lateef, and Ferdousi Sultana ning." Transport Research and Injury Prevention Pro- Begum. 2003. "Making Infrastructure Work for Women gramme, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, February. in Bangladesh." Asian Development Bank, Manila. Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) and Department for Quisumbing, Agnes. 2003. "What Have We Learned from International Development (DFID). 2000. "Estimating Research on Intrahousehold Allocation." In Household Global Road Fatalities." TRL Report 445, TRL, Berkshire, Decision, Gender and Development: A Synthesis of Recent U.K. Research, ed. Agnes Quisumbing, 1­16. Washington, DC: Walker,Wendy, Shalini Vajjhala, Thasi Phomane, Nonkuleleko International Food Policy Research Institute. Zaly, Senate Moonyane, and M. Mokhoro. 2005. "Ground Rankin, Elizabeth. 1999. "Gender and Transport: A Strategy Truthing: Mobility Mapping and Access in Rural Lesotho." for Africa." World Bank, Washington, DC. World Bank and Lesotho Ministry of Public Works, April. MODULE 9: REFERENCES 417 World Bank. 2000. "Can Africa Claim the 21st Century?" ------. 2003a. "Monitoring and Evaluation in Rural Elec- Report prepared jointly by the African Development trification Projects: A Demand-Oriented Approach." Bank, African Economic Research Consortium, Global Technical Paper 037, World Bank, Washington, DC. Coalition for Africa, Economic Commission for Africa, ------. 2003b. The Impact of Energy in Women's Lives in and World Bank, Washington, DC. Rural India. ESMAP Formal Report 276, World Bank, ------. 2001. "Gender Inequality Hinders Development." Washington, DC. In Engendering Development: through Gender Equality in ------. 2004. "Opportunities for Women in Renewable Rights, Resources, and Voice, 73­106. Policy Research Energy Technology Use in Bangladesh (Phase 1)." World Report. Washington, DC: World Bank. Bank, Washington, DC, April. ------. 2006. "Rural Infrastructure in Peru: Effectively Lallement, Dominique. 2008. "Evaluation of Women's Underpinning Local Development and Fostering Comple- Energy Cooperative in Char Montaz." World Bank, mentarities." Finance, Private Sector and Infrastructure Washington, DC. Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean, World Bank, Parikh, Jyoti, and Saudamini Sharma. 2006."Energy Poverty Washington, DC, January 26. and the Gender Nexus in Himachal Pradesh." ENERGIA ------. 2007a. "A Decade of Action in Transport: An Eval- International Network on Gender and Sustainable uation of World Bank Assistance to the Transport Sector Energy, Leusden, the Netherlands. 1995­2005." World Bank, Washington, DC. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2001. ------. 2007b. "The Second Peru Rural Roads Transport "Generating Opportunities: Case Studies on Energy and Project Implementation Completion Report." World Women." UNDP, New York. Bank, Washington, DC. World Bank. 2003. "Senegal: Sustainable and Participatory ------. n.d. "Case Study 8: Gender Mainstreaming: Rural Energy Management." World Bank, Washington, DC. Roads and the Transport Sector. Module III. Integrating ------. 2007. "Lao PDR. Making Infrastructure Responsi- Gender into Transport Projects." World Bank Institute, ble to Women's Needs." World Bank, Washington, DC. Washington, DC. World Health Organization. 2002. "Healthy Environments World Health Organization. 2004. "World Report on Safety for Children: Initiating an Alliance for Action." World and Injury Prevention." World Health Organization, Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva. Thematic Note 3 Thematic Note 2 Andersson, Ingrid, Ananya Raihan, Milagros Rivera, Idris Agarwal, Bina. 2001."Participatory Exclusions, Community Sulaiman, Nidhi Tandon, and Friederike Welter. 2007. Forestry, and Gender: An Analysis for South Asia and a Handbook on Women-owned SMEs: Challenges and Conceptual Framework." World Development 29 (10): Opportunities in Policies and Programmes. Sponsored by 1623­48. International Organisation of Knowledge Economy and Blackden, Marc. 2007. Gender and Energy: Issues for the Enterprise Development and Global Knowledge Partner- PEAP Revisions. Washington, DC: World Bank. ship. Malmo¨, Sweden: IKED. Available at www.iked.org. Branco, Adelia de Melo. 1997. "Women of the Drought: A Burch, Sally. 2007. "Knowledge Sharing for Rural Develop- Study of Employment, Mobilization and Change in ment: Challenges, Experiences and Methods." Latin Northeastern Brazil." University of Manitoba, Manitoba, American Information Agency, Quito. Canada. FAO and GTZ. 2006. Framework on Effective Rural Commu- Dayal, Rekha. 2007. "Learning from Best Practices." Back- nication for Development, ed. Riccardo Del Castello and ground Paper for Rural Infrastructure Module, World Paul Mathias Braun. Rome: FAO. Bank, Washington, DC. Hafkin, Nancy. 2007. "Critical Issues and Approaches for Department for International Development (DFID). 2002. Designing Policy Relevant Research on Strengthening "Energy for the Poor: Underpinning the Millennium Women's Control of ICTs as Development Assets." Paper Development Goals." U.K. government, London, presented during the Consultation on Strengthening August. Women's Control of Assets, International Food Policy ESMAP. 2002."The Development of Rural Electrification in Research Institute, Washington, DC, November 14. the Philippines: Measuring the Socio and Economic Piepenstock, Anne, Orlando Arratia, and Luis Carlos Impact." Report 255/02, World Bank, Washington, DC. Aguilar. 2006. "New Technologies Support Farmers' 418 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS Documentation." LEISA Magazine on Low External Cointreau, Sandra. 2006."Occupational and Environmental Input and Sustainable Agriculture 22 (1): 28­29. Health Issues of Solid Waste Management: Special Talyarkhan, Surmaya, with David J. Grimshaw and Lucky Emphasis on Middle- and Lower-Income Countries." Lowe. 2004."Connecting the First Mile: A Framework for Urban Paper No. 2, World Bank, Washington, DC. Best Practice in ICT Projects for Knowledge Sharing in Also available at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ Development." Intermediate Technology Development INTUSWM/ Resources/up-2.pdf. Group (ITDG, now Practical Action), Rugby U.K. Also FRESH. n.d. "Core Intervention 2: Provision of Safe Water available at www.itdg.org. and Sanitation." Partnership for Health Development, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Focusing Resources on Effective School Health (FRESH) 2005. "African Regional Implementation Review for the program, London. Also available at www.freshschools. 14th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Develop- org/water&sanitation.htm. ment (CSD-14)," Report on Energy for Sustainable Fung, Isaac Chun-Hai, and Sandy Cairncross. 2006."Effective- Development in Africa. Also available at www.uneca. ness of Handwashing in Preventing SARS: A Review."Trop- org/csd/CSD4_Report_on_Energy_for_Sustainaible_ ical Medicine and International Health 11 (11): 1­10. Also Development.htm. available at www.sibs.ac.cn/sars/file/wenxian/051415.pdf. Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Drinking Water Supply. 2001. Central Rural Sanitation Programme Total Sanitation Cam- Thematic Note 4 paign: Guidelines 2001. New Delhi: Government of Appleton, Brian, and Ian Smout, eds. 2003. "The Gender India, Ministry of Rural Development, Department of and Water Development Report: Gender Perspectives on Drinking Water. Policies in the Water Sector." Water Engineering Devel- Gross, Bruce, Christine van Wijk, and Nilanjana Mukherjee. opment Centre (WEDC), Loughborough, U.K. Also 2001. "Linking Sustainability with Demand, Gender and available at www.genderandwater.org/content/down- Poverty: A Study in Community-Managed Water Supply load/307/3228/file/GWA_Annual_Report.pdf. Projects in 15 Countries." World Bank Water and Sanita- Arrais, Silvia Cavalcanti. 1996. "Selective Solid Waste Col- tion Program, Washington, DC. Also available at lection and Recycling in Recife, Brazil." In Best Practices: http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/sdvext.nsf/07ByDoc Water Supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste Collection Ser- Name/StrengtheningOperationalSkillsinCommunity- vices in Low Income Urban Areas (Summaries prepared by DrivenDevelopmentOpenSessionsEmpowermentand- IRC and partners for the Habitat II conference), 21­23. Gender. The Hague, Netherlands: IRC International Water and Hunt, Juliet. 2004."Effective Strategies for Promoting Gender Sanitation Centre. Equality." Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Austin, John, Lizette Burgers, Sandy Cairncross, Andrew Development (OECD)/DAC Network on Gender Equality, Cotton, Val Curtis, Barbara Evans, and others. 2005. Paris. Also available at www.oecd.org/dataoecd/59/2/ "Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion: Programming 32126577.pdf. Guidance." Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Council, Geneva, Switzerland. Also available at www. 2008. "Safe and Sustainable Livelihoods in Agricultural wsscc.org/pdf/publication/Sani_Hygiene_Promo.pdf. Communities: Optimizing the Recycling of Human Burrows, Gideon, Jules Acton, and Tamsin Maunder. 2004. Waste." Seminar of IFAD and the Stockholm Environ- "Water and Sanitation: The Education Drain," Education ment Institute, Rome, Italy, January 29. Also available at Media Report 3, WaterAid, London. Also available at www.ifad.org/events/lectures/sei/index.htm. www.wateraid.org/documents/education20report.pdf. Kar, Kamal, and Katherine Pasteur. 2005. "Subsidy or Self- Cairncross, Sandy, and Vivian Valdmanis. 2006. "Water Respect? Community Led Total Sanitation. An Update Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion." In Disease on Recent Developments." IDS Working Paper 257. Insti- Control Priorities in Developing Countries, ed. Dean tute of Development Studies, Brighton, U.K. Also avail- Jamison and others. Washington, DC: World Bank. Also able at www.livelihoods.org/hot_topics/CLTS.html. available at www.dcp2.org/pubs/DCP. Kgalushi, Rudzani, Stef Smits, and Kathy Eales. 2004. "Peo- Coates, Sue. 1999."A Gender and Development Approach to ple Living with HIV/AIDS in a Context of Rural Poverty: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programmes." A Wat- The Importance of Water and Sanitation Services and erAid Briefing Paper, WED, Loughbourough, U.K. Also Hygiene Education." Mvula Trust and Delft, IRC, Johan- available at www.wateraid.org/documents/plugin_docu- nesburg, South Africa. Also available at www.irc.nl/ ments/genderdevelopmentapproach.pdf. page/10382. MODULE 9: REFERENCES 419 Mathew, Kochurani. 2006."Preventing Corruption in a San- Innovative Activity Profile 1 itation Programme in India--Process and Tools." Paper Caballero, Luz, and Nerida Alcahuasi. 2007a."Gender in Peru: presented at the Stockholm Water Week, Water Integrity Can Women Be Integrated into Transport Projects?" En Network, August 20­26. Also available at www.waterin Breve Analytical Note Series No. 112. World Bank Latin tegritynetwork.net/page/200. America and Caribbean Region,Washington, DC, October. Mukherjee, Nilanjana, and Christine van Wijk. 2003. "Sus- ------. 2007b. "Peru Second Rural Roads Project: Gender tainability Planning and Monitoring in Community Mainstreaming along the Road: Walking towards Water Supply and Sanitation." World Bank Water and Women's Empowerment and Democracy." PowerPoint Sanitation Program and IRC, Washington, DC. Also presentation for World Bank Roundtable on Main- available at www.wsp.org/publications/mpa% 202003 streaming Gender and Social Dimensions in Transport .pdf. Programs, World Bank, Washington, DC, June. O'Connor, S., S. K. West, B. Lorntz, F. Vinicor, and C. Jor- Dasso, Elizabeth. 2005. "Roads Toward Local Development." gensen. 2004. "Women and Infectious Disease--Chronic In Thinking Out Loud VI: Innovative Case Studies on Partic- Disease Interactions [conference summary]." Emerging ipatory Instruments, World Bank Civil Society Team, Latin Infectious Diseases Journal. Also available at America and the Caribbean Region (summer), 61­76. www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no11/04-0623_14.htm. Forte, Lucia, and Aurelio Menendez. 2005. "Making Rural Shordt, Kathy. 2006. "Review of Handwashing Programs." Roads Work for Both Women and Men: The Example of Study for the HIP Project, IRC International Water and Peru's Rural Roads Program." In Promising Approaches to Sanitation Centre, Delft, Netherlands. Also available at Engendering Development, 1­2. Washington, DC: World www.irc.nl/content/download/28336/298224/file/ Bank. Hand%20Washing%20HIP%2020Jan06.pdf. Gutiérrez, María. 2006. "I Didn't Know That I Had Rights: van Wijk-Sijbesma, Christine. 1998. "Gender in Water The Process of Training Workers in the Peruvian Rural Resources Management, Water Supply and Sanitation: Roads Infrastructure Project." Paper presented at the Roles and Realities Revisited." Technical Paper No. 33, International Forum for Rural Transport and Develop- IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, the ment, London. Hague, Netherlands. ------. 2007. "The Process of Training Workers in the ------. 2002. "The Best of Two Worlds? Methodology for Peruvian Rural Roads Infrastructure Project." Paper pre- Quantifying Participatory Measurement of Sustainabil- sented at the World Bank Workshop on Gender and ity, Use and Gender and Poverty-Sensitive Participation Transport, World Bank, Washington, DC, March. in Community-Managed Domestic Water Services." Uni- International Bank for Reconstruction and Development versity of Wageningen, Department of Communication and Inter-American Development Bank (IBRD/IADB). and Innovations, and IRC, Delft, Netherlands. 2005. "Results of the Evaluation of the Local Develop- Verhagen, Joep, A. J. James, Christine van Wijk, Reema ment Window Program in the Peru Second Rural Roads Nanavatty, Mita Parikh, and Mihir Bhatt. 2004. "Link- Project." Joint assessment team presentation, IBRD, ing Water Supply and Poverty Alleviation: The Impact Washington, DC, April. of Women's Productive Use of Water and Time on Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). 2007. Household Economy and Gender Relations in "Peru Country Gender Profile." JICA, Tokyo, January. Banaskantha District, Gujarat, India." Occasional Paper OP_36E. IRC, Delft, Netherlands. Also available at Ruiz-Abril, Maria Elena. 2005. "Mainstreaming Gender in www.irc.nl/page/5980. Rural Roads Projects: The Case of the Rural Roads of Peru." World Bank, Washington, DC. Wakeman, Wendy. 1995. Gender Issues Sourcebook for Water and Sanitation Projects. Washington, DC: UNDP-World Valdivia, M. 2007."Peru Rural Roads Program Impact Eval- Bank Water and Sanitation Program/PROWWESS uation 2006." Paper presented at World Bank Brown Bag Working Group on Gender Issues of the Water and San- Luncheon on the Second Peru Rural Roads Project, itation Collaborative Council. World Bank, Washington, DC, June. WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program. 2006. "Meeting World Bank. 2001. "Project Appraisal Document on Pro- the MDG Drinking Water and Sanitation Targets: The posed Load for Second Peru Rural Roads Project." World Urban and Rural Challenge for the Decade." WHO- Bank, Washington, DC. UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program, Geneva, Switzerland. ------. 2006a. "Rural Infrastructure in Peru: Effectively Also available at www.who.int/water_sanitation_ health/ Underpinning Local Development and Fostering Com- monitoring/jmpfinal.pdf. plementarities." World Bank, Washington, DC, January. 420 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS ------. 2006b. "Project Appraisal Document on Proposed World Bank Gender and Transport Resource Guide: Loan for a Decentralized Rural Transport Project."World www.worldbank.org. Bank, Washington, DC, November. World Bank Transport and Social Responsibility: ------. 2007. "Implementation Completion and Results www.worldbank.org. Report for the Second Peru Rural Roads Project." World Bank, Washington, DC, June. Documents Department for International Development (DFID), IDL Innovative Activity Profile 2 Group, and World Bank. 2004. Rural Transport Training UNESCAP. 2006. "Guidebook on Developing Community CD-ROM. E-Centres in Rural Areas: Based on the Malaysian Expe- Fernando, Priyanthi, and Gina Porter, eds. 2002. Balancing the rience." United Nations Economic and Social Commis- Load: Women, Gender and Transport. London: Zed Books. sion for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), New York. Also Leyvigne, Jerome. 2007. "Rural Roads in Yemen." Presenta- available at www.unescap.org. tion at the Roundtable on Mainstreaming Gender in Transport. World Bank, Washington, DC, June 20. Ventner, Christo, Mac Mashiri, and Denise Buiten. 2006. FURTHER READING Engendering Mobility: Towards Improved Analysis in the Overview Transport Sector. Gender Studies. Pretoria: University of Davis, Jenna. 2007. "Failure to Meet United Nations Sanita- Pretoria Law Press. tion Target Could Affect Millions of the World's Poorest." Walker,Wendy, and Cheikh Sagna. 2002."Social and Poverty Press Release, Stanford University, March. Issues/Impacts in the Africa Transport Sector." World International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). Bank, Washington, DC, December. 2005. "Infrastructure Shortfalls Cost: Women Time and World Bank. 2003."AIDS and Transport in Africa: A Frame- Opportunity." Report, ICRW, Washington, DC. work for Meeting the Challenge." World Bank, Washing- Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ton, DC. (OECD). 2004. "Development Assistance Committee's ------. 2006."Social Analysis in Transport Projects: Guide- Network on Gender Equality: Why Gender Matters in lines for Incorporating Social Dimensions into Bank- Infrastructure." Report, Paris, October. Supported Projects." Social Analysis Sector Guidance World Bank. 2002. "Gender, Social Inclusion and Rural Notes, World Bank, Washington, DC. Infrastructure." Report, World Bank, Washington, DC. ------.n.d."Case Study 9: Gender,HIV/AIDS and Transport: West Africa. Module III. Integrating Gender into Develop- Thematic Note 1 ment Projects."World Bank Institute, Washington, DC. Web Sites Gender and Transport Network (GATNET): http://ifrtd.gn. Thematic Note 2 apc.org/new/gender_gat/about.htm. Energia and United Nations Development Programme. Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP): www.grsproad- "Gender and Energy for Sustainable Development: A safety.org. Toolkit and Resource Guide."Available at www.undp.org. Global Transport Knowledge Partnership: www.gtkp.com. ESMAP. 2002. "Energy Strategies for Rural India: Evidence International Forum for Rural Transport and Development from Six States." Report 258.02, World Bank, Washing- (IFRTD): http://ifrtd.gn.apc.org. ton, DC, August. International Labour Organization Advisory, Support ------. 2004. "Supporting Gender and Sustainable Energy Information Services and Training (ILO ASIST), "Main- Initiatives in Central America, Volume II." Technical streaming Poverty Alleviation Strategies through Sus- Paper 62, Annex 4, World Bank, Washington, DC. tainable Infrastructure Development": www.iloasist.org. Lambrou, Yianna, and Grazia Piana. 2006. "Energy and International Labour Organization Gender Equality Tools: Gender in Rural Sustainable Development." FAO, Rome. www.ilo.org/dyn/gender/gender.home. Ramani, K., and Enno Heijndermans. 2003. "Energy, Rural Transport Knowledgebase: Sponsored by SSATP, the Poverty, and Gender." Synthesis Report, World Bank, World Bank, and Department for International Develop- Washington, DC. ment: www.transport-links.org/rtkb/ rtkb.htm. Republic of Kenya, Ministry of Energy. 2007. "Updating the Waterways and Livelihoods: www.ruralwaterways.org. Rural Electrification Master Plan."Internal report, Nairobi. MODULE 9: FURTHER READING 421 World Bank. 2007."Making Infrastructure Projects Respon- Review Paper, IRC International Water and Sanitation sible to the Needs of Women in Rural and Remote Areas: Centre, Delft, the Netherlands. Available at www.irc.nl/ Access to Rural Electrification in Lao PDR." World Bank page/36080. Discussion Paper (Draft), East Asia and Pacific Region Butterworth, John, and Patrick Moriarty. 2003. "The Pro- Gender Program, World Bank, Washington, DC. ductive Use of Domestic Water Supplies: How Water Supplies Can Play a Wider Role in Livelihood Improve- Thematic Note 3 ment and Poverty Reduction." Thematic Overview Paper, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, Batchelor, Simon, and Nigel Scott. 2005. "Good Practice Delft, the Netherlands. Available at www.irc.nl/page Paper on ICTs for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduc- .php/256. tion." DAC Journal 6 (3). Available at www.oecd.org. Fong, Monica S., Wendy Wakeman, and Anjana Bhushan. Chen, Derek H. C. 2004. "Gender Equality and Economic 1996. "Toolkit on Gender in Water and Sanitation." Development: the Role for Information and Communi- World Bank, Washington, DC. Available at http://go. cation Technologies." Policy Research Paper 3285, World worldbank.org/6KG607ZRK0. Bank, Washington, DC. Hunt, Caroline. 2001. "A Review of the Health Hazards Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1996. "The First Associated with the Occupation of Waste Picking for Mile of Connectivity." FAO, Rome. Children." International Journal of Adolescent Medical Gurumuthy, Anita. 2004 "Gender and ICTs: Overview Health 13 (3): 177­89. Report." BRIDGE, Institute for Development Studies; Khosla, Prabha, and Sara Ahmed. 2006. Gender and IWRM University of Sussex, Brighton, England. Resource Guide. Dieren, the Netherlands: Gender and Harris, Roger W. 2004. "Information and Communication Water Alliance. Available at www.genderandwater.org/ Technologies for Poverty Alleviation." UNDP Asia- page/2414. Pacific Development Information Programme (UNDP- Mbugua, Wariara, Dana Peebles, and Nadine Jubb. 2006. APDIP), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "Gender, Water and Sanitation: Case Studies on Best One World South Asia (OWSA). 2005. "Rural Livelihoods, Practices." United Nations, New York. Available at www the Key to Development." Mainstreaming ICTs, .unwater.org/downloads/unwpolbrief230606.pdf. March­April, OWSA, New Delhi. Nicol, Alan. 2000. "Adopting a Sustainable Livelihoods Tandon, Nidhi. 2002. "Women Take on Digital Economics: Approach to Water Projects: Implications for Policy and Sustainable Livelihoods and Small-Scale Enterprise." Practice." Sustainable Livelihoods Working Paper 133, Paper presented at Post-Johannesburg: New Strategies Overseas Development Institute, London. Available at for Sustainable Livelihoods, York University, York, U.K., www.odi.org.uk/publications/wp133.pdf. September 27. Available at www.yorku.ca. Strand, Arne, and Gunnar Olesen, eds. 2005. "Afghanistan: UNESCAP. 2006. "Guidebook on Developing Community Findings on Education, Environment, Gender, Health, E-Centres in Rural Areas: Based on the Malaysian Expe- Livelihood and Water and Sanitation from Multidonor rience." United Nations Economic and Social Commis- Evaluation of Emergency and Reconstruction Assis- sion for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), New York. tance from Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden Available at www.unescap.org. and the United Kingdom." Chr. Michelsen Institute, Warschauer, Mark. 2004. Technology and Social Inclusion: Bergen, Norway. Available at www.cmi.no/publications/ Rethinking the Digital Divide. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. file/?2125=afghanistan-findings-on-education-envi- World Bank. 2005. "Engendering Rural Information Sys- ronment. tems in Indonesia: Rural Development and Natural Woroniuk, Beth, and J. Schalkwyk. 1998. "Waste Disposal Resources Sector Unit East Asia and the Pacific Region." and Equality between Women and Men." SIDA Equality World Bank, Washington, DC. Prompt No. 7, SIDA, Stockholm, Sweden. Available at ------. 2006. "Information and Communications for www.oecd.org/dataoecd/3/30/1896568.pdf. Development: Global Trends and Policies." World Bank, Washington, DC. Innovative Activity Profile 1 Thematic Note 4 Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). 2006. "Local Borba, Maria-Lúcia, Jo Smet, and Christine Sijbesma. 2007. Development Window Technical Cooperation." Profile, "Enhancing Livelihoods through Sanitation." Thematic IADB, Washington, DC. 422 MODULE 9: GENDER IN RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS M O D U L E 1 0 Gender and Natural Resources Management Overview I n the future, the natural resources needed to sustain the natural resources for their food and livelihood security. Sub- human population will exceed available resources at sistence farmers, fishers, hunters and gatherers, and agricul- current consumption levels.1 Unsustainable and uneven tural wage workers (more than 1.3 billion people) depend on consumption levels have resulted in an increasingly stressed the availability of usable land, water, and plant and animal environment, where natural disasters, desertification, and species for their livelihoods (FAO 2004). Thus, the agricul- biodiversity loss endanger humans as well as plant and ani- tural livelihoods of poor rural women and men depend on mal species. The challenge of reversing the degradation of the condition of natural resources, particularly livelihoods of natural resources while meeting increasing demands for people living on fragile lands (World Bank 2005). them involves significant changes in policies, institutions, Over the past 50 years, ecosystems have changed more and practices (FAO 2007a). Effective programming and rapidly than in any comparable period of time in human his- policies require understanding and addressing the gender- tory, largely because of the need to meet rapidly growing specific relationships to natural resources use and manage- demands for food, water, timber, fiber, and fuel (MEA 2005). ment and highlighting the linkages between natural Now climate change, caused largely by fossil fuel use, further resources, cultural values, and local knowledge. Addressing threatens ecosystems. One strategy to mitigate climate the gender-specific aspects of natural resources will provide change and reduce fossil fuel dependence emphasizes policy makers with information for more effective natural increased use of bioenergy from crops, which is likely to put resource use and conservation policies and will provide more pressure on land, water, and species diversity. These guidance for equitable access to natural resources. Here, one changes contribute to the degradation of natural resources, must assess the gender-differentiated impacts of environ- which exacerbates poverty for some groups of people, espe- mental changes, including biodiversity loss, climate change, cially people living in marginal environments (box 10.1). desertification, natural disasters, and energy development. This Module identifies and addresses five major challenges facing sustainable natural resource management and gender: KEY ISSUES IN NATURAL RESOURCES Biodiversity conservation and adaptation MANAGEMENT Mitigation of and adaptation to the effects of climate Natural resources provide a range of goods and services-- change and variability food, fuel, medicines, fresh water, fisheries, and air and water Bioenergy regulation--that support life on Earth. The rural poor in Natural disasters developing countries remain the most directly dependent on Land and water degradation and desertification. 423 Box 10.1 Key Trends in Biodiversity Loss, Climate Change, Bioenergy, Natural Disasters, and Desertification Current changes in biodiversity are the fastest in There are 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal human history, with species becoming extinct 100 species that are in danger of extinction if the tem- times as fast as the rate in the fossil record; 12 percent perature increases 1.5 to 2.5°C. of birds, 23 percent of mammals, and 30 percent of Only very large cuts in greenhouse gases of 60 to 80 amphibians are threatened with extinction. percent can stop irreversible change. Globally more than 2 million people die prema- The expected increase in biofuel feedstock pro- turely every year because of outdoor and indoor air duction may lead to increased rates of genetic pollution. erosion. If present trends continue, 1.8 billion people will Global fish stocks classed as collapsed have roughly live in countries or regions with absolute water doubled to 30 percent over the last 20 years. scarcity by 2025, and two-thirds of the people in the An increase in so-called dead zones, where marine world could be subject to water stress. life can no longer live because of the depletion of Unsustainable land use and climate change drive oxygen caused by pollutants like fertilizers is land degradation, including soil erosion, nutrient expected. depletion, water scarcity, salinity, desertification, Annual emissions of CO2 from fossil fuels have and the disruption of biological cycles. risen by about one-third since 1987. In the first half of 2006, 174 disaster events Eleven of the warmest years since records have been occurred in 68 countries, affecting 28 million peo- kept occurred during the last 12 years. ple and damaging property and assets valued at In the twentieth century the average temperature more than $6 billion. Annual economic losses asso- increased by 0.74°C, sea level increased by 17 cen- ciated with such disasters averaged $75.5 billion in timeters, and a large part of the Northern Hemi- the 1960s, $138.4 billion in the 1970s, $213.9 billion sphere snow cover vanished. in the 1980s, and $659.9 billion in the 1990s. Sources: IPCC 2007; MEA 2005; www.unep.org. Addressing these natural resource challenges requires an In addition, efforts aimed at reversing natural resources understanding of their underlying causes. According to the degradation must consider other factors, including the fol- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), the main driv- lowing: ers of change include the following: Sociodemographic trends, including growth, migration, Climate change led by the burning of fossil fuels and diseases such as HIV and AIDS Habitat and land-use change, primarily due to the Economic trends, including economic growth, dispari- expansion of agriculture ties, and trade patterns Overexploitation of resources, especially overfishing Sociopolitical factors, ranging from equal participation Deliberate and accidental introduction of invasive alien in decision-making processes to conflicts species Technological change that leads to increases in crop Pollution, particularly nutrient loading, leading to a loss yields and agricultural intensification practices, with of biodiversity, agricultural productivity, and increased severe consequences for natural resources. human health problems. Climate change, biodiversity loss, land and water degra- Understanding and changing natural resource tenure dation and desertification, and natural disasters share many and governance as well as unequal patterns of access to and common causes. Because a worldwide consensus recognizes control over natural resources lie at the heart of reversing the acceleration of climate change, efforts to mitigate and natural resource degradation. These issues are crucial to adapt to climate change promise to have major conse- addressing the gender dimension of natural resources. quences for natural resource availability and use. Many of 424 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT the solutions and problems of natural resources degrada- take over household cash crop production. Also, gender tion lie in agriculture. Agriculture, heavily dependent on divisions of labor vary substantially by age, race, ethnicity, natural resources, also provides environmental services such and marital status. Consequently, their water use and man- as carbon sequestration. Agriculture occupies 40 percent of agement will vary accordingly. For example, men use water the land surface, consumes 70 percent of global water for irrigation systems, whereas women may not have access resources, and manages biodiversity at the genetic, species, to irrigation systems for vegetable gardens and subsistence and ecosystem levels (FAO 2007a). Agriculture contributes crops. In livestock management men often care for cattle to soil erosion, agrochemical pollution, and climate change, and larger animals, and women care for smaller animals accounting for about one-third of greenhouse gas emissions such as poultry and small ruminants. In many instances (World Bank 2007). Land and water degradation, shrinking women also have responsibility for collecting fodder for ani- biodiversity, and climate change threaten the viability of mals, often depending on common property resources that farming in various settings. Because of gender-differentiated are threatened in many cases. roles and responsibilities in natural resources management, Because women (and sometimes girls) are often respon- interventions must address the specific needs and opportu- sible for providing their households with the basic neces- nities of rural women and men, particularly the poorest, to sities of life--food, fuel, and water--they rely heavily on reduce inequalities, stimulate growth, and reverse environ- natural resources. Men seldom have responsibility for col- mental degradation. lecting and using natural resources for household use. Ear- lier development efforts assumed that women's fuelwood collection and use led to deforestation, but it is now known KEY GENDER ISSUES that the major problems related to biomass collection include Improving natural resource management practices and pro- women's and children's exposure to indoor air pollution and tecting the environment require reducing poverty and heavy workloads for women and girls. Environmental achieving livelihood and food security among rural women degradation increases women's time for labor-intensive and men. The following are some of the key gender issues in household tasks, such as having to walk longer distances natural resources management interventions. for the collection of fuelwood and water. Decreases in agri- cultural production and household food security create additional health problems related to their increasing work- Rural women and men have different roles, load. Although both rural women and men play a critical responsibilities, and knowledge in managing role in natural resources management, women's use, conser- natural resources vation, and knowledge of resources play a key role in shap- Rural women's and men's different tasks and responsibilities ing local biodiversity. Also degradation of natural resources in food production and provision result in different needs, can alter gender responsibilities and relations in households priorities, and concerns. Although rural women's and men's and communities. roles and responsibilities vary across regions and cultures, they often follow similar gender divisions of labor. In most regions men use natural resources in agriculture, logging, Gender differences exist in rights and access to natural resources, including land, trees, water, and fishing for commercial purposes more than women. In and animals crop production in many regions of the developing world, men tend to focus on market-oriented or cash crop produc- In most societies women typically have fewer ownership tion, whereas women often work with subsistence crops, rights than men (Rocheleau 1996). Women frequently have minor crops, and vegetable gardens. Women often grow a de facto or land-use rights as compared to men's de jure or wider diversity of crops. In some cases men and women per- ownership rights. Women often have use rights that are form complementary roles--for example, men clear land, mediated by their relationships with men. Thus, when women plant and tend crops, and men harvest and market women are widowed or divorced, they may lose these rights, crops. However, observers have come to learn that these as in recent cases of land grabbing from AIDS widows in gender patterns are neither simplistic nor static. For exam- southern Africa. How men and women use resources reflects ple, women often work with their husbands in producing gendered access. For example, women may collect branches cash crops. In Kenya women grow green beans for the Euro- and limbs from trees, whereas men may have rights to har- pean market, and in regions where men migrate, women vest trees, but for both men and women, insecure land MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 425 tenure reduces incentives to make the improvements in Women are still absent from the climate change and farming practices necessary to cope with environmental natural resource-related decision-making processes degradation. Without secure land rights, women and men at all levels farmers have little or no access to credit to make investments Equal participation in community-based decision making in improved natural resource management and conserva- remains a complex and difficult goal to achieve, especially in tion practices. Poor rural women lacking secure land tenure the contexts of highly unequal gender and class relations. At often depend on common property resources for fuelwood, the local level, more natural resource projects and interven- fodder, and food and, therefore, for the well-being of their tions emphasize community-level participation. Careful and households. The depletion of common property resources thoughtful planning in relation to gender must be exercised poses a severe threat to the livelihoods and food security of in the design of participatory projects. Community-level poor rural women and men. Women household heads participation often leaves women's voices and concerns remain at a particular disadvantage in terms of access to unacknowledged. Even when women attend meetings or land, water, and other natural resources. A key point is that events, they may not feel free to voice their opinions, or their gendered relations and responsibilities in terms of natural opinions and needs may not be taken seriously (Agarwal resources are dynamic and subject to change. 2003; Prokopy 2004). Community participation often favors local elites, usually men, but sometimes elite women's con- cerns directly conflict with and override poor women's access Access to new technology, information, and training to resources such as fuel and water (Singh 2006; Sultana related to natural resource management remains 2006). Despite attempts to mainstream gender at the highly gendered, with most of the related initiatives targeted to men national and international levels, few women participate. Gender is rarely a central issue in policy initiatives. Men tend Despite numerous efforts to mainstream gender, many gov- to dominate in the newly emerging decision-making and ernments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and policy arenas of climate change and bioenergy.Women's lim- development agencies find these efforts particularly difficult ited participation in decision-making processes at interna- in the agriculture and natural resource arenas. For example, tional and local levels restricts their capacity to engage in extension personnel in agriculture and natural resources political decisions that can impact their specific needs and frequently speak only to men, often erroneously expecting vulnerabilities (Denton 2002; Masika 2002). that the men will convey information to their wives. Until gender is successfully mainstreamed, women's groups, GENDER IN SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS organizations, and networks can increase women's access to FRAMEWORK knowledge, information, and technologies (Agarwal 2003; Enarson and Meyreles 2004; Sachs 2007). The Module applies a gender in sustainable livelihoods (SL) framework (see the Sourcebook Overview for more details on this framework). This framework conceptualizes the follow- Degradation of the natural resource base can result ing elements as key in the livelihood strategies of the rural in new forms of cooperation, conflict, or controversy poor: assets, markets, information and organizations, risk between men and women or different ethnic groups and vulnerability, and policies and institutions. When natural resources become insufficient to support the The framework adopts a people-centered approach that livelihoods of the population, drastic measures result, such places at the center the agricultural livelihoods of rural as men's or women's out-migration. Men's out-migration women and men and the natural resources management leaves women to assume men's traditional roles and respon- strategies they adopt. The SL framework also requires a sibilities, increasing their work burden, but leaving them holistic approach that integrates scientific, technical, and without equal or direct access to financial, social, and tech- economic aspects with social and human dimensions. This nological resources (Lambrou and Laub 2004). In some Module applies the SL framework to natural resources instances of severe drought, women migrate to secure extra management to highlight key gender concerns in programs income for their families (Alston 2006). The intrahousehold and projects, and aspects of the framework will be applied reallocation of labor can lead to a decline in agricultural in the different Thematic Notes as appropriate. To refrain production and in turn result in food insecurity and an from repetition, each component of the framework-- overall decrease in financial assets (FAO 2005). assets, markets, information and organizations, risk and 426 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT vulnerability, and policies and institutions--will not be dis- However, women, in comparison to men, continue to face cussed in detail in each Thematic Note. many challenges in accessing and benefiting from markets. They face illiteracy, lack of market information, and transport Assets to markets. At the national and global levels, unfair terms of trade still disadvantage poor farmers, including women. For Rural women and men combine a range of assets to achieve instance, the World Trade Organization's Trade Related Intel- their agricultural livelihood outcomes. Assets critical to lectual Property Rights Agreement (see Thematic Note 1) rural women and men--not only for securing food and a poses direct challenges for poor farmers, particularly women, livelihood for their household but also for the conservation in accessing seeds for food production. Trade negotiations and sustainable use and management of natural resources-- rarely consider women's and men's different knowledge and include the following: skills. They often neglect their use of assets in determining Natural resource assets: land, water, forests, biodiversity their livelihoods, and they overlook the potentially differential Financial assets: credit, capital, and income impact of their provisions on poor rural women and men.2 Physical assets: technology, in particular labor-saving technologies Information and organizations Information assets: local knowledge, formal education, access to information. Evidence from different regions shows that women often face more obstacles than men in accessing agricultural services and A rural household with a large range of assets at its disposal information as well as in participating in organizations. will better cope with shocks and stresses, such as droughts. Men relatives often mediate women's access to information, Poor rural women and men have very limited access to assets. markets, and credit. Fewer women than men participate in Socially constructed gender roles and relations also influence farmers'organizations and commercial networks.Furthermore, women's and men's access to assets and the benefits obtained agricultural extension services and technology development from these assets. Gender-based inequalities often result in frequently target men, wrongly assuming men will convey women's and girls' limited access to assets, which generates information to women (Lambrou and Laub 2004). Because implications for natural resources management conservation. few women own land in their own names, they rely heavily on Women face a variety of gender-based constraints as farmers common property resources. As women and men use and and managers of natural resources. In many societies discrim- manage natural resources in different ways,their full and equal inatory customary and social practices curtail women's rights participation in community-based decision-making processes to land; women generally receive the most marginal lands. remains critical for safeguarding local natural resources. Insecure land tenure reduces rural women's and men's incen- tives to improve natural resources management practices and conservation. Without secure land rights, women and men Risk and vulnerability farmers have little or no access to credit, which is essential Degradation of natural resources disproportionately harms for making investments in improved natural resources man- poor rural women and men and sometimes is the principal agement and conservation practices. Consequently the tech- cause of poverty. In turn, poverty can lead to the overexploita- nological advances yielding substantial gains in agricultural tion of natural resources. Rural poor people rely the most productivity over the last few decades have often bypassed directly on natural resources and are the most vulnerable to women farmers and reduced their productivity. changes in ecosystems. Significant differences between the roles and rights of women and men in many societies lead to Markets increased vulnerability of women with the deterioration of Access to markets varies by gender and location.Women tend natural resources. In some instances deterioration of natural to sell in local markets where they find demand for traditional resources results in the renegotiation of gender roles.To design varieties of crops. Men tend to sell uniform and exotic vari- ways to mitigate the negative impacts on rural women and eties in export markets. These gender differences in market men, one must understand the context of their vulnerability. access vary by location. Local trade can improve rural Vulnerability depends on the types of resources women women's and men's livelihoods by providing them with a and men rely on and their entitlement to mobilize these source of income and, at the same time, an incentive to man- resources. (Those with limited access to resources will have age, use, and conserve a variety of local indigenous plants. the least capacity to cope with the impacts of natural MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 427 resources degradation and are thus the most vulnerable.) Rural women and men maximize their contributions to Natural resources degradation and natural disasters impact household food security. rural peoples' ability to manage and conserve natural Understanding and addressing the gender dimensions of resources. These have differential impacts on rural women's environment and energy programs ensure effective use and men's livelihood strategies, which also vary according to of development resources. age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Gender relations improve and the social acceptance of women in decision-making positions increases. By identifying gender-differentiated opportunities and Policies and institutions constraints, project implementers make better-informed To understand the agricultural livelihood and natural decisions and develop more effective environmental and resources management strategies of women and men at the biodiversity conservation interventions. household level, these strategies must be placed within the Intrahousehold relations improve with an increase in broader political, socioeconomic, and environmental con- women's control over household resources. text. This involves analyzing the current and potential Women's market participation increases as they become impacts of policies, processes, and institutions on rural more active and successful in negotiations and trade. women's and men's livelihood strategies and outcomes. The political and institutional context includes the following: Biodiversity: Understanding rural women's and men's roles and tradi- Policies: environmental, economic, energy/bioenergy, tional knowledge of local biodiversity management, and trade agreements practices, and uses results in the development of innova- Legislation: such as land rights and intellectual prop- tions that meet farmers' real needs and priorities. erty rights Development interventions that recognize property Incentives: such as for growing cash crops or improved rights of rural women and men over their knowledge sys- varieties that could replace local varieties or for growing tems and practices lead to the equal sharing of project biofuel feedstock benefits as well as increased biodiversity conservation. Institutions: extension services that promote technology More effective biodiversity conservation interventions developments and external innovations result from attention to gender-differentiated opportuni- Culture: such as cultural norms and practices that may ties and constraints in agrobiodiversity management. influence women's and men's access rights and cultural Biodiversity conservation increases through recognizing values that may influence gender-based decision making the intellectual property rights of rural women and men. on crop, livestock, and fish selection and management. Climate change: Policies and institutional changes in sectors other than natural resources and agriculture include economic and Households that are better equipped to cope with the energy development, demographic trends and migration pat- impacts of climate change or extreme weather events can terns, incidence and impact of disease, and conflicts. Policies, better use, manage, and conserve natural resources. processes, and institutions have different impacts on women Efficient, cost-effective, and relevant interventions take and men's access to and control over livelihood assets. place. Gender analysis helps clarify the specific and often different needs, vulnerabilities, and coping strategies of women and BENEFITS FROM GENDER-RESPONSIVE men, so that they can be more adequately addressed in ACTIONS response to the impacts of climate change and variability. Benefits from gender-responsive actions can be placed in Programs create opportunities to transform gender rela- several overarching categories. tions and empower women. General: Bioenergy: Overall improvement is seen in natural resources man- agement, use, and conservation and increased agricul- Access to more efficient technologies and modern energy tural productivity. sources reduces the health and safety problems associated 428 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT with energy acquisition and use. Such access lifts rural natural resources and protects the environment from women and men out of poverty and enables women and further stresses. girls to live more productive and healthy lives. Increasing women's access to information and extension The time burden of women and girls of walking long dis- services strengthens their ability to cope with and recover tances, carrying heavy loads, and collecting fuel in dan- from dryland degradation. gerous areas is reduced. Access to more efficient technologies for household use can reduce health and safety problems associated with MONITORING AND EVALUATION indoor air pollution (UN-Energy 2007). Women who have access to modern fuels face a lighter Monitoring and evaluation of natural resources manage- cooking burden, which frees up time for educational, ment projects provide means for learning from past expe- social, and economic opportunities. rience, improving project formulation and implementa- Involving both men and women smallholders in bioen- tion, planning and allocating resources, and demonstrating ergy production offers the possibility of improved results as part of accountability to key stakeholders (World incomes and livelihoods. Bank 2004).3 By measuring change in the status of women and men over a period of time, gender-sensitive indicators Natural disasters: assess progress in achieving gender equality. Researchers Gender analysis helps to clarify the specific and often have little experience in the area of gender-sensitive indica- different needs, vulnerabilities, and coping strategies of tors in the management of natural resources. To select an women and men to better respond to the impacts of indicator, the cost of collecting and analyzing data against disasters. the quality and usefulness of the information in decision Gender-responsive actions better equip households to cope making must be weighed. The indicator should be relevant with and recover earlier from the impacts of disasters. to the needs of the users, clearly defined, sex disaggregated, Postdisaster recovery efforts present opportunities to and easy to understand and use (FAO 2007b). Both quanti- transform gender relations and empower women. tative and qualitative indicators prove useful (see also Mod- ule 16). Examples of gender-sensitive indicators appear in Land and water degradation and desertification: the Thematic Notes in this Module on biodiversity, climate Affected households cope better with the impacts of change, bioenergy, natural disasters, and land and water. desertification and more effectively manage and con- However, Table 10.1 provides some example indicators serve natural resources. across the range of topics. Promoting the participation of women and men farmers Depending on the country or region, it may also be rele- in restoring ecosystem health facilitates the reestablish- vant to consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both ment of soil and land productivity. as comparative indicators and when collecting data), Strengthening the capacity of rural women and men in because women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usu- dryland management enhances management of local ally in the most disadvantaged situation. MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 429 Table 10.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Natural Resources Management Indicator Sources of verification and tools Percentage of women and men actively participating in natural resource management · Bank records committees (including bank account signatory roles) · Committee meeting minutes · Interviews with stakeholders · Local traditional authorities (such as a chief or local council) · Program and project records Over a set period, an increase of x percent in incomes from land-based activities (such as · Household surveys agriculture or forestry) among women-headed households in program areas · Socioeconomic data from statistics office Number of women and men in climate change planning institutions, processes, and research · Institutional and university staff records (including disaster preparedness and management) at the professional and lay-community levels Average number of hectares of land owned by women- and men-headed households · Land registration department records Changes in productive hours spent by, or earnings of women and men, from, household-level · Case studies agroprocessing, fisheries-, or forest-based enterprises in comparison with baseline (or as · Sample surveys percentage of household income) Community satisfaction (disaggregated by gender) with changes in natural resources · Interviews, before and after management · Group interviews or focus groups Number of women and men receiving training in natural resources management or · Program and project records innovative agroforestry techniques · Training records Number of men and women producing bioenergy crops · Agricultural department statistics · Agricultural extension records · Cooperative records · Household surveys Percentage of men and women farmers who have access to high-quality, locally adapted · Agricultural extension records planting material · Interviews with stakeholders Number of households headed by men, women, or couples benefiting from intellectual · Natural resources management property rights committee records and meeting minutes Number of women and men receiving environmental services payments for protecting · Forestry or Natural Resources watersheds or areas of high biodiversity Management Department records · Global Environmental Facility records · Protected area management committee records and meeting minutes · Protected area management contracts Percentage of men and women owning and using energy-efficient technologies and · Household surveys low-carbon practices · Interviews with stakeholders Source: Authors, with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. 430 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Gender and Biodiversity B iodiversity provides the basis for ecosystems and retain this adaptive capacity. Today the fundamental cause- ecosystem services upon which all people depend.1 and-effect relationship between biodiversity degradation Biodiversity in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries and poverty has been recognized. Indeed, biodiversity underpins agricultural and bioenergy production (FAO makes a vital contribution to meeting the UN Millennium 2007a; MEA 2005). Sustainable use and management of Development Goals and will increase in significance in the biodiversity result in global food security, environmental coming decades (FAO 2007a). conservation, and viable livelihoods for the rural poor. For Yet genetic resources are being depleted at unprece- poor rural households, in particular, biodiversity remains a dented rates. As mentioned in box 10.1, species extinction is key livelihood asset, because these households are the most happening 100 times as fast as the rate in the fossil record: reliant on local ecosystems and often live in places most vul- 12 percent of birds are threatened with extinction, as are nerable to ecosystem degradation. A wide portfolio of 23 percent of mammals and 30 percent of amphibians genetic resources proves crucial to adapting and developing (www.unep.org; box 10.2). The main factors contributing to agricultural production systems and for regulating local biodiversity loss include unsustainable technologies, ecosystems to meet the food needs of future generations. destructive land-use practices, invasive species, overexploita- The challenges of environmental degradation, including tion, and pollution (FAO 2005).2 Climate change, driven by desertification and climate change, underscore the need to fossil fuel use, changes species ranges and behavior Box 10.2 Current Trends in Biodiversity Loss Biomes with the highest rates of biodiversity loss in 100 times greater than those characteristic of the the last half of the twentieth century are the follow- fossil record. ing: temperate, tropical, and flooded grasslands and Genetic diversity has declined globally, particularly tropical dry forests (more than 14 percent lost among domestic species. A third of the 6,500 breeds between 1950 and 1990). of domesticated animals are threatened with extinc- Wide-ranging areas have seen particularly rapid tion because of small population sizes. change over the last two decades: the Amazon Globally approximately 474 livestock breeds are clas- basin and Southeast Asia (deforestation and sified as rare, and about 617 have become extinct. expansion of croplands); Asia (land degradation Roughly 20 percent of the world's coral reefs have in drylands); Bangladesh and parts of the Middle been destroyed, and an additional 20 percent have East and Central Asia, and the Great Lakes region been degraded. of Eastern Africa. Some 35 percent of mangroves have been lost in the Based on recorded extinctions of known species over last two decades in countries where we have the past 100 years, extinction rates are approximately adequate data. Sources: FAO 2003, 2005; MEA 2005. 431 (www.unep.org). Unfortunately, one key solution to climate and uses of these wild and domestic plants. Recent studies Box 10.3 Cameroon and Uganda: Indigenous change, the replacement of fossil fuel use with bioenergy, emphasize the importance of garden vegetables, small live- Vegetables also threatens genetic diversity (see Thematic Note 3). Addi- tional influential forces include agricultural development approaches that favor high-yield and uniform varieties of In Cameroon and Uganda, indigenous vegetables play an important role in both income generation crops, the heavy use of agrochemicals, and the depreciation and subsistence production. Indigenous vegetables and devaluation of diversity and accumulated local knowl- offer a significant opportunity for poor women edge (FAO 2003, 2007a; MEA 2005). and men to earn a living, as producers and traders, Poor rural households that depend heavily on biodiver- without requiring a large capital investment. The sity in forests, on common lands, and on their farms use indigenous vegetable market provides one of the diverse domesticated and wild plants for fuel, food, and few opportunities for poor unemployed women to building materials. Current policies and economic systems secure a livelihood. Despite the growth in exotic often fail to incorporate the values of biodiversity effec- vegetables, indigenous vegetables remain popular tively (www.unep.org). To limit these losses and address the in rural areas, where people consider them more multidimensional problems of biodiversity loss and ecosys- tasty and nutritious. tem degradation, we need policies and programs that cut Source: FAO 2005. across sectors and encompass the technical, economic, and social spheres. The human and social dimension of bio- diversity loss requires an understanding of its relation to poverty, as well as the gender-specific relationship to natu- stock, and wild plants for achieving household food security ral resources management. and nutritional well-being, especially among the rural poor. However, women's roles and knowledge are often over- looked or underestimated in natural resource management KEY GENDER ISSUES and related policies and programs (Howard 2003). Rural women and men play important roles in biodiversity Local knowledge serves as a critical livelihood asset for management, use, and conservation through their different poor rural women and men for securing food, shelter, and tasks and responsibilities in food production and provision. medicines.3 The different tasks and responsibilities of Consequently they have different needs, priorities, and rural women and men have enabled them to accumulate knowledge about diverse crops, plants, and animals. As nat- different types of local knowledge and skills (FAO 2005). ural resource managers, they influence the total amount of Some studies have expressed concern that local knowledge genetic diversity conserved and used. Women are typically is disappearing; women do not pass this information on to involved in the selection, improvement, and adaptation of their daughters, and men no longer pass it down to their local plant varieties, as well as seed exchange, management, sons. Especially in women-headed households (because of and saving. They often keep home gardens where they grow HIV and AIDS and migration), changing dietary habits traditional varieties of vegetables, herbs, and spices selected lead to the erosion of women's knowledge of processing, for their nutritious, medicinal, and culinary advantages preparation, and storage and lead to the erosion of plant (box 10.3). Women, therefore, play an important role in diversity, family food security, and nutritional well-being maintaining biodiversity, working against the decrease in (Howard 2003). biodiversity caused in part by men favoring cash-oriented The type of knowledge farmers possess varies by age, monocultures, as in the Mexican Yucatan (Lope Alzina gender, roles and responsibilities, socioeconomic status, and 2007). Women are also the primary collectors of wild foods environment. Access to or control over resources as well as that provide important micronutrients in diets, are vital for education, training, information, and control over the ben- the survival of their households during food shortages, and efits of production also influence the type of knowledge may also provide income. In the Kalahari Desert, fruits, rural women and men have. Experience-based local knowl- gums, berries, and roots gathered by the Kung women pro- edge interweaves with cultural values and develops and vide 60 percent of the daily calorie intake. In the Lao Peo- adapts continuously to a gradually changing environment. ple's Democratic Republic, women gather 141 different Rural women's and men's local knowledge, skills, and inno- types of forest products (Momsen 2007). Women possess vations raise the issue of recognition and protection of extensive, often unrecognized, knowledge of the location farmers' rights. 432 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Markets uses of agrobiodiversity. The agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) poses direct Men tend to sell their crops in national or export markets challenges for poor farmers, particularly women, to access (for uniform, exotic varieties), whereas women tend to sell in seeds for food production, food security, and nutritional local markets where they find demand for traditional vari- well-being.4 Moreover, on the one hand, a shift toward pro- eties (box 10.3). Trade can improve rural women's and men's duction for the global market may be at the expense of local livelihoods by providing them with income and, at the same crop varieties for domestic consumption. On the other hand, time, an incentive to manage, use, and conserve a variety of globalization can give women and men small-producers the local indigenous plants. However, women, in contrast to opportunity to target niche markets for fair trade or organic men, face challenges in accessing and benefiting from mar- products and may go far toward protecting biodiversity kets. For example, in the Bamana region of Mali, men have (Momsen 2007). appropriated women's vegetable gardens to establish market- gardening enterprises based on nontraditional foods (box 10.4), which has led to a decline in nutritional well-being. Risk and vulnerability At the national and global levels,unfair trade disadvantages The impact of biodiversity loss, particularly within com- poor farmers, many of whom are women. New agreements mon property resources, threatens household food security under the World Trade Organization influence biodiversity and livelihoods. These resources prove particularly impor- and have gendered impacts. Gender-based inequalities in tant for poor rural women, who lack secure land tenure and access to and control over productive resources have concrete depend on these common resources for fuelwood, fodder, consequences (Randriamaro 2006). Trade negotiations rarely and food and, therefore, the well-being of their households. consider women's and men's different knowledge, skills, and Commercialized agriculture often relies on the replace- ment of a wide range of locally adapted plant and livestock Box 10.4 Mali: Changes in Agricultural varieties with a relatively small number of uniform, high- Production, Gender Relations, and yielding varieties, causing the erosion of local plant and Biodiversity Loss animal genetic resources (FAO 1996).5 With the increased commercialization of agriculture, technological improve- A case study of the Bamana region in Mali shows ments have created farming systems that are highly depen- how men dismissed agrobiodiversity and the local dent on external inputs such as agrochemicals, and these knowledge held by women. The introduction of systems often bypass women. Because of their limited access exotic vegetables for market production, mainly a to financial resources, women may have difficulty acquiring men-driven enterprise, led to a shift from subsis- seeds, technology, and fertilizers as well as information and tence production of a wide variety of indigenous training. These processes have negative impacts on small food plants to market gardening of a limited num- farmers, especially women, who rely on a wide variety of ber of exotic food varieties. This process has led to genetic diversity as part of their environmental risk man- a change in gender roles, with men taking over women's traditional vegetable gardens to establish agement strategy. In turn, this erosion of resources can also commercial enterprises. Although traditionally lead to the loss of local knowledge and sometimes to responsible for growing local plant varieties for changes in gender roles (box 10.4). direct consumption, women were displaced to Clearly, biodiversity loss entails different consequences marginal lands. This has implications for women's for women and men in the performance of their productive, contribution to the food security of their house- reproductive, and community roles (Lambrou and Laub hold (reduced income and food production for 2004). Coping strategies such as the improved management household consumption) and their social standing of biodiversity should give options for poor rural women in the community. Moreover, women's exclusion and men to reduce their vulnerability to the effects of bio- from the garden realm may lead to changes in culi- diversity loss and to build the potential to react to further nary patterns, a possible decline in nutritional sta- changes (box 10.5).6 Poor rural women and men farmers tus, and a reduction in local plant diversity and often spread risk by growing a wide variety of locally adapted overall environmental stability. crops, some of which will be resistant to drought or pests, and Source: Wooten 2003. livestock breeds that have adapted to the local agroecologi- cal zone (FAO/IPGRI 1996). Diversification, an important THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND BIODIVERSITY 433 majority of these instruments do not highlight the potential Box 10.5 HIV and AIDS--Rural Women's and gender-differentiated impacts of their provisions. Only the Men's Coping Strategies Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Global Plans of Action (box 10.6) recognize the key roles played by Millions of households across Africa have been both women and men, especially in the developing world, in affected by HIV and AIDS. Rural women and men the management and use of biodiversity (Lambrou and Laub may respond with a range of coping strategies. For 2004).9 Unfamiliar with these policy instruments, extension example, in Uganda rural households change the workers, development agents, and farmers working on bio- mix of farm products, focusing first on subsis- diversity and environmental conservation will find it chal- tence production and then on growing a surplus to sell in markets (Armstrong 1993). Another strat- lenging to understand their impact and to implement the egy is to reduce land under cultivation, resulting in relevant provisions in their daily work (FAO 2005). reduced outputs (FAO 2003). In Uganda women- The CBD advocates the fair and equitable sharing of headed households cultivate only 1.3 acre, on aver- genetic resource benefits. It also establishes a connection age, compared with affected men-headed house- between sustainable conservation and development and holds, which cultivate 2.5 acres, on average (FAO the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities10 2003). Some HIV- and AIDS-affected households (FAO 2005; Lambrou and Laub 2004). The International have turned to livestock production as an alterna- Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources responds to the out- tive to crop production. Other households sell live- standing issues not covered by the CBD and formally stock to pay for medical bills and funeral expenses. endorses farmers' rights (box 10.7) through a legally bind- A trend has been identified where households raise ing instrument at the global level. Observers have noted a smaller livestock (such as pigs and poultry) growing trend toward the recognition and creation of because they are less labor-intensive and often readily available to women. indigenous rights over genetic resources and related knowl- edge (FAO 2005). Source: White and Robinson 2000. Despite the increased recognition of the linkages between gender dynamics and biodiversity management and use, little progress has been shown in translating these coping strategy adopted by poor rural households, will pro- into programs and projects for agrobiodiversity manage- tect them against climate change, desertification, and other ment and conservation at the local level (FAO 2005). Rural environmental stresses. Women, in comparison to men, are women's vital contribution to the management of biodiver- often more vulnerable to the erosion of biodiversity, because sity, agricultural production, and household food security they experience gender-based inequalities in accessing assets remains misunderstood, ignored, or underestimated critical to livelihood security (Lambrou and Laub 2004). (Howard 2003). Women and men farmers' full and equal participation in programs and projects dealing with biodiversity conserva- GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED tion, management, and use affects gender-responsive out- comes. Researchers and breeders often work in isolation Experience shows that agricultural biodiversity manage- from women and men farmers and are sometimes unaware ment and related policies and programs have often failed of their needs and priorities beyond yield and resistance to to recognize the differences between rural women's and pests and diseases.7 Moreover, extension agents and research men's labor, knowledge, needs, and priorities. This nega- organizations tend to consider many local varieties and tively affects biodiversity, local knowledge, and household breeds to be low-performing and inferior. National policies food security. that provide incentives such as loans and direct payments for the use of modern varieties and breeds contribute to the loss Community seed fairs inTanzania of genetic diversity and affect traditional gender roles. As part of the LinKS project, the Food and Agriculture Orga- nization (FAO) organized community seed fairs in Tanzania POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES to raise awareness about local crop diversity. The FAO pro- International policies and agreements regulate the manage- vided learning opportunities for the rural communities ment and use of biodiversity and agrobiodiversity.8 The (including the younger generations), researchers, extension 434 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Box 10.6 Gender and Biodiversity in International Agreements The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the financial measures to strengthen women's capacity to sustainably mechanism for the Convention on Biological Diversity, manage these resources (FAO 2005). helps countries fulfill their obligations under the CBD. The Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Since 1991 the GEF has invested nearly $7.6 billion in Resources,adopted in 2007,presents the first internation- grants and cofinancing for biodiversity conservation in ally agreed-to framework to halt the erosion of livestock developing countries. The biodiversity portfolio sup- diversity and support the sustainable use, development, ports initiatives that promote in situ and sustainable and conservation of animal genetic resources. The plan biodiversity conservation in protected areas and pro- supports indigenous and local production systems and duction landscapes as well as capacity building and associated knowledge systems. In this context, the plan knowledge dissemination (www.gefweb.org). calls for the provision of veterinary and extension The Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic services, delivery of microcredit for women in rural Resources, adopted in 1996, provides a coherent frame- areas, appropriate access to natural resources and to the work, identifying priority activities in the field of in situ market, the resolution of land tenure issues, the recog- and ex situ conservation, sustainable utilization, and nition of cultural practices and values, and the addition capacity building (FAO 1996). It develops activities and of value to specialty products (FAO 2007c). After exchanging seed varieties, community members dis- Box 10.7 Farmers' Rights--Protecting the cussed local practices. Seed fairs increased local networks, the Knowledge of Indigenous People and Local Communities appreciation of local knowledge, and the roles and responsi- bilities of farmers in managing agrobiodiversity. (See other examples in Module 12, in particular Thematic Note 2.) Farmers' rights are based on the recognition that farmers play a crucial role in the management and conservation of plant and livestock genetic Agroforestry domestication program resources. These rights include the following: A program in Africa supported by the International Fund Protection of traditional knowledge relevant to for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has helped women genetic resources for food and agriculture and men in the domestication, cultivation, and sale of Participatory decision making at the national indigenous fruit and medicinal trees. The first phase of level on matters relating to the conservation the program ran from 1999 to 2003 in Cameroon, the and sustainable use of plant genetic resources Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, for food and agriculture Gabon, and Nigeria. Training on vegetative propagation The right to equitably participate in sharing techniques enabled many farmers to establish their own benefits arising from the use of plant and ani- nurseries. As a result of project, average household mal genetic resources. incomes increased, and women and men farmers acquired new skills in propagation techniques, such as grafting and Source: FAO 2005. the rooting of cuttings. The program has been particu- larly effective in improving the livelihoods and status of staff,and organizations about the importance of crop diversity women. Women's groups have established nurseries, and local knowledge in food security. Women were the key enabling women to participate in income-generating collectors and savers of seeds. Seed fairs provided farmers with activities. This has led to an increase in school attendance a meeting place where they could buy, sell, and barter seed, among children. The tree domestication program has also thus encouraging the conservation of crop diversity and the contributed to increased nutritional well-being at the spreading of local seed varieties among women and men household level, because the women also produce a vari- farmers. The seed fairs were organized on a local scale to make ety of food for household consumption previously them accessible and affordable for the rural communities. unavailable to them (IFAD n.d.). THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND BIODIVERSITY 435 Guidelines for policy development on farm animal Nepal and India: gender, genetic resources, and genetic resources management indigenous minorities A joint FAO, South African Development Community The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (SADC), and United Nations Development Programme carried out an action research project on agrobiodiversity (UNDP) project in the SADC region developed policy management among three ethnic groups in the eastern guidelines that recognize women's roles in livestock man- Himalayas, with a special focus on gender. The three groups agement. Those guidelines assist SADC member states in were the Rai of east Nepal, the Lepchas of Sikkim and designing policies and a legal framework for the conserva- Kalimpong, and the Chekasang and Angami of Nagaland, tion, sustainable use, and management of farm animal India. All three research teams received training workshops genetic resources. The guidelines stress the need for the in gender analysis and writing skills. In Nepal the team built effective participation of all stakeholders, with a particular on six years of community development experience in par- focus on women who own or manage a substantial amount ticipatory plant breeding to undertake an action research of the genetic resources. In highlighting the vital role that project to develop seed technologies for maize. The IDRC women play, the guidelines call for their full and equal par- provided interested farmers with rudimentary plant-breeding ticipation at all levels of policy making and implementation. skills (field isolation, plant selection, cob selection, storage Furthermore, the project encourages the development of practices). The organization provided timely technical policies that provide incentives to farmers for the conserva- action for maintaining seed purity in the course of the crop tion and sustainable use of indigenous animal genetic cycle and was successful in generating new seeds for the resources, as well as for the protection of farmers' rights and coming season. The organization also initiated similar activ- indigenous knowledge. ities with 50 farmers in an adjacent community. After a visit to eastern Nepal, two agricultural scientists from neighbor- ing Sikkim and Kalimpong started a similar initiative with The Philippines: indigenous knowledge systems and intellectual property rights 20 farmers in Kalimpong, focusing mainly on the develop- ment of a disease management strategy for ginger, based on Funded by IFAD and implemented by the International best practices from farmers. Research Centre for Agroforestry between 2003 and 2004, this project aimed to provide technical assistance in docu- menting the ethnobotanical knowledge of the Subanen GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR indigenous communities, especially that of women. The PRACTITIONERS objectives included identifying and documenting tradi- tional rice varieties and wild plants and animals, facilitating Rural women's and men's vulnerability to biodiversity loss local participatory planning of natural resource manage- must be understood, so planners can design ways to miti- ment, and establishing property rights of local communities gate the effects of decreasing biodiversity. This implies an over their knowledge systems and practices. Men and understanding of the following issues: women participated equally in learning new skills of techni- cal documentation. The technical expertise of the Subanen Rural women's and men's different local knowledge of members of the ethnobotanical documentation team, as indigenous plant, fish, and livestock biodiversity uses and well as of concerned women, was enhanced significantly. practices, including their cultural values and belief sys- Technical assistance helped the communities ensure that tems that influence their traditional knowledge and bio- documentation material that was produced guaranteed diversity management practices their intellectual property rights. A memorandum of under- The livelihood constraints and opportunities of rural standing signed by the government on behalf of the commu- women and men who are managers and users of biodi- nities and based on their specific requests and stipulations versity and, in particular, the gender-based inequalities in secured their intellectual property rights and options for accessing and controlling critical livelihood assets such as obtaining benefits from any future commercial or beneficial land, credit, technology, and information, as well as par- use of their knowledge. The project also awakened a strong ticipation in farmers' organizations and other decision- interest in local women in continuing the reproduction of making processes threatened rice varieties for in situ conservation and docu- The different ways rural women and men use biodiver- mentation (IFAD 2004). sity management practices to secure a livelihood in the 436 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT face of environmental stresses such as floods and methods by the local community and provides methods droughts and other shocks such as HIV and AIDS that reflect the actual needs of women and men. Strategies to improve farmers' involvement and benefit sharing, in particular, the issues of farmers' rights and obtaining prior informed consent, which should be con- MONITORING AND EVALUATION sidered within a legal and ethical context11 The following are examples of gender-sensitive indicators Eliminating incentives for uniform varieties and sup- for biodiversity (FAO 2007b): porting rural women and men in accessing information about their rights to plant genetic resources (FAO 2005) Gender-sensitive participatory plant breeding, which Percentage of men and women farmers who have access contributes to the conservation and sustainable use of to high-quality, locally adapted planting material plant and animal genetic resources;12 as women and men Number of households headed by men, women, or cou- use and manage agrobiodiversity in different ways, their ples benefiting from intellectual property rights full and equal participation in decision-making processes Ratio of men's and women's income from production of is critical for safeguarding local biodiversity. high-value horticultural crops Ratio of the number of livestock owned by men and Often the most appropriate solutions to local problems women and needs combine traditional and scientific methods. This Amount of credit and microcredit available to women fusion enhances the adoption and acceptance of the new and men for improving livestock enterprises. THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND BIODIVERSITY 437 T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Gender Dimensions of Climate Change lobal climate change is one of the greatest envi- G Climate change poses a serious risk to poverty reduc- ronmental challenges facing the world today. In tion and development, with adverse impacts expected on the twentieth century the increase in global aver- the environment, human health, food security, economic age temperature reached 0.74°C, the average sea level activity, natural resources, and infrastructure.5 Global increased by 17 centimeters, and the Northern Hemisphere warming will have profound effects on agriculture, forestry, experienced a considerable decrease in snow cover (IPCC grasslands, livestock, and fisheries and, thus, on food 2007). Eleven of the warmest years since records have been security (FAO 2007). The IPCC assesses that 20 to 30 percent kept have occurred during the last 12 years, representing an of plant and animal species are in danger of extinction if accelerating warming trend. The Intergovernmental Panel the rise in global average temperature exceeds 1.5 to on Climate Change (IPCC)1 projects additional global 2.5°C. The sharpest impact of a changing climate will be warming over the twenty-first century from 1.8 to 4.0°C.2 the rise in incidence and severity of climate-related disas- According to the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report, climate ters such as increased flooding, particularly in Asia, as warming is unequivocal, evident from observations of well as fiercer storms and prolonged droughts (see The- increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, matic Note 4). The IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising sea levels. warned that global warming would cause widespread Long-term changes in climate include widespread changes food shortages in the developing world (Harvey 2007; in precipitation, ocean salinity, wind patterns, and extreme IPCC 2007).6 weather events. Extreme weather events resulting from cli- Although industrial countries' use of fossil fuel and mate change include droughts, heavy precipitation, heat industrial processes contributes inordinately to green- waves, and the intensity of tropical cyclones (IPCC 2007). house gas concentrations, people living in developing The increase in greenhouse gas3 concentrations accounts countries are most likely to suffer the consequences of cli- for most of the observed increase in global average temper- mate change (box 10.8). This uneven distribution of the atures since the mid-twentieth century.4 The international impacts of climate change occurs both between and response to climate change focuses on mitigation measures within countries. Least-developed countries prove the that aim to reduce greenhouse gases and enhance carbon most reliant on rain-fed agriculture and natural resources sinks. Carbon sinks are the natural ability of trees, other and are the most vulnerable to climate change. These plants, and the soil to soak up carbon dioxide and tem- countries generally lack the necessary adaptive capacities, porarily store the carbon in wood, roots, leaves, and the soil. such as a stable economy, infrastructure, technology, However, in recent years many observers recognize adapta- information dissemination system, and equitable access tion strategies as critical elements in reducing the vulnera- to resources. Poor people tend to live on marginal lands bilities to climate-induced change to protect and enhance that are most subject to droughts or floods and are most the livelihoods of poor women and men (Soussain, Burton, likely to be affected by small changes in climate variabil- and Hammil 2003). Even if we stabilize greenhouse gas con- ity. Because of gender-based inequalities in accessing crit- centrations, climate change will continue for centuries, and ical livelihood assets such as land, credit, technology, the ability of the most vulnerable to adapt will remain a information, markets, and organizations, women have serious issue (IPCC 2007). more exposure to these risks.7 438 example, rural women, and girls to some extent, frequently Box 10.8 Examples of Projected Negative provide households with water and fuelwood for heating and Impacts of Climate Change cooking. The time needed for their work in gathering water and fuel will likely increase with water shortages and deple- A rise in sea level exposes many communities to tion of forests. Decreasing the time available to women for severe flooding from storm surges. food production and preparation as well as participation in A decline in water availability may leave billions income-generating activities will likely affect household food of people facing water shortages, especially in security and nutritional well-being (see also Module 1). the Middle East and Indian subcontinent. Another example of climate change that directly impacts In the tropics and subtropics, even small tem- perature increases can impact crop production. men and women differently is the effect of climate change Desertification (in particular in parts of Africa, on water quality and supply. Children and pregnant women Asia, and the Middle East) and depletion of are physically vulnerable to waterborne diseases, and their forests (in particular in the tropics and sub- role in supplying household water and performing domes- tropics) lead to a loss of biodiversity. tic chores makes them more vulnerable to diseases, such as Disruptive seasonal rainfall patterns lead to diarrhea and cholera, that thrive in conditions of degraded droughts and floods, impacting crop produc- water.8 Decreased water resources may also cause women's tion and increasing food insecurity in many health to suffer as a result of the increased work burden and parts of the developing world. reduced nutritional status. For instance, in Peru following Increased frequency and intensity of extreme the 1997­98 El Niño events, malnutrition among women weather events combined with constraints on was a major cause of peripartum illness. mobility lead to loss of life, injury, population displacement, and economic devastation in the least-developed countries. Adaptation Sources: IPCC 2001, 2007; Martens 1998; Masika 2002. At the local level, farmers continuously adapt to climate variability. They change crops or varieties, choose different harvest and sowing dates, alter land management, and KEY GENDER ISSUES employ water efficiency techniques (FAO 2007). Long-term Until recently, international climate change policy makers climate change poses a new set of challenges to farmers have neglected the gender dimension of climate change dependent on natural resources, and so at the national and (Lambrou and Piana 2006a). A focus on technical solutions international levels, governments and development agencies has ignored social and political factors (Masika 2002). The play a fundamental role in building the capacity of farmers successful implementation of climate change policies and to cope with and adapt to a changing environment (Sous- projects requires an understanding of the gender-based sain, Burton, and Hammil 2003). roles and relationships vis-à-vis natural resources, as well as The adaptive capacity of people depends on how they the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change and the can draw from resources to maximize their livelihood out- different risks and vulnerabilities of women and men. This comes (Masika 2002), so adaptation depends on factors includes the structural constraints that curtail women's such as economic status, technology, health, education, access, control, and ownership over assets (Denton 2002). information, skills, infrastructure, access to assets, and man- Research must also identify who is responsible for CO2 agement capabilities (IPCC 2001). Differentiated power emissions and how social, political, and planning conditions relations between men and women and unequal access to might affect emission reduction (Lambrou and Piana and control over assets mean that men and women do not 2006b). A discussion of some gender issues related to cli- have the same adaptive capacity; instead, women have dis- mate change follows. tinct vulnerability, exposure to risk, coping capacity, and ability to recover from climate change impacts (Masika 2002). Although women are generally more vulnerable to Climate change impacts the impacts of climate change, they play an active role in Climate change could alter the tasks people perform and adapting to its impacts to secure food and a livelihood for their time use, affecting men and women differently. For their household.9 THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE 439 Gender components determine adaptation strategies in sustainable energy development (renewable energy and terms of how men and women can contribute. For example, energy efficiency) and sustainable transportation receive as a result of gender-differentiated roles in agrobiodiversity more attention, it is important to encourage and improve the management, women often have greater knowledge of active involvement of key stakeholders. Women's active indigenous plant varieties with important nutritional and involvement in agriculture, and their dependence on biomass medicinal values (FAO 2005). As the keepers of seeds, energy, make them key stakeholders in effective environmen- women often possess knowledge of a variety of genetic tal management related to mitigation (Denton 2002). resources to adapt to varying climatic conditions such as resistance to drought or pests. However, because men have GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED more secure access to land or land tenure, they have more incentive to contribute to effective natural resources man- Programs in Bolivia, Costa Rica, and India contribute to agement, use, and contributions necessary for adaptation.10 good practices and lessons learned. Gender also often determines who receives inputs for adaptation strategies. Frequently new agricultural technolo- Bolivia: Noel Kempff Climate Action Project gies bypass women farmers, despite women's knowledge. For example, extension personnel introducing new varieties Unfortunately, many climate change projects fail to take intended for higher drought or heat tolerance rarely speak gender into account. For example, in 1996, in the region of directly with women farmers (Kurukulasuriya and Rosen- Santa Cruz in the Bolivian Amazon, the Noel Kempff Cli- thal 2003). mate Action Project's primary objective involved purchasing Finally, a gender component exists for the adaptive logging concessions and expanding the Noel Kempff strategies that are pursued and the consequences of adapta- National Park to 1.5 million hectares for conservation and tion. For example, in New South Wales, Australia, women increased carbon credits. However, the project failed to take migrate away from farms for work, which enables men to into account a gender perspective that recognized the differ- remain in agriculture. In other regions impacted by ent power relations and cultural practices as well as the gen- drought, men migrate, leaving women, who have fewer der bias in institutions (Boyd 2002). The project also aimed resources, to perform agriculture. In either case, the drought to improve local agricultural and forest management prac- strains traditional gendered relationships (Alston 2006). tices, stimulate employment, and obtain 400,000 hectares of communal land for three key local communities. The proj- ect provided opportunities for the participation of both Mitigation women and men, who successfully participated in some Mitigation has revolved around the reduction of green- aspects of the project. The participants met some basic house gases and the enhancement of carbon sinks to absorb necessities, such as trying new varieties of crops and access- them (Boyd 2002).11 Although responsibility for carbon ing credit. With a majority of men local and technical staff, emissions resides primarily in industrial countries, fossil women had little chance to join decision-making processes fuel use and industrial processes, rural poverty, and subsis- relating to the future of the park, land title, and other proj- tence agriculture account for a portion of emissions of car- ect activities. Men dominated public meetings, overlooking bon dioxide that stem from deforestation and land-use women's needs and concerns, which ultimately were not change.12 In addition, rural poor women and men generally reflected in the project activities. Boyd (2002) stresses that lack access to energy-efficient services that do not degrade the project did not challenge existing gender relations and the ecosystem or contribute to environmental change. Rural division of labor, nor did it empower women. The project's households typically rely on biomass for cooking and heat- enforcement of existing social structures and wide reliance ing. Because women usually prepare food, their decisions on traditional norms in decision making weakened about cooking fuels and efficiency can reduce carbon emis- women's ability to participate. sions. Households with lower average income and level of education generate lower emissions; however, they also have a lower mitigation and adaptive capacity. Low educational Costa Rica: Carbon emission mitigation through Payment for Environmental Services Programme levels of women and men household members limit aware- ness of mitigation options, such as the use of energy-efficient Since 1996 Costa Rica's government has implemented the devices (Lambrou and Piana 2006a). Therefore, as issues of Payment for Environmental Services Programme (Programa 440 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT de Pago por Servicios Ambientales) to promote and encour- Kyoto Protocol, contains legally binding targets that dictate age conservation, reforestation, carbon emission mitigation, that industrialized countries must reduce by 2008­12 and sustainable management of Costa Rica's natural combined emissions of six key greenhouse gases by at least resources.13 The program offers economic rewards to 5 percent in relation to 1990 levels.17 The Global Environ- landowners who conserve the forests on their land. However, ment Facility and the Clean Development Mechanism most landowners are men, and women have little access to (box 10.9) of the Kyoto Protocol play a role in climate the economic rewards. To help resolve this problem, FON- change mitigation and adaptation strategies.18 AFIFO (National Fund for Forestry Finance), the national institution in charge of implementing the program and pro- GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR moting gender equity, imposes a fee. This fee goes into a PRACTITIONERS fund to support women who want to become landowners.14 Awareness and understanding of the complex links between gender roles and relations, the environment, and livelihood India: carbon sequestration project security will aid in the design of climate change mitigation An innovative agroforestry project in Gudibanda Taluk, and adaptation projects. To ensure women's participation in Karnataka, India (implemented by the NGO Women For climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, we must Sustainable Development [WSD]), supports local women incorporate women's needs and concerns in the design of and men farmers in planting mango, tamarind, and jack- relevant and successful climate change policies. Pinpointing fruit tree orchards for harvest and carbon sequestration.15 specific goals within the main climate policies and develop- The project supports women's participation in decision- ing corresponding indicators for monitoring and evalua- making processes. One way in which the project does this is tion will help mainstream gender issues into climate change by taking into account women's time and cultural con- policies. Ways of incorporating women's needs and concerns straints when establishing public forums. The project set up relating to mitigation include the following: a prototype carbon marketing facility to sell the certified emissions reduction of the global environmental services Analyze women's and men's energy use, transport use, that the participants (poor rural women and men) pro- and other consumption patterns impacting climate. vide.16 Because farmers have an average annual income of Introduce more formal and informal education about less than $100, they cannot afford to plant fruit trees with- the environmental impacts of their current life styles to out financial assistance. Success requires expensive irriga- increase men's and women's mitigation capacity (Lam- tion changes and planting tools. Farmers will live on the car- brou and Piana 2006b). bon sales from their mango plantations for the first few Promote cleaner-burning fuel for household use to years, until they harvest their crop. Fruit production should reduce harmful emissions, cut household energy costs, start about four years after planting, and one acre of crop and reduce women's and girls' work burdens. will at least triple their annual income. The program antici- Increase poor women's and men's access to payments for pates sustainable incomes for women and men farmers, as environmental services. well as the additional benefits derived from the ecofriendly farming techniques. The project lifetime is 35 years, with an Goals and issues related to adaptation include the following: estimated CO2 benefit of 23 tons of carbon sequestration per acre. The project target is 35,000 acres, for a total Many women prove to be proactive at local levels in mit- sequestration of 575,000 tons of carbon. igating hazards and strengthening the disaster resilience of households and communities. Make available to both men and women usable, science- POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES based climate prediction information and incorporate The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate existing local knowledge (FAO 2007). Change (UNFCCC), the main international policy instru- Strengthen the capacity of rural institutions such as ment to address climate change, aims to stabilize the con- extension services to use appropriate tools and strategies, centrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere within a including participatory identification of current vulner- time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally abilities and risk reduction measures, implementation of to climate change. The UNFCCC, supported by the 1997 prioritized community-based disaster risk reduction THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE 441 Box 10.9 The Potential of the Clean Development Mechanism In the Kyoto Protocol the Clean Development Mecha- Those projects that focus on technologies relating to nism allows for and addresses divergent objectives and household energy, food processing, forest manage- priorities between the North and South. A bilateral ment, and water pumping must target both rural agreement between an industrialized country and a women and men and take into account their different developing country mandates reduced greenhouse gas roles and responsibilities. However, extension services emissions under the convention. Under the CDM that convey this technology typically target men, who industrialized countries invest in projects that increase are perceived as the principal decision makers and users economic productivity and may reduce local environ- of these technologies (for a more detailed discussion, mental problems in developing countries (Denton 2002). see Denton 2002; Wamukonya and Skutsch 2001). activities, and increased capacity of communities to Number of women owning and using energy-efficient manage their resources (FAO 2007). technologies, using renewable energy, and involved in sus- tainable forest management (climate change mitigation) MONITORING AND EVALUATION Number of women and women-headed households receiving training and assistance related to disasters Examples of gender-sensitive indicators in climate change (such as the number of women who know how to swim) include (indicators are from Aguilar 2007; FAO 2007) the Participation of women in climate change­planning following: institutions, processes, and research (including disaster Proportion of men and women who own and use non- preparedness and management) at the professional and motorized transport and use public transport lay-community levels. 442 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Gender and Bioenergy O ver one-third of the world's population, 2.4 billion security challenges,3 a number of features make it an inter- people, rely on traditional biomass in the form of esting but complicated option (FAO 2007). Locally produced fuelwood, agricultural residues, and animal bioenergy can supply energy for local agricultural, indus- wastes for their primary energy needs (Sagar and Kartha trial, and household uses, in some instances at a lower cost 2007). Use of traditional biomass poses many problems: than fossil fuels (UN-Energy 2007). Modern bioenergy, with poor health, heavy workloads, land degradation, deforesta- appropriate policies, could help meet the needs of poor tion, biodiversity loss, and climate change. New forms of women and men who lack access to electricity, while gener- bioenergy, primarily liquid biofuels, are rapidly being devel- ating income and creating jobs in poorer areas of the world. oped as replacements for fossil fuels. Global interest in Although the rapid development of modern bioenergy modern bioenergy--which includes liquid biofuels, biogas, presents a broad range of opportunities for achieving sus- and solid biomass--has grown rapidly in recent years.1 tainable energy, it also entails multiple trade-offs and risks. (This Thematic Note focuses on modern bioenergy; for a The first concern relates to the impact of bioenergy on food detailed discussion on the wider issues of gender and energy, markets, food prices, and food security. Current biofuels refer to Modules 9 and 15.) depend on food crops, including corn, sugarcane, soybeans, At a time when energy analysts anticipate a period of rapeseed, and palm oil. The boom in bioenergy has already unpredictable oil markets, fossil fuel dependence poses a resulted in some rises in food prices.4 major risk for many developing economies. Oil imports A second concern is the impact of modern bioenergy now consume a large and unsustainable share of the meager production on sustainable livelihoods for rural house- foreign exchange earnings of many poor nations, offsetting holds. If production and processing of biofuels occur any gains from recent foreign debt elimination agreements. through large-scale, vertically integrated commodity Unstable and unpredictable oil prices have complicated eco- chains, small farmers will be unlikely to benefit. Efforts to nomic planning around the world and are further damaging use biofuels to promote sustainable development must poor economies (UN-Energy 2007). include strategies to incorporate small producers (Sagar Available energy services currently fail to meet the needs and Kartha 2007). of the world's poor. Four out of five people without elec- The rapid development of modern bioenergy requires tricity live in the rural areas of developing countries (UNDP careful handling of key social, economic, and environmen- 2004; UN-Energy 2007). Extending an electricity supply tal sustainability (UN-Energy 2007). New crops, farming grid to remote households in rural areas is unlikely to occur techniques, and second-generation technologies (for exam- quickly because of costs that are seven times the cost of pro- ple, fuels made from lignocellulosic biomass feedstock using viding electricity in an urban area (FAO 2006). advanced technical processes) now under development may Given plausible economic and institutional assumptions, mitigate some of the social, environmental, and economic this century could see a significant switch from fossil fuels to costs associated with large-scale production of liquid biofu- bioenergy, with agriculture and forestry as the leading els and increase their potential and environmental benefits.5 sources of biomass for biofuels (FAO 2005).2 Although Where we grow crops for energy purposes, use of large-scale increased production of, and access to, bioenergy offers only monocropping could lead to significant biodiversity loss, soil one of the possible answers to climate change and energy erosion, and nutrient leaching, with negative consequences 443 for local rural women's and men's ability to secure food and Reliance on traditional biomass further entrenches gen- their livelihoods. der disparities. When women spend many hours collecting Most likely, new bioenergy production will involve large- traditional fuels, they do not receive education and training scale biomass production that does not necessarily benefit for productive income-generating activities. When with- the rural poor. The challenge is to develop small-scale bioen- drawn from school to gather fuel and attend to other ergy concepts and technologies that local people can use and domestic chores, girls lose literacy opportunities and suffer sustain. A transitional solution uses improved cook stoves, lifelong harm. They also have less time to participate in which reduce indoor pollution and burn fuel much more organizations and learn to negotiate in decision-making efficiently. Bioenergy options, such as small- and medium- processes. Household use of traditional bioenergy locks scale biogas or gasifiers and power generators, operate with people in the developing world, women in particular, into a locally available biomass resources. They may become the cycle of poverty and ill health (UN-Energy 2007). most economical and reliable providers of energy services The most dramatic gender-differentiated and health for poor rural women and men (UN-Energy 2007). benefits from the use of modern bioenergy relate to house- hold applications. Traditional bioenergy uses affect the health of women more severely than men, because women KEY GENDER ISSUES traditionally bear responsibility for household-related Gender-differentiated issues related to bioenergy differ sub- duties, including food preparation (UN-Energy 2007). stantially among traditional biomass, small-scale biofuel Rural people rely heavily on biomass as their primary cook- production, and large-scale biofuel production. ing fuel: 93 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 87 percent in India, and 93 percent in Indonesia (Sagar and Kartha 2007). Open fires in the household produce unventilated smoke Gender and traditional bioenergy and expose women and children, who are most often Rural women shoulder the burden of traditional biomass indoors, to high concentrations of carbon monoxide, nitro- (fuelwood, manure, agricultural residues) collection. Many gen oxides, and other pollutants (Lambrou and Piana 2006). women spend up to three to four hours a day collecting fuel Smoke inhalation from cooking indoors with traditional for household use, sometimes traveling 5 to 10 kilometers a biomass increases the risk of major diseases and is the sixth day (WHO 2006). Women in women-headed households largest health risk in developing countries. The rural poor in report water and fuelwood collection as their most time- Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa suffer the highest consuming tasks (FAO/IFAD 2003). In many African, death toll (Schirnding and others 2000; UN-Energy 2007). Asian, and Latin American countries, rural women carry Many early efforts to reduce use of traditional biomass approximately 20 kilograms of fuelwood every day (FAO involved the development and introduction of improved 2006). Increasing pressure on and degradation of these cook stoves. These efforts had limited success. Some of the resources result in women walking longer distances from improved stoves were less efficient than claimed and were the safety of their communities. This increases their work relatively expensive. Women were reluctant to give up tradi- burden, limiting time available for food production and tional cook stoves because they preferred cooking with preparation, household-related duties, and their participa- them, and the stoves offered additional benefits of heating tion in income-generating activities and educational and repelling insects. More recent cook stoves have achieved opportunities. more success, especially in China and India, with estimates Women's limited access to fuelwood relates to the heavily of 220 million improved cook stoves worldwide (Sagar and gendered nature of rights and responsibilities with respect Kartha 2007). to trees. Mearns (1995) reports that in Kenya women are expected to provide their households with daily supplies of Gender and modern biofuels wood, but they lack access to tree farms. Men dominate tree planting, and trees planted in woodlots typically fall under Shifting basic energy uses from traditional bioenergy (when men's control. Rights to trees are tied to land ownership, used in unsustainable and health-damaging forms) to mod- which falls almost exclusively to men. Thus, although trees ern fuels and electricity poses difficult challenges (UN- may be nearby, women may lack access to them and there- Energy 2007). When household income increases, people fore walk long distances to gather wood or switch to other typically switch to more fuel-efficient technologies. The types of biomass for fuel, such as maize stalks or dung. push to modern bioenergy offers both possibilities and 444 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT challenges for enhancing gender equity. Poor rural women The potential loss of biodiversity from large-scale mono- and men often lack the economic resources to use different culture plantations may affect women and men differently. bioenergy options.6 The rural poor, a disproportionate The establishment of plantations on previously unculti- number of whom are women, do not have the means to vated land may threaten wild edible plant species. Women purchase modern energy services. The cost and efficiency of often rely on the collection and preparation of wild plant a stove or other systems such as biogas or small gasifiers species for food, fodder, and medicine. often deter women more than the actual cost of fuel (UN- Livestock farmers will be particularly affected by biofuel Energy 2007). production with the conversion of grazing land to crop Modern bioenergy may take the form of small-scale pro- land and the higher price of livestock feed. Livestock is duction or large-scale plantation production. Small-scale especially important for the food security of poor farm- biofuel use has the potential to reduce women's health risks ers. The potential reduction in the number of animals, from wood fires and reduce their work collecting fuelwood. especially ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats), raised by Biofuels have the potential to reduce women's work burden, small farmers, will reduce their livelihood strategies. In but they may also generate additional work if women pro- many regions men are primarily responsible for manag- duce the biomass to make the fuel (such as for biogas) (UN- ing cattle and buffalo, and their ability to raise these ani- Energy 2007). mals will be affected (Rossi and Lambrou 2008). The transition to liquid biofuels may especially harm women and men farmers who do not own their land and the POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES rural and urban poor who are net buyers of food. "At their best," according to UN-Energy (2007: 24), "liquid biofuel The Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and the Fourth programs can enrich farmers by helping to add value to World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 recognized their products. But at their worst, biofuel programs can the need to design environmental and energy programs with result in concentration of ownership that could drive the a gender focus (Salazar 1999). In 2001 the Ninth Session of world's poorest farmers off their land and into deeper the Commission on Sustainable Development urged govern- poverty." The rural poor, women in particular, typically do ments to address the health and safety concerns of women not have official title to their land. Driving small farmers and children in rural areas related to the impacts of carrying without clear land titles from their land will destroy their loads of fuelwood over long distances and exposure to smoke livelihoods (UN-Energy 2007). from indoor open fires. In addition, the commission recom- mended international cooperation to promote equal access to energy through energy policy decision-making processes Large-scale bioenergy production (Lambrou and Piana 2006). Several key gender issues that may result from the produc- In 2006 FAO launched the International Bioenergy tion of large-scale biofuels include the following: Platform as a framework for bioenergy cooperation. This program aims to enhance access to energy services from Biofuels require the intensive use of resources including sustainable bioenergy systems, emphasizing the provision land, water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, to which of modern, gender-sensitive bioenergy services for local small farmers have limited access. Women, and particu- communities and the most vulnerable and poor. larly women in women-headed households, will face In many developing countries, small-scale bioenergy greater barriers acquiring these resources and participat- projects could face challenges obtaining financing from ing in biofuel production (Rossi and Lambrou 2008). traditional financing institutions. Although these projects The large amount of land required for biofuel produc- could provide modern energy services to rural women and tion will put pressure on marginal land and common men currently lacking access, they will likely require credit property resources. Marginal lands are particularly mechanisms at all stages of production. important for women who raise food crops, collect fod- der and fuel, and graze livestock. The conversion of these GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED lands to biofuel crops might result in the displacement of women's agricultural activities toward lands that are even Some observers have suggested that the rural poor, who more marginal, thus decreasing household food security have a small environmental footprint, gained positive expe- (Rossi and Lambrou 2008). riences with the decentralized and small-scale production THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER AND BIOENERGY 445 and use of fuel crops. The production and use of liquid approximate the capacity of the land to produce jatropha biofuels from local feedstock improve access to sustainable seeds, it goes a long way toward demonstrating the poten- and affordable energy for poor rural women and men tial profitability of the crop. The project aimed to improve (DESA 2007). rural women's and men's livelihoods and income-generat- ing activities using bottom-up approaches and promoting women's participation and ownership. Zambia: Small-scale production of liquid biofuels The Mali Folke Center in Mali works with local rural For the last seven years a group of Zambian women with the women and men in developing plantations of jatropha.7 support from German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) have Working with the GTZ, they use a UNDP-led technology, a developed a soap-making enterprise using jatropha oil. multifunctional apparatus called the Mali platform, which Between 2000 and 2001 the National Oilseeds Development can run on crude jatropha oil. The platform generates elec- Program, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Coopera- tricity for the whole community and powers water pumps, tives of Zambia, carried out demonstrations on the various crushes the oil seeds, and provides energy for a welding uses of jatropha oil through national agricultural and com- and carpentry shop. The Mali Folke Center converted its mercial shows. This project used a bottom-up approach, Toyota pickup truck to run on jatropha oil. Women, the promoting women's participation and ownership. In 2006 main beneficiaries of the project, have cited the ability to the Biofuels Association of Zambia mounted an awareness use jatropha oil for soap making as more of an economic campaign on the potential of Jatropha curcas to provide benefit than the energy. practical substitutes for fossil fuels and its important impli- cations for meeting the demand for rural energy services. Nepal: Biogas program In its 2007 budget the Zambian government allocated $150,000 for research on J. curcas and other biofuels. Biofu- The World Bank's biogas project in Nepal aims to develop els predominate in new energy policies, which often set biogas use as a commercially viable, market-oriented standards for a specified minimum proportion of biofuels industry by bringing fuel for cooking and lighting to rural in blends for all consumers. In this project rural women and households. Subsidies provide a key element in making men are improving their livelihoods and generating income these biogas plants accessible to poor households. Between through activities related to the production of jatropha oil. 2004 and 2009 the project will install 162,000 quality- controlled, small-size biogas plants in the Terai, hill, and mountain regions of Nepal. Revenue from the Community Tanzania and Mali: Small-scale biofuel production Development Carbon Fund will reduce the dependency on In Tanzania a project has sought to introduce and expand large government and external donor subsidies and will production of jatropha as a cash crop for raw material for help expand the biogas installation to more remote and plant-oil industries. They demonstrated its potential in poorer areas. These biogas plants displace traditional fuel reforestation, erosion control, and reclamation of sources for cooking--fuelwood, kerosene, and agricultural degraded land. Working with local women's groups, the waste. Each biogas plant can reduce 4.6 tons of carbon grantee (KAKUTE Ltd.) trained over 1,500 women and dioxide equivalent annually. The project will generate men in jatropha management techniques and planted approximately 6.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equiva- more than 400 hectares of jatropha on marginal lands lent during the 10-year crediting period. The Community donated by the communities. The project successfully Development Carbon Fund expects to purchase a mini- demonstrated the livelihood benefits of the crop, helping mum of 1 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent with launch jatropha farming as a cash crop, while assisting the potential of additional purchase. The project engages others to begin soap-making businesses. Seventeen differ- household members to understand their needs, the possi- ent village-based women's groups coordinated the project. bilities of the technology, and where to locate it. The proj- Women produced the seedlings and cuttings for planting. ect estimates that women will save three hours daily per In the first four years of the pilot project, they sold 52,000 household using biogas for cooking versus cooking with kilograms of seeds to oil processors for approximately collected fuelwood. Women use this time for child care, lit- $7,800, producing 5,125 liters of oil, worth about $10,250 eracy training, and participation in community organiza- on the local market, and 3.5 tons of soap, worth $20,533. tions. Biogas-fueled stoves also dramatically reduce indoor Although the amount of oil and soap produced does not air pollution. 446 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Costa Rica: Solar-powered cookers bioenergy project development and implementation (UNDP 2007). The focus of a project implemented by the Fundación Sol de Vida (Foundation of Sun and Life) in the Santa Cruz and Rural women and men possess different needs and pri- Nicoya counties of the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica is to orities vis-à-vis energy services. Multiple strategies for promote the use of solar power for cooking and to build providing energy to the rural poor are needed, including women's capacity for other activities through constructing promoting more efficient and sustainable use of tradi- and using solar cookers. Over 130 households have switched tional biomass and enabling poor women and men to from wood, electricity, or gas to solar cooking, thereby switch to modern fuels and technologies. The appropri- reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The project has reduced ate strategy will depend on local circumstances. the health risks associated with wood burning and reduced We must reduce harmful emissions where dependency on women's workload because they no longer collect fuelwood. traditional fuels will likely continue--for example, in the The project, led almost completely by women, has sup- next two to three decades in Africa (UN-Energy 2007). ported and built women's ability to take action, particu- Additional measures may be necessary for small-scale larly regarding the environment and livelihood issues. Its women and men farmers to be included in medium- or work illustrates how women's solar energy can open up large-scale biofuel crop production, such as policies sup- new opportunities for women and improve their standing porting decentralized production, local use of the energy in the community. Because women build the stoves them- produced, and organization of cooperatives or other selves, the project covers only the costs of materials, in forms of participation. addition to small amounts for transportation and instruc- Subsistence farmers, women in particular, remain less tors for the workshops. After women learn how to build likely to shift their production to bioenergy, particularly these cookers, they teach others to do the same. Sol de if they live in marginal areas and have fewer options to Vida has exported this model to Guatemala, Honduras, counteract risks and higher discount rates. Organizing and Nicaragua. small-scale women and men producers' groups can enhance local benefits. Cooperatives can play a useful India: Large-scale biofuel production role in linking large firms to independent growers (as in India's National Mission on Biofuels plans to bring 400,000 Brazil and Mauritius). However, projects require rural hectares of marginal land under cultivation of jatropha for women's participation in these cooperatives to ensure biodiesel production (Rajagopal 2007). The biofuels plan attention to their needs and concerns. considers these marginal lands to be of little ecological or economic benefit. However, these lands, which are common MONITORING AND EVALUATION property resources, provide essential food, fuel, fodder, and building materials for the rural poor, especially the most Examples of gender-sensitive indicators in bioenergy vulnerable (Rajagopal 2007). In India common property include the following (FAO 2007; see also the Monitoring resources contribute between 12 and 25 percent of a poor and Evaluation section in the Overview): household's income. The poorest households, often headed by women, rely most heavily on these common property Percentage of women-headed and men-headed rural resources. Thus, without specific interventions to benefit households with access to electricity, water, markets, and and include poor men- and women-headed households in adequate storage facilities the benefits of jatropha production, the livelihoods of the Percentage of men and women owning and using rural poor are likely to decline (Rossi and Lambrou 2008). energy-efficient technologies and low-carbon practices Percentage of men and women who participate in deci- sions about biomass use for energy GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR Number of hours spent by men and women in obtaining PRACTITIONERS biomass for household consumption and small-scale Understanding and addressing the linkages among gen- enterprises der, environment, and energy undergird the success of Number of men and women producing bioenergy crops. THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER AND BIOENERGY 447 T H E M AT I C N OT E 4 Gender and Natural Disasters T he incidence of natural disasters and related envi- such as low-lying islands more vulnerable to extreme ronmental disasters has escalated since the 1990s weather events (Abromovitz 2001). Although often (UN 2001; UNDP 2004).1 In the first half of 2006 excluded from databases evaluating disaster impacts, small- alone, 174 disaster events occurred in 68 countries, affecting scale disasters often account for more aggregate suffering 28 million people and damaging property and assets valued than major ones (UN 2001). Scientists project that these will at more than $6 billion (UNDP 2007). The effects of earth- continue to increase as a result of climate change (Abro- quakes, landslides, drought, floods, storms, and tropical movitz 2001). cyclones severely threaten human survival and sustainable A growing body of evidence links environmental degra- livelihoods and pose a challenge to achieving the UN Mil- dation and competition for natural resources to many of the lennium Development Goals (FAO/WFP 2005). Disasters internal and international conflicts that contribute to many cause major loss of human lives and livelihoods and destroy complex emergencies (McNeely 2000). For example, deser- economic and social infrastructure (UN 2002). Climate tification exacerbated the conflict in Darfur because it change, environmental mismanagement, and degradation forced people to migrate from their homes into areas where (including unsustainable exploitation of natural resources) they competed with others for scarce land and water as well as unplanned urbanization and uneven distribution (Harvey 2007). Severe environmental stress--when accom- of assets cause increased risk and vulnerability to natural panied by underlying social or ethnic conflict, poverty, and disasters (UN 2002). (The focus of this Thematic Note is on weak governance--contributes to violent conflict and com- natural disasters; for a wider discussion on crises relating to plex emergencies (UN 2001, 2002). conflicts and wars, see Module 11. For more on climate Although natural disasters strike in the industrialized change, see Thematic Note 2.) and developing worlds, developing countries remain the Natural disasters, often exacerbated by environmental most vulnerable to these risks and sustain greater losses. degradation and mismanagement, adversely impact the Countries that face similar patterns of natural hazards-- environment. With sound management, the reverse proves from floods to droughts--often experience widely differing true, thus establishing a direct link between disaster mitiga- impacts when disasters occur. The impact depends in tion and environmental management (King 2002). Natural large part on previous investment in appropriate infra- resource degradation leads to an increased frequency of structure, urban planning, and disaster risk management small- or medium-impact disasters, such as recurrent floods and reduction policies (UNDP 2004).2 Within developing or minor landslides, as well as slow-onset disasters, such as countries, the poor and socially disadvantaged remain the land degradation and drought. Human activity has altered most vulnerable. Often the rural poor occupy the most ecosystems. The ability to recover from natural disturbance marginal lands, relying on areas prone to drought, flood- has diminished considerably. For instance, deforestation ing, and other hazards for precarious livelihoods. They impairs watersheds; raises the risk of fires, landslides, and also face greater exposure to hazards resulting from poor- floods; exacerbates droughts; and contributes to climate quality construction material and lack of access to infor- change. Destruction of coastal wetlands, dunes, and man- mation (Kumar-Range 2001). Rural poverty frequently groves diminishes the environmental buffer system for determines risk for disasters such as flooding or drought coastal storms. All these contribute to making at-risk areas (UNDP 2004). 448 Gender-based inequalities in access to livelihood assets, instance, in Bangladesh women's lower nutritional status in division of labor, and participation in decision-making predisaster situations worsened during crises (Cannon processes result in women's and girls' increased vulnerabil- 2002; Masika 2002). Because they lack mobility and ity to the risks of natural disasters.3 Disaster risk reduction resources, elderly women, those with disabilities, pregnant and management interventions must take gender into and nursing women, and those with small children remain account to reduce vulnerability effectively. The impacts of most at risk in cases of emergency. natural disasters can be mitigated by using a gender per- spective to address their root causes, including social, polit- Postdisaster vulnerability ical, economic, and cultural vulnerabilities (UN 2002). In postdisaster situations women remain more vulnerable than men. Women's responsibilities in caring for household KEY GENDER ISSUES members increase after a disaster, as access to resources for Key gender issues include risk and vulnerability to disasters, recovery decreases. The daily work involved in providing postdisaster vulnerability, and disaster mitigation, response, food, water, and fuel for households after a disaster requires and recovery. intensive labor. In the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras and Nicaragua, women's household and care responsibilities increased, making it difficult for them to Risk and vulnerability to disasters return to work (Nelson and others 2002). Natural disasters affect rural women and men differently. In many parts of the developing world, discriminatory Women and girls have limited access to and control over customary and social practices curtail women's rights to critical assets that provide livelihood security, protection, land. This situation deteriorates after natural disasters. Nat- and recovery, and thus they remain most vulnerable to the ural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes impacts of natural disasters. Understanding their different damage and destroy land vital to women's and men's liveli- roles and responsibilities--in agriculture, fisheries, and hoods. Disasters disrupt land ownership and use patterns by forestry, both within the household and at the community killing land titleholders, destroying land records, and eras- level--can reveal women's and men's different vulnerabili- ing boundaries. Other efforts delay and impede the equi- ties (Cannon 2002). table redistribution of land, including the location of Disaster statistics, for which sex-disaggregated data exist, refugee camps, the relocation of affected communities, and show that women are more likely to die or be injured when measures to increase future resilience such as no-construc- disaster unfolds.4 Women and children are 14 times more tion zones (Brown and Crawford 2006). Poor and margin- likely than men to die as a result of disasters (Aguilar 2008). alized women and men often have little alternative but to Women's disaster exposure results from their overrepresen- remain in or return to disaster-prone areas (Masika 2002). tation in highly vulnerable social groups, including the poor Natural disasters frequently result in the degradation of and elderly, that are less able to prepare for, survive, and cope water sources. Children and pregnant women are particu- with disaster (UN 2004). Additionally for, women do not larly susceptible to diseases such as diarrhea and cholera receive timely warnings or other information about hazards that thrive in such conditions. Because of their roles in man- and risks (Fothergill 1998; UN 2001). Mobility restrictions, aging household water supply and domestic chores, women dress codes, and culturally ascribed roles and behaviors dis- take greater risks.5 Women's health may also suffer as a advantage women. A disproportionate number of women result of reduced nutritional status when their workload died in the 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh because of cultural increases. For instance, in Peru following the 1997­98 El norms restricting their mobility outside the household. Less Niño events, malnutrition among women caused peripar- likely than men to know how to swim, women had few tum illness. Flooding or rise in temperature in highland chances of escaping from the affected areas. More women areas can extend the range of vector-borne diseases, such as than men died in the tsunami in Sri Lanka because they did malaria. Also, HIV and AIDS and other diseases can exacer- not know how to swim or climb trees (Sachs 2007). Recent bate the disaster risks brought on by climate change, urban- evidence also suggests that many women who drowned in ization, marginalization, and conflict (UNDP 2004). Health the tsunami were looking for their children. Existing problems during disasters have psychological components gender-based inequalities in the allocation of food within as well as physical ones. Rural women and men victims of the household put women at risk (see also Module 1). For disasters may suffer from a variety of psychological problems THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER AND NATURAL DISASTERS 449 related to loss of family members, trauma, unemployment, responding to natural disasters (UN 2001).6 Although and identity (Graham 2001). women and children remain most vulnerable, many women To cope with small- and medium-scale, and slow-onset at local levels mitigate hazards and strengthen the disaster disasters, women (and girls to some extent) often take on resilience of households and communities. In Central additional roles and responsibilities. With water shortages America, the Caribbean, and other regions where the pro- and depletion of forests (as a result of wildfires, droughts, portion of women-headed households is high and women desertification, land degradation, and other occurrences), actively engage in economic activities, women assume lead- women and girls walk longer distances to collect water and ership roles in situations such as food distribution that fuelwood, sometimes far from the safety of their house- require organizational and administrative capacities, impar- holds. This decreases the time available for food production tial judgment, and social commitment (Toscani 1998). and preparation, with consequences for household food Responses by men and women before, during, and after security and nutritional well-being. Girls sometimes leave disasters relate to their status, roles, and position in society school to help with the increased work burden. Food distri- (Kumar-Range 2001). Most studies show that women's and bution in refugee camps has resulted in a significant drop in men's responses to a disaster follow traditional gender lines girls' schooling rates. (Fothergill 1998). Women take responsibility for child care, As a result of slow-onset disasters such as land degrada- household, and supportive tasks, whereas men take leader- tion and drought, men's out-migration has increased in ship positions. Men usually participate in the public sphere some parts of the developing world. In Brazil, for example, in formal emergency and planning operations, and they dis- people call women household heads "widows of the courage women from participation in critical planning and drought" (Branco 1995). Women left behind take on men's preparedness decisions. traditional roles and responsibilities, increasing their work Household organization also affects resilience. In burdens, but without having equal access to financial, tech- responding to and recovering from disasters, social and kin nological, and social resources (Lambrou and Laub 2004). networks determine available strategies (Kumar-Range In some regions women's out-migration accompanies 2001). Women-headed households remain the most eco- drought, such as in Australia, where women migrate to nomically and politically disadvantaged in gaining access to urban areas to seek additional income while their husbands these networks (Graham 2001). In addition, rural poor remain on the farm (Alston 2006). women and men often lack savings or assets to ensure them According to some estimates, 25 million environmental against external shocks (Masika 2002). refugees have lost their homes because of environmental Emergency decision-making processes after disasters degradation or localized conflicts related to competition for often exclude women. Women's limited participation resources (Tickell 2001). Uprooted populations generally restricts their engagement in political decisions that impact encounter problems of protection and safety, with women in their specific needs and vulnerabilities. Relief workers view particular suffering sexual and physical abuse. Areas outside women as victims rather than potential agents of change, camps where women gather fuelwood and water can present which leads to the reconstruction of gender inequalities. dangers. Families frequently select girls to collect fuelwood For example, failure to recognize women's informal sector used for the preparation of food inside refugee camps, and work may reduce their access to economic recovery assis- girls receive food in return.Women experience more violence tance and undermine perceptions of women as full con- while displaced than in normal circumstances, and violence tributors to the recovery process. To take an active part in against women increases in postconflict situations shaping projects that meet their needs, women must par- (FAO/WFP 2005). When displaced, women in particular fre- ticipate. Men are also at risk. Failure to recognize men's quently find themselves stateless and dependent on external socioeconomic and emotional needs may delay men's long- assistance (Graham 2001). Gender and age determine entitle- term recovery (UN 2001, 2002). ments to relief supplies, and access to food based on house- hold registration procedures favors men in some settings. POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES Natural disasters and environmental management appeared Disaster mitigation, response, and recovery on the international agenda throughout the International People regularly cope with all kinds of "daily" disasters and Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (1990­2000). The have developed local strategies for reducing risk and Yokohama Conference in 1994 strongly emphasized the 450 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT links between disaster reduction and sustainable develop- Safe access to fuelwood and alternative energy in ment. It also recognized the need to stimulate community humanitarian settings involvement and the empowerment of women at all stages An interagency program aims to promote safe access to fuel- of disaster management programs. Additionally, the Beijing wood and alternative energy in humanitarian camps.7 When Platform for Action (1995) and the twenty-third special ses- women leave camps to collect wood, they often experience sion of the United Nations General Assembly (2000) viewed gender-based violence. In Chad all humanitarian efforts a gender perspective as integral to natural disaster mitiga- include efforts to reduce gender-based violence. In Rwanda tion (Enarson and Meyreles 2004). In 1999 the United and Tanzania programs support safety improvements. In Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee issued a policy Sudan some women have successfully transitioned to the use statement that requires all member organizations to main- of mud-based fuel-efficient stoves in the camps. In Indonesia stream gender when providing humanitarian assistance in policies promote access to sustainable timber and minimize emergencies. In 2005 the World Conference on Disaster illegal logging caused by demand for shelter. Large concentra- Reduction emphasized integrating a gender perspective into tions of displaced populations in camps place excessive pres- all disaster risk management policies, plans, and decision- sure on already degraded natural resources. This endangers making processes. the food security and livelihood of nearby local communities A recognition of the social dimensions of disasters has and fosters resentment and controversial relations with the resulted in increased attention to community involvement host population. People compete for charcoal and wood for and ownership. However, gender perspectives in policies fuel and timber for shelter construction. Alternative sources and strategies to prevent and respond to natural disasters of energy have had a positive impact on the livelihoods of (CSW 2002) have not yet received adequate attention. women and men. These alternative sources have reduced Postdisaster reconstruction presents the opportunity to women's and girls'time and workload for fuelwood collection challenge existing gender relations and empower women and have reduced the risk of gender-based violence. to better respond to this challenge. Immediately following a disaster, the political climate lends itself to much-needed legal, economic, and social change in such areas as gover- Nepal: Community-based disaster management project nance, land reform, skills development, employment, housing, and social solidarity (UN 2002). However, an The UNDP currently implements a community-based disas- excessive focus on relief assistance may obscure or com- ter management project in Nepal aimed at disaster risk reduc- promise efforts to challenge these roles. Emergency relief tion. It represents a clear shift from postdisaster rescue and used inappropriately may discourage independence and relief to predisaster mitigation and preparedness and main- undermine local coping strategies. These strategies result streaming disaster risk reduction. The main goals of the com- in the reconstruction of vulnerability rather than the pro- munity-based disaster management project are to enhance motion of more equitable and sustainable conditions dur- the safety of women and men vulnerable to natural disasters ing the postdisaster window of opportunity for social and to protect common property and community resources change (UN 2001). in select disaster-prone districts. The project uses participa- Major research gaps exist on the linkages among gender, tory approaches and capacity-building measures and aims to environmental management, and disaster risk reduction at enhance the capacities of stakeholders at the community, all levels--from climate change to local, small emergencies. district, and national levels in different aspects of disaster Further work must examine gender-based differences in management. Additionally, the project focuses on supporting vulnerability, livelihood impacts, and specific needs during specific disaster mitigation measures to reduce the vulnerabil- disasters (UN 2001). ity of women-headed, displaced, and poor households. Activ- ities include 50 percent women's participation in training and education on HIV and AIDS, violence against women, and GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED trafficking related to vulnerability during natural disasters. Interventions and life-saving strategies may succeed when gender differences have been properly understood and Pakistan: Building capacity to cope with disasters addressed (FAO/WFP 2005). The following examples of good practices and lessons learned from relevant projects Pattan, a local NGO in Pakistan, increases community take gender issues into account. capacity to cope with disasters through supporting social THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER AND NATURAL DISASTERS 451 organizations and developing local institutions. Previously GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR Pattan worked in flood-prone areas that have unrepresenta- PRACTITIONERS tive community organizations dominated by local power Understanding the gender dimension in disaster-related elites, usually men. The NGO worked with the community development processes requires addressing root causes and to organize representative, democratic forums called Pattan ensuring equitable and efficient risk reduction measures Dehi Tanzeems (PDTs) that made collective decisions. (UN 2002). A gendered approach considers (1) the specific Barred by local tradition from joining the PDTs, women roles and responsibilities of men and women in food secu- formed separate PDTs and overcame resistance to their par- rity and agriculture, (2) their main constraints and needs, ticipation. Pattan used the disruptive nature of floods to and (3) their ability to carry out activities under emergency develop institutions enabling women to make key decisions. situations and early rehabilitation (FAO/WFP 2005). The The 1992 floods completely destroyed many villages, and so following are important principles of disaster management the NGO initiated a project to rehabilitate houses in which (see box 10.10 for additional guidelines): women participated in the PDTs. In Pakistan women main- tain traditional (kacha) housing. The project involved women Understand gender-based differences in vulnerability in the design and construction of improved (pakka) housing. and in livelihood impacts in natural disasters, including Households received loans, and women took responsibility small- and medium-scale and slow-onset disasters. for collecting money to repay loan installments. Initially, men Consider gender divisions of labor, time-use patterns, objected to giving women this responsibility, but the NGO additional workload, and gender-based asymmetries in developed an easy-to-use monitoring system. The NGO accessing and controlling livelihood assets (FAO/WFP introduced the concept of joint ownership of the new pakka 2005). housing. It took time for the concept to take hold, but men Recognize that community-based preparedness and eventually saw the value in joint ownership. The experience of response must consider women's and men's different the housing project has given women confidence to take col- physical and socioeconomic vulnerabilities to reduce lective action in many other projects (Bari 1998). their exposure to the adverse effects of climate change Box 10.10 General Guidelines for Disaster Management Create and implement, with the involvement of them in the management of social and environmen- community groups and women's groups, compre- tal hazards and prevention of disasters. hensive rural and urban development strategies and Target disadvantaged groups and households, and land-use plans that provide opportunities to miti- raise their awareness of women's human rights and gate damages caused by hazards. the critical role women play in coping with natural Include gender-based hazard mapping and social disasters. and environmental risk assessment at the appraisal Increase women's access to risk management infor- stage of all development projects, involving women mation through gender-sensitive early warning sys- and men equally at all levels of the assessment. tems and target specific social groups for warning Systematically include hazard proneness and gender- information to address gender-specific needs and based vulnerabilities in environmental impact assess- circumstances. ments and formulate disaster reduction measures Collaborate in the creation of networks that pro- where appropriate, with particular regard to the pro- mote community access to gender-sensitive infor- tection of lifeline infrastructure and critical facilities. mation and communication technologies that sup- Promote agricultural technologies and give specific port information exchange on environmental regard to addressing, from a gender perspective, management and disaster risk reduction. environmental degradation hazards that threaten Establish appropriate channels and mechanisms for food security. information flow and dialogue that women and Recognize the expertise and local knowledge of men in disaster-affected areas may access. women and men disaster survivors and empower Source: UN 2001. 452 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (Lambrou and Piana 2006). The participation and involve- Percentage of aid targeted to the different needs of ment of local women and men are essential. affected men and women Create early warning systems and monitoring based on Percentage of women elected and appointed to village detailed information to minimize exposure to vulnera- committees bilities and ensure preparedness. One strategy to increase Roles of women members in distribution committees preparedness is the creation of risk maps, including gen- (for example, weighing, rebagging, and monitoring that der-based hazard maps (UN 2002). people actually got their entitlements) and whether this Factor the effects of food aid, subsidies, and rehabilitation made the distribution fairer programs on women as the principal providers of food for Percentage and number of women and men who bene- the household. In documentation and registration proce- fited from the relief project dures, women should have the right to register in their Percentage of women and men who migrate and the own names. Devote attention to ensuring that women impact of migration on the recovery pace within the household heads receive benefits (FAO/WFP 2005). village Impact on women's income and livelihood options (for example, income-generating activities and new employ- MONITORING AND EVALUATION ment opportunities) Monitoring and evaluation processes enable staff to analyze Ratio of the number of women to men who received the performance of emergency operations. Indicators emergency project relief and distributed food rations to include the following (FAO/WFP 2005): their families. THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER AND NATURAL DISASTERS 453 T H E M AT I C N OT E 5 Gender Dimensions of Land and Water Degradation and Desertification and degradation affects more than 900 million peo- L of drylands have already degraded, with a much larger ple worldwide and as much as two-thirds of the number under threat from further desertification (MEA world's agricultural land (UNDP 2007a). Unsustain- 2005). Desertification, which leads to loss of production able land use and climate change drive land degradation, capacity, reduces the land's resilience to natural climate vari- including soil erosion, nutrient depletion, water scarcity, ability and may temporarily affect climate change (UNCCD and desertification.1 Land degradation leads to the loss of 2005). It results in persistent reductions in the capacity of plant and livestock genetic and species diversity, important ecosystems to provide services such as water, fuel, nutrients, sources of food, medicine, and commercial products soil fertility, and other necessities. Observers have seen a (UNDP 2007a). Increased irrigation and expansion of agri- major decline in the well-being of women and men living in cultural land into former dry-season grazing areas exacer- drylands (MEA 2005). Desertification contributes signifi- bate land degradation (FAO 2002). In Africa, 36 countries cantly to food insecurity and famine, the internal displace- face dryland degradation or desertification (GEF 2003). ment of people, and international migration, and it creates If present trends continue, 1.8 billion people will live in environmental refugees who add stress to areas that may not countries or regions with absolute water scarcity by 2025, yet have degraded.5 and two-thirds of the people in the world could be subject Pastoralists and farmers in drylands try to maximize to water stress.2 The decline in quantity and quality of water herd size and crop production during good periods and to leads to overexploitation of surface and groundwater minimize losses and obtain some yield during periods of resources and magnifies problems related to desertification. drought. Pastoralists may follow seasonal variations in veg- Water crises raise political tensions in many parts of the etation by moving their livestock, sometimes over long dis- world, particularly where people share rivers and lakes tances. Resilience against fluctuations may mean bridging across borders. Africans have the least access to clean water; drought periods by drawing on local reserves, such as using the largest numbers of people with no access to basic sani- different types of seeds or other adaptable genetic tation live in Asia (UNDP 2005). Competition for increas- resources. Knowledge of local biodiversity minimizes risks ingly precious water resources has intensified dramatically in the face of land and water degradation. Rural women over the past decades. Water shortages, water quality degra- and men's reliance on a variety of genetic resources, includ- dation, and aquatic ecosystem destruction seriously affect ing plant varieties and livestock breeds, allows them to economic and social development, political stability, and adapt their agricultural systems to changing environmen- ecosystem integrity (UNDP 2005). tal, economic, and social conditions. For instance, livestock Desertification has emerged as one of the most pressing helps provide a safety net when other sources of income are global environmental challenges facing the world today.3 no longer available. Drylands occupy 41 percent of the Earth's land area and are Desertification causes rural poverty, just as rural poverty home to more than 2 billion people, 90 percent of whom contributes to desertification. Poverty induces women and live in developing countries.4 Dry and subhumid lands pre- men to increase pressure on deteriorating drylands and to sent unique landscapes containing a wide variety of exploit the natural resource base in unsustainable ways. This biodiversity well adapted to the often harsh conditions that accelerates land degradation, leading to a reduction in pro- characterize these areas (CBD 2007). Some 10 to 20 percent ductivity and incomes while decreasing the livelihood 454 options for poor rural women and men. The result is food Africa and India, 30 percent of women's daily energy intake scarcity, malnutrition, and economic and social instability, is spent in carrying water (Ray 2007). which increase poverty and further exacerbate pressure on Depletion of land and water resources may place addi- the natural resource base. tional burdens on women's labor and health as they struggle Policies, programs, and projects implemented at the to seek their livelihoods in a changing environment. Land local, international, and national levels often fail to account degradation, water degradation and scarcity, desertification, for land and water degradation and desertification when and deforestation often cause women and girls to walk addressing poverty and sustainable development.6 Land longer distances to collect fuelwood and water, with conse- degradation and desertification cannot be addressed in iso- quences for their health and sometimes exposing them to lation from other efforts to protect biodiversity, water violence. In some cases, such as in Bangladesh, extraction of resources, food security, and energy security and to combat groundwater for irrigation has made drinking water pumps climate change. dry up (Crow and Sultana 2002). Through their different tasks and responsibilities, rural women and men have accumulated knowledge and skills KEY GENDER ISSUES concerning the management and use of biodiversity in dry- Combating desertification and reversing land and water land ecosystems. This includes knowledge of local crop vari- degradation will help secure the livelihoods and overall well- eties, animal breeds, tree species, agricultural systems, and being of women and men farmers and pastoralists. Land and the medicinal and nutritional values of plants. Adept at water degradation impacts poor rural women and men most managing their own scarce resources, rural women and men severely, because they directly depend on these resources for living in drylands have developed coping strategies to deal securing food and livelihoods (Lambrou and Laub 2004). with periods of scarcity. Local knowledge provides a wide When drylands become degraded, rural women and men range of accumulated experience on how to manage natural become vulnerable to food insecurity, malnutrition, dis- resources in farming and grazing (UNCCD 2005). Rural ease, and loss of livelihoods (FAO 2003). Gender-based women's and men's local knowledge proves crucial to the inequalities make rural women and girls more vulnerable conservation, use, and management of drylands, including than men. Caste, ethnicity, and other socioeconomic consid- its biodiversity. erations interact with gender to make certain groups of In southern and eastern Africa, some HIV- and AIDS- women and men particularly vulnerable. affected households have turned to livestock production as Rural women and men have different roles, responsibili- an alternative to crop production. People adopted this ties, and knowledge in managing natural resources. Conse- strategy when soils became infertile and crop management quently, the impact of land and water degradation on rural practices too demanding for the available labor. Other household members will vary according to gender. This households sell cattle to pay for medical bills and funeral division of labor results in women's and men's different pri- expenses. In pastoral societies, in which milk provides a orities for water use and management. Men typically use major component of nutrition, selling cattle can con- water for agricultural production, principally for irrigating tribute to malnutrition. Some households raise small live- cash crops. Women play an important role in water man- stock, such as poultry, which is a less labor-intensive agement as collectors, users, and managers of water (FAO practice and is often the responsibility of women (White 2007a), and they use water for both agricultural and house- and Robinson 2000). hold purposes. As previously discussed, the task of provid- Insecure land tenure reduces rural women's and men's ing domestic water almost always falls to women and girls. incentives to make long-term investments in soil rehabilita- Women also water some subsistence crops and vegetable tion and conservation, which are crucial to drylands man- gardens and spend considerable time collecting water for agement. A reduction of agricultural productivity and more household use (for example, food preparation, drinking, competition for relatively productive land leave women and sanitation). Water collection makes up a large part of with the more marginal, fragile lands. The impact of envi- rural women's work in Asia and Africa. In Senegal women ronmental degradation on common property resources in spend 17.5 hours each week collecting water, whereas in drylands threatens household food security and livelihoods. Mozambique they spend 15.3 hours in the dry season. In Poor rural women who lack secure land tenure depend on Nepal girls play an important role collecting water, averag- these common resources for fuelwood, fodder, and food-- ing five hours per week (Crow and Sultana 2002). In rural and, therefore, the well-being of their households. THEMATIC NOTE 5: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF LAND AND WATER DEGRADATION AND DESERTIFICATION 455 The projected increase in freshwater scarcity will cause explicitly encouraging the equal participation of women greater stresses in drylands. Water shortages not only under- and men (Lambrou and Laub 2004). mine agricultural production but also threaten the health of The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) also affected households. Local norms and customary practices acknowledges the importance and uniqueness of the biodi- can limit women's rights to water resources (Gender and versity of dry and subhumid lands.7 In 2000 the CBD Con- Water Alliance 2003). Access to water depends on land ference of the Parties emphasized the importance of rights, control over resources, and social networks, all of increasing the knowledge base and supporting best manage- which more severely restrict women than men (IFAD 2006). ment practices on dry and subhumid lands; the CBD also Excluding women's roles and perspectives in water and recognized the need for the full participation of women at land management interventions will have adverse effects. all levels of policy making and implementation.8 The World For instance, an inappropriate design or location of tap Summit on Sustainable Development reaffirmed land stands or wells may increase the time women spend collect- degradation as one of the major global environment and ing water (FAO 2007a). Many projects emphasize participa- sustainable development challenges of the twenty-first cen- tion of men and women in water management associations. tury, calling for action to address causes of desertification A study in India found that (1) even when women are on and land degradation and to restore land and address water management boards, they choose not to attend meet- poverty resulting from land degradation (GEF 2003). ings and send men relatives instead, and (2) women in dif- Linkages among biodiversity, poverty alleviation, and ferent castes often have different needs for water, with elite gender issues remain intertwined with land and water women's preferences determining the placing of hand degradation and desertification. Because they consider it pumps and thus decreasing poor women's access to water "nonscientific" or inferior, practitioners overlook or ignore (Singh 2006). rural women's and men's local knowledge on the conserva- In southern and East Africa, HIV and AIDS have led to tion and sustainable use of natural resources. increased tenure insecurity for women and children. As women become widows and children lose their parents to GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED AIDS, the incidence of "property grabbing" increases. The perpetrators are not always women; in some regions of Involving women in participatory land and water manage- Namibia and Zambia, sisters-in-laws are the main perpetra- ment promotes more sustainable land and water use, rever- tors (Izumi 2007). Most often, a husband's relatives take sal of desertification, and improved socioeconomic condi- land and other productive assets from the deceased's widow tions (Aswani and Weiant 2004; Nyssen and others 2004). or children. Projects that adopt a bottom-up participatory approach create an "enabling environment," designed to support local women and men in achieving livelihood security. POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES The international community has long recognized that Asia: Farmer-Centered Agricultural Resource desertification presents a major economic, social, and envi- Management ronmental concern to many countries in all regions of the world. In 1977 the United Nations Conference on Deser- Supported by the UNDP and implemented by FAO, the tification adopted its "Plan of Action to Combat Deser- Farmer-Centered Agricultural Resource Management tification." The United Nations Environment Programme (FARM) program was implemented in China, India, concluded in 1991 that the problem of land degradation in Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas had intensified Vietnam.9 Between 1993 and 1998, the program aimed to (UNCCD 2005). To tackle the problem of desertification promote sustainable use and management of natural with renewed efforts, the international community adopted resources in agriculture and household food security in eco- the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification logically fragile, rain-fed areas. Recognizing that women (UNCCD) in 1994. The convention stresses the importance farmers contribute significantly to agriculture, the program of a bottom-up participatory approach in identifying, imple- promoted women's participation in decision-making menting, monitoring, and evaluating projects that combat processes and other activities at all levels. FARM adopted a desertification and mitigate the effects of drought. The participatory assessment planning (PAP) approach that UNCCD recognizes the role of women in rural livelihoods, incorporated a gender analysis tool--a practical tool for 456 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT examining activities, problems, knowledge, and access to when they do obtain use of irrigated land, they may end up natural resources of both women and men. The output of losing this access. When IFAD-funded drylands projects the PAP approach resulted in greater accountability and attempted to ensure better access for women to irrigated equitable sharing of benefits and ownership of assets. FARM land (for example, by designating the land only for women's also carried out training of trainers under FAO's Socio-eco- crops), men sometimes took over the crops, as in a rice irri- nomic and Gender Analysis Program (SEAGA). The gation project in The Gambia. However, "partial participa- emphasis on gender has created awareness and improved tion" by women in irrigation projects may still benefit understanding of social-equity issues among community women. Women's consumption of water improved, even members. Women have begun to play important roles in though their control of assets and status did not increase. decision making and leadership management. Women may also use water for their livestock or their domestic needs, even though they cannot use it for their crops. Indirect or limited access to irrigation water may China:Wulin mountains minority-areas somewhat improve their livelihoods in the short term. development project This joint IFAD­World Food Programme project aimed to Mauritius and Rodrigues: Capacity-building for increase food and cash crop production through a range of sustainable land management land-improvement activities. These included the conversion of dryland to paddies, improvement of livestock and fish The UNDP implemented this three-year, $1.38-million production, and literacy and numeracy training for women. project (including a Global Environmental Facility grant Improved drinking water supply systems and the introduc- of $600,000) to design sustainable land management tion of labor- and time-saving technologies reduced capacities in appropriate government and civil society women's workloads. Small livestock husbandry provided institutions and user groups.11 The project's long-term additional income for food, school fees, and clothing, and goal was to ensure that agricultural, pasture, forest, and drinking water systems and training improved hygiene and other land management efforts in Mauritius and health. Women gained self-esteem and social position with Rodrigues consist of sustainable, productive systems that their entrepreneurial success. maintain ecosystem productivity and ecological functions while contributing directly to economic and social well- being. Women participated actively in stakeholder consulta- Egypt: Matruh Resources Management Project tions during the project's formulation. Women represented The Matruh Resources Management Project, funded by the 31 percent of overall participation at the inception work- World Bank, seeks to break the cycle of natural resource shop, where they voiced their needs and contributed their degradation and poverty in the fragile ecosystem of Matruh, perspectives. Since that time, the project has ensured a Egypt, in which Bedouin women play a critical role in rural good balance of women and men in training courses and production and environmental management. The project other activities. A gender specialist conducts capacity- works closely with community groups to define the needs of building exercises to ensure that the project takes gender women and men and ensure participation in preparing and issues into consideration in all UNDP-supported projects, implementing local resource management plans. To fulfill including sustainable land management. these objectives and enable the community groups to address gender issues effectively, project staff received early Niger:The Keita Project gender training. In addition, women extension agents based in each subproject area work directly with women. The Keita Project, financed by the Italian Government and implemented by FAO with support from the World Food Programme, aimed at combating desertification in the Keita The Gambia: Partial participation by women in region of Niger. The project adopted a gender-sensitive par- irrigation program ticipatory approach that led to better understanding of local Efforts undertaken through development initiatives have land-use systems and husbandry. Its aim was to facilitate rarely succeeded in providing women farmers with secure women's access to income-generating activities (garden and access to irrigated assets.10 Sometimes women obtain access fruit production, sheep production) and promote their par- indirectly or acquire irregular or seasonal access, but even ticipation in local and national-level organizations and THEMATIC NOTE 5: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF LAND AND WATER DEGRADATION AND DESERTIFICATION 457 activities. Time-saving technologies introduced by the proj- Strengthening the capacity of women and men users ect alleviated women's work burden. and managers of drylands resources remains one of the most important factors in reversing land and water degradation. Participatory processes and innovations in GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR community-based planning and decision making work PRACTITIONERS best to build capacity. Women must gain leadership An assessment of gender-specific relationships to natural positions, participate in organizations, and gain access resources and of gender-differentiated impacts of land and to technology. Strengthening women's group-based water degradation and desertification will facilitate the lending has sometimes enabled women to overcome development of effective projects related to land and water requirements for collateral. Credit activities served as degradation and desertification. The following guidelines entry points for organizing women for broader activities are of particular importance: (IFAD 2006). Understanding the gender-based inequalities in accessing MONITORING AND EVALUATION livelihood assets, in the division of labor, and in partici- pation in resource planning and management provides a Examples of gender-sensitive indicators include the follow- sound basis for the sustainable management of land and ing (FAO 2007b):12 water. Land: To understand the gender-differentiated vulnerabilities and coping strategies in relation to land and water degra- Average number of hectares of land owned by women- dation and desertification, we must identify changes in headed and men-headed households land use, land scarcity, and the economy that affect the Percentage of women and men with de facto and de jure ability of women and men to meet their livelihood needs. land rights The success of sustainable land and water management Number of women and men with decision-making requires women's and men's full and equal participation, authority in cooperatives and marketing associations through incorporating local women's and men's perspec- Ratio of number of men and women with access to credit tives, needs, and priorities. In some cases, women can based on land rights. benefit from partial participation. Efforts to encourage women's participation in decision-making processes and Water: organizations should take into account women's time and mobility restrictions. Serious efforts should ensure Ratio of women and men who are members of water that women's participation goes beyond tokenism. In users associations addition, these efforts must acknowledge that women Ratio of number of irrigated farms managed by women from different castes and classes may have different inter- and men ests and power in making natural resource management Change in the number of hours of labor required by men decisions such as where to locate pumps. and women with the introduction of irrigation projects. 458 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Gender, Biodiversity, and Local Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LinKS) for Food Security PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION institutions; government agencies; and policy institutions. The project teams and management used participatory T he goal of the LinKS project was to improve rural approaches in project design, formulation, and implemen- women's and men's food security and promote the tation activities. sustainable management of agrobiodiversity.1 To The project operated through three central areas of achieve this goal, the organizers raised awareness of how activities: rural men and women use and manage agrobiodiversity and promoted the importance of local knowledge for food Capacity building and training to raise awareness and security and sustainable agrobiodiversity at local, institu- develop tools and methods to enhance capacity, change tional, and policy levels. They worked with a range of stake- development practitioners' attitudes about rural women holders--development agents, researchers, and extension and men's local knowledge, and stress the importance of services--to strengthen their ability to recognize and value this knowledge for sustainable management of biodiver- women and men farmers' knowledge and use gender- sity and food security sensitive and participatory approaches in their policies, Research on gender-based differences in farmers' knowledge programs, and interventions. and management of biodiversity, highlighting the role of Launched in 1997, the project, funded by the government agrobiodiversity management for food security, and the of Norway and administered by FAO, operated in Mozam- different roles and responsibilities of rural women and bique, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.Activities in Swaziland began men in the use and management of agrobiodiversity in 2000 and continued until the end of September 2005. Communication and advocacy to enhance the exchange of The main strategy of the project was to support, build information about the value of local knowledge in agri- on, and strengthen the efforts of other groups already culture between communities, as well as with institutions working on food security, indigenous knowledge, and agro- that work with farmers and policy makers. biodiversity issues in the four countries. These other groups included NGOs, research, training, and academic INNOVATIVE FEATURES The LinKS project was conceived in response to the emerg- What's innovative? The LinKS project played an ing international debates on the sustainable management of important role in shedding light on how food natural resources and participatory approaches during the security will have to build much more on local early 1990s culminating in the 1996 International Technical knowledge and agrobiodiversity with a clear Conference on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agri- understanding of gender implications, keeping in culture. In the period leading up to 1996, the understanding mind the continuously changing global socioeco- of gender and local knowledge systems and the rich source nomic and political conditions. The participatory of information embodied in the knowledge, skills, and prac- management style, together with a holistic tices of women and men as managers and users of biodiver- approach, represented a new and innovative sity were not very clear. Agricultural and rural development approach for FAO in project implementation. programs and policies, in particular those related to natural resources management, often failed to take into account 459 rural women's and men's local knowledge systems in farm- A training manual, Building on Local Knowledge, Gender ing activities (Rocheleau 1996; Shiva 1996). Furthermore, and Biodiversity, highlighted the specific concepts and research, science, and national policies tend to undermine links between these issues from the perspective of sus- the value of local knowledge, capacities, skills, and innova- tainable livelihoods. tions of local farming communities to sustain and manage A local pool of experienced trainers was built up to facil- agrobiodiversity and secure food. The misconception that itate with the training workshops on LinKS issues and local knowledge proves inferior to scientific and technical gender-sensitive participatory approaches. approaches leads to a marginalization and loss of local prac- Integration of local knowledge, gender, and agrobiodiver- tices and knowledge. sity issues in the educational curriculum of local training The LinKS project evolved with the aim to bridge this colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher gap between local and scientific knowledge (box 10.11). learning (such as the Sokoine University of Agriculture). Visits provided farmers, researchers, NGO representatives, and development workers an opportunity to exchange BENEFITS AND IMPACTS ideas and experiences, and to take part in mutual learning The project enhanced the capacity of participants in under- experiences. In Tanzania, as part of a research project standing the linkages between local knowledge, gender, and focusing on the management of animal genetic resources agrobiodiversity and incorporating these issues in their by the Maasai, pastoralists from various study areas work through the use of gender-sensitive participatory exchanged visits to share experiences and views. approaches. Workshops organized to document traditional practices emphasized, first, the potential benefits and risks The project also supported 28 research activities that doc- of sharing such knowledge, and, second, the responsibilities umented and increased understanding of the linkages of researchers and development agents to record and docu- between local knowledge, gender, and agrobiodiversity; rein- ment local knowledge. Several specific training workshops forced collaboration between researchers and rural commu- were organized to strengthen knowledge and skills in imple- nities; demonstrated the complementarities between the menting gender-sensitive participatory agricultural and local and scientific systems of knowledge; and enhanced the livestock research and training. Other capacity-building potential of developing approaches to increase food security activities included the following: and agrobiodiversity. The stakeholders identified three broad topics as particularly important: (1) traditional seed systems About 1,125 people participated in the training workshops (box 10.12), (2) animal production and genetic diversity on gender, local knowledge, and biodiversity and the (box 10.13), and (3) the relation between HIV and AIDS and application of gender analysis and participatory methods. local knowledge systems (box 10.14). Box 10.11 Linkages between Local Knowledge, Biodiversity, Food Security, and Gender Issues Biodiversity serves as one of the most important natu- shapes and influences plant and animal diversity at both ral assets for poor rural women and men. They rely on the gene and species levels. It also provides an important a diverse range of natural resources--crops, trees, live- coping strategy for poor rural women and men vulnera- stock, fish--for subsistence production and sale. Yet, ble to the risk of environmental degradation and natural because of environmental stresses, introduction of new disasters.For instance,poor rural women and men farm- improved varieties and marginalization of local knowl- ers often spread risk by growing a wide variety of locally edge, biodiversity is lost at a rapid rate, posing a grave adapted crops, some of which will be resistant to threat to long-term food security. drought or pests. The different tasks and responsibilities of rural Thus, local knowledge, gender, and agrobiodiversity women and men result in accumulation of different are closely interrelated. types of local knowledge and skills. This local knowledge Source: FAO 2005. 460 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Box 10.12 Tanzania:Traditional Seed Systems Box 10.14 The Relation between HIV and AIDS and Local Knowledge Systems Research activity on gender and biodiversity was A study on the impact of HIV and AIDS on local set up in the southern highlands of Tanzania, a seed systems in both Mozambique and Tanzania region heavily exposed to improved seed vari- showed the gender specificity of local knowledge. eties. The goal was to improve the availability and Men and women are responsible for different accessibility of high-quality seeds of crop vari- crops; for example, a widower would not necessar- eties preferred by farmers to enhance household ily know or be able to produce, after his wife's food security. The main findings at the end of the demise, the local crops she had planted. Her spe- project were the following: (1) some crop species cific knowledge about local seed varieties would be had disappeared because of changes in weather, lost. HIV and AIDS constitute a severe threat to migration, government policies and interven- agrobiodiversity. At the request of four communi- tions, or farmers' preferences; (2) many varieties ties in Tanzania, several local seed fairs enabled had been introduced; (3) in general, agrobiodi- farmers to share and exchange their local knowl- versity increased over the years; (4) levels of food edge and local seed varieties. consumption and their composition varied within the different socioeconomic groups; (5) Source: FAO 2005. food-secure households relied more on staple food and less on natural and collected crops; and (6) the informal system provided a better source of seeds and information for many farmers than The project's communication strategy increased the visi- the formal seed system. bility of women's and men's knowledge among communities, development workers, and policy makers. Communication Source: Author. activities conducted through participatory processes included the following: A total of 787 researchers, policy makers, and development workers participated in workshops and seminars organized to raise awareness and facilitate discussion of the issues. Box 10.13 Tanzania:Animal Production and Small workshops explored farmers' rights and intellec- Genetic Diversity tual property rights. Through these workshops, the proj- ect fostered discussion of local knowledge and its link to In the Mbarali district, a study was conducted to biodiversity conservation and food security in each of gauge local knowledge on breeding and selection the project countries. of livestock in the Maasai community. The study Twenty short case-studies, 33 research reports, and two examined the types of animals (cattle, sheep, videos were disseminated to project partners through goats) preferred and the criteria used to achieve training workshops, seminars, and the LinKS project the desired traits. These preferences were analyzed mailing list. in relation to gender and age, roles and responsi- Agricultural fairs, contributions to national television bilities, decision making, and goals of food secu- and radio programs, national newspapers, and specialist rity and herd survival. The objective was to let the Maasai pastoralists identify the gaps and make magazines were given support. corrections. The threats or constraints to the pas- A Web site (www.fao.org/sd/links/gebio.htm) provides toralists' local knowledge for the sustainable man- useful resources and links to information sources. agement of indigenous livestock were identified, and possible solutions offered. The decreasing LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER grazing land and water for livestock in the Mbarali district and livestock diseases were major con- APPLICABILITY straints. (See also Module 14.) The project's thematic focus and the scope of its activities, as well as the number of countries involved, made it a com- INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: GENDER, BIODIVERSITY,AND LOCAL INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS FOR FOOD SECURITY 461 plex project to implement. Addressing and linking the main hosting institutions facilitated a closer collaboration with themes of gender, local knowledge, and agrobiodiversity partner institutions. brought conceptual and analytical challenges as well. Gender- A major lesson learned was that training prior to under- sensitive participatory approaches proved to be the most valid taking research, although important, was not sufficient. Par- approach to achieve the project objectives. ticipants often stressed the need for postworkshop follow- The project adopted a holistic, interdisciplinary up, monitoring, and mentoring. LinKS tried to address this approach for understanding the linkages between gender, through intensive technical support throughout the local knowledge systems, and agrobiodiversity manage- research process, from research design, data collection, and ment for food security. Research activities were designed in analysis to interpretation and presentation. Furthermore, a process-oriented way to include the active involvement of many researchers found analyzing socioeconomic data chal- all disciplines in planning, implementation, analysis, and lenging and consequently failed to report research results in interpretation. Because ministries, universities, and most a coherent and eloquent manner, thus, pointing to the need NGOs traditionally work within a sectoral approach, such a for capacity building and developing appropriate training multidisciplinary approach proved extremely challenging, materials. Project partners experienced difficulties grasping the Research activities were closely linked to capacity build- conceptual themes and applying them to their work. ing and advocacy. Government officers, researchers, and Despite intensive training, the application of concepts to NGO staff who participated in the training and awareness field work and data analysis remained unclear to workshops often developed research proposals for increas- researchers. Consequently, researchers participated in pre- ing recognition of the knowledge of men and women, field training to ensure that they were able to document documenting experiences, community-to-community local knowledge in such a way that local communities ben- exchanges, or follow-up action. All research activities efited. Training workshops focused on the application of explored the hypothesis that women are important custodi- gender-sensitive participatory tools. It became clear that ans of knowledge in the management of biodiversity. Com- workshops were not sufficient to increase understanding of munication at the rural community level, conducted the concepts and their linkages; thus, a training manual was through participatory research processes, encouraged dia- developed to address this gap. logue, feedback to communities, and follow-up action that The participatory management style of the project pre- further enhanced learning and empowerment. Research sented limitations due to existing institutional frameworks reports were shared with the local communities and stake- and bureaucracy. To mitigate these limitations, LinKS set up holders for feedback. Such feedback sessions were also a special project structure that entailed national coordina- important to identify follow-up action with the local com- tion teams with managerial responsibility for project activi- munities and stakeholders to ensure that they benefited ties in each project country. National team offices within the from the studies. 462 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 India: Karnataka Watershed Development Project PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION target districts are drought prone and dominated by rain- fed agriculture. High soil erosion leads to declining produc- he aim of the Karnataka Watershed Development T tivity. Groundwater from existing tubewells is only for three Project (KWDP) is to improve the productive to four months after monsoon rains. Deterioration of com- potential of selected watersheds; the steps involved mon lands results from poor management. include the following actions: The project addresses (1) social mobilization and institu- tion building to help plan and implement participatory Enhance production and livelihood systems. watershed treatments, (2) farming system intensification and Strengthen community and institutional arrangements participatory research, (3) income generation activities to for natural resource management. benefit socially vulnerable and landless groups, and (4) capac- Promote participatory involvement of primary stake- ity building, monitoring, and evaluation. The project is holders/beneficiaries. being implemented in a phased manner: phase 1 consists of Offer assistance to women, the landless, and other vul- 10 subwatersheds, phase 2 covers 20 subwatersheds, and nerable groups by supporting investments in income phase 3 covers the final 47 subwatersheds. The project is now generation activities. working mainly on the phase 3 subwatershed. The project uses a complex institutional structure to The project also aims to strengthen the capacity of com- develop critical partnerships between government techni- munities to participate in planning, implementation, social cal specialists, NGOs, communities, local authorities, and and environmental management, and maintenance of research organizations, for instance, through the formation assets. They will operate in a more socially inclusive manner of community-based organizations such as self-help within the framework of a watershed development plan groups (largely women and landless), area groups (mainly implemented through community groups. landowning farmers), and a community-level executive The KWDP, initiated in 2001 and scheduled to end in committee. Self-help groups, the basic units of planning for 2009, is being implemented in seven districts of Karnataka income generation activities, are consolidated at the micro- by the Watershed Development Department of the govern- watershed level. ment of Karnataka and funded by the World Bank. The BENEFITS AND IMPACTS What's innovative? Program design promotes greater local participation and encompasses tradi- On over 270,000 hectares, soil and water conservation tional soil and water conservation as well as rural improved average crop yields to between 525 and 1,136 kilo- livelihood development. The gender dimension of grams per hectare. Crop diversity, especially cash crops, KWDP aims at creating opportunities for vulnera- increased to four to nine crops. Groundwater availability ble groups, including women's economic activity, following monsoon rains improved to four to six months. access to basic resources, and participation in The project established 4,300 farmer groups and 6,600 decision-making processes. new self-help groups to sustain participatory watershed man- agement across 7,000 communities in 742 microwatersheds. 463 The KWDP significantly impacts the lives of women. skill development modules stress women's participation. Visible impacts include increased self-esteem, confidence, This project strives to improve the status of women, and decision-making ability; improved livelihoods; and increase their participation, and empower them to be economic empowerment. more self-reliant and self-confident. The project facilitated Annual household income increased to approximately women and vulnerable groups to participate and express $373. Self-help groups flourished with project support. Tak- their views freely. Thus, the project addresses community ing into account member savings, project revolving funds, empowerment, social justice, and gender equality. and leveraged commercial loans, the total potential capital The training provided by the project created a high level base in these community groups is almost $13 million, which of awareness and confidence among the executive com- is being used to help establish small businesses, particularly mittee and self-help groups, but relatively less among the among women and the landless. The majority of members area groups. The training knowledge is utilized primarily are women. More than 60 percent of the self-help groups are for microcredit management and income-generating linked to commercial financial institutions. Moneylenders activity rather than for watershed activity. Women view are no longer a major force in these communities. access to credit as vital to their ability to earn income and The success of self-help groups in creating savings resulted to control their status and autonomy. in women's economic empowerment. Women in self-help Marginal and landless people are the major beneficiaries groups better articulate their needs and plan their livelihood of demonstrations in the project (81 percent). However, strategies. The majority of women feel that the project has the spread of knowledge about watersheds remains lim- offered several new opportunities, such as a teleconference, a ited. People conceive of the project as more of an satellite-based training program, and demonstrations. income-earning enterprise rather than spreading knowl- Approximately 70 percent of the women and landless edge about watershed management. participating in the income-generating activity component The increased financial stability through savings and preferred to enhance their incomes through livestock and employment generation (at the self-help group level) has poultry production. The project partners agreed to intro- substantially reduced people's dependency on money- duce village-based private veterinary service providers, lenders. The extra earnings and employment opportuni- "Gopal Mitras," to promote effective and low-cost service to ties have decreased out-migration, especially in the people. Field visits and monitoring and evaluation data con- Haveri district and, to a lesser extent, in Chitradurga, firm the important role that the Gopal Mitras now play in Kolar, and Tumkur. Families now experience the oppor- many communities. All Gopal Mitras use mobile phones to tunity to live together with family members. However, make it easier for people in more distant villages to call via long-term employment generation is yet to be realized. a community call box. Earnings by the Gopal Mitras range The Haveri and Kolar districts report slightly improved from $75 to $375 per month, with an average of $125. access to fodder and fuel, and a few districts report Women's role in decision making has improved consid- improved drinking water facilities. However, these issues erably at both the family and the community/institution largely depend on natural resource development and levels. More than 70 percent of women reported that their increased biomass, which require a longer period to show life has changed for the better with respect to education, results. financial matters, marriages, and other social issues. At the Reasons for the limited participation of women include institutional level, about 70 percent of women feel that the nonsupportive social environment, cultural taboos, their status has improved, their views are respected, and the presence of dominant caste and politically influential their social acceptance level has increased. members, illiteracy, and a lack of clarity of benefits. LESSONS LEARNED CHALLENGES FOR WIDER APPLICABILITY The discussion below surveys some of the lessons learned Self-help groups should develop a sense of identity, cohe- from past experiences. siveness, and competence in areas such as managing their finances, taking up group income-generating activities Specific emphasis on women's participation in capacity (IGAs), and involvement in community affairs. IGA building includes training programs and exposure visits. products produced under the project can be branded as Group formation, leadership, conducting meetings, and "KWDP" as a unified marketing label. 464 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Women are usually unable to participate in community 3. For a full discussion on monitoring and evaluation, refer activities without the consent and support of men in to Module 16. their families and in the community. Men, therefore, need to be more aware of the importance of the contri- bution of women to the project and to the development Thematic Note 1 of the village. This Thematic Note was prepared by Carolyn Sachs (Penn- Women field guides can work effectively with women, sylvania State University) and Marina Laudazi (Consultant), and it is easier for women staff to interact with them in with inputs from David Boerma, Dominique Lantieri, the community. More women field guides are needed, Regina Laub, Sibyl Nelson, Andrea Rossi, and Reuben Sessa and they need to be trained in facilitating women's par- (FAO), and reviewed by Mary Hill Rojas (Consultant); ticipation and technical aspects of the project. Yianna Lambrou (FAO); Ilaria Firmian, Maria Hartl, and The involvement of women in project planning should Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Erick Fernandes, Robin be ensured, especially with respect to how they are treated, Mearns, and Daniel Sellen (World Bank). participation in productive work, and benefits of produc- 1. "Global Environment Outlook 4," www.unep.org. The tion. Open-house meetings at regular intervals ensure Convention on Biological Diversity defines biodiversity as the variability among living organisms from all sources, better transparency and participation. including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems Women committee members must be given specific and the ecological complexes they are part of; this includes responsibilities and made signatories to the bank diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems. accounts to emphasize the importance of their role. The convention defines sustainable use as the use of compo- Equal opportunities in employment and equal wages for nents of biological diversity in a way and at a rate that does men and women commensurate with the nature of work not lead to the long-term decline of biological diversity, must be ensured. thereby maintaining its potential to meet the needs and Women should be given rights over village common aspirations of present and future generations. property land to access the resources for their livelihood, 2. Over the last few decades, agricultural development has and benefit-sharing mechanisms should be developed been characterized by agricultural intensification and for wider participation. expansion, achieved mainly through technological advance- Common property resources must meet daily household ments and the replacement of local plant or livestock vari- needs for fuel and fodder and provide livelihood options eties with improved, high-yielding, uniform varieties, as for women. Social fencing creates hardships for vulnera- well as large-scale conversion of forests or other natural ble groups. To circumvent the long gestation period for habitats to monocultural farming systems (FAO 2005). realizing the benefits, a buffer zone approach should be 3. Local knowledge is a collection of facts and relates to the used to develop common property land. entire system of concepts, beliefs, and perceptions that peo- ple hold about the world around them. This includes the way people observe and measure their surroundings, how they solve problems, and how they validate new information NOTES (FAO 2004; Warburton and Martin 1999). Overview 4. Note that there is some contention between TRIPS and This Overview was prepared by Carolyn Sachs (Pennsylvania the CBD. TRIPS allows for the privatization of biological State University) and Marina Laudazi (Consultant), with resources, but the CBD acknowledges that local communi- inputs from David Boerma, Dominique Lantieri, Regina ties have rights over these resources and the indigenous Laub, Sibyl Nelson, Andrea Rossi, and Reuben Sessa (FAO), knowledge involved in their usage (Sahai 2003). and reviewed by Mary Hill Rojas (Consultant); Yianna Lam- 5. High-yielding exotic crops are often less nutritious than brou (FAO); Ilaria Firmian, Maria Hartl, and Sheila Mwa- indigenous varieties. FAO's 1996 State of the World's Plant nundu (IFAD); and Erick Fernandes, Robin Mearns, and Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture report states that Daniel Sellen (World Bank). the main cause of genetic erosion, reported by almost all 1. "Global Environment Outlook 4," www.unep.org. countries, is the replacement of local varieties by improved 2. Commonwealth/International Labour Organization, or exotic varieties and species (FAO 2005). WTO TRIPS Agreement, Globalisation and Gender Briefs, 6. "Poverty and Climate Change: Reducing the Vulnerabil- Series 2, July, www.ilo.org/dyn/empent/docs/F1599852333/ ity of the Poor through Adaptation," www.oecd.org/ No%202%20-%20TRIPS.pdf. dataoecd/60/27/2502872.pdf. MODULE 10: NOTES 465 7. Gerry Toomey, "Farmers as Researchers: The Rise of 2. Continued greenhouse gas emissions at or above cur- Participatory Plant Breeding," International Development rent rates would cause further warming and induce many Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Project No. 950019, changes in the global climate system during the twenty-first www.idrc.ca/en/ev-5559-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html. century that would very likely be larger than those observed 8. In addition to the ones listed here, the legal instruments during the twentieth century. relating to biodiversity include the International Undertak- 3. The main human-produced greenhouse gases are car- ing on Plant Genetic Resources adopted by FAO in the early bon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chloroflurocar- 1980s to protect plant genetic resources; the International bons. Because of space limitations, this Thematic Note will Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, not explore the scientific basis of climate change. For infor- which promotes conservation and sustainable use of plant mation, see the IPCC's assessment reports at www.ipcc.ch. genetic resources for food and agriculture; and the Global 4. This is an advance since the IPCC Third Assessment Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Report (2001), which concluded that "most of the observed Resources, which provides a technical and operational warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to framework for assisting countries. Further information on the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations." these aspects is highlighted in Bragdon and others (2003). 5. See also "Poverty and Climate Change: Reducing the 9. Because of space limitations, the relevant policy instru- Vulnerability of the Poor through Adaptation," www.oecd. ments will not be discussed in detail here. For a discussion org/dataoecd/60/27/2502872.pdf. on these instruments from a gender-sensitive perspective, 6. In this context, climate change was brought before the see Bragdon and others (2003); FAO (2005); Lambrou and UN Security Council for the first time in April 2007, as the Laub (2004). issue was identified as one of the key factors behind the con- 10. For a full discussion on the intellectual property rights flict in Darfur, because desertification had forced people of indigenous and local communities, see FAO (2005); from their homes and into areas where they competed with Lambrou and Laub (2006). others for scarce resources such as water (Harvey 2007). 11. For a full discussion on these issues, see FAO (2005). 7. See the Overview for this Module and the Key Gender 12. Cathy Rozel Farnworth and Janice Jiggins, "Gender and Issues section in this Note. Participatory Plant Breeding," CGIAR, Program on Partici- 8. See "Poverty and Climate Change: Reducing the Vulner- patory Research and Gender Analysis, www.prgaprogram. ability of the Poor through Adaptation," www.oecd. org/modules/DownloadsPlus/uploads/PRGA_Publica org/dataoecd/60/27/2502872.pdf. tions/General/Reports/PPBMonograph4.pdf. Conventional 9. FAO, IFAD, and the World Bank have provided evidence breeding programs are recognized to have brought little through a number of their studies and lessons learned. See benefit to some marginalized groups of farmers. However, also Thematic Notes 1 and 4 and Module 11. encouraging examples can be found of projects in which 10. Human activity has altered ecosystems so extensively that women and men farmers are involved in crop improvement their ability to bounce back from natural disturbance has and breeding programs. diminished considerably. For instance, deforestation impairs watersheds; raises the risk of fires, landslides, and floods; exacerbates droughts; and contributes to climate change. Thematic Note 2 Destruction of coastal wetlands, dunes, and mangroves This Thematic Note was prepared by Carolyn Sachs (Penn- diminishes the environmental buffer system for coastal sylvania State University) and Marina Laudazi (Consul- storms. All these contribute to making at-risk areas (such as tant), with inputs from David Boerma, Dominique Lantieri, low-lying islands) more vulnerable to extreme weather events Regina Laub, Sibyl Nelson, Andrea Rossi, and Reuben Sessa (Abramovitz 2001); see also Thematic Note 4. (FAO), and reviewed by Mary Hill Rojas (Consultant); 11. For a detailed discussion on mitigation policies aimed at Yianna Lambrou (FAO); Ilaria Firmian, Maria Hartl, and reducing or avoiding greenhouse gas emissions in the areas Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Erick Fernandes, Robin of renewable energy and energy efficiency, see Thematic Mearns, and Daniel Sellen (World Bank). Note 3 and Module 15. The causes of global warming can be 1. The IPCC is a body of the world's leading scientists con- reduced either by reducing the emissions of greenhouse vened by the United Nations. It has been established to gases or by subtracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere assess scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information (www.fao.org/clim). relevant for the understanding of climate change, its poten- 12. www.fao.org/clim/mitigation_en.htm. tial impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation. The 13. Payments for environmental services are a market-based IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. conservation tool in which land users are paid for the 466 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT environmental services they generate. The central principles process are already significantly contributing to climate of this approach are that those who provide environmental change mitigation by replacing fossil fuels and through car- services should be compensated for doing so and that those bon sequestration in plants and soil biomass in perennial who receive these services should pay for their provision energy plantations (FAO 2006). (see the Overview for more details). 4. The demand for corn for ethanol in the United States 14. www.fonafifo.com/index.htm. doubled or tripled the price of corn in Mexico between 2006 15. For examples of best practices and lessons learned relat- and 2007, which led to a tortilla crisis. Poor Mexicans ing to sustainable energy development (energy efficiency receive more than 40 percent of their protein from tortillas. and renewable energy), see Thematic Note 3 and Module 15. In the United States, chicken feed costs increased 40 percent For natural disaster projects, see Thematic Note 4 and between 2006 and 2007 because of rising corn prices (Sagar Module 11. and Kartha 2007). 16. For more information on this mechanism, see ftp://ftp. 5. The full cycle of greenhouse gas emissions of bioenergy fao.org/agl/agll/docs/misc37 or www.climateindia.com. varies widely based on land-use changes, choice of feed- 17. "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate stock, agricultural practices, refining or conversion Change,"http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng. processes, and end-use practice. If, for example, forest is pdf. converted into sugarcane, treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and refined with coal and natural gas, the 18. For a full discussion on the Clean Development Mecha- resulting biofuel could have a greater impact on climate over nism and gender issues, see Denton (2002); Lambrou and its life cycle than fossil fuels (UN-Energy 2007). A recent Piana (2006a). study estimates that when the amount of land cleared to grow corn, sugarcane, and soybeans for fuel crops is taken Thematic Note 3 into account, biofuels will have higher greenhouse gas emis- sions than fossil fuels (Fargione and others 2008). This Thematic Note was prepared by Carolyn Sachs (Penn- 6. Modern forms of energy such as electricity and petro- sylvania State University) and Marina Laudazi (Consul- leum-based fuels account for only a fraction of the energy tant), with inputs from David Boerma, Dominique Lantieri, use of poor rural communities. The expansion of the elec- Regina Laub, Sibyl Nelson, Andrea Rossi, and Reuben Sessa tricity grid is costly and often not affordable for poor com- (FAO), and reviewed by Mary Hill Rojas (Consultant); munities, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa. Electricity Yianna Lambrou (FAO); Ilaria Firmian, Maria Hartl, and from renewable energy sources such as small hydro, solar, Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Erick Fernandes, Robin and wind energy systems also has high capital costs. See Mearns, and Daniel Sellen (World Bank). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs 1. This Thematic Note uses the following definitions: Bioen- (DESA), "Small-Scale Production and Use of Liquid Biofu- ergy: energy produced from organic matter or biomass.Bioen- els in Sub-Saharan Africa: Perspectives for Sustainable ergy includes all wood energy and all agroenergy resources Development," Background Paper No. 2 for Commission on (FAO 2006; UN-Energy 2007). Biomass: material of biological Sustainable Development, Fifteenth Session, www.un.org/ origin (excluding material embedded in geological formations esa/sustdev/csd/csd15/documents/csd15_bp2.pdf. and transformed to fossils), such as energy crops, agricultural 7. www.malifolkecenter.org. and forestry wastes, and by-products, manure, or microbial biomass.Biofuel: fuel produced directly or indirectly from bio- mass, such as fuelwood, charcoal, bioethanol, biodiesel, biogas Thematic Note 4 (methane), or biohydrogen. Modern bioenergy: biomass that This Thematic Note was prepared by Carolyn Sachs (Penn- may be burned directly, further processed into densified and sylvania State University) and Marina Laudazi (Consul- dried solid fuel, or converted into liquid or gaseous fuels using tant), with inputs from David Boerma, Dominique Lantieri, so-called first- or second-generation technologies, depending Regina Laub, Sibyl Nelson, Andrea Rossi, and Reuben Sessa on their level of development. (FAO), and reviewed by Mary Hill Rojas (Consultant); 2. For a discussion on the plausible institutional and eco- Yianna Lambrou (FAO); Ilaria Firmian, Maria Hartl, and nomic assumptions necessary for bioenergy development, Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Erick Fernandes, Robin see UN-Energy (2007). Projections to 2050 suggest that Mearns, and Daniel Sellen (World Bank). bioenergy sources could supply 10 to 25 percent of total 1. Annual economic losses associated with such disasters energy demand (FAO 2005, 2007). averaged $75.5 billion in the 1960s, $138.4 billion in the 3. As a low-carbon or carbon-neutral source of energy, 1970s, $213.9 billion in the 1980s, and $659.9 billion in the biofuel systems with low-energy inputs into the production 1990s (UNDP 2004; a billion is 1,000 million). MODULE 10: NOTES 467 2. The level of risk in relation to natural disasters in a subhumid, semiarid, arid, or hyperarid. This classification society is determined by the levels of vulnerability com- is based on Aridity Index values. bined with the level of probability of the occurrence of a 5. See note 56 above. natural hazard (flood, drought, landslide, earthquake, 6. Ibid. volcanic eruptions, storm, cyclone) as well as the level and 7. See Thematic Note 1 for details on the CBD. intensity of such a hazard. See United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), "Environmental 8. "What Is Dry and Sub-humid Lands Biodiversity?" Management and the Mitigation of Natural Disasters: A www.cbd.int/drylands/what.shtml. Gender Perspective," Report of the Expert Group Meeting, 9. FARM Programme, http://dbtindia.nic.in/FARM/ Ankara, Turkey, November 6­9, www.un.org/womenwatch/ page1.htm. daw/csw/env_manage/documents/EGM-Turkey-final- 10. IFAD (2006). report.pdf. 11. UNDP (2007b). 3. Social vulnerability to disasters is a function of human 12. For more on monitoring and evaluation of natural action and behavior. It describes the degree to which a resources management projects, see the Overview. For a full socioeconomic system or physical assets are either suscepti- discussion on monitoring and evaluation in general, see ble or resilient to the impact of natural hazards and envi- Module 16. ronmental changes (ibid.). 4. Whether it is a drought in Malawi (Vaughan 1987), a Innovative Activity Profile 1 cyclone in Bangladesh (Ikeda 1995), or an earthquake in Mexico (Dufka 1988). This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Marina Lau- 5. "Poverty and Climate Change: Reducing the Vulnerabil- dazi (FAO), based largely on Lambrou and Laub (2006), and ity of the Poor through Adaptation," www.oecd.org/ reviewed by Catherine Ragasa and Mary Hill Rojas (Con- dataoecd/60/27/2502872.pdf. sultants) and Maria Hartl (IFAD). 6. For a full discussion on disaster mitigation, response, 1. Agrobiodiversity comprises the variety and variability and recovery, see Module 11. of animals, plants, and microorganisms that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture, including 7. The agencies taking part are the DPKO, FAO, IFRC, crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries. It comprises the IOM, OCHA, OHCHR, UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, diversity of genetic resources (varieties, breeds) and UNIDO, WFP, and WHO. species used for food, fodder, fiber, fuel, and pharmaceuti- cals. It also includes the diversity of nonharvested species that support production (soil microorganisms, predators, Thematic Note 5 pollinators) and those in the wider environment that sup- This Thematic Note was prepared by Carolyn Sachs (Penn- port agroecosystems (agricultural, pastoral, forest, and sylvania State University) and Marina Laudazi (Consul- aquatic) as well as the diversity of the agroecosystems. tant), with inputs from David Boerma, Dominique Lantieri, Local knowledge and culture can therefore be considered Regina Laub, Sibyl Nelson, Andrea Rossi, and Reuben Sessa as integral parts of agrobiodiversity, because it is the (FAO), and reviewed by Mary Hill Rojas (Consultant); human activity of agriculture that shapes and conserves Yianna Lambrou (FAO); Ilaria Firmian, Maria Hartl, and this biodiversity. Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Erick Fernandes, Robin Mearns, and Daniel Sellen (World Bank). Innovative Activity Profile 2 1. "Global Environment Outlook 4," www.unep.org/geo/ geo4/media. This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Marina Lau- 2. Ibid. dazi (FAO), based largely on project documents, and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa and Mary Hill Rojas (Con- 3. United Nations University, "Experts Advise World Poli- sultants) and Maria Hartl (IFAD). cies to Cope with Causes, Rising Consequences of Creep- ing Desertification," www.inweh.unu.edu/inweh/drylands/ Algiers_news_release-Final.pdf. REFERENCES 4. Ibid. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assess- Overview ment (2005), drylands include all terrestrial regions where the production of crops, forage, wood, and other ecosys- Agarwal, Bina. 2003. "Gender and Land Rights Revisited: tem services is limited by water. Formally, the definition Exploring New Prospects via the State, Family, and Mar- encompasses all lands where the climate is classified as dry ket." Journal of Agrarian Change 3 (1/2): 184­224. 468 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Alston, Margaret. 2006."The Gendered Impact of Drought." UN-Energy. 2007. Sustainable Bioenergy: A Framework for In Rural Gender Relations, ed. B. Bock and S. Shortall, Decision-Makers. New York: United Nations. 165­80. London: CABI. World Bank. 2004. Monitoring and Evaluation: Some Tools, Denton, Fatma. 2002. "Climate Change Vulnerability, Methods, and Approaches. Washington, DC: World Bank. Impacts, and Adaptation: Why Does Gender Matter?" ------. 2005. Agriculture Investment Sourcebook. Washing- Gender and Development Journal 10 (2): 10­20. ton, DC: World Bank. Enarson, Elaine, and Lourdes Meyreles. 2004."International ------. 2007. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture Perspectives on Gender and Disaster: Differences and for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. Possibilities." International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 24 (10/11): 49­63. Thematic Note 1 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2004. The State of Food and Agriculture 2003­2004. Rome: FAO. Armstrong, S. 1993. "The Last Taboo." World AIDS 29: 2. ------. 2005. Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Bragdon, Susan, Cary Fowler, Zenete Franca, and Elizabeth Local Knowledge. Rome: FAO. Goldberg, eds. 2003. Law and Policy of Relevance to the ------. 2007a. "Environment and Agriculture." Committee Management of Plant Genetic Rresources. The Hague: on Agriculture, 20th Session, Rome, April. International Service for National Agricultural Research. ------. 2007b. "Gender-Sensitive Indicators." Draft, FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1996. State of the Rome. World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2007. Rome: FAO. "Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Contribution ------. 2003. HIV/AIDS and Agriculture: Impacts and of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fourth Assessment Responses. Case Studies from Namibia, Uganda and Zam- Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate bia. Rome: FAO. Change." IPCC, Geneva. ------. 2004. "What Is Local Knowledge." Module 1, fact Lambrou, Yianna, and Regina Laub. 2004. Gender Perspec- sheet in Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local tives on the Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change Knowledge. Rome: FAO. Also available at www.fao.org/ and Desertification. Rome: Food and Agriculture sd/links/documents_download/Manual.pdf. Organization. ------. 2005. Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Masika, Rachel. 2002. "Gender and Climate Change." Gen- Local Knowledge. Rome: FAO. der and Development Journal 10 (2): 2­9. ------. 2007a. "Environment and Agriculture." Committee Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA). 2005. Millen- on Agriculture, 20th Session, FAO, Rome, April. nium Ecosystem Assessment. Washington, DC: Island ------. 2007b. "Gender-Sensitive Indicators." Draft, FAO, Press. Also available at www.millenniumassessment. Rome. org/en/index.aspx. ------. 2007c. "Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Prokopy, Linda Stalker. 2004. "Women's Participation in Resources" Draft, FAO, Rome. Rural Water Supply Projects in India: Is It Moving beyond Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/International Tokenism and Does It Matter?" Water Policy 6: 103­16. Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). 1996. "Work- Rocheleau, Dianne. 1996. "Gender and Environment: A ing Group Meeting,"International Plant Genetic Resources Feminist Political Ecology Perspective." In Feminist Polit- Institute, Rome, October 1­4. ical Ecology: Global Issues and Local Experiences, ed. Howard, Patricia. 2003. Women and Plants, Gender Relations Dianne Rocheleau, Barbara Thomas-Slayter, and Esther in Biodiversity Management and Conservation. London: Wangari, 3­23. New York: Routledge. ZED Books. Sachs, Carolyn. 2007. "Going Public: Networking Globally International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). and Locally." Rural Sociology 72 (1): 2­24. 2004. "Enhancing the Role of Indigenous Women in Singh, Nandita. 2006. "Women's Participation in Local Sustainable Development: IFAD Experience with Indige- Water Governance: Understanding Institutional Contra- nous Women in Latin America and Asia." Third Session dictions." Gender Technology and Development 10 (1): of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, IFAD, 61­76. Rome.Also available at www.ifad.org/english/indigenous/ Sultana, Farhana. 2006. "Gendered Waters, Poisoned Wells: pub/documents/indigenouswomenReport.pdf. Political Ecology of the Arsenic Crisis in Bangladesh." In ------. n.d. "Tree Domestic Programs in Africa Help Fam- Fluid Bonds: Views on Gender and Water, ed. Kuntala ilies Out of Poverty." IFAD, Rome. Also available at Lahiri-Dutt, 362­87. Kolkata: STREE. www.ruralpovertyportal.org/. MODULE 10: REFERENCES 469 Lambrou, Yianna, and Regina Laub. 2004. Gender Perspectives Denton, Fatma. 2002. "Climate Change Vulnerability, on the Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Impacts, and Adaptation: Why Does Gender Matter?" Desertification. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization. Gender and Development 10 (2): 10­20. ------. 2006. "Gender, Local Knowledge and Lessons Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005. Building Learnt in Documenting and Conserving Agrobiodiver- on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge. Rome: sity." United Nations University (UNU) Research Paper FAO. No. 2006/69, UNU, Helsinki. ------. 2007. Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture, Lope Alzina, Diana Gabriela. 2007. "Gendered Production Forestry and Fisheries. Perspectives, Framework and Prior- Spaces and Crop Varietal Selection: Case Study in Yucatan, ities. Rome: FAO. Mexico." Journal of Tropical Geogaphy 28 (1): 21­38. Harvey, Fiona. 2007. "UN Climate Panel Detailed Potential Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA). 2005. Millennium for Global Conflict." Financial Times, October 13. Ecosystem Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press. Also Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2001. available at www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index. Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerabil- aspx. ity. Contribution of Working Group II of the IPCC to the Momsen, Janet. 2007. "Gender and Biodiversity: A New Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Approach to Linking Environment and Development." Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Geography Compass 1 (2): 149­62. ------. 2007. Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Con- Randriamaro, Zo. 2006. Gender and Trade. Brighton, U.K.: tribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fourth BRIDGE/Institute of Development Studies. Also available Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli- at www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/CEP-Trade-OR.pdf. mate Change. Geneva: IPCC. Sahai, Suman. 2003. "India's Plant Variety Protection and Kurukulasuriya, Pradeep, and Shane Rosenthal. 2003. "Cli- Farmers' Rights Act." Current Science 84 (3): 407­11. mate Change and Agriculture: A Review of Impacts and Warburton, Hilary, and Adrienne Martin. 1999. "Local Peo- Adaptations." Climate Change Series 91, Agriculture and ple's Knowledge in Natural Resources Research." In Rural Development Department and Environment Socio-Economic Methodologies for Natural Resources Department, World Bank, Washington, DC. Research. Chatham, U.K.: Natural Resources Institute. Lambrou,Yianna, and Grazia Piana. 2006a. Energy and Gen- Also available at www.nri.org/publications/bpg/bpg05. der Issues in Rural Sustainable Development. Rome: Food pdf. and Agriculture Organization. White, Joanna, and Elizabeth Robinson. 2000. HIV/AIDS ------. 2006b. Gender: The Missing Component of the and Rural Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa. Greenwich, Response to Climate Change. Rome: Food and Agriculture England: Natural Resources Institute, University of Organization. Greenwich. Martens, P. 1998. Health and Climate Change: Modeling the Wooten, Stephen. 2003. "Losing Ground: Gender Relations, Impacts of Global Warming and Ozone Depletion. Lon- Commercial Horticulture, and Threats to Local Plant don: Earthscan. Diversity in Rural Mali." In Women and Plants, Gender Masika, Rachel. 2002. "Gender and Climate Change." Gen- Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation, der and Development 10 (2): 2­9. ed. Patricia Howard, 229­42. London: ZED Books. Soussain, J., Ian Burton, and Anne Hammil. 2003. "Liveli- hoods and Climate Change: Combining Disaster Risk Thematic Note 2 Reduction, Natural Resource Management and Climate Change Adaptation in a New Approach to the Reduction Abramovitz, Janet. 2001."Unnatural Disasters."Worldwatch of Vulnerability and Poverty." Winnipeg: International Papers 158, October, Worldwatch Institute, Washington, Institute for Sustainable Development. DC. Wamukonya, Njeri, and Margaret Skutsch. 2001. "Is There a Aguilar, Lorena. 2007. Gender Indicators. Geneva: World Gender Angle to the Climate Change Negotiations?"Paper Conservation Union. prepared for ENERGIA for the Commission on Sustain- Alston, Margaret. 2006."The Gendered Impact of Drought." able Development, Session 9, New York, April 16­27. In Rural Gender Relations, eds. Bettina Bock and Sally Shortall, 165­80. London: CABI. Boyd, Emily. 2002. "The Noel Kempff Project in Bolivia: Thematic Note 3 Gender, Power and Decision-Making in Climate Mitiga- Fargione, Joseph, Jason Hill, David Tilman, Stephen tion." Gender and Development 10 (2): 70­77. Polasky, and Peter Hawthorn. 2008. "Land Clearing and 470 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Biofuel Carbon." Science Express Paper, 319 (5867) Feb- 30­May 11, New York. Available at http://www.un.org/ ruary 7: 1235­38. esa/sustdev/csd/csd15/documents/csd15_bp2.pdf. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/International United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2004. Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)/Interna- Gender and Energy for Sustainable Development: A Toolkit tional Land Coalition. 2003. "Rural Women's Access to and Resource Guide. New York: UN. Land and Property in Selected Countries." FAO Report, ------. 2007. Gender Mainstreaming a Key Driver of Devel- FAO, Rome. Also available at www.fao.org/sd/2003/ opment in Environment and Energy. New York: United PE07033_en.htm. Nations. Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO).2005."Bioenergy-- UN-Energy. 2007. Sustainable Bioenergy: A Framework for Committee on Agriculture," 19th Session, Rome, April. Decision-Makers. New York: United Nations. ------. 2006. Introducing the International Bioenergy Plat- World Health Organization (WHO). 2006. Fuel for Life: form. Rome: FAO. Household Energy and Health. Geneva: WHO. ------. 2007. Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Perspectives, Framework and Prior- Thematic Note 4 ities. Rome: FAO. Abramovitz, Janet. 2001."Unnatural Disasters."Worldwatch Lambrou, Yianna, and Grazia Piana. 2006. Energy and Gen- Papers 158, October, Worldwatch Institute, Washington, der Issues in Rural Sustainable Development. Rome: Food DC. and Agriculture Organization. Aguilar, Lorena. 2008. "Acknowledging the Linkages: Gen- Mearns, Robin. 1995. Institutions and Natural Resource der and Climate Change." Paper presented at Social Management: Access to and Control over Woodfuel in East Dimensions of Climate Change Conference, World Bank, Africa, in People and Environment in Africa, ed. T. Binns. Washington, DC, March 5. New York: John Wiley. Alston, Margaret. 2006."The Gendered Impact of Drought." Rajagopal, Deepak. 2007. Rethinking Current Strategies for In Rural Gender Relations, ed. Bettina Bock and Sally Biofuel Production in India. Paper presented at the Inter- Shortall, 165­80. London: CABI. national Conference "Linkages between Energy and Bari, Farzana. 1998. " Gender, Disaster and Empowerment: Water Management for Agriculture in Developing Coun- A Case Study from Pakistan." In The Gendered Terrain of tries," Hyderabad, India, January 29­30. Disaster: Through Women's Eyes, ed. Elaine Enarson and Rossi, Andrea, and Yianna Lambrou. 2008. Gender and Betty Hearn Morrow, 125­32. Westport, CT: Praeger. Equity Issues in Liquid Biofuels Production: Minimizing Branco, Adelia de Melo. 1995."Organizadas para Sobrevivir: the Risks to Maximize the Opportunities. Rome: Food and El Caso de un Grupo de Mujeres del Sertao de Araripe." Agriculture Organization. In Sociedad y Disastres, vol. 5. Lima: LARED. Sagar, Ambuj, and Sivan Kartha. 2007. "Bioenergy and Sus- Brown, Oli, and Alec Crawford. 2006. "Addressing Land tainable Development?" Annual Review of Environmental Ownership after Natural Disasters: An Agency Survey." Resources 32: 131­67. International Institute for Sustainable Development, Salazar, R. H. 1999."Mujer, medio ambiente: acuerdos inter- Winnipeg, Canada. nacionales." In Género, sustentabilidad y cambio social en Cannon, T. 2002. "Gender and Climate Hazards in el México rural.Verónica Vázquez, ed. Mexico: Colegio de Bangladesh." Gender and Development 10 (2): 45­50. Posgraduados. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).2002."Women's Schirnding, Yasmin von, Nigel Bruce, Kirk Smith, Grant Commission Adopts Agreed Conclusions on Poverty and Ballard-Tremeer, and Majid Ezzati. 2000."Addressing the Natural Disasters." Press release, United Nations,www.un. Impact of Household Energy and Indoor Air Pollution org/News/Press/docs/2002/ WOM1333.doc.htm. on the Health of the Poor: Implications for Policy Action Dufka, Corrine. 1988. "The Mexico City Earthquake Disas- and Intervention Measures." Meeting Report, World ter, Social Casework." Journal of Contemporary Social Health Organization, Geneva. Work 69: 162­70. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Enarson, Elaine, and Lourdes Meyreles. 2004."International (DESA). 2007."Small-Scale Production and Use of Liquid Perspectives on Gender and Disaster: Differences and Biofuels in Sub-Saharan Africa: Perspectives for Sustain- Possibilities." International Journal of Sociology and Social able Development." Prepared by Energy and Transport Policy 24 (10/11): 49­63. Branch Division for Sustainable Development, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Food DESA. Commission on Sustainable Development, Fif- Programme (WFP). 2005. SEAGA for Emergency and teenth Session, Background Paper Number 2, April Rehabilitation Programmes. Rome: FAO. MODULE 10: REFERENCES 471 Fothergill, Alice. 1998. "The Neglect of Gender in Disaster United Nations (UN). 2001. "Environmental Management Work: An Overview of the Literature." In The Gendered and the Mitigation of Natural Disasters: A Gender Per- Terrain of Disaster: Through Women's Eyes, ed. Elaine spective." Document UN/ISDR, EGM/NATDIS/2001/ Enarson and Betty Hearn Morrow, 11­25. Westport, CT: Rep.1, United Nations Division for the Advancement of Praeger. Women, UN, New York. Graham, Angus. 2001. "Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines ------. 2002. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). for Disasters Management Programmes--Principled Report of the 46th Session. E/2002/27, Economic and SEAGA Approach." Document EGM/NATDIS/2001/ Social Council, UN, New York. EP.1, United Nations Division for the Advancement of ------. 2004. Making Risky Environments Safer: Women Women, UN, New York. Building Sustainable and Disaster-Resilient Communities. Harvey, Fiona. 2007. "UN Climate Panel Detailed Potential New York: UN. for Global Conflict." Financial Times, October 13. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2004. Ikeda, Keiko. 1995."Gender Differences in Human Loss and Reducing Disaster Risk. A Challenge for Development. Vulnerability in Natural Disasters: A Case Study from New York: Swift. Bangladesh." Indian Journal of Gender Studies 2 (2): ------. 2007. "Natural Disaster Preparedness and Oppor- 171­93. tunities." Paper prepared for Joint Meeting of the Execu- King, Angela. 2002. Introductory Statement. Commission tive Boards of UNDP/UNFPA, UNICEF, and WFP, Janu- on the Status of Women.46th Session, UN, New York. ary 19 and 22, New York: United Nations. Kumar-Range, S. 2001. "Environmental Management and Vaughan, Megan. 1987. The Story of an African Famine: Gen- Disaster Risk Reduction: A Gender Perspective." Docu- der and Famine in Twentieth Century Malawi. Cam- ment EGM/NATDIS/2001/BP.1, United Nations Division bridge: Cambridge University Press. for the Advancement of Women, UN, New York. Lambrou, Yianna, and Grazia Piana. 2006. Gender: The Thematic Note 5 Missing Component of the Response to Climate Change. Rome: FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). Aswani, Shankar, and Pamela Weiant. 2004."Scientific Eval- Lambrou, Yianna, and Regina Laub. 2004. Gender Perspectives uation in Women's Participatory Management." Human on the Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Organization 63 (3): 301­19. Desertification. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 2007. "What is Masika, Rachel. 2002. "Gender and Climate Change." Gen- Dry and Sub-humid Lands Biodiversity?" Available at der and Development 10 (2): 2­9. http://www.cbd.int/drylands/what.shtml. McNeely, Jeffrey. 2000. "Biodiversity, War, and Tropical Crow, Ben, and Farhana Sultana. 2002. "Gender, Class, and Forests."Paper presented to Conference on War and Trop- Access to Water: Three Cases in a Poor and Crowded ical Forests: New Perspectives on Conservation in Areas of Delta." Society and Natural Resources 15 (8): 709­24. Armed Conflict, Yale School of Forestry and Environ- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2002. Land mental Studies, New Haven, CT, March 30­April 3. Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA). Rome: FAO. Nelson, Valerie, Kate Meadows, Terry Cannon, John Mor- ------. 2003. Gender and Sustainable Development in Dry- ton, and Adrienne Martin. 2002. "Uncertain Predictions, lands: An Analysis of Field Experiences. Rome: FAO. Invisible Impacts, and the Need to Mainstream Gender ------. 2007a. "Gender Mainstreaming in Water Manage- in Climate Change Adaptations." Gender and Develop- ment--A Pocket Guide." Draft, FAO, Rome. ment 10 (2): 51­59. ------. 2007b. "Gender-Sensitive Indicators." Draft, FAO, Sachs, Carolyn. 2007. "Going Public: Networking Globally Rome. and Locally." Rural Sociology 72 (1): 2­24. Gender and Water Alliance. 2003. The Gender and Water Tickell, Crispin. 2001."Risks of Conflict: Resource and Pop- Development Report: Gender Perspectives on Policies in the ulation Pressures." In Environmental Change and Security Water Ssector. The Netherlands: Gender and Water Project Report, Issue No. 7, Woodrow Wilson Interna- Alliance Secretariat. tional Center, Princeton, NJ. Global Environment Facility (GEF). 2003. Operational Pro- Toscani, Letizia. 1998. "Women's Roles in Natural Disaster gramme on Sustainable Land Management. Washington, Preparation and Aid: A Central American View." In The DC: GEF. Gendered Terrain of Disaster: Through Women's Eyes, ed. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Elaine Enarson and Betty Hearn Morrow, 207­12. West- 2006. Gender and Desertification--Expanding Roles for port, CT: Praeger. Women to Restore Drylands. Rome: IFAD. 472 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Izumi, Kaori. 2007. "Gender-Based Violence and Property FURTHER READING Grabbing in Africa: A Denial of Women's Liberty and Overview Security." Gender and Development 15 (1): 11­23. Lambrou, Yianna, and Regina Laub. 2004. Gender Perspec- Alix, Jennifer, Alain De Janvry, and Elisabeth Sadoulet. tives on the Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate 2003."Partial Cooperation Political Economy and Com- Change and Desertification. Rome: Food and Agricul- mon Property Resource Management: The Case of ture Organization. Deforestation in Mexico." University of California, Berkeley. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press. Convention on Biological Diversity: www.cbd.int. Nyssen, Jan, Jean Poesen, Jan Moeyersons, Jozef Deckers, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimina- Mitiku Haile, and Andreas Lang. 2004. "Human Impact tion against Women: www.un.org. on the Environment in the Ethiopian and Eritrean High- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2001. Socio- lands: A State of the Art." Earth Science Reviews 64 (3­4): Economic and Gender Analysis Programme (SEAGA). 273­320. Rome: FAO. Also available at www.fao.org. Ray, Isla. 2007. "Women, Water, and Development." Annual Landell-Mills, N., and I. Porras. 2002. "Silver Bullet or Review of Environmental Resources 32: 421­49. Fools' Gold? A Global Review of Markets for Forest Singh, Nandita. 2006. "Women's Participation in Local Environmental Services and Their Impact on the Poor." Water Governance: Understanding Institutional Contra- International Institute for Environment and Develop- dictions." Gender, Technology and Development 10 (1): ment, London. 61­76. Pagiola, Stefano, Agustin Arcenas, and Gunars Platais. 2005. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification "Can Payments for Environmental Services Help Reduce (UNCCD). 2005. Promotions of Traditional Knowledge. A Poverty? An Exploration of the Issues and the Evidence Compilation of UNCCD Documents and Reports from to Date from Latin America." World Development 33 (2): 1997­2003. Bonn: UNCCD. 237­53. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2005. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification: "Water Governance--The Gender Dimension." Fact www.unccd.int. sheet, UNDP, New York. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: ------. 2007a. Sustainable Land Management: The Why and www.unfccc.int. How of Mainstreaming Gender in Sustainable Land Man- agement. New York: UNDP/GEF. Thematic Note 1 ------. 2007b. Women and Sustainable Land Management. Gender Mainstreaming Guidance Series. New York: Berg, Trygve, Ruth Haug, and Kjersti Larsen. 2000. United Nations. "Research Guidelines: Gender Local Knowledge and Plant White, Joanna, and Elizabeth Robinson. 2000. HIV/AIDS Genetic Resource Management." Oslo: Agricultural Uni- and Rural Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa. Greenwich, versity of Norway. Available at www.fao.org/sd/LINKS/ England: Natural Resources Institute, University of resources/resources.html. Greenwich. Garí, Josep. 2003. "Local Agricultural Knowledge Key to Fighting HIV-AIDS and Food Security." United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs­ Integrated Regional Information Networks, PlusNews, Innovative Activity Profile 1 September. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005. Building on International Development Research Centre (IDRC). 1998. Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge. Rome: Gender and Biodiversity: Research Guidelines. Ottawa: FAO. IDRC. Rocheleau, Dianne. 1996. "Gender and Environment: A International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR). Feminist Political Ecology Perspective." In Feminist Polit- 1996. Recording and Using Indigenous Knowledge: A Man- ical Ecology: Global Issues and Local Experiences, ed. ual. Silang, Philippines: IIRR. Dianne Rocheleau, Barbara Thomas Slayter, and Esther Sachs, C., K. Gajurel, and M. Bianco. 1996. "Gender, Seeds, Wangari, 3­23. New York: Routledge. and Biodiversity." In Women Working in the Environ- Shiva, Vandana. 1996. Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and ment, ed. C. Sachs, 177­92. Washington, DC: Taylor and Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Francis. MODULE 10: FURTHER READING 473 Thematic Note 3 Kumar, Shubh K., and David Hotchkiss. 1998. "Conse- quences of Deforestation for Women's Time Allocation, Lambrou, Yianna, and Grazia Piana. 2006. Gender: The Agricultural Production and Nutrition in Hill Areas of Missing Component of the Response to Climate Change. Nepal." Research Report 69, International Food Policy Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization. Research Institute, Washington, DC. Swedish International Development Cooperation Authority (SIDA).2003."Energy Policy and Equality between Women and Men." Equality Prompt No. 9, SIDA, Stockholm. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2007. Innovative Activity Profile 1 Sustainable Land Management: The Why and How of Lambrou, Yianna, and Regina Laub. 2006. "Gender, Local Mainstreaming Gender in Sustainable Land Management. Knowledge and Lessons Learnt in Documenting and New York: UN. Conserving Agrobiodiversity." Research Paper No. UN-Energy. 2005. The Energy Challenge for Achieving the 2006/69, Helsinki: United Nations University­World MDGs. New York: UN. Institute for Development Economics Research. LinKS training manual: www.fao.org/sd/LINKS/resources/ Thematic Note 4 resources.html. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005. Building on LinKS Web site: www.fao.org/sd/links/gebio.htm. Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge. Rome: FAO. 474 MODULE 10: GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT M O D U L E 1 1 Gender and Crises: Implications for Agriculture Overview his Module examines the nexus between agricul- T at high risk of sexual violence and displacement and of ture and crisis brought on by conflicts and natural shouldering the full burden of productive work. The net disasters from a gender perspective. The focus here impact on agriculture is significant. Studies from the 1990s is on the exceptional circumstances, needs, and opportunities indicate that for every year of conflict, agricultural produc- that arise for women and men in the aftermath of crises. tion can drop by 12.3 percent; in the case of Angola, Although in many instances the impacts of conflicts and nat- between 1975 and 1993 there was a 44.5 percent reduction ural disasters are similar, the underlying conditions and (Zaur 2006). Natural disasters also have a heavy toll. In Asia environment that humanitarian and development actors alone, the 2004 tsunami and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan encounter can be profoundly different as a result of political caused an estimated $1.81 billion in damage to the agricul- and security conditions. In situations involving armed con- tural sector, including livestock, crops, fisheries, and related flict, the politically charged atmosphere affects every aspect infrastructure (Kryspin-Watson, Arkedis, and Zakout 2006). of the economy, including agricultural production. By con- The gender dimensions were most starkly evident in the dis- trast, where natural disasters occur, conditions are not nec- proportionate number of deaths of women as a result of the essarily further exacerbated by military actions or political tsunami in many places. impasse. These differences can have significant effects on the agricultural sector, but the primary goal in all instances AGRICULTURE AND CRISES is to ensure basic food security and the protection or recovery of livelihood strategies. Agriculture and related environmental resources can also be Natural disasters and violent conflict can have severe the source, cause, catalyst, or fuel of crises. The issues are effects on every aspect of agricultural production. When often interrelated, but three dimensions must be considered: conflicts break out, the destruction of fields, roads, and markets through the placing of landmines or use of other Scarcity of resources: Scarcity is caused by population weapons; the looting of food stores and plantations; and the growth such that resources have to be divided between displacement of local populations are often strategies used more people, or it is caused by increased per capita activity, by warring parties. In this context women and men are also resulting in increased demand. The combination can cause targeted deliberately and affected differently. Men are at significant degradation of the needed resources. In Africa higher risk of being killed or imprisoned and either flee to scarcity of land and continued environmental degrada- generate income elsewhere or are forced to fight.Women are tion are the main ecological dimensions associated with 475 several conflicts. In Rwanda land scarcity was politicized But, as the UN Task Force on the "Global Food Security and helped fuel the ethnic tensions that resulted in the 1994 Crisis" states, "the world food situation is rapidly being genocide. In Somalia much of the fighting has concen- redefined.... The recent trend of unprecedented increases trated in the agriculturally rich Jubaland region, where fac- in the price of food and overall import bills for the poor- tions are vying for control.1 The 2007"Sudan Post-Conflict est countries, coupled with diminishing food stocks and Environmental Assessment" by the United Nations Envi- difficulties accessing food by some communities, has cre- ronment Programme (UNEP) points to severe environ- ated a host of humanitarian, socio-economic, develop- mental degradation and its effects on agriculture as causes mental, political and security-related challenges." The of the conflict (box 11.1). main driver of price hikes is the increase in demand, Abundance of resources: If scarcity catalyzes conflict, then notably from China and India, but many other factors the abundance of resources (agricultural, mineral, or have contributed to create the"perfect storm."The United otherwise) can fuel and sustain conflict. The poppy fields Nations points to short-term causes, such as 30-year-low of Afghanistan and coca plantations of Colombia are key levels of wheat stock,combined with medium-term causes, sources of income, fueling the drug trade and guerrilla including climate change and harvest failure due to warfare that plague each country. In Colombia the Revo- extreme weather conditions. These factors are exacerbated lutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) formed in by long-term resource scarcity, including water shortage, the 1960s as a Marxist movement fighting against unequal diminishing land for agriculture, and limited sources of distribution of wealth, land, and power. FARC turned to energy and oil, which affect food supplies and prices. drug trafficking as its main source of income in the Speculative financial activities on the part of hedge funds, 1990s. With other armed groups (right-wing paramilitary including investments in commodity futures, national tax units) and drug traffickers, FARC has militarized the coun- and tariff policies, and lack of investment in agriculture tryside, caused mass displacement of rural populations, development and research are also contributing to the and disrupted agriculture and livelihoods, particularly crisis. The poorest people in the poorest of nations are at among indigenous communities and jungle-based tribes. the frontlines of this crisis. From an international stand- An estimated 1.85 million people have been displaced. The point, this is perhaps the first time in modern history that U.S. government estimates that FARC supplies 50 percent food insecurity and hunger are igniting violent protests of the world's cocaine.2 simultaneously in many parts of the world. As the Task Meeting demand, ensuring supply: The April 2008 food Force states, "This risk is particularly high in countries riots in Egypt, Haiti, and other parts of Africa rang alarm emerging from violent conflict, where fragile security, bells globally. Price hikes in agriculture are not uncommon. political and economic progress is easily derailed."3 Box 11.1 Sudan: Environmental Degradation Causes Conflict The UNEP study "Sudan Post-Conflict Environmental forest cover within the next decade. At the same time, Assessment" notes that deserts have spread southward average annual rainfall in El Fasher in northern Darfur by an estimated 50 to 200 kilometers since the 1930s. has dropped nearly by half since data were first gath- This land degradation is a result of different develop- ered in 1917. Increasing scarcity has also led to rising ments relating in part to Darfur's increased population, tribal antagonism over the last 20 years. These issues, which has grown sixfold over the last four decades to together with increased banditry and political and eco- about 6.5 million. In turn there has been an explosion nomic neglect, catalyzed rebellion in February 2003 of livestock (from 27 million animals to around 135 and have fanned ethnic conflict. Internally displaced million), which has caused overgrazing of the fragile persons and refugees are exacerbating the underlying soils. In addition, a "deforestation crisis" has led to a conditions by cutting down trees, which depletes loss of almost 12 percent of Sudan's forest cover in just underground water supplies and thus adversely affects 15 years, and some areas may lose their remaining local populations. Source: UNEP 2007. 476 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE Structural conditions: The unequal distribution of land after two decades, often confronting their own relatives resources is often rooted in colonial legacies, political in their effort to get it back. struggles, and cultural practices. Tremendous gender An increase in the value of resources, particularly shared inequity may also be embedded in the structural issues. land, can also trigger conflict. Where markets develop and For example, in many instances colonial rulers ignored farmers intensify production or population pressures matrilineal land inheritance practices and excluded increase, the value of resources goes up and competition women from control over property. In modern times may heighten. In some instances existing customary prac- women face legal, political, and cultural barriers to the tices and informal processes of adjudication may quell ten- ownership and control of resources. Structural condi- sions but can also fuel them if the access and rights to property tions result in the concentration of resources in the rights of all stakeholders are not secure. This is pertinent in hands of a few, while a vast population is subject to the aftermath of conflicts or natural disasters in which shortages and scarcity, which can trigger and fuel con- traditional practices and leadership structures may no flict over time. In Burundi, for example, 80 percent of longer exist. the country's foreign exchange comes from coffee pro- Increased demand and production are also leading to duction. Government control over the sector helped the depletion of resources and destruction of ecological finance the conflict against rebels in the 1990s. A gov- systems that have helped prevent or mitigate the impact of ernment monopoly over exports at one end of the natural disasters. Most notably, clear-cut logging and road commodity chain was matched with fixing lower prices building result in a reduction of natural protection against for producers at the other end. This inequity of landslides and soil erosion. Similarly, the destruction of resource distribution contributed to the mounting ten- coastal wetlands not only affects fisheries but also increases sions.4 In Palestine (box 11.2), inequitable access to the risk of flooding. The negative impact can be seen in water has been a contributor to conflict (Homer-Dixon many ways. and Kelly 1995). MULTIDIMENSIONAL ISSUES OF AGRICULTURE After a war or conflict has ended, the return of refugees INTIMES OF CRISIS and internally displaced persons and their claims to land can be a source of increased tension. In Burundi, which covers To address basic survival, food security, and longer-term just 27,830 square kilometers, an estimated 115,000 internally livelihood issues, early recovery strategies must fully inte- displaced persons and 17,000 refugees were waiting to reset- grate agricultural sector issues. The approaches needed vary tle in 2007. In Afghanistan refugees are returning to reclaim considerably, however, depending on the conditions in each Box 11.2 Gaza: Structural Inequity and Access to Water In Gaza, following the signing of the Oslo Peace water that costs $0.34 per cubic meter; Palestinians, Accord in 1993, a study revealed the inequitable access who received no subsidies, could pay up to $1.20 per to water among Palestinians, Jewish settlers, and the cubic meter for water from local Arab authorities. Rel- Israeli population. Beginning in 1967, strict quotas ative to per capita income, Palestinians were thus paying were placed on the Arabs' rights to pump water. Over as much as 20 times the amount Israeli settlers paid the years, quota levels were maintained by banning the for water. Water scarcity also led to increased salinity drilling of new wells or the rehabilitation of old wells, and thus a decline in crop yields for Gaza-based farmers. blocking springs, or uprooting citrus trees. In contrast, Without extensive support to the agricultural sector Israelis had no limits placed on them, which resulted and increased access to water, Palestinian agriculture in waste and overuse. Pricing structures were also dis- went into decline. The consumption restrictions and advantageous to the Palestinians. Settlers received sig- water gap contributed to the friction between the nificant subsidies, paying $0.10 per cubic meter for populations. Source: Homer-Dixon and Kelly 1995. MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE 477 case. Although there are common features to take into These phases should also be considered. account, significant differences also exist: Precrisis: As a drought sets in or conflict escalates, the In any given country, an emergency or conflict can be potential impact on agriculture can be determined. unfolding in one area, while elsewhere in the same coun- Strategies to prevent and mitigate crises have been devel- try the impact may not be as significant. For example, the oped. Good early warning systems together with effective effect of an earthquake decreases farther from the epi- preparedness and emergency measures can considerably center, and the conflict in northern Uganda is less visible lessen the impact of a natural hazard. Often, however, in effect in other parts of the country. where natural disasters hit randomly, no effective warn- An overlapping of events may occur (for example, Aceh ing is given, as in the Asian tsunami of 2004 and the 2003 and Sri Lanka were already struggling with the effects of Bam earthquake in Iran. Similarly, although conflict conflict when the tsunami hit). This has implications for early warning systems exist, the information may not be the type of actions possible (or constraints relating to conveyed effectively to those involved in the agricultural security issues) and opportunities for addressing the sector, and thus the opportunity for preventive measures agricultural sector. or preparedness is limited. Effective communication and Conflict situations increase the flow of arms and emergency preparedness planning to at-risk populations weaponry, thus creating greater insecurity for local pop- are central to the prevention and mitigation of crises. ulations and international actors. During the crisis: Responding during the unfolding of a cri- In many postconflict states, opportunities present them- sis is also challenging. Typically, natural disasters have a selves for redressing structural and legal inequalities that shorter time span than conflicts.Where conflict is the cause have affected portions of the population. For example, of a crisis, the international community may have less land reform may be on the agenda. Legislation to end access to the affected areas. A danger also exists that exter- discrimination based on identity may be addressed. nal assistance and provisions are at risk of being exploited These are key moments for tackling issues of gender dis- by partisans in the conflict and thus inadvertently fueling crimination as well. In the aftermath of disasters, such the violence. Moreover, it may not be economically viable opportunities can also exist, and interventions designed to provide agricultural or related infrastructural support if with prevention in mind can tackle root causes. it is at risk of being targeted during the conflict. Natural disasters can have either quick or slow onsets (such Immediately postcrisis/transition period: International as earthquakes versus droughts), so the opportunities vary assistance and presence increase dramatically in the to prepare for, mitigate, or prevent the onset of a crisis. The immediate aftermath of conflict or natural disaster. The type of identified hazard determines the necessary nature transition period is an important time for identifying and type of intervention.For example,droughts can be pre- and addressing root causes of crises and developing alter- dicted in advance and the effects mitigated to some degree native preventive strategies for agricultural development. at a lesser cost, whereas protection from earthquakes and mudslides is structural and costly, and these events can be These phases are not necessarily chronological or con- less predictable. Nonetheless, emergency and early warning secutive. In other words, even in the midst of a crisis or systems can be established for sudden-onset events. conflict it is necessary to consider means of mitigating and Human-caused and natural emergencies can have both preventing further damage. This can help limit the negative short and protracted effects in terms of displacement, as impact of crisis on a given population. Where protective well as access to and usability of resources. measures can be put in place, local resilience increases, and Response strategies can be significantly affected if conflict recovery processes will also be quicker. In 1999 in Sri and political tensions are at play (for example, humani- Lanka, for example, the International Development Associ- tarian relief in Tamil-controlled areas in Sri Lanka was ation (IDA) developed a community-based program to more challenging than in other areas of the country after rebuild the irrigation systems that had been damaged by the tsunami). the ongoing conflict between the government of Sri Lanka In situations in which humanitarian emergencies are and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam in the agricul- largely the result of conflict or political struggles, the ture-rich North East Province. The IDA project focused on options for effective response can be severely constrained rebuilding roads and irrigation systems. Despite the ongo- and curtailed by political and military leaders. ing conflict, the project ensured food security for 33,250 478 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE people and enabled the cultivation of 212,944 hectares of and participation in agricultural activities. It is important to prewar farmland (World Bank 2007; see also Innovative acknowledge that conflict and crisis tend to push women Activity Profile 1). into the productive sphere (as men migrate or are embroiled Although the postconflict or emergency period is rife with in conflict). This shift can mean prompt empowerment, but difficulties, it is also a time of great opportunity. In Rwanda, it can also result in women becoming overburdened. External for example, after the genocide the national Rwandan interventions can be helpful and harmful. The challenge is Demobilization and Reintegration Commission offered a to understand the context and realities of people's lives so choice of livelihoods to former fighters. Some returned to that the assistance provided is beneficial to men and women. agriculture, and others were given skills training to enter other sectors (UN 2005). Different physical risks and vulnerabilities faced Particularly in postconflict settings, long-standing struc- by women and men tural issues can be addressed. Land tenure, inheritance, and property ownership issues that create significant inequities Natural disasters can be disproportionately deadly for women. and result in long-term food insecurity and livelihood chal- In the Kobe earthquake of 1995, 1.5 times more women died lenges can be redressed. Opportunities also are present for than men, and in the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami, death promoting economic (including agricultural) diversification rates for women across the region averaged three to four to decrease livelihood dependency on land or cash crops. times that of men.5 By contrast, conflicts are more deadly There is also a clear need and opportunity to reach out for men. In Iraq 90 percent of the dead are reportedly men. and draw on the resources and expertise of both the public Following the 1994 Rwandan genocide, 70 percent of the and private sectors. Community-based resources must also surviving population was women. Men, particularly younger be harnessed. The extent of damage requires a full division men, are also more vulnerable to military recruitment and of labor, and the different skills and capacities of women arrest than women in conflict-affected situations. Women and men must be included. (and their dependents) are at greater risk of forced displace- The arrival and presence of external actors, in particular ment and exposure to insecurity in public spaces and camps those providing food aid, can have a tremendous impact on for internally displaced persons and refugees. local producers, men, and increasingly women. Situation Women's exposure to sexual violence escalates during analyses and consultative processes are important not only times of crisis. In conflict situations, rape is increasingly used for minimizing damage but also for understanding how as a weapon of war and ethnic cleansing. In the aftermath of local capacities can be strengthened. natural disasters such as the tsunami, the breakdown of secu- Recovery and reconstruction programs, therefore, should rity and social structures fuels the incidence of rape. Within be seen not only simply for replacing losses but also for 10 days of the tsunami, the United Nations was receiving redressing conditions that in the past heightened vulnerabil- reports of sexual exploitation and rape of women, including ity. These programs provide a chance to make improvements as payment for being pulled out of the ocean (Lalasz 2005). and, in particular, to address the needs of underprivileged Although physiology accounts for some of the differences groups and inequalities, including on the basis of gender, in mortality rates between women and men, other sociocul- that profoundly impact women's and men's access to food tural norms also come into play. A 2005 Oxfam report notes security and livelihoods. that, on average, women and girls did not know how to swim or climb trees as well as their men counterparts; they were not taught these skills and thus were unable to rescue GENDER DIMENSIONS OF AGRICULTURE themselves.6 Women's dress codes can restrict their mobil- DURING CRISES ity. Cultural norms that prevent women from leaving their Women, men, boys, and girls can have profoundly different homes unaccompanied (such as in Afghanistan and rural experiences and face different risks in conflict situations and Bangladesh) increase the risks they face. In many earthquake- natural disasters. These experiences are shaped by and have prone areas, women working in poorly constructed homes a direct effect on their capacity to sustain livelihoods, ensure are at greater risk than men, who may be working outside in food security, and engage in the agricultural sector. In fields or in well-built public buildings. In India men sur- designing interventions, organizations must understand the vived an earthquake by virtue of sleeping on rooftops on social capital (gained and lost) as a result of a crisis and must warm nights. Local culture there forbids such behavior recognize the gender differences in skills, knowledge, access, among women. MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE 479 Barriers to immediate relief women more than men. Women tend to work more out of the home and in the informal sector. The destruction Women's and girls' access to relief can be inadvertently wrought by natural disasters can trigger "decapitaliza- obstructed. In many societies women have subordinate pub- tion" and a reduction in women's share of productive lic positions but still control resources and have power activities, formal or informal. They sustain direct losses through informal networks and social ties. During crises (homes and production) and indirect losses as their and relief efforts, during which the process is heavily domi- share of unpaid emergency domestic tasks rises (for nated by men, women are often systematically excluded. example, care for children who cannot attend school, the Women's marginalization can be compounded by a lack of elderly, and the injured). physical security, increases in their domestic duties that pre- Access to markets: In crises, women's small-scale trading vent their participation in public efforts, and actions by exter- networks can also be damaged, thus reducing a key source nal actors who may unwittingly empower self-designated of income. Conflict situations, however, can limit men's men "leaders" to distribute relief. and open women's access to markets. Men may flee, join There are also gender dimensions to food security and armed groups, face imprisonment, or be killed during nutrition during crises. In many instances in which a food cri- conflicts, which puts women under greater pressure. sis takes place, women and girls reduce their intake in favor of Women take on responsibilities in public spaces, including other household members, particularly men and boys. This in markets, and formal and informal employment.7 But increases incidence of malnutrition among women. However, they are at greater risk than men from physical infra- men are at greater risk during famines because they have a structure or external conditions (such as state of housing higher nutritional requirement. As a result, in many recorded or public safety) and from sociocultural conditions, such famines mortality rates are higher among men than women. as the acceptance of women's entry in public forums and Dangerous security conditions can limit women's mobility labor markets, sectors traditionally occupied by men. and access to humanitarian aid or markets. Pregnant and Many women are forced out of these social spaces when lactating women in particular are at greater risk of malnu- conditions "normalize." trition as a result of their physiological condition and limited Information flows to and about women and men: Women mobility. Households led by men can also be at risk. Often and men access different sources of information. Women's men do not know how to cook or care for younger children, vulnerability is exacerbated by their subordinate position thereby exposing them to increased malnutrition. Similarly, in traditional patriarchal societies and often lack access single men and boys separated from their families are vul- to information that men may have. In Peru fishermen nerable to malnutrition. In camps in southern Kenya, for were warned about El Niño and its negative impact on example, it was noted that the young men received food fishing. Women did not receive this information and rations but did not know how to cook (UN IASC 2006). thus had no chance to plan household budgets or save funds to withstand the crisis. In South Africa women Different structural barriers farmers wanted seasonal climate forecasts to be available In addition to physical and psychological vulnerability, through community-based channels such as schools and women and men can experience different structural barriers not just over the radio. In attempting to balance their that affect their access to and control of assets. This includes domestic, child care, and farming duties, they had no the strength or weakness of institutions (formal and informal) time to listen to the radio. Data and information (includ- and policies to address food security and agricultural needs ing sex-disaggregated data) are critical for ensuring accu- and recognize the differential needs and changed circum- rate assessment. Where formal assessments cannot be stances of women and men. For example, land and property undertaken, informal consultations are still valuable. ownership and inheritance laws that are gender discrimina- tory pose significant risks to women's livelihoods. This is Opportunity in crisis: women's empowerment partly compounded by higher illiteracy rates among women and confidence building in many poor countries. Other barriers include the following: For men, protracted crises, displacement, loss of income, Access to assets: Cultural and legal barriers to accessing and the associated sense of lost status and inability to pro- credit and physical infrastructure (such as transporta- tect their families can be profoundly disempowering. tion) needed for agricultural production can affect Women are often forced into the public sphere. Although 480 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE the burdens of care and responsibility mount, they also gain Although common patterns exist, no one-size-fits-all experiences, exposure, and confidence. Where there is pro- approach can be seized upon. The context is a key determi- tracted conflict and women are either in communities or in nant of the risks and opportunities facing people in crisis- refugee camps, they often develop new skills to sustain liveli- affected areas, a point made clear in the following quotation hoods. By contrast, returning fighters (men or women) may from an International Labour Organization document have little or no skills relating to agriculture or production. (Enarson 2000: vii): In situations in which natural disasters have destroyed their livelihood, men tend to migrate more quickly than While tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and women in search of employment and resources. They are less floods may occur with regularity, their social, political, physically vulnerable and less culturally burdened with child and economic effects are neither inevitable nor "natu- care and other daily domestic responsibilities. Women are ral." People's relative risk of harm is a function of their thus left to carry the family burden alone. Their limited and exposure to hazards (e.g., residing in a seismic zone), localized coping strategies can be critical for their own and their capacity to mitigate the effects of these disasters their family's survival. They also tend to work more commu- (e.g., seismic-zone construction standards, earthquake nally. Ignorance of gender issues can also exacerbate women's preparedness), and their social vulnerability (e.g., lack situation. Gains they may have made as a result of their activ- of income to retrofit housing, restricted social/physical ities and mobilization during the crisis are often lost because mobility). Vulnerability, in turn, has physical and of external interventions. At a minimum, external actions social dimensions, but is . .. a function of relative access must not harm local populations. To ensure this and sustain to, and control over, key survival and recovery positive impacts, therefore, the gender dimensions of poverty resources. Risk is differentially distributed between and insecurity must be understood and addressed (box 11.3). and within societies. The root causes [of] social vul- nerability are deeply embedded, reflecting political choices made in the course of human settlement and Box 11.3 Key Principles for Effective political-economic and social development. ... [D]isas- Intervention ter vulnerability is not synonymous with poverty or social class. Within societies, people's relative ability to Interventions should "do no harm" and should access or control key resources is shaped . .. by age . .. not perpetuate existing harm. Gender analysis physical ability, citizenship status, racial/ethnic . .. cul- helps to understand the different obstacles that tural group, and gender. potential beneficiaries face, their varying capaci- ties to mobilize resources, and their different social and economic responsibilities and skills. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR GENDER- Without this basic understanding, we risk ignor- SENSITIVE AGRICULTURAL PROGRAMMING ing some sectors of the population, which may IN CRISES do damage and fuel the root causes of a crisis. Addressing food security, livelihood, and agricultural devel- Identifying baseline conditions enables the provi- sion of targeted and more effective programming opments in crises requires preparation and programming in to improve livelihoods over the long term. With- phases: precrisis, during the crisis, early recovery, and post- out gender perspectives, existing local capacities crisis/recovery. The early recovery phase overlaps the during- can be squandered. the-crisis and postcrisis/recovery phases (see fig. 11.1). Ending gender-based poverty and food insecurity At each phase the full spectrum of the population and contributes to future, long-term prevention and their differing needs, situations, and conditions should be survival strategies. Integrating gender perspec- considered. This includes the following groups: tives is one means of reducing people's vulnera- bilities and building on their strengths and social Traditional rural communities directly affected by the capital. It can help identify tactics and strategies crisis to increase their ability to prevent and withstand Rural communities indirectly affected the effects of crises. Temporary displaced populations in rural areas Sources: Anderson 1999; Naraghi-Anderlini 2007. Displaced populations in urban areas Urban populations and the related markets. MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE 481 Figure 11.1 Gendered Impacts of External Factors Status of assets and physical Financial, technical, political Infrastructure (related to access institutions and policies/ resources available (new/old) to markets) legislation Precrisis populations Early Postconflict from emergency involved in agricultural During conflict/crisis recovery transition period/early recovery to sectors · Rural populations (men, women, long-term development boys, girls) · Returning IDPs/refugees · Rural populations (women, · Urban population/displaced · Receiving communities men, boys, girls) migrants (m, w, b, g) · Returning ex-fighters and members · Urban populations · Refugees/IDPs in camp settings · New rural settlements (w, m, b, g) (m, w, b, g) · Urban communities/permanent · Local communities adjacent to settlement of migrants camps (m, w, b, g) · Resettlement of migrants to alternative · Refugees/IDPs resettled in new rural communities (not their own) communities (m, w, b, g) Access to information Access to markets Risks and vulnerabilities (new and old) Source: Author. These populations are not static. Over time, as the crisis because single men may not have needed care-giving skills continues or subsides, the makeup of the population also (such as cooking). changes. For example, in the aftermath of crises the follow- The World Bank, like many organizations, has institu- ing are often found: tional policies and commitments to ending discrimination against women, including the realization of the third Mil- Returning internally displaced persons and refugees into lennium Development Goal (MDG) of promoting gender rural and urban settings equality. These policies could and should be used tactically Returning former fighters (opposition or state actors) at the country level to prompt dialogue and ensure the equal New long-term settlements in rural areas and equitable treatment of and attention to women along- Long-term settlers in urban areas. side men. Three approaches to gender mainstreaming can be undertaken to ensure effective outreach and benefit to External factors ranging from access to assets and markets women and men (Greenberg and Zuckerman 2004). These to institutional conditions and policies can help or hinder strategies can be undertaken simultaneously, as part of a people at each stage. Typically, a gender dimension con- menu of options, or consecutively in a program: tributes to the impact of such factors, with women facing greater barriers than men. Targeted projects: Agricultural initiatives can be specifi- cally targeted at either women only or men only to redress inequalities, lack of access or skills, and other INTEGRATING GENDER PERSPECTIVES issues. Even in broader programs women-only or men- Gender differences exist within each subgroup. Widows, only groups are important in order to gather informa- single mothers, and women-headed households typically tion, build confidence, and address gender-specific needs face greater hardships than married women. Dependents before working with mixed groups. (children or the elderly) in men only­headed households Mainstreaming of gender perspectives: In designing also may be more vulnerable than other household members, interventions, planners will find it essential to identify 482 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE and address factors that could obstruct women's and disempowerment and profound socioeconomic change as men's equal access and benefit. This process ensures they struggle to rebuild their lives and provide for their fam- the inclusion of women and men as equal beneficiaries ilies. It is also a time when they garner new respect for so that discrimination is not perpetuated and pro- women. Interventions must seek to reach all those affected gramming is targeted correctly. Mainstreaming and address their needs and sustain and strengthen their includes recognition of the different roles and contri- newfound capacities. butions that women and men can make in communi- The Thematic Notes that follow explore the practical ties and agricultural work. Mainstreaming also relates implications of gender perspectives in precrisis, midcrisis, to external actors. For example, the presence of women and postcrisis settings: staff increases access to women in traditional societies and allows for better understanding of their needs, Thematic Note 1 highlights the nexus between agricultural capacities, and solutions. practices and the relevance of gender to preventive action Transformative programs: These programs are designed and disaster risk reduction. It frames the discussion around to transform or recalibrate gender relations by tackling the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 the underlying structural causes and effects of inequality (2000), specifically the demand for increasing women's and food insecurity. For example, initiatives to change participation in conflict prevention, and the Hyogo Frame- inheritance laws and practices (at the community level) work's five priorities regarding risk reduction, notably, can significantly alter the status and access of women to (1) governance, organizational, legal, and policy frame- assets, particularly land. works; (2) risk identification, assessment, monitoring, and early warning; (3) knowledge management and education; The challenges for agricultural interventions in crisis sit- (4) the reduction of underlying risk factors; and (5) pre- uations include the following: paredness for effective response and recovery. Thematic Note 2 examines the links between food, agri- Reducing the vulnerabilities and risks to livelihood faced cultural aid, and development during crises. It identifies by women and men the gender dimensions and highlights effective means of Strengthening existing capacities and social capital (and balancing this aid so that the specific needs of women ensuring that interventions do not squander or crush and men in local communities are addressed and they these resources) benefit equitably. Ensuring sustainable, long-term, equal access to oppor- Thematic Note 3 focuses on critical land issues, including tunities, including to assets and resources and to infor- tenure and inheritance rights, education, information, mation and markets and outreach issues in the postcrisis setting from a gen- Helping redress structural factors to reduce vulnerability dered perspective. It highlights critical issues and lessons in the future. drawn from current and past crises. Crises and conflicts not only affect women and men dif- Table 11.1 provides ideas for the monitoring of gender ferently but also have a profound impact on gender roles issues in crisis situations (although obviously the nature of the and relations. For women, the heightened physical vulnera- crisis may require very environment-specific monitoring). bility comes with exposure to public space and use of their Depending on the country or region, considering ethnic- survival strategies. They are often exposed to new skills and, ity and caste alongside gender (both as comparative indica- although overly burdened with the trauma of displacement, tors and when collecting data) may also be relevant, because also gain new confidence in their own abilities to cope and women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usually in care for their dependents. For men, it can be a period of the most disadvantaged situation. MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE 483 Table 11.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Crisis and Agriculture Indicator Sources of verification and tools Number of deaths, disaggregated by gender, age, location · Government records Percentage of women and men receiving weather information-- · Focus groups regular bulletins or extreme weather warnings--in accordance · Household surveys with their area of work or location · Media · National-level NGOs, particularly women's groups · Networks of health workers, community organizers, and human rights defenders Percentage of women and men members of community-based · Community meeting minutes disaster preparedness committees · Women's community-based groups and NGOs Balanced level of participation of women and men in decision · Community meeting minutes making (at the local and national levels) Number of men, women, and ethnic minorities who receive · Agricultural extension records extension advice per month · Training records Percentage of women and men actively participating as members of · Committee meeting minutes postdisaster reconstruction committees · Interviews with stakeholders Number and percentage of women and men receiving gender- · Training records specific disaster training Sex-disaggregated assessment of impact of disasters on men and · Project monitoring women, girls and boys · Refugee camp management records Percentage of women and men receiving land, emergency rations, · Agricultural extension records replacement stock, seed, or loans · Refugee camp management records · Regional land department records Satisfaction levels of women and men with postemergency · Focus groups management and reconstruction · Interviews with stakeholders Number and percentage of women reporting violence per month · Interviews with community leadership (such as threats, beatings, and rape) · Interviews with stakeholders · Police records · Refugee camp management records Percentage of women and men with access to insurance packages · Household surveys Changes at start and end of emergency support in household · Household surveys, before and after nutrition, health, education, vulnerability to violence, and · Project management information system happiness, disaggregated by gender · School records Source: Authors, with input from Pamela White, Module 16 author. 484 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Risk Management and Preventive Action I n agriculture, as in other sectors, preventing natural dis- in their own local communities" (www.unisdr.org). The asters and conflict-induced crises is better than needing resulting 2005­15 Hyogo Framework for Action identifies to cure them. This principle is easily grasped, but the five key areas requiring attention to prompt the shift toward practice has been harder to undertake because there is still a proactive preventive actions: tendency to address crises through an after-the-fact human- itarian response. Prevention and risk-management strategies Governance: organizational, legal, and policy frameworks are still evolving. The challenge to development actors, Risk identification, assessment, monitoring, and early including those working in agriculture, is to implement pro- warning grams that not only provide the stated benefits of improving Knowledge management and education livelihood and food security but also can help prevent or Reducing underlying risk factors mitigate the effects of crises in the lives of women and men. Preparedness for effective response and recovery. This entails recognizing the following points: These issues are also related to the climate change debate. Development can exacerbate conflicts and natural disas- Many now contend that global warming cannot be pre- ters. Therefore, existing practices must be reassessed to vented in the short term, and so responses to the effects of ensure that they do not inadvertently expose people to climate change (including increased risks of natural disas- greater risk, diminish their coping capacities, or exacer- ters, such as flooding and drought) must be integrated into bate the impact of natural disasters and conflict. risk reduction and coping strategies. Disasters can be highly detrimental to developmental Similar issues have been identified in the field of conflict gains, and the impact of disasters can vary significantly prevention. Conflict early warning and response systems between women and men. have evolved over the last 15 years, with an emerging dis- A shift toward a culture of prevention and crisis-sensitive course on gendered indicators and differential information development programming may and often does require a that women and men may possess. Frameworks for conflict- change in the way work is done, a deep understanding of sensitive analysis and programming exist. Preliminary steps local culture and practices, and the inclusion of all sec- toward proactive prevention have been initiated by the UN tors of society. Women and men have different capacities system in West Africa and Central America, where they have and strengths that should be drawn upon in making the worked with women's groups. Because conflict is political, shift toward prevention. however, questions of state sovereignty continue to hamper external interventions aimed at conflict prevention and transformation. In the 1990s the "Responsibility to Protect" PROACTIVE PREVENTION (R2P) principle emerged out of the discourse on addressing In 2005 governments participating in the World Conference the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Part of the on Disaster Reduction in Hyogo, Japan, recognized the approach was to point out that states not only have rights "importance of disaster risk reduction being underpinned but also have a responsibility to provide protection and by a more pro-active approach to informing, motivating security for their citizens. When such responsibility is abro- and involving people in all aspects of disaster risk reduction gated, according to the R2P advocates, the international 485 community has a right to intervene to minimize the loss of greater risk than men. However, women are not passive life and insecurity. actors. They are often proactive in their efforts to minimize Despite the conceptual advances, the practice of conflict risks and adapt to evolving conditions. prevention is still limited, especially in states in which vio- To be effective, state or multilateral initiatives must lence is impending. It has gained credence in postconflict acknowledge and draw upon this duality of experience-- situations in which the risk of resurgence (and the memory vulnerability and ability to adapt--to guide and develop the of violence) exists, and thus the desire for and commitment to policy frameworks and macrolevel initiatives that they estab- preventive initiatives and peace building are stronger. In 2000 lish. Drawing on research conducted among village women in the UN Security Council passed resolution 1325 on women, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, a 2007 ActionAid report offers peace, and security, a key development in the realm of con- a set of policy recommendations with a view to mitigating the flict prevention and peace building. It was the first major risks faced by communities, as well as means of assisting com- international legislative document calling on states, multi- munities in adapting to the heightened risk and prevalence of lateral organizations, and nonstate actors to ensure the par- natural disasters arising from climate change (Mitchell, ticipation and contributions of women in conflict preven- Tanner, and Lussier 2007). They include the following: tion and to address women's protection needs during conflict and in the recovery processes. 1. At the bilateral or multilateral level, ensuring that This Thematic Note highlights the nexus between agri- adaptation funds under the UN Framework Convention cultural practices and the relevance of gender to preventive on Climate Change have clear guidance and targeted action and disaster risk reduction. It frames the discussion measures for the inclusion of women in adaptation around the provisions of resolution 1325, specifically the assistance projects and as beneficiaries. For mechanisms demand for increasing women's participation in conflict that are not directly operational, gender and poverty prevention, and the Hyogo Framework's five priorities must be included as central guidance measures for regarding risk reduction. negotiators. Recipient countries must have gender- sensitive approaches in place and measurable outcomes PRIORITY 1. GOVERNANCE: ORGANIZATIONAL, specifically regarding the impact and inclusion of women LEGAL,AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS as beneficiaries. 2. At the state level, policies and mechanisms relating to Generating a culture of prevention is perhaps the most adaptation must ensure the following: important and challenging issue. This involves raising Women's full participation in adaptation financing awareness, building political will, and leadership. It further discussions and decisions requires effective legislation, the establishment of an overar- That women's needs are considered and addressed in ching national framework, and effective multilateral livelihood adaptation programming approaches, including mechanisms that do the following: That regressive sociocultural practices do not hinder Link national to local actors. women's capacity to adapt Ensure inclusion of the different needs and capacities of That the most vulnerable sectors are provided with different stakeholders in overall assessments and analyti- insurance packages to prevent complete devastation. cal frameworks. The Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in Enable coordination between sectors. India has initiated such a program (box 11.4). Integrate risk reduction and conflict sensitivity into 3. Legislative guarantees are needed that promote and ongoing development policies and programs. protect women's equal rights to the following: Prompt the development and implementation of strict Relevant knowledge and information compliance and regulation standards for infrastructural Land and property ownership: laws that mandate joint work. titling of land and property can help reduce women's vulnerability and risk of losing property or being evicted Conflict and natural disasters affect societies in different in the aftermath of disaster or conflict ways. Typically, those who are most vulnerable under "nor- Equal participation in decision making (at the local mal" conditions are most affected when a crisis hits. Given and national levels) that women represent 70 percent of the world's poor and Access services such as agricultural extension and their unequal social status in most societies, they are often at veterinarians. 486 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE Box 11.4 India: Insurance for Low-Income Box 11.5 India: Including Grassroots Women in Workers Disaster Recovery SEWA represents low-income women workers in Following the 2004 tsunami, Caritas India's Relief India's vast informal sector. Under a basic program and Reconstruction Programme aimed at assisting that asks for a fixed deposit of $22 and an annual the marginalized communities and vulnerable premium of $1.85, its members can secure insur- sectors of the population. The program shifted ance against hospitalization (up to $43), house and priorities following the intervention and inclusion asset insurance (up to $110), and insurance against of grassroots women in the decision making. The accidental death ($870). Higher-priced schemes women prioritized the reconstruction of shelter and providing more protection also are available. Over housing and the establishment of a community- a 10-year period, 2,000 women received benefits based disaster preparedness (CBDP) initiative with amounting to $327,400. some capacity building. Women's committees were formed to monitor the CBPD and shelter program. Source: UN ISDR, review of the relevance of eight The CBPD enhanced the knowledge of local MDGs to disaster risk reduction and vice versa, quoting actors--women, men, and children--in responding SEWA, Jivika: Livelihood Security Project for Earth- to crises. Each community devised and imple- quake Affected Rural Households in Gujarat, mented its own local solutions to crises. These www.sewa.org and www.sewainsurance.org. solutions include organizing a village emergency fund (composed of handfuls of rice and kitchen utensils) for flood-affected families, forming self- 4. Coordination mechanisms are needed to link national help groups and community task forces trained in firefighting, converting and controlling waste to and local actors and empower grassroots communities in rid villages of disease-carrying mosquitoes, and disaster mitigation. Experiences from Latin America and providing housing to widows and orphans and Asia illustrate the positive impact of women's participa- other vulnerable community members. tion on the community's well-being. The initiatives (box 11.5) have reduced communities' dependence on exter- Source: UN ISDR 2007. nal interventions while strengthening rapport and ties and transforming attitudes toward women and other marginalized groups. reduction is not yet being effectively mainstreamed into development initiatives. The issues are further complicated by the range and vari- PRIORITY 2. RISK IDENTIFICATION,ASSESSMENT ability of risks that need to be considered. In Afghanistan, for MONITORING, AND EARLY WARNING instance, schools and clinics were built with light, flexible Risk identification, monitoring, assessments, and early roofing to meet seismic standards as part of a $73 million warning systems are among the range of tools being program, but the roofs could not withstand the heavy snow- developed and used to inform policies and programs falls that are common in the region. In the winter many focusing on risk reduction. Numerous obstacles remain to children were left without a school (Kryspin-Watson, be overcome, however, including the need to shift institu- Arkedis, and Zakout 2006). tional practices and business-as-usual approaches in In principle, gender perspectives should already be fully development practice. Assessments and analytical frame- integrated into development planning. In reality, confusion works often highlight gaps in existing practice and require and lack of understanding and awareness of gender differ- significant changes in the formulation of projects and ences have meant that gender perspectives remain marginal. programs. But bureaucratic inertia and lack of familiarity Often practitioners are unaware of the value that gender with new initiatives can hinder the full integration of risk perspectives can bring to their work and how it can enhance reduction and conflict sensitivity into program planning. the impact of their initiatives. If baseline assessments overlook Consequently, one-time projects are often initiated along- the different needs and contributions of women and men, side existing programs, but this can result in no signifi- programs can be poorly targeted. Existing social capital can be cant change in practice. In other words, conflict and risk overlooked, and negative consequences may be present. THEMATIC NOTE 1: RISK MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTIVE ACTION 487 For example, with regard to early warning about envi- and undervalued. Women are still poorly represented in ronmental change in Peru, women in fishing communities planning and decision-making processes in disaster complained that state officials informed the men of an mitigation and protection planning" (Seager and impending El Niño (and its negative effect on fish stock), Hartmann 2005: 30). but women, who were responsible for household resources, were not informed. Similarly, in 1991 in Bangladesh, warn- A shift in practice requires a preliminary attitudinal shift ings about an impending cyclone were posted in public among analysts and practitioners. As long as gender analy- places. But because women were more restricted than men sis is perceived as a burden and a nonessential issue, it will in their movements, many were not aware of the risks. This not be fully integrated into assessments or early warning contributed to the disproportionate rate of death among systems. Yet, given the differential roles, experience, knowl- women versus men (71 per 1,000 versus 15 per 1,000) (Sea- edge, commitment, and capacities of women and men, it is ger and Hartmann 2005). clearly a fundamental aspect of risk reduction. Various frameworks and initiatives do exist. The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Socio-Economic and PRIORITY 3. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Gender Analysis Programme provides extensive resources AND EDUCATION illustrating the relevance and means of integrating gender analysis to macro-, meso-, and microlevel agricultural The Hyogo Framework also calls on states to "ensure equal programs. The World Bank and the United Nations Devel- access to appropriate training and educational opportuni- opment Programme have taken preliminary steps toward ties for women and vulnerable constituencies; promote gen- integrating gender perspectives and indicators into their der and cultural sensitivity training as integral components conflict and development analysis frameworks. Oxfam and of education and training for disaster risk reduction" other international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) (www.unisdr.org). have developed tools and guidelines. In Nepal the NGO Knowledge management, like early warning, must be a Center for Population and Development Action provided two-way system. On the one hand, national or international basic training in gender and social inclusion to government policies, practices, and strategies must be made available to ministries as part of the peace-building process as a means of local communities so that they benefit from the progress being building state capacities to assess and integrate the differential made, lessons being learned, and information being acquired. needs of women and men in all sectors, notably agriculture, On the other hand, at the local level, people (women, men, where women represent the majority of workers.1 boys,and girls) have access to information and knowledge that Still, much of the existing information is not entering are often needed to develop national responses and preventive mainstream frameworks. This is reflected in a 2005 UNEP strategies. Depending on their function in the household or Division for Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) report community and their familiarity with their local environment, "Mainstreaming Gender in Environmental Assessment and they may be the first to notice changes that are indicative of a Early Warning" (Seager and Hartmann 2005). The authors larger phenomenon. They may also be the first responders to conclude that "neither DEWA nor UNEP has been proactive famine or other crises. in bringing gender analysis to its work". In highlighting the In rural Ethiopia, for example, FAO documents the use challenges, they also point to the following: of wild-food and famine-food plants that are typically col- lected by children and women. When food shortages arise, A lack of research directed at the early warning, environ- "able-bodied men migrate to find work. . . . Women and ment, and gender nexus children are left behind to manage as best they can" (FAO The importance but lack of sex-disaggregated data rele- 2005: 1). Often women have better knowledge of local wild vant to early warning climate assessment fruits and plants, their nutritional and curative values, and The inherent problem of using an aggregated"household means of improving them. National strategies must incor- unit" as the level of analysis, which obscures the gender porate methods of accessing specialized knowledge in a differences (sometimes profound) that exist within timely manner and ensuring that the stakeholders, particu- households larly women, are included in the development of all aspects The fact that "the field of disaster management is highly of risk-reduction strategies. [men dominated] which typically results in the actions and In many societies women and men access information knowledge of women being marginalized, unrecognized through different channels. In rural communities women 488 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE and men often work in separate spaces and sectors; thus, in material. It also targeted younger community members, the event of a natural disaster, it is essential that they are the future guardians of the land and environment, in an equally informed about risk-reduction strategies and that effort to educate them about resources and engage them in the information given to them is tailored to their environ- material development. ment. For example, if men engage in fishing and water-related The social roles and responsibilities ascribed to men and activities, they need to know how best to survive potential women in each cultural context can and often do determine earthquakes and tidal waves. For women, on the other hand, the education they have, the information they can access, if they tend to work inside homes or in fields, the risks they and the limits they face in sharing their knowledge. Yet, as face (such as a roof collapsing) and related survival strategies indicated above, ensuring the full inclusion of women and may be different. men in risk-reduction strategies is integral to the success of They also need to be educated regarding the preparation such efforts. Women need to be included because they have of emergency kits or materials to take with them in the different information and skill sets that can help reduce vul- event of a natural disaster or conflict.2 Information and nerability. They need to be included because crises often education regarding the maintenance of livestock and pro- force them to cope with the consequences alone. They need duce are another gender issue. In Nepal women expressed to know because they, more than any external entity, are interest in the importance of skills training and exposure vis- committed to ensuring food security and sustainable liveli- its that could help them diversify their income-generation hoods for their families and dependents in the long run. pool. Where monsoon crops are at risk of flooding, for example, they mentioned goat and poultry rearing as alter- PRIORITY 4. REDUCING UNDERLYING native activities (Mitchell, Tanner, and Lussier 2007). RISK FACTORS In some instances, culture and traditional practices can appear to be obstacles to the sharing of knowledge and can Reducing the underlying risk factors as much as possible is contribute to the subservience of women. However, cultural fundamental to prevention. In conflict prevention new practices are not static, and sensitive interventions can yield initiatives that integrate peace building into development results.A 2004 study in India revealed that women performed programming are emerging. This includes training commu- 50 to 90 percent of all day-to-day care and management nity members in conflict resolution and mediation skills to activities of domestic livestock and poultry (Ramdas and enable more effective negotiations when tensions arise. In others 2004). Yet women were denied access to specialized Cambodia, for example, village women are known as the knowledge relating to the healing of animals because for "backbone of the forestry network" and are a strong pres- generations this knowledge was transferred from father to ence in the environmental movement. In 2002 they led son. However, when traditional healers were told of the roles demonstrations against major logging interests and the and responsibilities of women, they took a pragmatic abuse of people's land rights. Trained in nonviolent action approach, agreeing that it was important to share the infor- and mediation skills, they often intervene within and on mation with women as well. behalf of communities to dispel tensions (McGrew, Frieson, Another critical aspect of knowledge and information and Chan 2004). sharing is the integration of resource management into edu- The international debate over natural disasters and climate cation curricula. Gender issues and the particular roles of change has evolved in recent years, with many experts assert- women and men in communities can be a tremendous asset. ing that efforts to curb global warming or reduce greenhouse This was exemplified in northeastern Brazil as part of a emissions are not enough to protect the most vulnerable pop- groundwater management project in 2003. The project's ulations in the near term. Measures to adapt to climate goal was to empower women, men, and children in sustain- change and reduce the risks of crises must be put in place. able and collective management of scarce water resources, as Typically such efforts are highly localized, and to be effective a means of reducing drought risk. The program integrated they must be tailored not only to the local environment but gender perspectives by acknowledging the different and also to the sociocultural context. Once again, gender comes important roles of women and men in water use and man- into play, as women and men use and manage different agement. For example, it brought farmers (mainly men) resources and have differing roles depending on the context together with teachers and health workers (mainly women) and immense potential for contributing to risk reduction. for capacity-building workshops, training and information In Bangladesh, for example, women use a variety of exchange, and the collective development of educational strategies to withstand the impact of flooding. They take THEMATIC NOTE 1: RISK MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTIVE ACTION 489 livestock to higher ground, store seeds in higher places, seek they help to limit the damage done. Nonetheless, the loss of refuge with relatives, or raise the levels of their homes using life and destruction of property and livelihoods can be a plinth. To reduce losses from rotting crops, some have devastating with long-term effects. Gender issues are again changed to crops that can be harvested before the flood sea- central to recovery strategies as women's and men's survival son. Evidence of diversification is also seen. Recognizing the strategies and needs often vary. The UN Inter-Agency effect of the floods, women have switched to running fisheries Standing Committee (IASC) produced a gender handbook alongside their vegetable farms. The women are frequently for humanitarian action (2006) that provides a comprehen- alone, because their husbands migrate to find work, and so sive and practical approach to the integration of gender they need (and many are demanding) skills training to enable perspectives in all emergency response processes. The hand- a scaling up of their ventures and more effective access to book notes the following three basic steps: markets (Mitchell, Tanner, and Lussier 2007). In Nepal women are also developing asset-sharing strate- Ask the difference between women's and men's experiences. gies, including group saving programs and self-help groups Undertake participatory assessments including women, to avoid private lenders and high interest rates. Many have men, boys, and girls together and separately. also expressed interest in adopting labor-reducing tech- Use the information to guide programming. nologies, multicropping strategies, and adopting more- marketable, drought-resistant crops, but typically women A critical first step toward effective response is knowing lack access to the necessary financial and technical resources the demographics and profile of the target population and (Mitchell, Tanner, and Lussier 2007). determining its specific needs and capacities. The collection In El Salvador, as well, there are community-based initia- of sex-disaggregated data is essential, as is analysis of the tives. During the rainy season, landslides are a regular occur- data to understand the implications. Where this is not done, rence, creating environmental hazards for the communities the potential exists for compounding the existing vulnera- of Lake Coatepeque. Throughout a series of community bility of sectors of the population, particularly women. meetings conducted in 2007, community members identi- Understanding the division of labor and coping strategies fied measures to prepare for natural disasters, including of women and men is also important to effective recovery. In planting fruit trees and shrubs that require little water but Sierra Leone, for example, a World Bank study noted that can mitigate the effects of landslides, developing emergency agricultural rehabilitation was hindered by the fact that evacuation plans and training women (who are more likely seeds were distributed to households, and the household to be at home) to prepare basic necessities, making retention heads, who were typically men, were the source of informa- walls using chicken wire, and engaging church and commu- tion on what resources were needed. Yet women and men in nity leaders to encourage people's participation in disaster Sierra Leone farm different crops and thus require different preparedness and planning (Morehead 2007). sets of tools and seeds (UN IASC 2006). Care International Men and women living with the threat of crisis are com- adopted an alternative approach of distributing seeds to all mitted to reducing risks wherever possible. They devise adults. In this way women obtained groundnut seeds (a their own strategies but can benefit significantly from exter- crop typically planted by women), and this contributed to nal guidance and support. Because of women's traditional their income generation and empowerment alongside men. absence from public spaces, and particularly from decision Care's approach was effectively gender mainstreaming with making, women's initiatives are often less formal and less the benefit of empowering women as part of the process. visible but are essential and effective nonetheless. Acknowl- The IASC handbook provides a series of checklists and edging women's roles and engaging with them is an essen- guidelines for a full range of issues (registration, shelter, tial aspect of any external intervention. No risk-reduction provision of food and nonfood items, support to liveli- initiative can afford to overlook the capacity and needs of 50 hoods, and health care). Its key message is that interventions percent of the population. should identify beneficiaries, work with them collabora- tively, and adapt programming as needed. The framework for gender-sensitive emergency response and early recovery PRIORITY 5. PREPARING FOR EFFECTIVE programming is summed up by the acronyms ADAPT and RESPONSE AND RECOVERY ACT collectively (box 11.6). The steps noted in the preceding sections contribute Over the last decade, reams of documents, policies, resolu- immensely toward effective response and early recovery, as tions, and reports have been produced by states, multilateral 490 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE organizations, and NGOs addressing the relevance of gender Box 11.6 IASC Framework for Emergency perspective to development, agriculture, conflict prevention, Response and disaster mitigation. Nonetheless, gender analysis is still an add-on or afterthought in the daily business of risk identifi- ADAPT and ACT collectively: cation, assessments, warnings, and program implementation. Analyze gender differences Misconceptions about gender issues and confusion among Design services to meet needs of all agency personnel (across many entities on the international Access women, men, boys, and girls and national levels) are compounded by limited data and Participate equally analysis. Despite the evidence of their effectiveness, gender- Train women and men equally equitable approaches are not being embraced and imple- and mented often enough. As a result, the practices are ad hoc, Address gender-based violence in sectoral programs documentation is weak, and people remain vulnerable and Collect, analyze, and report sex- and age- excluded. Risk reduction and conflict sensitivity are increas- disaggregated data ingly being recognized as necessary ingredients for sustain- Target actions based on analysis able development. If gender sensitivity is not acknowledged Coordinate actions with all partners and prioritized in the same way and across the five priority Source: UN IASC 2006. areas of the Hyogo Framework, the chances of effective action are diminished. THEMATIC NOTE 1: RISK MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTIVE ACTION 491 T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 From Relief to Recovery and Self-Reliance:The Relationship between Food Aid and Agriculture in Complex Emergencies W hen disaster strikes or conflict erupts, emer- government, or from government to NGOs--is generally gency food aid becomes a critical component monetized to provide resources for development activities. of international aid. It saves lives and is gener- The monetization process--timing and choice of market-- ally recognized as being effective in containing the extent of can have negative impacts on local markets.Food aid delivered suffering and damage caused by crises, but it is not a neutral to multilateral agencies such as the WFP is generally not mon- entity. Conventional wisdom suggests that food aid is detri- etized and is used in targeted project interventions resulting in mental to agricultural development and creates a culture of a far lower likelihood of negative impacts. dependency and even exacerbates conflict. Yet when crises In some instances, particularly where the food aid is sig- disrupt agricultural production and distribution, displace nificant, the positive economic impact can include indirect populations, and render land unusable, food aid is of critical effects of growth in consumer demand for food and local importance in the short term. The question, however, is products. Although studies on the long-term impact of when and how agricultural assistance should be provided. food aid are relatively new, the OECD quotes a 2004 report How can it be provided given physical insecurity and poten- on sub-Saharan Africa that concludes "large-scale food aid tial for violence in many of the places where humanitarian operations to meet short-term deficits in drought affected emergencies persist? countries in sub-Saharan Africa in the early 1980s and early This Thematic Note examines the links between food, 1990s were important in preventing destabilizing effects of agricultural aid, and development during crises. It high- covariant shocks on largely agricultural economies" lights effective means of balancing this aid so that local (OECD 2006: 31). These positive effects are nonetheless communities benefit most. It also identifies the gender contrasted against negative consequences, including dimensions of this work. The Note draws on key findings the following: emerging from recent studies undertaken by the Organiza- tion for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), The scramble to provide emergency relief often results the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Kingdom's in funds being diverted away from long-term projects Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Oxfam, the Food designed to bolster self-reliance and recovery. Accord- and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and others. ing to Oxfam, for example, in May 2006, a month after its launch, the UN's Consolidated Appeal for Somalia was just over one-quarter funded (27 percent). The EMERGENCY FOOD AID, SHOCKS AND CRISES majority was directed at immediate relief. In the same Although it is commonly believed that local agriculture is year, the appeal for Ethiopia had generated 78 percent damaged by the arrival of food aid and relief, according to of its funding requirement for food and 64 percent the OECD, in natural disaster situations, the impact on needed for water and sanitation, but projects aimed at agricultural development--"either direct disincentive longer-term solutions had received just 1 percent of the impacts on markets and production or indirect effects requested funds.1 through policy"--varies (OECD 2006: 33). One factor that Late-arriving, inflexible relief that does not allow a determines the likelihood of negative impacts is the type of switch from imports to local purchases hampers the food aid given. Bilateral food aid--from governments to recovery of local economies affected by natural disaster. 492 It can also contribute to changes in consumer preferences conflicts that emerged in the 1990s. With the end of the Cold and increased demand for imported foods. War, humanitarian agencies were able to expand relief oper- The restricted basket of commodities available as emer- ations into war zones and areas controlled by insurgents, but gency aid creates difficulties in providing socially and the assistance provided was exploited by warring factions. In nutritionally appropriate rations. some instances the food and clothes designed to reach the Preexisting development-oriented food aid programs can most vulnerable populations became a source of competi- be helpful in times of crisis because the aid can be delivered tion between factions. In the Democratic Republic of Congo more rapidly. The effect should not be overstated, however, following the Rwandan genocide, international aid literally because there can be significant targeting problems result- fed the perpetrators and enabled them to continue the spo- ing from the inflexibility of geographical coverage and radic cross-border violence and fueled ongoing conflict in beneficiary selection at a household level. Typically the neighboring Burundi (Barber 1997). Conflicts in Liberia and poorest and most vulnerable can be left out, particularly Sierra Leone were among cases in which civilian populations women and children. Some food aid implementers have were seen to be deliberately targeted as a means of creating explicit requirements, such as targeting women as recipi- displacement and ensuring an influx of international aid that ents of food aid and seeking 50 percent representation of was then used to fuel the violence. women in local food aid committees. Thus, on average, internationally procured food aid is Political sensitivities can be exacerbated. For example, seen as a second best option for responding to emergency U.S.-sourced genetically modified maize in southern situations. Where markets function and effective trade links Africa in 2002 caused controversy and highlighted the exist, the OECD suggests that "financing of public imports political sensitivities in recipient countries--even in through the commercial sector, and allowing the private crisis--that can disrupt distribution plans and raise costs sector to respond to rapidly changing market conditions" is because of donor inflexibility on sourcing. more effective (OECD 2006: 32). The WFP procures its food A culture of dependency can arise with no space or aid locally where donor resources provide flexibility and opportunity to nurture self-reliance. local markets can support the demand without causing Although "vulnerable" groups may be targeted as recipi- price rises, which would affect non-food-aid recipients. In ents, at times less attention and fewer resources are directed some cases, for example, the WFP procures food and grains to addressing the causes of vulnerability or diversifying the locally, even though some stocks have been imported com- agricultural sector or livelihoods to enable communities to mercially. The international response, says the OECD, withstand crises in the long term. The WFP and others do "should be sensitive to the specifics of the options that are engage in a variety of development-oriented programs, practically available, the social and economic environment including watershed management. and governance in the affected country. For example, in Governments that are reliant on revenue generated the 1991­93 drought crises in Southern Africa large-scale through bilateral food aid programming and sales may commercial imports were organized and arrived more have no incentive to support long-term programs that quickly than food aid and so played the key role in avert- bolster domestic food production. ing a regional crisis.Allowing the private sector to respond Local procurement of food aid, as increasingly done by to rapidly changing market conditions through commer- WFP, can foster market development. A risk of market cial imports and stock adjustments, as in Bangladesh after collapse exists, however, if WFP no longer requires food the floods in 1998, limits the need for potentially destabi- after several years of procurement. lizing increases in public expenditure" (OECD 2006: 31). The potential negative effects of food aid are more notable in conflict-affected states. Government and opposi- Moving from food aid to agricultural assistance tion forces can exploit food aid provision for their own ben- efits and hold local populations hostage to their own The real challenge, however, is how and when to initiate demands. This violates the right to food as enshrined in the assistance for local agricultural production. This is critical Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moreover, food and for food aid beneficiaries who may sacrifice food consump- other forms of humanitarian aid have fueled conflict. The tion in order to save food aid given as whole grain for plant- links between war, famine, and humanitarian aid became ing. Recent years have seen a growing consensus on the need most evident in Ethiopia and Sudan during the 1980s and to shift toward early recovery and self-reliance as soon as THEMATIC NOTE 2:THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD AID AND AGRICULTURE IN COMPLEX EMERGENCIES 493 possible. In part this is a means of mitigating the negative Involvement of local people builds self-reliance. impact of food and humanitarian relief on conflict, but it is Reconstruction efforts are more effective if the community also recognition of the chronic and long-term nature of is actively involved and feels a sense of ownership. many of the crises that exist today. For example, the average Many communities are remote and rely on their own length of displacement is now 17 years (taken globally resources to cope with crises. among displaced populations; UNFPA 2007: 6). Affected Preparation at the community level is a building block populations cannot and should not be reliant on an ongoing toward improving national capacities to respond and cope. cycle of short-term humanitarian relief. The situation is Increased community participation can lead to increased complex, however, as allowing displaced populations to local pressure on governments to address disaster risk settle can itself be a source of conflict with host communi- issues adequately. ties and contribute to land and resource degradation. In Community-level focus allows for targeted identification addition, displacement can result in the loss of skills and of access, and engagement with a full cross-section of knowledge in food production from one generation to the society, including the elderly, the disabled, the young, next, as household heads, typically women alone, have to women, and minority groups who are often excluded develop alternative copying and livelihood strategies in the (World Bank 2006). new environments in which they find themselves. In 1997 the international humanitarian community Theory and realities on the ground, therefore, emphasize produced the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and the need to shift from relief to interventions that aid early Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere Stan- recovery and self-reliance. Yet international practice lags dards) as a means of setting a standard for the provision behind. A decade after Sphere, neither the standards set for of aid to people affected by crisis and conflict. The guide- protection of agricultural production nor those regarding lines touch on all aspects of humanitarian assistance, access to markets are being fully met. Multiple challenges including the need to ensure food security and liveli- remain to be overcome: hoods. The standards address the full range of issues from conducting nutritional assessments to protecting produc- tion mechanisms, ensuring sustainable and diverse agri- 1. The lack of security, particularly in conflict-affected cultural practice, and guaranteeing access to markets for areas, can be a major obstacle to the provision and imple- producers and consumers in crisis situations. mentation of agricultural programming. Access can be Taking a step back and focusing on preventive mea- hazardous, land may be mined and unusable, and the sures, the World Bank report Mainstreaming Hazard Risk presence of armed groups and the proliferation of Management in Rural Projects (2006: 9) draws attention to weapons contribute to insecurity. the actors and stakeholders that need to be included. Con- 2. The lack of effective institutions and the collapse and loss sensus is emerging "on the best way to organize the com- in many cases of social capital are profound obstacles to ponents of national systems for hazard risk management any sustainable development effort. has begun to converge around several key points." First, the 3. Tensions exist between short-term relief efforts and long- report notes that regardless of whether existing systems are term rehabilitation and development programming. In centralized or decentralized, risk management involves theory, early recovery and rehabilitation initiatives multiple stakeholders, including representatives from a conducted during or after conflict or crises are meant to range of national-level institutions or sectors, including promote self-reliance and resilience and help transition land-use planning, environment, infrastructure, commu- societies from relief to development. In practice, nications, utilities, and health. Second, the report points to however, the processes are at odds with one another. For the importance of local level capacity and participation in example, relief efforts often operate on short-term comprehensive risk management. Reasons for this include (sometimes six months) budgeting cycles. Thus, the sup- the following: port provided is often piecemeal, as opposed to being comprehensive and infrastructural with longer-term The effect of disaster is first felt by the community, and durability. they are the first to respond. 4. Lack of coordination between donors contributes to the Failure to understand the behavior and culture of the com- ad hoc and at times duplicative nature of the support munity can result in badly designed early warning systems. provided. 494 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE A 2007 ODI study (Longley and others 2007) offers further Strengthening institutions: The paper advocates attention insight into the current gaps relating to agricultural program- and enhancement of institutions as a means of support- ming in"fragile states"--those prone to,or affected by,conflict ing rural livelihoods and agriculture. In many instances and those with limited ability to provide basic services significant reform of such institutions is needed to (including guaranteeing food security) to their citizens. It cri- ensure that the root causes of conflict are addressed. tiques existing agricultural programming in such situations for being piecemeal and not tackling underlying structural In addition, greater understanding of and respect for local and institutional issues that affect agriculture. It also notes coping mechanisms and traditional knowledge are needed, that insufficient links still exist between agricultural pro- including understanding the gendered division of labor, gramming and social protection. Reflecting on seed aid so that interventions are appropriately targeted. An programs in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, and southern understanding of traditional knowledge and means of Sudan, for example, the study highlights the following: coping in crisis situations is also needed. Outsiders need to grasp the sociocultural context, while also drawing on In Afghanistan seed distribution was used to promote their mandates to ensure that marginalized groups are not "new variants" to farmers without providing the requi- doubly victimized. site training to inform them about the seeds or activities The link between agricultural assistance and institutional such as trials and demonstrations to allow them to learn structures is of particular importance. For responders, how- more. No systems are in place here for ensuring that aid ever, a need exists to acknowledge the differential circum- agencies are accountable to their beneficiaries. stances wrought by conflict and natural disasters. In conflict In Sierra Leone "lack of regulation in the procurement situations, relief aid is typically provided by external actors and distribution of seeds led to efforts to promote the outside the confines of the state structures. Sometimes this local production of these inputs . . . involving commu- is important because the state has no actual capacity to nity seed banks." Yet observers noted few incidences of deliver the aid. At other times the key is to access communi- sustained and successful programs, "raising questions ties directly without hindrance from the state. With the end about the appropriateness" (Longley and others 2007: 2) of conflict, a noticeable shift occurs as rehabilitation and of the initiatives. reconstruction aid is channeled to the state. In southern Sudan local seed production systems were formed in the 1990s. Yet they were overly reliant on Transformative recovery NGOs, and when the NGOs were forced to pull out of the region, many farmers were unable to market their An overarching goal of international reconstruction efforts seeds. Concerns about dependency on NGOs and exter- is to enhance state capacities to move reconstruction away nal actors remain. from fragility toward sustainability. The dilemma, however, is that re-creating past status quos and systems can also The study calls for consideration of four overarching mean re-creating the conditions that led to conflict in the issues (Longley and others 2007): first place. In other words, not only should outsiders avoid doing no harm with interventions, but they should also Addressing vulnerability and livelihood strategies: Agricul- avoid perpetuating harm or discrimination that existed and ture may not be a source of livelihood for many of the contributed to the crisis. Thus, in postconflict situations the poorest people, and it is necessary to assess and understand goal should not be simple recovery, but actual transforma- the structural causes of vulnerability, including sociocultu- tion and tackling of root causes to limit future vulnerability. ral issues that affect equity and discrimination. From the perspective of the agricultural sector, this touches Coordinating a comprehensive approach: A more coordi- on issues ranging from redressing land ownership and nated and comprehensive program of assistance to tenure, to rural governance structures, to policies relating to farmers is required that includes a diverse range of diversification of products and skills and market and infra- inputs and services. structure development. Promoting markets: Private sector involvement is needed In the case of natural disasters, however (where there is in the provision of agricultural services and inputs, and no violent conflict), the state and its armed forces are the strategy of stimulating demand through the provi- often the first responders. Donors and humanitarian agen- sion of resources (cash or vouchers) to beneficiaries. cies typically coordinate with the state to ensure the delivery THEMATIC NOTE 2:THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD AID AND AGRICULTURE IN COMPLEX EMERGENCIES 495 of relief. In the aftermath, however, programming aimed at only highly inequitable toward women but also contributed building up national capacities to manage and withstand to the cycle of violence, for example: crises is not focused on building state capacities per se. Recognition and inclusion of the multiple stakeholders, at all Sale of relief aid in exchange for alcohol or other substances levels, as the World Bank (2006) study says, are thus essential. Sale or exchange of relief aid for weapons Common practices of polygamy so that distribution of family rations to one man results in lack of rations for KEY GENDER ISSUES other wives and children Men and women must be recognized among the "multiple Malnutrition among young men in a displaced camp due stakeholders" noted by the 2006 Mainstreaming Hazard Risk to lack of cooking skills (and inability to use the rations Management in Rural Projects World Bank study. Interven- provided). tions must build on the local knowledge and responsibilities of women and men in agricultural processes. For example, The changes, while difficult, also create opportunities for in Afghanistan and Pakistan, women play a central role in addressing longstanding discrimination against women. For animal husbandry. In some areas in Pakistan they also example, the WFP has initiated procedures to distribute manage the finances and resources. Practices vary across relief primarily through and to women. This can benefit cultures. If interventions are planned based on assumptions them in the short term and prompt greater empowerment or with disregard for the gendered dimensions of agricul- over the longer term. Similarly, targeted efforts to allocate tural work, they can fail or do harm. land and assistance to women in postconflict and crisis Emergencies and disasters affect people differently situations can be initiated. In postwar Cambodia and El Sal- depending on their gender, stage of life, socioeconomic vador in the 1990s women were recipients of land. Yet for status, and cultural practices. Even within the same family the effect to be sustainable, equal access must be matched or household unit, the impact and capacity to respond can with equitable treatment and understanding of the underly- vary. For example, in many instances women will eat less ing factors that could affect women detrimentally. and share their portion with their boy children. Pregnant In the case of food aid, for example, local conditions and lactating women can be at acute risk of malnutrition in (such as corruption, loss of food aid to local militia, distances crises. Similarly young men or men-only-headed families that goods need to be carried, and weight of packages) can are also vulnerable because they often do not have the prevent equal access and expose women to further insecu- necessary cooking and food preparation skills. Recognition rity. In the case of land allocation, in Cambodia often the of these issues creates indicators of who the most vulnerable tracts given to women were of the poorest quality and in may be and can ensure more targeted, relevant, and early areas that were difficult to access. Moreover, women heading responses for those groups. households required the assistance of men in their commu- nities to undertake the hard physical work. For many women, simple ownership of the land was not enough to Crises: challenges and opportunities for enable them to sustain a livelihood. In Rwanda after the redressing gender inequality genocide, changes in legislation to enable women's inheri- Crises--conflict or natural disaster, short or long term-- tance of their husband's property were not readily imple- can affect the composition of households with extended mented at local levels, where they went against culture and family members, widows, unmarried women, and others historic norms. In effect, although opportunities exist, to joining together. Often men are absent (because of death or avoid a backlash, intervention must be designed with sensi- migration), leaving women with multiple burdens in the tivity to the cultural norms. A key aspect of program design public and private spheres. Changes in these situations are is to understand the differing roles, responsibilities, capaci- related to and affected by sociocultural norms, which in ties, and constraints of women and men in the region in turn should inform relief and recovery programming. For question. This includes understanding their traditional divi- example, even in a traditionally men-dominated society sion of labor in the agricultural sphere, as well as the changes such as that of Nepal, it cannot be assumed that, in times of that have resulted from the crisis. Although formal needs crisis, households are led by men and relief can be distrib- assessments can be difficult to undertake in the midst of uted through them. Elsewhere, past practices that favored crises or where insecurity is rife, informal and ongoing con- the distribution of food and relief to men proved to be not sultations with different sectors can provide the necessary 496 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE information and ensure gender-sensitive programming as many cases women have structured networks of support in the case of the Sri Lankan irrigation project (see Innovative that may not be overtly visible but are essential for Activity Profile 1). effective food production, storage, and sales Where the issues are addressed and integrated into pro- Understanding the importance of local and household- gramming, the positive impact is not felt by the individual based power structures relating to use of food,land,live- beneficiaries but by the community as a whole. A 2004 study stock, tools, finances, conservation, storage, and other in El Salvador documents that in communities where productive resources, to ensure that interventions are women received basic support such as child care, they were tailored to each group and are culturally appropriate able to participate in community development initiatives, Understanding the skills needed by women and men whereas they were absent in areas where such support was (particularly those returning from conflict) not provided. The study indicates that where women were 3. Changes in social factors, including involved, the community's overall development and eco- Household composition nomic standing were greater than in communities where they Division of labor were not (Pampell-Conaway and Martinez 2004). Needs (including of the sick, elderly, the young, and their caretakers) Different needs and coping strategies of women and GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR men (for example, dislocation and the loss of jobs and PRACTITIONERS social standing can traumatize and disempower men, whereas for women, taking on new responsibilities, Food aid and agricultural assistance are both necessary com- while difficult, can also be a source of empowerment) ponents of effective interventions in most crisis situations. 4. Changes in economic factors, including The key to sustainability,however,is to ensure that the aid pro- Incidences and nature of poverty (for example, it is vided is not perpetuating or harming the communities and typically high among widowed women) stakeholders it aims to assist. This requires substantial knowl- Identification (through consultation) of forms of inter- edge of the ways in which the agricultural sector works, as well vention that are most targeted and beneficial to the full as the existing sociocultural underpinnings. If information is cross-section of the population (for example, for many gathered during "normal" times, it can assist in planning for of the very poorest with no land or livestock, cash or crisis response. Establishing networks of local communities vouchers are a means of generating a livelihood) and organizations can be a means through which information Ensuring equitable access to markets for food procure- is gathered and shared. The capacities built locally can also be ment and the sale of goods (for example, in Bangladesh a critical aspect of early recovery. a "ladies' corner" was established in one local market to The FAO (2003) and the UN's IASC (2006) have devel- provide a culturally accepted space for women to sell oped frameworks for conducting needs assessments and their goods) establishing contact groups to inform external actors of the Ensuring that subsidies do not inadvertently harm changing nature and conditions of affected populations. women's and men's food and crop production and Similar approaches can be taken in formulating agricultural incomes initiatives. IASC guidelines on food security, for example, 5. Political conditions that can affect women and men differ- offer advice on gathering information about the following ently, including issues disaggregated by sex: Discrimination based on group identity National and customary practices and laws that limit 1. Demographic factors, including numbers of landless poor, equal access to agricultural resources, particularly herdless pastoralists, poorest in caste or ethnic groups, land and access to agricultural services (including most marginalized communities (by composition and training, equipment, seeds, and support) sex), migrants (long and short term) Changes in legislation to promote gender equality 2. Local capacities, including (and the potential backlash locally or among select Understanding the local division of labor between groups) women and men Access and involvement in consultation processes and Identification of preexisting community structures (for- decision making, ability, and constraints related to mal and informal) and how or by whom they are led; in engaging with external actors and donors THEMATIC NOTE 2:THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD AID AND AGRICULTURE IN COMPLEX EMERGENCIES 497 6. Institutional and security factors, including 7. Information gathering and dissemination, including Mechanisms and arrangements to enable full par- Ensuring effective outreach to women and men in ticipation of community members (men, women, rural communities through use of special measures differentiated by age, economic status, and so on) (for example, partnership with community radio and in consultative processes networks of rural health workers) where necessary to Physical security threats facing women (and men) in inform most excluded groups (for example, widows in traveling to and participating in markets and accessing Afghanistan or Dalit women in rural Nepal with no support literacy skills and knowledge of dialect languages) Impact of landmines and weapons on women's and Ongoing consultative processes or forums (such as men's ability to work fields and reach markets village-level councils) to enable all stakeholders to pro- Impact and incidences of sexual- and gender-based vide feedback on the impact of the interventions and violence that threatens women's security and negatively participate in problem solving and decision making. affects their capacity to engage in agricultural work 498 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Managing Land and Promoting Recovery in Postcrisis Situations and issues--from tenure to usage, ownership, L Women represent over 50 percent of the world's popula- reform, and redistribution--are a critical feature in tion and provide 60­80 percent of the world's agricultural crises and emergencies. "The relationship," states a labor, yet research indicates they own less than 5 percent 2004 USAID study, "is stark, whether we are talking about of the world's land. how land issues function as causal or aggravating factors in Assets and income in the hands of women result in higher conflict, or whether we are thinking about land-related caloric intake, better nutrition, and food security for the issues that arise in post-conflict settings."1 Access and usage household than when they are in the hands of men. are not only a question of immediate survival but have soci- Women's property rights increase women's status and ocultural implications tied to issues of history and identity. bargaining power within the household and community. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a case in point. On the Secure land rights provide women with greater incen- Palestinian side, the incursion of Israel into the "Occupied tives to adopt sustainable farming practices and invest in Territories" is not just a military issue, it also has meant the their land. More than 80 percent of farmers in Africa are destruction of homes and orchards and their replacement women, yet women in most African countries do not with modern housing, erasing the identity of their owners. have secure rights to the land they farm. Land is also a cause of and can fall victim to natural dis- Providing women with secure rights to land has the asters. Overuse, deforestation, and desertification can lead potential to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS on to landslides and flooding. Earthquakes and tsunamis can food security and reduce high-risk behaviors. wreak devastation on a massive scale, sometimes causing irreparable damage. POSTCRISIS ISSUES As a crisis or conflict continues, the issues become even more intertwined.2 Displacement and resettlement among Physical recovery from crisis (manmade or natural) is com- new communities can ignite new tensions. The destruction plicated by practical issues such as weakened local manage- of traditional social networks and family structures, the ment structures; the loss, destruction, or falsification of increase in women heads of household and widows, and the records; and the return of IDPs and refugees who make inevitable reformulation of relations give rise to disputes, as claims on land or have it allocated to them. As noted in a people from diverse communities (or identity groups) often 2004 FAO publication, governments and donors rarely have differing approaches and practices relating to land consult, coordinate with, or compensate local communities management and usage. These changes spill over into the with regard to the resettlement of refugees and IDPs postconflict and crisis setting, and if they are not addressed, (Unruh 2004). they can cause a resurgence of violence. Differing interpretations and implementation of inter- This Thematic Note focuses on key land issues in the national laws and norms pertaining to land access can also postcrisis setting from a gendered perspective. It highlights cause difficulties. Sometimes the confusion arises among critical issues and lessons drawn from current and past donors themselves with"disagreement . . . as to the direction crises.Additional gender analysis related to land can be found that the development of the property rights system should in other Modules in this Sourcebook. The Rural Development take after a conflict,with differences often tied to the economic Institute (RDI) identifies the following linkages between and foreign policies of the donor countries involved"(Unruh women, land, and improving livelihoods: 2004: 3). The drive toward private property ownership 499 can clash with traditional communal tenure and owner- discriminated against one group or sector of the population. ship practices, as well as demands for social justice and In South Africa, for example, the changes in legislation were equitable distribution of resources. This can be particularly directed at benefiting the majority black population that stark in the case of widowed or single women claiming the had endured decades of discrimination. The influx of right to live on their family property while the law pro- international aid and technical support can help establish hibits women ownership. alternative livelihood opportunities. Mechanisms for resolv- Security plays a role as well. In postconflict settings, ing disputes and ensuring more equitable access to land mined land is useless for cultivation and is a drain on lim- can be put in place. After experiencing a crisis--especially ited resources because demining is slow and expensive. In a natural disaster--national and community leaders and Afghanistan and Mozambique, for instance, much of the stakeholders may be more amenable to embracing more most fertile lands was mined. It is also a public health issue. sustainable livelihood methods as a means of reducing risk Farmers are often driven (or need) to cultivate mined land and future vulnerability. that has lain fallow but expose themselves and their family to great risk, as landmine victims require long-term care LAND ANDTRANSFORMATIVE RECOVERY: and assistance. Women in particular are more vulnerable if THE CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN harmed because in many societies men may shun them if they can no long perform household duties. Lack of effec- The challenges and opportunities present in postcrisis envi- tive security structures is another challenge. Criminal gangs ronments affect women and men. In most instances, how- and splintered armed groups can emerge in the vacuum cre- ever, the challenges facing women are greater than those ated by a weakened state. Extortion can become common- faced by men. The reasons vary according to region and cul- place, as in Nepal, where it emerged during the Marxist-led ture. On the one hand, women, more than men, are engaged conflict. Sexual violence is a common feature and can debil- in agricultural production and the cultivation of land. On itate women's productivity and movement. State-sponsored the other hand, women farmers' literacy and educational confiscation or expropriation also occurs, fueling tensions skills are more limited than those of men. Often they have and stifling economic growth. little or no legal protection or ownership rights. Cambodia Time is another key factor. Immediately after the crisis in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge regime and the 1991 need and demand exist to move quickly to resettle people peace agreement is a case in point. Women are responsible and regenerate the economy and livelihoods. Many states for 80 percent of the food production, yet most have no emerging from conflict may not have the personnel or tech- control or ownership of the land they work. Nearly 50 percent nical capacities to address the issues. As stated by FAO, "in of women farmers are either illiterate or have basic primary post conflict situations a land rush can occur after a conflict, school education (World Bank 2004). which very quickly outruns the ability of a re-establishing The situation is exacerbated by natural disasters or con- formal tenure system, and the best intentions of government flict, as men migrate for waged employment, join armed and donors to manage. This can take community and house- groups, or are targeted by them, leaving women alone in hold land tenure, resettlement, eviction, restitution and dis- rural settings. In Honduras, for example, the proportion of puting in directions that are largely outside of the control of women-headed households doubled in the aftermath of a slowly reformulating formal tenure system" (Unruh 2004). Hurricane Mitch in 1998 (Bradshaw 2004). In effect, the Inevitably, the combination of traditional practices, the lack vulnerability and disparity that exist for women under of women in decision making, and the lack of sensitivity "normal" situations (for example, lower skills and educa- among policy makers and international actors to the differ- tion, less access to decision making, no formal ownership ential experiences and needs of women and men results in rights) are exacerbated when crises emerge and livelihoods the inadvertent exclusion of women as beneficiaries. and traditional social systems are destroyed. Initiatives Yet the difficulties that emerge in postcrisis environ- aimed at promoting recovery must therefore aim to address ments come with new opportunities to review and redress and resolve some of the baseline criteria that contribute to long-standing or root causes of conflict and discrimina- the gendered disparity and vulnerability. tion. Just as there are conflicts that arise over land issues, so The key issues facing women in postcrisis settings have too can peace agreements set into motion land reform and been noted in a range of reports, including a 1999 UN Center reallocation. The recovery period can also be a time for for Human Settlement (Habitat) study (UN Habitat 1999), national institutions to review and revise legislation that and are summarized in the following five sections. 500 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE Legal barriers realize and protect women's rights, they can be neglected or abused. In a 2007 Oxfam study in Aceh (Fitzpatrick 2007), In many instances women's rights to land, housing, or the issues women raised regarding their ability to claim property are limited during times of peace. Their rights are property included the following: circumscribed by customary practices whereby access is determined by men relatives. In many societies women have Their access was limited, because only the men members no right to own, rent, or inherit property in their own name. of their families were registered on property titles. Across Asia and Africa women often need their husband's They were too traumatized to venture into the public permission to access credit or acquire titles independently sphere and make their claims. (Farha 2000). Conflict and crises can exacerbate this. As With their primary responsibilities as caregivers and refugees and IDPs they lose access to their homes and prop- providers for their families, they had neither the time nor erties. Once the crisis subsides,the situation does not improve. the resources to mobilize and assert their rights. As widows (or with spouses missing), as women heading households (caring for siblings or elderly relatives), as daugh- Other factors that affect women include the following: ters or sisters, they often have no legal protection or claim on their homes or properties, yet often they are the sole Their traditional social networks are destroyed, and they caretakers of families. In Rwanda, for example, a decade after have less access or capacity to influence local leaders, who the genocide women led some 30 percent of households are often charged with decision making. (Brown and Uvuza 2006). In Aceh, after the tsunami, women They face entrenched sociocultural barriers, so decisions have been caught in disputes with in-laws or men family are often made against them and in favor of men. members laying claim to land and property (Fitzpatrick They lack information or knowledge about their legal 2007). In Palestine women are subjected to not only the rights or where to get assistance. confiscation of land by Israeli forces but also social pressures to renounce inheritance rights when husband or fathers are killed (Farha 2000). Land allocation and reform Peace processes or political transitions often catalyze land and Registration and recordkeeping property reform, liberalization, or reallocation programs. Recordkeeping and documentation can also have signifi- Such programs, however, are often hampered by a lack of suf- cantly different implications for women and men in postcri- ficient resources from the outset. For example, in Guatemala sis periods. Customary practices and the protection afforded prior to the civil war, 2 percent of the population owned by clan elders are often destroyed during crises, making 70 percent of the land. The 1996 peace accords included a women more vulnerable. In many cases only the men head provision for land reform. Land taxes and a land fund associ- of household is recorded, and property, whether or not it is ated with an autonomous government agency (Fontierras) jointly owned, is recorded under men's names. Sometimes it were among the mechanisms established to enable the is inadvertent. In Java, Indonesia, for instance, customary reform, but the costs of undertaking land reform far out- practices dictate joint ownership by husbands and wives.Yet weighed the allocated budget. By 2006 it was estimated that when registration was put in place, the registration forms only 2 percent of the demand had been met.3 provided space to register only a single owner, and typically The purchase of the land amounts to only 30­40 percent men's names were recorded. This minor bureaucratic over- of the total costs associated with sustainable land reform, sight had significant implications for people's lives (Brown according to one Africa-focused 2006 World Bank Study (Van and Uvuza 2006: 25). den Brink and others 2006). Other costs associated with reset- Often during conflicts, administrative offices and records tlement, housing, start-up grants, agricultural inputs, train- are deliberately destroyed in looting and property owner- ing, and advisory services are also critical to success, yet they ship becomes a disputed issue. In natural disasters the are rarely accounted for. South Africa, for example, has allo- destruction of records is among the many consequences. In cated a realistic budget toward land purchases but under- the recovery period, systems are put in place to handle claims. funded the nonland costs (Van den Brink and others 2006). But with men absent or dead, women may face challenges to Women, especially widows or women heading households, their claims of joint ownership. Even where state laws give are often losers in land reform programs. Before the conflict in men and women equal rights, without proactive efforts to Cambodia, for example, women's rights to ownership were THEMATIC NOTE 3: MANAGING LAND AND PROMOTING RECOVERY IN POSTCRISIS SITUATIONS 501 recognized. They had equal access to land through inheri- Women typically have less access to credit. According to tance, and acquisition through cultivation. However, the FAO, where data are available, only 10 percent of credit postwar period coupled with liberalization policies has mar- allowances are extended to women.4 Their access to markets ginalized women, making them more vulnerable to market is also more circumscribed. Security concerns and domestic forces, debt, and landlessness. Close to 50 percent of war wid- duties prevent women from engaging in market-related ows have no access to land. Of those who do, some 84 percent activities and accessing basic services (including health or have less than 0.05 hectare of often poor quality land, education regarding land management). Thus, even where making it difficult to sustain a livelihood (World Bank 2004). land laws may espouse equality or be progressive (such as the The reasons for disparity vary. One reason is lower liter- one passed in Cambodia in 2001), the differences between acy levels among women and less knowledge of land titles, women's and men's access and opportunities remain stark. tenure requirements, or new land laws. In family disputes (or divorce) women do not have knowledge of their legal International financing: helping or harming? rights.Another reason is that in many places women are also socialized to care for elderly and sick parents and are thus International aid comes rushing in after crises, but the more likely than men to spend savings, go into debt, or sell impact on women and men can vary deeply. Women can be assets to provide care. Yet another reason is that social inadvertently negatively affected. Issues that arise include stigma is attached to women engaging directly with men the following. regarding legal issues or local authorities. This can impact Location and resettlement of refugees and IDPs. At times, their inheritance rights, because their men relatives may international actors do not consult, compensate, or coor- keep the certificates of entitlement and directly (or indirectly) dinate sufficiently with local communities regarding the pressure women to conform to societal norms (McGrew, settlement of refugee or IDP populations. Differences in Frieson, and Chan 2004). customary tenure practices versus government practices can cause increased tensions and fuel conflict between the two communities. Equality but not equity: the multiple burdens Competing ideologies and lack of coordination between of women donors. Donors can have differing interpretations of or prior- As noted above, although the law may often offer some pro- ities relating to international laws and norms and how they tection or rights to women, in practice societal forces pre- affect land tenure issues in postcrisis settings. Donors'policies sent obstacles to the realization and implementation of the can be contradictory. Many may support gender-equality law. In effect, there is legal equality, but in practice, the situ- measures but unwittingly undermine equality as they call for ation is not fair or equitable. a shift toward a market economy and privatization as a pre- As heads of households in postcrisis situations, women condition for the provision of financial assistance. This means have the combined burden of domestic and agricultural a shift away from customary titling practices toward private responsibility. Many cannot make full use of their land or ownership. Where customary practices hold sway and are the maximize their production and revenue with limited literacy only safety net available to women, the move toward privati- skills and an overwhelming combination of domestic and zation can be devastating. Widows (who traditionally were productive duties. They often have no knowledge of or time permitted to remain in their homes until death or remar- to seek out information regarding their rights or the nature of riage) find themselves evicted by men heirs keen on generat- titling procedures. Their exclusion from the men-dominated ing an income or benefiting from increased land prices that bodies that administer land issues and are an integral aspect are a common feature of postcrisis countries. of social and political networks compounds the problem. Ad hoc approach to international laws especially women's Compared to men, women farmers also tend to have less rights. Within the framework of international laws and con- access to high-quality inputs or information about improved ventions, numerous provisions articulate women's rights to techniques. Often agricultural extension staff are predomi- property ownership (see summary in box 11.7). The World nantly men. As such, in many traditional societies they Bank, like other entities, has its own policies and guidelines. cannot engage in face-to-face contact with women farmers. In many postcrisis settings, women's rights advocates rely on Moreover, little attention is given to the fact that women such provisions to further their demands and ensure pro- and men specialize in different tasks. Research and outreach tection for women. Yet support provided by international to women's specialized tasks are limited. actors--bilateral or multilateral entities--is at best ad hoc. 502 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE Box 11.7 Summary of Selected Key International Laws and Standards UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimi- against Women (CEDAW) (1980), adopted by 191 UN nation and Protection of Minorities, Resolution 15 member states, includes the following: (1998), urges all governments "to take all necessary measures . . . to amend and/or repeal laws and policies Article 15: "State parties . . . accord to women equal- pertaining to land, property, housing which deny ity with men before the law";"they shall give women women security of tenure and equal access and rights to equal rights . . . to administer property." land, property and housing, to encourage the transfor- Article 16:"the same rights for both spouses in respect mation of customs and traditions which deny women of the ownership, acquisition, management, adminis- [this] security, and to adopt and enforce legislation tration, enjoyment and disposition of property." which protects and promotes women's rights to own, The Habitat Agenda (1996), adopted by all UN mem- inherit, lease or rent land, property and housing." ber states,commits governments to"providing legal secu- UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000): "Calls rity of tenure and equal access to land to all people on all actors involved, when negotiating and imple- including women . . . and undertaking legislative and menting peace agreements, to adopt a gender perspec- administrative reforms to give women full and equal tive, including . . . the special needs of women and girls access to economic resources including the right to inher- during repatriation, resettlement and for rehabilitation, itance and to ownership of land and other property." reintegration and post conflict reconstruction." Source: Author. Cultural relativism is often used as an excuse to avoid the prompting a backlash or accusations of cultural insensitiv- pursuit of measures that can protect women, despite the fact ity. Opportunities include the following: that the demands for such changes are often emerging from Peace accords as a key entry point. Peace accords can be a key grassroots communities themselves. Inconsistency, apathy, entry point for addressing land reform. As in Guatemala, in or ignorance of institutional policies can heighten women's the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, land ownership and occupa- vulnerability at a time when they are struggling to survive tion are clearly among the most contentious yet critical issues and maintain their households and communities. to be resolved. Just as marginalized ethnic or indigenous groups may demand their rights to land, specific discrimina- tion against women can also be highlighted. In Sri Lanka in USEFUL LESSONS AND OPPORTUNITIES 2002, a women's coalition comprising local and international FOR ADDRESSING GENDER DISPARITIES women's rights advocates held lengthy community-based Despite the difficulties that arise, major crises also create consultations to identify women's concerns around the new opportunities for tackling gender-based disparities then-emerging peace process. Land issues were among the regarding land ownership, tenure, and use. Most important, issues noted (box 11.8).5 The recommendations they devel- perhaps, is that many women come to the fore as a result of oped were aimed at national parties to the conflict as well as the effects of crises. As refugees and IDPs, they often have an international entities involved with supporting the imple- opportunity to mobilize, gain awareness of their rights, and mentation of agreements or assisting recovery. assert their demands. Support from international entities New constitution and legislations. Eritrea, Ethiopia, can strengthen their capacities while still ensuring that the Mozambique, and South Africa are just some of the coun- demands are locally driven and homegrown. Moreover, tries where women's mobilization, political pressure, and women themselves are the best navigators of their cultural public demands enshrined their rights to property owner- terrain. If informed of the international policies and norms, ship in the constitution and legislation. In South Africa, the they can be effective in bridging the purported divisions land reform legislation introduced following the end of the between the policies and traditional practices without apartheid era explicitly addresses gender equality. Within THEMATIC NOTE 3: MANAGING LAND AND PROMOTING RECOVERY IN POSTCRISIS SITUATIONS 503 Box 11.8 Sri Lanka:Women's Concerns and the Peace "Land rights appear to be one of the most difficult Recommendations made by the Mission: and contentious issues throughout the northeast. The displaced [people] need to reclaim their land and 1. Land laws must be reformed to ensure equal rights of property and receive compensation for loss and damage. women to inherit and dispose of land and property. Those who cannot return must be resettled elsewhere. 2. Where necessary, lands must be surveyed to estab- Those occupying land and property abandoned by the lish boundaries. displaced or evicted must vacate such property and be 3. Ownership rights should be respected, and persons re-settled. Women and, in particular, widows and living in houses owned by others should be provided women heads of household must be given title to with alternative accommodation. land and property. Issues of inheritance for women 4. Widows and relatives of the disappeared need assis- must be clarified and women's right to land & prop- tance in accessing the documentation they require erty protected." to prove their rights to property and inheritance. Source: Excerpts from Women and Media Collective (2002). the Land Affairs Department a Sub-Directorate on Gender down such laws and drafting new provisions that explicitly Affairs was also established. In Rwanda, in the aftermath of recognize and protect the independent and equal right to the genocide, inheritance laws were changed in 1999 to property ownership and inheritance for women and men. allow equal inheritance rights for sons and daughters and NGOs and international agencies can provide technical and to protect women's joint property rights in formally regis- financial support to local actors. They can lead research tered marriages. In 2005 parliament adopted a new Land and analysis to provide the necessary information. They Law to establish rights to land and leaseholds, resolve can lead by example, incorporating existing international uncertainty in land holdings, and encourage consolidated norms and standards in their own practices. use as a means of promoting productivity. The law will be Protecting women's rights in registration.6 As noted earlier, implemented through a series of more issue-specific legis- registration procedures are critical to ensuring equal and lation and regulations. fair access and ownership of land: Such legislative changes provide a new normative frame- work through which the issues affecting women can be In Vietnam, when it was discovered that only men were addressed. However, they are often neither sufficient nor com- being registered on land titles, new certificates were prehensive. For example, the 1999 inheritance law does not issued that included space for the names of both spouses. provide protection to women in consensual unions (or other In Cambodia, at the time of registration, an assistant is customary practices) and has been interpreted to limit a nominated at the village level with responsibility to widow's claims on her husband's properties. Typically local inform women and the most vulnerable members of the women's organizations are among the first to identify such community of their rights and to assist them in making gaps. To address them, they require assistance and support land claims or objecting to existing claims. from a variety of actors, including international agencies. In Aceh recommendations for more equitable practice In any context, effective and equitable implementation of include making joint titling mandatory. Registration new land laws requires a number of other measures to forms could include questions about existing spouses or inform the cross-section of stakeholders at national and others who are co-owners of the land (for example, men community levels and ensure their support and adherence. or women siblings). Nepal offers an example of an opportunity to implement In addition, as noted by the Sri Lankan women (box 11.8), legal change. As the peace process began there in 2007, local land must be surveyed, and all stakeholders (with special NGOs identified some 103 laws that discriminated against outreach to women) should be included in community women. The state must take a lead in repealing or striking mapping, consultative, and adjudication processes. 504 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE Inclusive consultations. Direct interaction and consulta- and inheritance practices. In Nepal, for example, the direct tion between the makers and implementers of land policy impact of conflict on women and the related migration of and women's rights groups are essential for understanding men are not fully understood in the context of land owner- the specific issues facing women and the contributions ship. Yet land reform is a key element of the 2007 peace women can make toward effective resolution and imple- accord. Without this information, new laws, policies, and mentation of land reform policies. programs can inadvertently do harm or exclude the major- In 2006 the Rural Development Institute (RDI) and ity of women, as in the Rwandan 1999 Inheritance Law. Women Waging Peace (renamed the Initiative for Inclusive A paucity of sex-disaggregated data and analysis in Security) cosponsored a workshop for Rwandan government terms of the impact of crises on women and the effects of personnel and women's civil society groups with the goal of provided aid or assistance also exists. Reflecting on enabling direct discussions about the implementation of the responses to Hurricane Mitch, a 2004 study by the Eco- new land laws and remaining gaps regarding women's pro- nomic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean tection and needs. The women's groups formed a policy and (ECLAC) states that "There are still not many statistics on law task force to comment on forthcoming legislation and impact differentiated by gender. Most of the agencies inter- provide lawmakers and government officials with recom- viewed indicated that they did not explicitly take gender mendations to better protect women's land rights. Similar into account and did not break down their data on the initiatives could be sponsored in other settings. The effect is disaster by sex nor analyze their results from a gender per- beneficial to all stakeholders. spective" (Bradshaw 2004: 19). A review and revision of Outreach and education programs with special attention existing data collection methods and frameworks are to women. Informing land administration officials, the needed to enable sex-disaggregated data gathering at the judiciary, and others involved in land adjudication and household and other basic levels. communities about upcoming changes is fundamental. As Finally, implementation needs to be monitored and part of the officials' training, there is an opportunity to adjusted to address the needs of all sectors of the commu- alert them to and highlight the specific needs of women. nity. RDI's recommendations for Rwanda's 2005 Land Law Ensuring targeted outreach to women to inform them of resonate in other instances: their rights (and the processes being put in place) is also a key dimension of many initiatives aimed at improving laws The implementation of new laws should be piloted and and practices: assessed from a gender perspective. Women and men should be directly targeted regarding their experiences of the different dimensions of the program, ranging from In Cambodia government initiatives included targeted their exposure to the public education efforts to registra- outreach and education programs for women and other groups at risk of being harmed by reform processes. The tion. Comparative case studies should be conducted to interventions were scheduled for times and located in highlight the differential experiences and needs of women places that were easily accessible to women. and men (for example, widows, women heading house- In Rwanda the National Women's Council, a governmen- holds, and married women and men). Monitoring and tal body with representatives at the community level, was evaluation of the pilots, including consultations with interested in taking a leading educational role in the the target groups, should inform and be addressed in implementation of new land laws in 2006. the draft legislation and related regulations, programs, In Nepal, ASMITA, a magazine owned and run by women and budgets. journalists with a focus on women's rights, has been a key Resources should be dedicated to the development of a conduit of information about and for Nepalese women. specialized monitoring and evaluation process and tech- The magazine's target audience is semiliterate rural nique that can be applied nationwide once the legisla- women; thus, it is picture heavy. The publishers also pro- tion is being implemented. The process can include and duce booklets and posters addressing issues such as women's land rights and other legislative changes.7 inform policy makers as well as civil society actors and other stakeholders, with a view to identifying gaps and obstacles at an early stage and enabling their resolution. Data, research, monitoring, and impact. In many postcri- Existing assessment frameworks and questionnaires, sis settings, little documentation and analysis exist regard- such as those developed by FAO, ECLAC, and other enti- ing the impact of legislation or customary marital property ties,8 can be adapted and tailored to each case. THEMATIC NOTE 3: MANAGING LAND AND PROMOTING RECOVERY IN POSTCRISIS SITUATIONS 505 CONCLUSIONS seek to raise awareness among local leaders of the existing gender disparity and the consequences for the community as To be sustainable and to reduce vulnerability, recovery has to a whole. Local populations and leadership are often open to be transformative. Crises present the opportunity to initiate change in the aftermath of a crisis. They also are often con- new practices and systems. The challenge is to balance the scious of the extreme vulnerability of women and are ready drive toward returning to a status quo and recognized past to seek solutions. External actors should prioritize the provi- practices with the need to address the practices that con- sion of technical assistance and support to enable this shift. tributed to the vulnerability. External interventions must 506 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Food Aid versus Agricultural Support and Sustenance of Social Capital SRI LANKA: NORTH-EAST IRRIGATED PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION AGRICULTURAL PROJECT Amid these difficult political, human, security, and logistical I n 1983 war broke out between the government of conditions, the International Development Association in Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of collaboration with the GoSL initiated a community-focused Eelam (LTTE).1 Over the years the North East project to (1) help conflict-affected communities in the Province of Sri Lanka, where the conflict has been most northeast and adjoining areas reestablish at least a subsis- violent, has been devastated. Before the war nearly two- tence level of production and community-based services thirds of the population depended on farming, fishing, through assistance for jump-starting agricultural and small- and livestock as their main source of livelihood. The con- scale reconstruction activities, and (2) build the capacity of flict destroyed much of the irrigation system and road such communities for sustainable social and economic infrastructure. It also caused mass displacement and the reintegration. Initially, 398 villages were included in the collapse of social institutions such as farmers' organiza- program, of which 30 were in the Jaffna district (Wanasun- tions. Gender-based disparities in income and occupation dera 2006). resulting in higher poverty rates among women were fur- The project was the first large-scale development project ther exacerbated by war, as women were burdened with funded by any major donor in the area after the outbreak of traditional men's tasks as well. War-affected communities war in 1983. It was thus a pioneering initiative for the and displaced populations in the region have been restoration of livelihoods among the internally displaced exploited by both sides. The conflict hampered interna- population and conflict-affected people. Its proactive out- tional humanitarian efforts. According to a 1999 British reach to ensure the full and equal inclusion of women and Refugee Council briefing document, "the restrictions and men was also innovative. The successful implementation of delays in agricultural inputs [were] in part . . . responsible the project in the first two years paved the way for other for a substantial reduction in agricultural production major donors, such as the Asian Development Bank and with resulting decrease in jobs and income."2 Japanese Bank for International Cooperation, to plan and implement similar complementary operations in the North East Province targeting the conflict-affected people. What's innovative? The recognition and inclusion Typically, irrigation tanks provide water for irrigation of the Women's Rural Development Societies in and drinking water for rural villages in Sri Lanka.3 The project this project was a significant achievement. Before focused on the revival of agricultural production in conflict- the project, these groups had not been given the affected villages through the restoration of irrigation tanks chance to play such a central role in the well-being damaged by the war or abandoned by people fleeing the of their communities. The project gave them the villages. The irrigation tank restoration was complemented chance to build their institutional strength, as well by the rehabilitation and provision of essential village facil- as demonstrate their capacities to contribute to ities, such as village access roads, drinking water facilities, and gain the respect of the community as a whole. construction of community buildings, and support for income-generating activities to enable the displaced people 507 who returned and were returning to the villages to revive and allied activities, (b) improved production and mar- their livelihoods. To plan and implement these interven- keting of commodities, (c) promotion of various microen- tions and ensure care of the rehabilitated facilities at the end terprises, and (d) construction of common assets such as of the intervention, the project facilitated the revival of community buildings. community organizations, such as farmers' organizations and women's community-based organizations (CBOs) that Although security conditions and the mobility of people in existed in the villages before the outbreak of the war but the project area slowly improved after the signing of the cease- were weakened or fell apart because of the war. fire agreement in February 2002, the situation in the project The project's development focus was therefore appropri- area remained precarious following the LTTE's withdrawal ate and timely to provide sustainable livelihoods for conflict- from the peace talks in April 2003,the LTTE's internal conflicts affected people and encourage the return of the IDP. At its in March 2004, and the tsunami disaster in December 2004. start, the project had four major components. A fifth com- Despite these constraints, the project successfully achieved its ponent, the livelihood support activities (LSAs), was added development objectives and completed its physical targets, as halfway on the basis of the experiences emerging from the is evident from the Implementation Completion Report. initial implementation and the priorities identified by the target population. KEY ELEMENTS The rehabilitation of irrigation projects. The project The following section discusses key elements of the project. sought to rehabilitate 400 irrigation projects, including Community consultations. When the project was initiated, refilling breached sections of embankments, raising low the conflict between the GoSL and LTTE was raging. Because spots on embankments, repairing or replacing sluices, of the consequent security constraints, conventional project fixing and improving spillways, repairing scheme access preparation activities (social assessments, institutional analy- roads, and cleaning and desalting main canals and irriga- sis, baseline surveys, and beneficiary consultations) could not tion tanks. be undertaken. However, wide consultation was undertaken Community capacity building and small-scale reconstruc- with the main stakeholders, including the North East Provin- tion. The project financed community capacity build- cial Council, district secretaries and government agents in the ing, including support and partnership with Madar project area, the United Nations High Commission for Sangam, the women's rural development societies Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red (WRDSs); support for social mobilization, including Cross (ICRC), commanders of the Sri Lanka army (SLA) in repaired rural roads and drinking water facilities; and the project area, and the political wing of the LTTE. technical assistance to community-level organizations. The project director,a woman,was based in the region and Feasibility studies. Feasibility studies were done for reha- had in-depth knowledge of the active communities and bilitation of the 10 most dilapidated major irrigation organizations. According to external assessments, other proj- schemes in the North East Province and in the border ect officials were not as sensitized to the gender issues, but she villages of the four neighboring provinces. was and selected Madar Sangam (WRDSs) as an implement- Provision of technical and financial management auditors. ing partner because of their efficiency (Wanasundera 2006). Given the limited banking facilities available, the project Lessons drawn from past experiences, including a previous financed independent technical and financial auditors to World Bank irrigation project, demonstrated that a simple ensure transparency and accountability. operation focused on irrigation rehabilitation through com- Livelihood Support Activities. The LSA was added in 2002 munity participation was possible in the North East Province. to make the project more inclusive. It provided an Active participation of conflict-affected communities. The opportunity for the landless and the most vulnerable project design also recognized the need for active participa- families, as well as women, who could not benefit from tion of the conflict-affected communities in the planning irrigation tank rehabilitation to access project support. and implementation of the project interventions. The Development Credit Agreement was amended in Inclusion of and support to women. From the outset December 2002 to permit (1) livelihood support grants within the community capacity-building component, spe- to WRDSs and (2) WRDSs to provide repayable loans to cific attention was given to the inclusion of WRDSs. The members for undertaking small individual household project director knew the groups' work and integrated them income-generating activities related to (a) agriculture into the project implementation. The idea was embraced 508 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE by project officials, other local partners, and the commu- community mobilization, and the partnering CBOs and nity, as they experienced the "dynamism" that the WRDSs NGOs (including Madar Sangam) had already been engaged brought.4 Additional adjustments were made later to in community-based activities in the project area. ensure that women and landless people could benefit Key role of partnerships. The inclusion of SLA, ICRC, and from the project. UNHCR as formal members of the project steering com- Pragmatic and tailored project design. The implementa- mittee proved to be invaluable in identifying and targeting tion design was simple and pragmatic and recognized the focal villages, coordinating and monitoring project activi- unique context of the conflict situation and the related con- ties, enhancing accountability and transparency in the use straints. Interventions were planned in both "cleared areas" of project resources in uncleared areas, and facilitating secu- (areas under the military control of the SLA) and"uncleared rity clearances to ensure speedy and timely mobility of staff, areas" (areas controlled by the LTTE), the division of which vehicles, and construction materials to project sites. changed continually at first. The difficulties that the project Independent auditing. The inclusion of both independent team faced included (1) working staff of line ministries and technical auditors and financial auditors, carried out by pri- departments based in Colombo (capital of Sri Lanka), who vate sector agencies for the first time in a Bank-funded project were reluctant to travel to the North East; (2) requiring in the country, was important to GoSL, particularly to SLA. clearance from the SLA and the LTTE before moving any The engagement of audits not only satisfied their concerns government and Bank staff, vehicles, and construction about transparency and accountability in the use of devel- materials into uncleared areas; (3) developing monitoring opment funds in the prevailing risky environment, but also mechanisms for project funds needed in the uncleared areas helped the Project Management Unit in enhancing the dili- that were acceptable to the SLA and the GoSL; and (4) gence in financial management and engineering quality of working in areas where there were no formal banking facil- the design of subprojects during the implementation. ities. To address these difficulties, the project design included developing strong partners and consulting with them to BENEFITS AND IMPACTS determine pragmatic and simple solutions. The partners An estimated 55,000 families benefited from the project include the SLA, NGOs, UNHCR, ICRC, and independent (31,000 farm and 24,000 nonfarm families). The project, technical and financial auditors. centered around 378 small and medium irrigation schemes, Localized responsibility and accountability. The project man- reached more than double the anticipated targeted families agement responsibility was fully devolved to the North East and total population, totaling 275,000 people, of whom Provincial Council (NEPC), despite claims by several central 123,750 were men and 151,250 were women. At the time of government ministries based in Colombo to become the lead project's conclusion: ministry for project implementation.However,the Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government was appointed as 369 irrigation schemes had been rehabilitated (others the anchor ministry for the project, but its role was limited to were near completion), enabling the cultivation of a facilitative role for matters that could not be resolved at the 24,980 hectares of prewar farmland. NEPC level but required the attention of high levels of the gov- 1,294 kilometers of roads were rehabilitated. ernment, including the Treasury and Ministry of Defense. The original target of rehabilitating 300 drinking wells The NEPC devolved implementation responsibility to was increased to 775 (to address needs), of which 754 the participating districts to enable transparent and consul- were completed. tative selection of focal villages and beneficiaries, close liaison 379 village-level multipurpose buildings were completed with other development partners at the district level, and (as planned). Of these, 291 were taken over by rural better supervision and monitoring. The implementation at development societies (RDSs) and WRDSs. The buildings the district level relied upon collaborative working partner- serve as meeting places, shelter for kindergartens, mobile ships between relevant provincial council agencies and the clinics, and other purposes. district wings of the central government departments. This Women were given access to credit through the LSA to arrangement promoted collaborative working partnerships start microenterprises, including poultry raising and between the agencies of the provincial council and the cen- grinding mills. tral government within the districts. The design included The project, recognizing the women's groups' commit- NGOs as implementing partners. This was appropriate ments, also prioritized women's organizations in several because the NEPC lacked capacity and prior experience in village/field assessments (Wanasundera 2006). INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: FOOD AID VERSUS AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT AND SUSTENANCE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL 509 The project successfully reactivated, created, or strength- GENDER-SENSITIVITY APPROACHES ened a total of 1,057 CBOs--371 farmers organizations, 369 From a gendered perspective, the project was somewhat RDSs, and 317 WRDSs--in all focal villages. These CBOs inclusive and sensitive to the differential experience and engaged in planning and implementing project-supported capacities of women and men, but this was partly ad hoc. activities satisfactorily in their respective areas of responsi- The woman local project director was the key to identifying bilities. The project contributed to community capacity and integrating the WRDSs into the process. According to building through (1) introducing and supporting bottom- FAO, other "officials implementing this project understood up planning processes of developing Village Social Profiles little of gender issues" (Wanasundera 2006: 21). and Village Development Plans facilitated by NGOs; (2) pro- The project documents do not provide detailed informa- viding training on procurement, financial management, and tion on the processes and approaches taken to ensure equi- technical aspects of project-related civil works; and (3) creat- table inclusion of women and men in the consultative ing linkages between CBOs and government offices, such as processes and as beneficiaries. Nonetheless, they do refer to the Irrigation Department, Agrarian Service Department, the work done and achievements relating to women. No Provincial Road Development Authority, and the Rural analysis or reflection on the impact of the project on men Development Department. per se is included as well, or why the farmers' organizations The WRDSs and the resultant empowerment of women (run by men) were not as effective as the WRDSs. were one of the project's most important achievements. Prior At the outset, the project consciously adopted two strate- to the intervention, institutionalized groups of women did not gies: mainstreaming and transformative approaches. Recog- exist in the focal villages. The WRDSs included the majority of nizing that this still excluded a significant portion of the women in the villages targeted, and their representatives women's population, the project added a third strategy demonstrated strong leadership. The WRDSs were seen by halfway through that was directly targeted at women: the many as being the most robust village-level CBOs,catering not LSA component. These three strategies are summarized in only to women but also to the poor and the vulnerable. the following: Although the LSA component was added later, the impact was significant. The WRDSs administered loans to a total of Mainstreaming: The selection of a woman project leader 18,975 households. The LSA was new to project staff, but by was a key step. Her knowledge of and selection of the reaching poor households, it boosted the overall impact of WRDSs as implementing partners was a good example the project. All loan recipients were women, and the activi- of mainstreaming. From the outset, the project leaders ties undertaken were in most cases geared to their economic included women in the consultative processes and as empowerment (microcredit enterprises) and household beneficiaries. Although the project could have inte- food security (as noted above). The success of the LSA was grated women into the RDSs, there was recognition of largely attributable to effective management of the loans by the efficacy of enabling women to operate in new paral- WRDSs. By and large, the capacities of the WRDSs for finan- lel structures, as opposed to trying to find their voice and cial management increased, although more systematic sup- leadership in preexisting (and perhaps entrenched port would have enhanced them further and should be structures). The approach taken from the outset was included in future projects. very pragmatic. The goal was to assist conflict-affected The project design did not specifically provide for an populations, and this naturally included attention to institutional or implementation arrangement for ensuring women. The selection of the WRDSs was also pragmatic construction quality of civil works, nor did it provide for in part because they were known to be effective, com- developing practical management information and moni- mitted, and able to reach all affected populations. Their toring and evaluation systems. selection was not perceived as an overt focus on women The successful implementation of the project led to the only, which could have caused a backlash among the preparation of a follow-up operation. The Bank's board community and landowners. approved the Second North East Irrigated Agriculture Project Transformative: A key goal and achievement of the in 2004. By 2007, progress had been slow. The project was WRDSs was to empower women and increase their roles restructured to be more demand driven, flexible, and in local decision making and management. The selection resilient in light of the reescalation of the conflict.5 How- of the WRDSs by the project director was itself transfor- ever, the impact of increased levels of violence in the region mative because it brought their work (and commitment) was not known fully at the time of writing. to the attention of the project officials. The FAO also 510 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE notes that in programs (run by other agencies) in which Anchoring a project at the provincial level can increase men-dominated NGOs were selected as project partners, ownership at the local level and facilitate project imple- women remained marginal beneficiaries with access only mentation, particularly in "pause-in-conflict" and post- through small entities. The partnership with the project conflict situations in which institutions have become also increased the WRDSs' status (and women's status) in weaker but need to revive their lost capacity quickly to the communities. As stated, the project did not highlight engage in broader reconstruction programs, as was the this as an overt goal but implicitly wove this dimension case with this project. through the practical initiatives. This enabled women to Innovation and flexibility in project design, initial pilot- demonstrate their leadership at the community level ing of project activities, and close and competent super- alongside men, without creating a backlash or being seen vision are important if projects are prepared quickly in as the sole beneficiaries of the intervention. That women's conflict-affected situations. organizations were prioritized in field and village assess- In a conflict situation, securing technical assistance to ments is indicative of how the project staff became aware build local capacity is critical. The changes wrought by of (or changed their attitudes) toward the relevance and conflict and the impact in every sector are overwhelming potential of women in recovery programming. for states and grassroots communities. These impacts are Targeted: The project realized that despite its efforts to exacerbated over time as education and skill-building integrate women in the community structures, many opportunities diminish (because of violence), tech- women (particularly the very poor and landless) were still nocrats or other skilled citizens migrate, and the violence not benefiting from the intervention. The LSA compo- forces isolation on those left in rural areas. Communities nent sought to redress this by targeting loans to women (and governments) often need support to assess and specifically. Giving implementation responsibility (and understand the changed conditions, the needs that exist, technical support) to the WRDSs was also a means of and means to work when basic infrastructure is weak- enhancing their management capacities. Interestingly, ened or destroyed (such as no banking systems). the introduction of the LSA late in the process could be a Selecting villages in poorer areas and activities targeted at positive technique for providing targeted support to poor and landless people ensures that the benefits of irri- women. If others are already benefiting from the inter- gation-led projects reach communities and families most vention, they may be more willing to acknowledge that in need of assistance. the very poor are still excluded and thus be supportive of The full inclusion of women's structures at the village (or at least not against) targeted efforts to reach them. level can be an effective means of drawing upon and strengthening women's leadership. LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR Livelihood support to women can make a project more WIDER APPLICABILITY inclusive and has tremendous potential for alleviating poverty. It would be necessary, however, to ensure that The degree of gender sensitivity that emerged in this project every sector in society is benefiting equitably and that was not overtly planned at the outset. It was a positive and "traditional" community leaders are informed and con- somewhat unanticipated outcome, but one that does indi- sulted about targeted support to women. Otherwise a cate that gender-sensitive assessment and analysis are critical risk of backlash exists. to a program's overall effectiveness. The lessons and issues CBOs need sufficient training and technical backup to that emerge for future projects include the following: sustain project-created assets. This can range from train- Women-run CBOs are often the most effective partners ing in maintenance of the new infrastructure to manage- in supporting the poor and the most vulnerable. Where ment of resources and funds to monitoring and account- women's organizations are not included as project part- ability methods and consultative decision-making ners, women typically do not benefit from the resources practices. available and remain marginalized and more vulnerable Continuous monitoring and assessing of project (Wanasundera 2006). processes and impacts with beneficiary participation Delivering assistance directly to communities and should be part of project monitoring and evaluation sys- forming strategic alliances between key stakeholders are tems. It is not sufficient to have technical auditing with- critical determinants of project success in conflict- out a clearly defined practical quality management system affected situations. in place. Such monitoring should include collection and INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: FOOD AID VERSUS AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT AND SUSTENANCE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL 511 analysis of sex-disaggregated data at the outset, mid- include analysis of the reactions of and interactions with point, and end of the project to assess if and how women the traditional leadership in the community. In addition and men have benefited. It could also include consulta- to the quantitative data needed, a description and analy- tions with beneficiary groups (or individuals) to deter- sis of processes undertaken would be helpful for future mine whether needs were met and how processes can be efforts. For example, the project should document how improved. men and women were consulted (as groups, individuals, The project reports and documentation should provide together, separately) and what differences the approaches more information and analysis of the strategies and tac- made. The impact of the interventions (such as grants to tics adopted to ensure women's inclusion. This should landless women) should also be documented. 512 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 Niger:Taking Preventive Action with Food Banks N iger, one of the poorest nations in the world, is a As a reaction to this situation, the government of Niger, landlocked Sahelian country with a predomi- with the support of foreign donors, established an emergency nantly agrarian society. Eighty percent of the program in 2005 to distribute free food, emergency seeds, population lives in rural areas characterized by subsistence and fodder. In 2006 IFAD and the Belgian Survival Fund crop production and livestock keeping. Sixty-three percent started a second emergency program, which established of Niger's population lives below the poverty line, and the food banks to ensure sustainable supplies of food and, ulti- country's policy makers are confronted with high illiteracy mately, to relieve food insecurities of vulnerable house- and child mortality rates. Women and women-headed holds. The program targeted the most vulnerable women in households constitute the country's poorest and most vul- the Maradi region. nerable social group. The program was implemented in several steps: Niger's agricultural production is hampered by insuffi- cient and irregular rains, which lead to frequent droughts. Villages in the Maradi region with a food deficit of more Low soil fertility, parasite attacks, and a high population than 50 percent were identified as target villages. Selected growth rate aggravate the pressure on agricultural produc- communities were informed extensively about the setup tion. As a consequence, the country is faced with chronic of food banks. food insecurities, particularly during the so-called hunger Within the target villages, the most vulnerable women season, which is the season before the harvest. In 2004 Niger were identified according to predetermined criteria. experienced insufficient rains and locust attacks, which These included the possession of land and livestock caused a severe food crisis in 2005. The Maradi region and assets as well as the income and food security situation of women and children were hit especially hard. The crisis was the household. According to these criteria, women were described as a situation in which food was either not avail- classified as extremely vulnerable, very vulnerable, vul- able or not accessible to the population. nerable, and slightly vulnerable. In every village, management committees consisting of a president, treasurer, and secretary were appointed by a general assembly of food bank beneficiaries. The mem- What's innovative? bers were selected on the basis of their displayed com- The most vulnerable in the population, women mitment. Most of the committees were composed in a particular region in this case, are exclusively entirely of women. In villages with very low women's lit- targeted. eracy rates, a literate man was appointed secretary. Com- Food bank beneficiaries elect and control the mittee members were then trained at the regional level management committees, which results in high on how to manage food banks and were provided with commitment to the operations of the food bank. management manuals to be used on a day-to-day basis. Management committees are intensively trained After the establishment and training of the management on the regional level to ensure efficient opera- committees, food was purchased and a storage place (the tions of the bank. food bank building) was arranged. The initial food stock financed by the project was about six tons per bank. 513 Food distribution (of mainly cereals) takes place weekly empowered rural women in a positive way, as illustrated in during the hunger season, which generally runs from July the following section. through September. Only women may take a food loan from the bank. After the harvest, recipients have to repay the bank BENEFITS AND IMPACTS in kind the amount of food taken out plus 25 percent inter- est. The interest rate is determined by the management com- The impacts of the project have yet to be quantified because mittee and may be lowered in times of bad harvests. Stocks the project began so recently, in 2006. Still, it is reported that are thus recovered and stored for the next hunger season. the food banks allowed the beneficiaries to cover most of The allocation and recovery of the food stock are managed their food needs during the hunger season. The increase in entirely by the elected committee member. Finally, a follow- food availability led to a reduction in malnutrition, particu- up and evaluation process at the regional and governmental larly for women and children, who were able to increase the levels was established to assess clearly which households ben- number of meals available to them. For example, children efited and in what ways. The evaluation process is carried out received two to three meals, on average, during the hunger jointly by the management committees and the project man- season. With a larger availability of food, the number of agers. Because the food banks started in 2006, no quantifi- meals increased to three to five meals each day. able impacts on beneficiaries are yet available. Other direct impacts of food banks are related to the Over the period of one year (2006­07), 111 food banks coping strategies that rural households employ during a cri- in 111 villages were set up. About 683 tons of cereals were sis. For example, agricultural productivity of the target distributed, which benefited 26,000 households in the households improved because farm households were no Maradi region, or approximately 200,000 persons. Census longer forced to redirect household labor off-farm to earn data that quantify how many women, apart from the additional income for food purchases. Productivity also rose woman loan holder, live in a beneficiary household are not because the physical capacities of farmers increased because currently available. Eighty percent of the beneficiaries were of regular food intake. In addition, farmers were no longer food secure for less than six months a year. Repayment forced to harvest their crops prematurely, which often leads rates for the loans are 97 percent, which is unusually high. to lower yields. Consequently, the increase in food stocks varies between 10 The higher availability of food, supplied by food banks, and 25 percent in the target villages. Part of this success is also resulted in lower rates of livestock sold to raise income attributable to the fact that beneficiaries of the bank are for food supplies. Livestock usually belong to women in actively involved in the bank's management. This kind of Niger. Therefore, the higher food availability led to a higher empowerment gives rise to a close personal identification retainment of women's assets. Similarly, households took with the food bank and consequently results in high repay- out fewer loans, which they often resort to in response to a ment rates. crisis, resulting in lower household debts. Interestingly, indirect impacts have also been reported. Through their active involvement in the formation and GENDER APPROACH management of the food banks, women raised their organi- The project targets and deals with women directly in all its zational capacities in areas that are traditionally men domi- stages, which is unusual for the men-dominated society nated. Moreover, closer social networks evolved among that prevails in Niger. The project targets the most vulner- women, who started to share a common goal. Most impor- able women in the Maradi region, and only they are tantly, by targeting and involving the most vulnerable allowed to take out food from the food banks. Remarkably, women, the project helped them improve their social posi- the management committees of the food banks are pre- tion and decision-making power within the household and dominantly composed of women, who are actively involved the village. in the establishment of the bank. In addition, the manage- To ensure the continued success of food banks, further ment committee controls the allocation and recovery of the steps have to be taken. The stock of food should be food stock. Committee members and beneficiaries meet increased to about 10 tons per bank to allow for the cover- regularly to discuss problems and needs associated with age of food needs during the whole hunger season. More- the food bank and decide upon the potential solutions. over, upgrading of storage facilities and further strengthen- Placing the project management and control into the ing of management capacities are necessary to improve the hands of beneficiaries is unique in this context and has performance of the food banks. 514 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER Thematic Note 1 APPLICABILITY This Thematic Note was prepared by Sanam Naraghi- Establishing food banks where food is taken as a loan and Anderlini (Consultant) and reviewed by Nata Duvvury and repaid in kind is an approach not frequently followed in Niger Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Rubin (Cultural and other developing economies. Yet the project illustrated Practice); Kaori Abe, Suzanne Raswant, Ilaria Sisto, and Richard Trenchard (FAO); Katuscia Fara, Maria Hartl, and that food banks can serve (1) to act as an efficient tool to ease Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Ian Bannon, Lynn Brown, a food crisis, (2) to prevent sustainably future food crises, and and Eija Pehu (World Bank). (3) to avoid having the most vulnerable households be hit 1. Author involved in the program, December 2007. hardest by food shortages. Food banks may also act as an 2. In Liberia and Timor-Leste, community activists noted instrument to relieve household debt and to prevent the out- that in the rush to flee the onslaught of violence, women migration of young men to earn off-farm income. Placing the tend to carry mattresses with them, not cooking pots or management and control of the bank into the hands of the other utensils needed for food preparation. (The author of beneficiaries is a unique element of this project that resulted this Note participated in a UNFPA workshop in which the in a high commitment to the project and thereby may cement issues were raised, in Tunis in June 2007.) its success and sustainability. The empowerment of vulnera- ble groups, particularly women, in the management of the Thematic Note 2 bank may be a channel for improving these groups' social position in the village and in the household. This Thematic Note was prepared by Sanam Naraghi- Anderlini (Consultant) and reviewed by Nata Duvvury and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Rubin (Cultural NOTES Practice); Kaori Abe, Suzanne Raswant, Ilaria Sisto, and Richard Trenchard (FAO); Katuscia Fara, Maria Hartl, and Overview Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Ian Bannon, Lynn Brown, The Overview was written by Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini and Eija Pehu (World Bank). (Consultant) and reviewed by Nata Duvvury and Catherine 1. "Long Term Recovery Sidelined in East Africa Food Cri- Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Rubin (Cultural Practice); sis," press release, May 2006, www.oxfam.org. Kaori Abe, Suzanne Raswant, Ilaria Sisto, and Richard Trenchard (FAO); Katuscia Fara, Maria Hartl, and Sheila Thematic Note 3 Mwanundu (IFAD); and Ian Bannon, Lynn Brown, and Eija Pehu (World Bank). This Thematic Note was prepared by Sanam Naraghi- 1. "Ecological Sources of Conflict," Somaliland Times, Anderlini (Consultant) and reviewed by Nata Duvvury and March 15, 2003, www.somalilandtimes.net. Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Rubin (Cultural Practice); Kaori Abe, Suzanne Raswant, Ilaria Sisto, and 2. "Colombia Displacement,"May 3,2007,www.alertnet.org. Richard Trenchard (FAO); Katuscia Fara, Maria Hartl, and 3. "Background Information," The UN Secretary General's Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Ian Bannon, Lynn Brown, High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis," and Eija Pehu (World Bank). www.un.org/issues/food/taskforce/background.shtml. 1. David Bledsoe and Michael Brown, "Land and Conflict, 4 "Burundi: Land Tops List of Challenges for Returnees," A Toolkit for Intervention," USAID, www.usaid.gov. June 14, 2007, www.irinnews.org. 2. John Unruh, "Post Conflict Land Tenure, Using a Sus- 5. See S. Gabizon,"Natural Disasters and Gender," Women tainable Livelihoods Approach," LSP Working Paper No. 18, in Europe for a Common Future, www.wecf.de. www.fao.org. 6. Eric Neumayer and Thomas Plumper, "The Gendered 3. Estimate by IDRC, available at www.idrc.ca. Nature of Natural Disasters: The Impact of Catastrophic 4. "Women and Sustainable Food Security," www.fao.org. Events on the Gender Gap in Life Expectancy, 1981­2002," Social Science Research Network, January, www.ssrn.com. 5. The full report is available at www.lines-magazine. org/Art_Feb03/WomenMission.htm. 7. In the Occupied Palestinian Territories men have left the agricultural sector for better-paying jobs, but as men's 6. As documented in Brown and Uvuza (2006). unemployment has risen, increased pressure has been put 7. Women's News Network, "Nepal's ASMITA Brings on women to generate incomes through their agricultural Women Powerful Advocacy,"January 10, 2008, women news- work and informal employment (Esim and Kuttab 2002). network.net. See www.erf.org.eg. 8. ECLAC 2004, FAO/SEAGA program. MODULE 11: NOTES 515 Innovative Activity Profile 1 Greenberg, Marcia, and Elaine Zuckerman. 2004."The Gen- der Dimensions of Post Conflict Reconstruction." Gender This Innovative Activity Profile was prepared by Sanam and Development 12 (3): 70­82. Naraghi-Anderlini (Consultant) and reviewed by Nata Duvvury and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Homer-Dixon, Thomas, and Kimberley Kelly. 1995."Environ- Rubin (Cultural Practice); Kaori Abe, Suzanne Raswant, mental Scarcity and Violent Conflict, The Case of Gaza." Ilaria Sisto, and Richard Trenchard (FAO); Katuscia Fara, Part 1, Occasional Paper, Project on Environment, Popula- Maria Hartl, and Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Ian Bannon, tion and Scarcity, June, American Association for the Lynn Brown, and Eija Pehu (World Bank). Advancement of Science and the University of Toronto, Washington, DC. 1. The descriptions and assessment provided here are pre- dominantly drawn and largely directly quoted from the offi- Kryspin-Watson, Jolanta, Jean Arkedis, and Wael Zakout. cial project documents available at www.worldbank.org. 2006. "Mainstreaming Hazard Risk Management into Rural Projects." Disaster Risk Management Working 2. The British Refugee Council, Sri Lanka Monitor Brief- Paper No. 13, April, World Bank, Washington, DC. ing, October 1999, "The Food Aid Weapon," www.brcslpro ject.gn.apc.org. Lalasz, Robert. 2005. "The Indian Ocean Tsunami, Special Challenges for Women Survivors." January, Population 3. Irrigation tank is the name used in Sri Lanka to describe Reference Bureau, Washington, DC. a lake or reservoir of water constructed to capture and store seasonal rainfall for use in irrigation during the dry season Naraghi-Anderlini, Sanam. 2007. Women Building Peace: and for domestic use in the villages. Most of the rural What They Do, Why It Matters. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. human settlements (villages) have typically evolved and United Nations (UN). 2005."Disarmament, Demobilization, located near irrigation tanks. Reintegration (DDR), and Stability in Africa." Conference 4. In a communication with the author, the World Bank Report, UN, New York. project director stated that the idea was introduced and wel- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2007. comed. The FAO document points to the "dynamism" that "Sudan Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment," June, the WRDSs brought. UNEP, Geneva. 5. Available from www.worldbank.org. United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee (UN IASC). 2006. Women, Men, Boys and Girls, Different Needs, Equal Opportunities. Gender Handbook in Humanitarian Innovative Activity Profile 2 Aid. New York: UN. World Bank. 2007."Restarting Irrigation in Sri Lanka's Farm- This Innovative Activity Profile was prepared by Ira ing Zone.""IDA at Work," May, World Bank, Washington, Matuschke (Consultant) and reviewed by Nata Duvvury, DC. Also available at www.worldbank.org. Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, and Catherine Ragasa (Consul- tants); Deborah Rubin (Cultural Practice); and Hubert Zaur, Ian. 2006. "Agriculture and Conflict: A Conceptual Boirard and Maria Hartl (IFAD). This was heavily from the Framework for Development." Master's thesis, Tufts author's experience and from several sources: Government University. of Niger (2007), IFAD (2007a, 2007b); Roumanatou and others (2007); and UNOPS (2007). Thematic Note 1 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005. "Building REFERENCES on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge." FAO, Rome. Overview Kryspin-Watson, Jolanta, Jean Arkedis, and Wael Zakout. Anderson, Mary. 1999. Do No Harm, How Aid Can Support 2006. "Mainstreaming Hazard Risk Management into Peace or War. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. Rural Projects." Disaster Risk Management Working Enarson, Elaine. 2000. "Gender and Natural Disasters." Paper No. 13, April, World Bank, Washington, DC. Working Paper No. 1, IFP/CRISIS, Recovery and Recon- McGrew, Laura, Kate Frieson, and Sambath Chan. 2004. Good struction Department, September, International Labour Governance from the Ground Up: Women's Roles in Post Organization (ILO), Geneva. Conflict Cambodia. Washington, DC: Hunt Alternatives. Esim, Simel, and Eileen Kuttab. 2002. "Women's Informal Mitchell, Tom, Thomas Tanner, and Kattie Lussier. 2007. Employment: Securing a Livelihood against All Odds." "We Know What We Need: South Asian Women Speak Working Paper 0213, Economic Research Forum, Out on Climate Change Adaptation."ActionAid/Institute Cairo. for Development Studies, London. 516 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE Morehead, J. 2007. Risk Diagnostic and Needs Assessment of Needs--Equal Opportunities. Gender Handbook in the Coatepeque Caldera, El Salvador. San Salvador, El Sal- Humanitarian Action. New York: UN. vador: International Organization New Acropolis. World Bank. 2006. Mainstreaming Hazard Risk Management Ramdas, Sagari, Nithya Ghotge, Nandini Mathur Ashalatha, in Rural Projects. Washington, DC: World Bank. M. L. Sanyasi Rao, N. Madhusudhan, S. Seethalakshmi, N. Pandu. Dora, N. Kantham, E. Venkatesh, and J. Savithri. Thematic Note 3 2004. "Overcoming Gender Barriers: Local Knowledge Systems and Animal Health Healing in Andrha Pradesh Bradshaw, Sarah. 2004. "Socio-Economic Impact of Natural and Maharashtra." In Livelihood and Gender: Equity in Disasters: A Gender Analysis."UN ECLAC, Santiago, Chile. Community Resource Management, ed. Sumi Krishna, Brown, Jennifer, and Justine Uvuza. 2006. "Women's Land 67­91. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Rights in Rwanda." Rural Development Institute, Seattle. Seager, Joni, and Betsy Hartmann. 2005. Mainstreaming Farha, Leilani. 2000."Women's Rights to Land, Property and Gender in Environmental Assessment and Early Warning. Housing." Forced Migration Review (April 7): 23­26. Nairobi: United Nations Environmental Programme. Fitzpatrick, Daniel. 2007. "Women's Rights to Land and United Nations Fund for Population Action (UNFPA). Housing in Tsunami-Affected Indonesia." Oxfam Inter- 2007. Global Review of Challenges and Good Practices in national Policy Paper, Asia Research Institute, Singapore. Support of Women in Conflict and Post-conflict Situations. McGrew, Laura, Kate Frieson, and Sambath Chan. 2004. New York: UNFPA. "Good Governance from the Ground Up: Women's Roles United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee (UN in Post Conflict Cambodia." Initiative for Inclusive Secu- IASC). 2006. Women, Girls, Boys and Men: Different rity, Washington, DC. Needs--Equal Opportunities. Gender Handbook in United Nations Habitat. 1999. "Women's Rights to Land, Humanitarian Action. New York: UN. Housing and Property in Post Conflict Settings. A Global United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduc- Overview."Land Management Series No. 9, United Nations tion (UN ISDR). 2007. "Gender Perspectives: Working Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), Nairobi. Together for Disaster Risk Reduction." ISDR, Geneva. Unruh, Van. 2004. "Post-Conflict Land Tenure Using A Sus- tainable Livelihoods Approach." Livelihood Support Pro- Thematic Note 2 gramme (LSP), Working Paper 18, Food and Agriculture Barber, Ben. 1997."Feeding Refugees or War? The Dilemmas Organization (FAO), Rome. of Humanitarian Aid." Foreign Affairs 76 (July/August Van den Brink, Rogier, Hans Binswanger, John Bruce, Glen 1997): 8­14. Thomas, Frank Byamugisha, and Natasha Mukherjee. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2003. Socio- 2006. "Consensus, Confusion, and Controversy: Selected Economic and Gender Analysis (SEAGA) Programme Land Reform Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa." Working Handbooks. Rome: FAO. Paper No. 71, World Bank, Washington, DC. Longley, Catherine, Ian Christoplos, Tom Slaymaker, and Women and Media Collective. 2002. "Women's Concerns Silvestro Meseka. 2007."Rural Recovery in Fragile States: and the Peace Process: Findings and Recommendations." Agricultural Support in Countries Emerging from Con- Report of the International Women's Mission to the flict." Natural Resource Perspectives No. 105, February, North East of Sri Lanka, October 12-17, 2002. Women ODI, London. and Media Collective, Colombo. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development World Bank. 2004. "A Fair Share for Women, Cambodia (OECD). 2006. "The Development Effectiveness of Food Gender Assessment." World Bank, Phnom Penh. Aid: Does Tying Matter?" OECD, Paris. Pampell-Conaway, Camille, and Salomé Martinez. 2004. Innovative Activity Profile 1 "Adding Value, Women's Contribution to Reintegration Wanasundera, Leelangi. 2006. Rural Women in Sri Lanka's and Reconstruction in El Salvador." Women Waging Post-Conflict Rural Economy. Bangkok: Food and Agri- Peace, Washington, DC. culture Organization. United Nations Fund for Population Action (UNFPA), 2007. Global Review of Challenges and Good Practices in Support of Women in Conflict and Post-conflict Situations. Innovative Activity Profile 2 New York: UNFPA. Government of Niger. 2007. "Rapport d'Achèvement du United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee (UN Programme d'Urgence 2006 Financé sur Don FIDA No. IASC). 2006. Women, Girls, Boys and Men: Different SUPPL-IT-52-NE." Niamey. MODULE 11: REFERENCES 517 International Fund for Agricultural Development. 2007a. Environmental Management." United Nations Divi- "Niger--L'Experience du PPILDA/AGUIE dans le sion for the Advancement of Women, United Nations, Renforcement de la Sécurité Alimentaire. des Actions New York. á Soutenir." IFAD, Rome. Macdonald, Mott. 2007. "Brazil Working with Both Women ------. 2007b. "Oeuvrer pour que les Ruraux Pauvres se and Men to Promote Gender Balance." In Gender Per- Libèrent de la Pauvreté au Niger." IFAD, Rome. spectives: Working Together for Disaster Risk Reduction, Roumanatou, E., D. Hamado, and A. Aboubacar. 2007. ed. R. Alain Valency, 3­6. Geneva: UN International "Expériences des Banques des Soudure au PPILDA." Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Niamey. Pusch, Christoph. 2004. Preventable Losses: Saving Lives and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). 2007. Property through Hazard Risk Management. A Compre- "Projet de Promotion de l'Initiative Locale pour le hensive Risk Management Framework for Europe and Cen- Développement á Aguié. Rapport de la Mission de tral Asia. Washington, DC: World Bank. Supervision." Dakar, Senegal. Thematic Note 2 FURTHER READING Kryspin-Watson, Jolanta, Jean Arkedis, and Wael Zakout. Thematic Note 1 2006. "Mainstreaming Hazard Risk Management in Rural Project," Disaster Risk Management Working Fordham, Maureen. 2001. "Challenging Boundaries: A Paper No. 13, April, World Bank, Washington, DC. Gender Perspective on Early Warning in Disaster and 518 MODULE 11: GENDER AND CRISES: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE M O D U L E 1 2 Gender in Crop Agriculture Overview CROP AGRICULTURE, GENDER, AND PATHWAYS spend their incomes on food, with consequent improve- FROM POVERTY ments in household food security, nutritional security, and especially the development of children. In Guatemala the he proposition that agriculture, including crop pro- T amount spent on food in households whose profits from duction, is the only realistic driver for mass poverty nontraditional agricultural exports were controlled by reduction and rural development in most of the women was double that of households in which men con- developing world, and perhaps particularly in sub-Saharan trolled the profits (World Bank 2007). Africa, is now accepted by many academics, international As a means of understanding agriculture's present and development organizations, and national governments prospective role in development and poverty reduction, (Lipton 2005; World Bank 2007) (box 12.1). developing countries can be grouped into three broad A further proposition, emphasized in a recent World categories: agricultural-based economies, transforming Development Report (World Bank 2007), is that farming is a economies, and urbanized economies (World Bank 2007). key pathway out of poverty for women, and that women's Farmers (including women) in each category face different prospects for taking this path improve when they have bet- challenges in improving their living conditions. This Mod- ter access to resources. Because of their limited access to ule focuses on agricultural-based economies, in which many essential production resources, such as land, labor, and poor women rely on agriculture for their livelihoods and in inputs, women's role in crop agriculture is often restricted to which improvements in crop agriculture can yield the great- producing subsistence food crops with low potential to gen- est impact. This Module and accompanying Thematic Notes erate income. The prospects for women to expand their also examine the role of gender in high-value and organic incomes through alternatives such as seasonal migration or crop production.1 labor markets outside agriculture are limited. Women's mobility is usually more constrained by social and cultural norms, and women play a central role in raising and caring CROP AGRICULTURE AND EARLIER for children. DEVELOPMENTTRENDS An important element of development strategies that rely To understand changing perceptions of crop agriculture and on agriculture is to enable women to improve food produc- its role in development, a review of earlier development tion and--depending on the context--to move beyond sub- trends and policies is important. A major principle in the sistence production into higher-value and market-oriented development of crop agriculture has been to raise the production (World Bank 2007). Women, more than men, yields of a selected number of staple food crops. This effort, 519 evident that these new packages of technology were not Box 12.1 Shared Views of Agriculture as a spreading evenly among farmers; they mostly benefited Driver of Poverty Reduction and Rural Development farmers in favored environments with access to productive soil and irrigation facilities. Evidence emerged that wide- spread adoption took place in countries and regions that Food and Agriculture Organization: "There has invested in infrastructure development and input and credit been a shift in the general trend of giving low pri- supply while supporting and stabilizing the prices of cereal ority to agriculture as compared to industrializa- crops (Gabre-Madhin, Barrett, and Dorosh 2003). tion. A new recognition is growing in many parts Attempts to address this imbalance and replicate Green of the world of the crucial role of the agricultural Revolution experiences in less-favored regions led to the sector for increasing export earnings, generating conclusion that farmers in "complex and risk-prone" areas employment and improving food security." World Bank: "Rural poverty is as diverse as are (Chambers 1997) were unable to benefit from standardized the rural poor in their livelihood strategies, but in technology packages and that alternative processes of tech- most of the poorest developing countries agricul- nology development were required. The poverty levels of ture is the main source of rural economic growth. many farm households precluded any reasonable hope that That is why improved agricultural productivity they could take advantage of technologies requiring a sig- and growth are central to the Bank's strategy." nificant financial investment (Tripp 2006). International Fund for Agricultural Develop- Market orientation was and remains another important ment: "Investment in agriculture is the key to driver for crop agriculture development, resulting in meeting the MDGs [Millennium Development improved crop varieties (notably hybrids) with uniform Goals] given that 75 percent of the world's poorest yields and crop characteristics and a dependence on external people, living on less than a dollar a day, live in inputs and technologies. In market-oriented crop production rural areas and depend on agriculture and related systems, access to production resources is crucial, which poses activities for their livelihoods." Department for International Development, potential gender inequalities. These inequalities are widened United Kingdom: "Agriculture should be placed at even further because very few improvements in farm tech- the heart of efforts to reduce poverty . . . [as] there nology have been devised to overcome women's constraints. is a mass of evidence that increasing agricultural Efforts to intensify agriculture by promoting large-scale productivity has benefited millions through higher farming and commercial crop production for export, farm incomes, more plentiful and cheaper food, and by mechanization, improved seed, fertilizer, and pesticides have generating patterns of development that are been linked mostly to cash crop production, from which men employment intensive and benefit both rural and are more likely to benefit. On the other hand, where surplus urban areas." staple crop production is sold, local food and seed markets Sources: DFID 2005: 1; FAO 2007a; IFAD 2007; World are flourishing. These types of markets are often dominated Bank 2003: xv. by women (Smale and others 2008). RETHINKING CROP AGRICULTURE originating on a wide scale for developing countries in the DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES middle of the twentieth century, led to vast increases in food supplies in many Asian countries (Tripp 2006). Crop agriculture faces a new set of challenges. The persis- The 1960s represented a time of great hope for agricul- tence of poverty reveals the need to reconsider development ture in developing countries. This decade marked the begin- strategies to improve equity and access. The environmental ning of what became known as the Green Revolution in costs of previous crop production strategies are another Asia, the principal manifestation of which was the distribu- important consideration. So-called second-generation tion of short-strawed, fertilizer-responsive varieties of problems with Green Revolution technologies have been wheat and rice. For a few years it looked as if the strategy of observed. For example, evidence is at hand that rice yields in supplying appropriate varieties and complementary fertiliz- Asia are reaching a plateau (Horie and others 2005). Serious ers, pesticides, and other inputs could end rural poverty and questions are being asked about natural resource degrada- chronic food shortages (Tripp 2006). Eventually it became tion and the long-term sustainability of some intensive 520 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE cropping systems (Murgai 2001; Oluoch-Kosura and Karu- is important to recognize that this strategy does not entail a gia 2005).2 The use of agricultural methods that rely heavily wholesale rejection of external inputs to improve produc- on external inputs has caused 38 percent of agricultural land tivity, but rather the increased recognition and reinforce- to be lost to soil erosion and depletion. Although soil ero- ment of complementarities and a thorough analysis of sion is a common effect of various land-use practices, 70 resource availability and needs in subsistence and commer- percent of annual erosion is estimated to occur on land used cial production systems. for agricultural purposes (Crucefix 1998). The Thematic Notes that accompany this Module The recent Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) demonstrate the extent to which using local resources is delineated the negative impact of intensive agriculture on vital for improving crop agriculture. The first two Thematic vital ecosystem services and biodiversity--outcomes that Notes focus on gender in relation to soil and seed, two of the were not considered sufficiently in the past. A growing body primary natural resources essential to crop production. A of evidence shows that the poor depend and will continue to central theme of these Notes is the role of human and social depend on biodiversity as an important livelihood resource capital in the knowledge-intensive management of agricul- (Ash and Jenkins 2007), whereas modern crop production is tural technology. The Notes also identify potential comple- based on only a few plant species (Gruère, Giuliani, and mentarities between (1) local and external inputs and (2) Smale 2006). knowledge and institutions. The third Thematic Note Climate change and its potential consequences for agri- focuses on gender and crop protection, because crop pro- cultural production also require urgent attention in strate- tection is another knowledge-intensive area with high gies for crop agriculture development. The role of crop potential to improve crop productivity. diversity is an important element to consider in developing such strategies. New methods of plant breeding have also affected cur- WHY IS GENDER AVITAL CONSIDERATION IN rent crop production strategies, and their impact on gender CROP AGRICULTURE? in crop production is not yet established. For example, the Addressing gender is crucial in crop agriculture for reasons private sector has invested substantially in developing discussed in the following sections. genetically modified (GM) crops, such as Bt maize, with a clear commercial focus. Bt maize contains an endotoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis that protects plants from insect Women play vital but unrecognized roles in crop production, household food security, and pests such as corn borers. Disease-resistant crops, herbicide- household nutrition tolerant crops, biofortified crops,3 and renewable energy crops are just a few additional examples of new technologies The need to increase food production is clear. Growing pop- that are available or under development. ulations and declining agricultural productivity are leaving All of these factors make it important to reconsider how millions without secure sources of food.Yet advances in food and why crop production technologies are developed. production are constrained by the "invisibility factor"--in Although market orientation remains an important driver other words, by women's major but largely unrecognized of new crop technologies, new niche markets are emerging roles in agriculture. for organic and fair trade products, among others, which Although detailed statistics are not available and figures could offer an opportunity for women to participate. vary depending on the geographical context, it is fair to say Innovation in agriculture now gives greater emphasis to that women supply a large proportion of the agricultural processes that depend on local resources, including knowl- labor and in some societies produce up to 80 percent of the edge and skills, natural resources, and social structures. The food crops (FAO 2007b). Failure to recognize this contribu- realization that most technologies need to be adapted not tion is costly. It results in misguided policies and programs, only to local agroecological conditions but also to individual forgone agricultural output and associated income flows, socioeconomic farm circumstances is an additional justifi- higher levels of poverty, and food and nutritional insecurity cation for promoting innovations based on local resources (World Bank 2007). and skills, and the development of such resources and skills It is widely understood that gender and household food certainly offers an opportunity for empowering women as security are fundamentally linked. Many cultural and well as men farmers and their communities (Tripp 2006). It regional differences exist in women's involvement in crop MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE 521 production, but rural women are the main producers of the agricultural experts seldom recognize that most of Africa's world's staple crops--rice, wheat, and maize--which pro- smallholders are women (World Bank 2007)--as seen by vide up to 90 percent of the food consumed by the rural the costly errors that have arisen from ignoring the fact that poor. Women sow, weed, apply fertilizer and pesticides, and women smallholders may face different constraints than harvest and thresh crops. Their contribution to growing sec- men do, and that such constraints are therefore an impor- ondary crops such as legumes and vegetables is even greater. tant part of the problem. The Agriculture for Development Grown mainly in home gardens, these crops provide essen- Policy Brief (World Bank 2008: 1) states, "The design of tial nutrients and are often the only food available during many development policies continues to assume wrongly the lean seasons or when major crops fail (FAO 2007b). Yet that farmers and rural workers are men. The important women often have the least access to means for significantly role of women in agriculture in many parts of the world increasing output and yields. calls for urgent attention to gender-specific constraints in Women's contributions to crop production are not just agricultural production and marketing. Mainstreaming qualitatively but quantitatively invisible as well. Statistics on gender in agricultural policies and programs is essential for women's yields, women's technology adoption rates, and development success." women's uses of inputs are rarely reported, which proved problematic in developing this Module (the importance of Beware narrow assumptions about women's "food gender-disaggregated data is discussed in Module 16). security first" agenda Women's engagement in farming is commonly associated Women manage complex, species-rich first and foremost with a food security agenda. Although this production systems statement is certainly true, such a narrow view will limit Women tend to manage complex production systems with women's engagement with commercially oriented crop pro- multiple functions, purposes, and species. These systems are duction and will do nothing to help women achieve their not designed to maximize the productivity of any single broader livelihood goals (NEF 2006). In many situations, crop but to ensure overall stability and resilience among the women combine both food production and commercial agri- crops that are produced. This agricultural reality is often culture, although often on a small scale. The gender division overlooked when yields of a single crop are taken as a crite- of activities in crop cultivation can be quite complicated, with rion for evaluating the performance of crop production. different fields being cultivated for different purposes by men Given the increasingly severe weather events caused by cli- and women or family groups,especially in sub-Saharan Africa. mate change, criteria such as crop stability and resistance Women often manage the home gardens, and small-scale crop may be valued more highly in the future. production can contribute significantly to women's incomes as well as to household food security. Women often grow "minor" crops with limited or no market value. However, it is Women have limited access to agricultural services important to realize that women have the potential and the and inputs, are more likely to lack assets, and grow right to participate in more commercially oriented crop pro- more subsistence crops duction. Local markets offer a good opportunity to earn Women farmers are more likely to be asset-poor subsistence income through small-scale sales of staple crops and vegeta- farmers. In sub-Saharan Africa it has been calculated that agri- bles. Often these opportunities are only seasonal. cultural productivity could increase by up to 20 percent if women's access to such resources as land, seed, and fertilizer Crop production is the primary employer of women were equal to men's (DFID 2007), yet women still face serious in most countries constraints in obtaining essential support for most productive resources, such as land, fertilizer, knowledge, infrastructure, Crop production is still the primary source of employment and market organization (these issues are discussed in detail in for women in most developing countries, particularly in other Modules). The ease of obtaining agricultural services sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Almost two-thirds of rural and inputs is even more important in light of women's heavy women are from low-income households. Women-headed workloads and time constraints outside of agriculture. households are the poorest among these, making up more Although rightly contending that the effectiveness of devel- than 35­40 percent of all heads of household in some parts opment strategies hinges on reaching African smallholders, of Asia (Balakrishnan and Fairbairn-Dunlop 2005). Box 12.2 522 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE Box 12.2 Women in Agriculture and Crop Box 12.3 Bolivia:Adjusting Local Agriculture to Production: Indicative Statistics the Loss of Rural Labor Although statistics on women's role in agriculture In Sucre, Bolivia, the labor-intensive harvest and are not widely available--a failure that the Food preparation of quinoa coincides with a seasonal and Agriculture Organization, in conjunction with migration of laborers to the nation's cotton-, sug- other United Nations agencies, is seeking to arcane-, soy-, and wine-producing areas. In areas address--it is nevertheless possible to glean some significantly affected by this migration, women indicative data from the literature and databases: often remain in charge of the farm but face an increasing lack of labor to process quinoa for In Southeast Asia, women provide up to 90 per- home consumption and sale in local markets. It cent of the labor for rice cultivation. has been argued that if quinoa can be made a com- In sub-Saharan Africa, women produce up to mercial crop, generating sufficient income to obvi- 80 percent of basic foodstuffs, both for house- ate the need for migration, then sufficient labor hold consumption and for sale. may become available for postharvest processing. Women perform from 25 to 45 percent of agri- Source: Jonathan Hellin, International Maize and Wheat cultural field tasks in Colombia and Peru. Improvement Center, personal communication, 2007. Women constitute 53 percent of the agricul- tural labor in Egypt. Fewer than 10 percent of women farmers in A potential advantage of migration is that it provides India, Nepal, and Thailand own land. additional cash to invest in crop agriculture and facilitate a An analysis of credit schemes in five African move from subsistence to more commercially oriented agri- countries found that women received less than cultural systems. These shifts can offer new opportunities 10 percent of the credit awarded to men small- holders. for women but can also imply cultural changes and a redef- Only 15 percent of the world's agricultural inition of gender roles in crop production. Gladwin and extension agents are women. others (2001) observe that in "most parts of Africa, women consider farming for food as part of what makes them Source: FAO 2007c. women and gives them a gender identity." In other situa- tions women themselves are the ones who migrate in search of employment, which again has significant consequences presents some indicative statistics on women's importance for crop production. These intrahousehold socioeconomic in agriculture and crop production. changes are important to understand and consider in any Women are not only vitally involved in crop produc- crop production intervention. tion--their role is expanding. Development strategies will be compelled to address gender concerns very explicitly KEY GENDER ISSUES because the number of women involved in and responsible for crop production in developing countries appears to be The following discussion describes the key gender issues in growing so rapidly. Known as the "feminization" of agricul- crop agriculture and the potential benefits of addressing ture, this sociodemographic trend is causing temporary as them. well as permanent shifts in women's responsibilities and tasks. An important factor behind this trend is the migra- Gender and crop choice tion of young men in search of more lucrative employment off of the farm. The depredations of HIV and AIDS in sub- As pointed out earlier, cash and export crops are frequently Saharan Africa have also encouraged this trend. In some regarded as"men's"crops and subsistence crops as"women's" areas the feminization of agriculture has altered the avail- crops.4 The standard explanation for this division of crops ability of labor for producing crops, which in turn may alter by gender is that women are responsible for feeding the cropping patterns, tasks, and crop technology preferences family and thus prefer to grow subsistence crops for the (see Thematic Note 4, Module 7). An example from Bolivia household, whereas men are responsible for providing cash (box 12.3) gives indications of these trade-offs. income and thus raise cash and export crops. MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE 523 In general, however, it is difficult to tell whether women changes in crop diversity can alter social capital formation grow lower-value subsistence crops because they have differ- and power relations (Howard 2003). ent preferences and concerns or because they cannot access The loss of crop diversity could also threaten poor peo- the land, inputs, credit, information, and markets that would ple's ability to adapt their agricultural enterprises to climate permit them to do otherwise (Doss 1999). In Ghana, for change. A recent study by Cline (2007), which reinforces the instance, women farmers view maize production as a pro- likely negative impact of global warming on crop agricul- ductive, income-generating activity yet refrain from grow- ture, indicates that the combined effects on agriculture are ing maize because they lack the capital to purchase the likely to be seriously unfavorable in developing countries, required inputs (fertilizer, herbicide) or hire someone to with the most severe losses occurring in Africa, India, and plow the fields. Instead they continue cultivating cassava and Latin America. These rapidly emerging issues need to be yams, which require fewer external inputs. Moreover, the taken into account in designing interventions in crop agri- majority of women consider maize cultivation to be a risky culture. Understanding women farmers' production strate- enterprise because the crop is sensitive to drought (Adjei- gies with respect to crop stability and resilience will enable Nsiah and others 2007; see also Thematic Notes 1 and 2). agricultural research and development interventions to Cultivation not only of different crops but also of differ- strengthen farmers' capabilities to adapt to climate change ent varieties of the same crop may also vary by gender. and improve family food security. Maize, for instance, may be grown as a cash or subsistence crop. High-yielding maize varieties were introduced in Gender and crop management tasks many areas to generate a marketable surplus, but many of these varieties had different processing, cooking, and stor- In most parts of the world, men and women tend to work age characteristics than the local varieties. The high-yielding at different tasks. Numerous time allocation studies have varieties were often promoted as cash crops. Consequently examined which household members perform which farm in many places local varieties are considered "women's" tasks (for example, see Hirschmann and Vaughan 1984; crops, and high-yielding varieties are considered "men's" McSweeney 1979; Pala 1983). These studies often identify crops (Badstue and others 2007). To the extent that high- some tasks as men's tasks and others as women's tasks. For yielding varieties are grown for cash and local varieties for example, in Kenya women reported that men were respon- food, this gender-variety pattern may persist. However, as sible for building the granary, and women were clearly high-yielding varieties that meet the consumption prefer- responsible for hand digging, harvesting, and transporting ences of smallholder farmers are developed, the distinctions the crops (Pala 1983). Although many tasks may be viewed between subsistence and cash varieties may become blurred. as exclusively women's or men's, in practice the divisions For instance, both hybrid maize and local maize can be are blurred, and both men and women are involved. Rela- viewed as either subsistence or cash crops, depending on a tively few tasks are done only by men or only by women farmer's circumstances and market opportunities. A case (Doss 1999). study in Tanzania (FAO 2008) showed that groundnut That women throughout Africa tend to provide more yields would determine whether the crop was controlled by labor for agriculture than men--and almost always provide men or women. If the groundnut harvest was good, men more total labor--has implications for technology adop- sold the produce in the market; if it was not, control would tion. Even if they know they can increase productivity, remain with the women. women may be unable to increase the number of hours that Gender differentiation also occurs with respect to com- they spend working. Simple comparisons of hours worked binations of crop species and varieties. Commercial systems do not capture issues related to the type of work being done feature homogeneous varieties of a single crop species, and the energy expended. The value of time will vary by sea- whereas traditional cropping patterns are much more son and task; thus, people will be interested in saving the diverse. As noted, women tend to manage complex and time that is the most costly (Levi 1987). However, to the species-rich production systems designed to ensure overall extent that the tasks vary by gender and the value of production stability and resilience. Some traditional crops women's time is lower, farmers may be more inclined to determine the social status of men and women and are adopt technologies that save men's time. linked closely to traditional knowledge and culture. They The gender division of labor appears to change in are also integral to social capital because of their important response to changing economic opportunities. As noted, roles in ceremonies and traditional meals. In this sense, when men leave agricultural communities in search of 524 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE higher earnings, women assume many traditionally "men's" especially for such key crop production issues as seed man- tasks. Men usually move into traditionally "women's" crop agement, plant breeding, crop protection, and soil fertility activities when those activities are perceived as having management. Understanding gender differences in local become more productive or profitable. Women in Burkina knowledge and recognizing the contribution women can Faso traditionally picked shea nuts, for example, but now make in this field are important, because women are more that sales of shea nuts are profitable, men are becoming frequently involved in traditional farming practices. Knowl- involved, often with the assistance of their wives. Another edge difference can reveal important opportunities to con- factor behind changes in labor allocation for different tasks tribute to crop improvement or crop and variety selection is the adoption of new technologies. For instance, the mech- (see the discussion of farmer innovation in Thematic Note anization of "women's" tasks may cause men to take greater 1 and seed management in Thematic Note 2). Knowledge control of those tasks. The extent to which these changes differences must also be understood to improve the effec- benefit or disadvantage women and men is not always clear, tiveness of any technology dissemination or extension and it is difficult to predict a priori what changes will occur process (see the discussion of integrated pest management (Doss 1999). in Thematic Note 3). Seasonality further influences labor allocations. Com- pared to Asia, where irrigated agriculture is much more Gender and access to information, organizations, common, in Africa the seasonal demands for labor are more and markets pronounced, because crop agriculture is mainly rain fed and the growing season is relatively short. In Africa, 50­70 per- Information--appropriate information, given and received cent of the labor is required within a four-month period; on a timely basis--is critical to the development and use of comparable figures for Asia are 40­50 percent (Delgado and technical innovations and improvements, yet women fre- Ranade 1987). If this seasonal demand coincides with quently cannot obtain such information. Agricultural migration by men, women's burden of labor becomes even research and development, including extension services, higher and negatively affects overall crop production, have been dominated by men and have largely ignored because women will have to prioritize labor allocation women's role in crop production (Jiggins, Samanta, and between food and cash crops. Olawoye 1997) and have not focused on women's needs for Research and extension systems can become more effec- technology and information. Social norms and cultural tive in developing sustainable crop production systems if practices can prevent women from participating in develop- they adopt a gender perspective that heightens their under- ment interventions or information campaigns. Using more standing of the distinct roles, needs, and opportunities of appropriate information channels is one way to address this different household members (see also Module 7). situation (see Thematic Note 3). Another strategy is to pro- vide more relevant information by specifically addressing gender aspects of crop production. Gender and knowledge differences Over the last two centuries, societies have invested con- Men and women can accumulate very distinct and rich sets siderably in complex institutional arrangements to advance of agricultural knowledge and skills as a result of gender technological innovation in agriculture. Many of these insti- divisions in the tasks they undertake, such as seed manage- tutions have overlooked women and have marginalized ment and conservation and pest and disease management. women farmers in terms of technology adoption. Gender- Many studies show that men and women have different responsive actions should enable women farmers to take preferences and criteria for choosing among crops and greater advantage of extension systems and increase the varieties and performing such activities as selecting seed, accessibility of new agricultural technologies and innova- cultivating, harvesting, and processing (Howard 2003). tions. Organizational innovations, such as participatory Because women tend to manage complex farming systems, research, farmer-extension linkages, and strengthening the they have developed multiple assessment criteria for crop linkages between formal and local seed systems, can system performance, encompassing risk minimization, vul- improve women's livelihood outcomes by ensuring that nerability, and other objectives that must be considered in technologies meet their needs. These issues are discussed in promoting innovations. greater detail in Thematic Notes 1 and 2, which describe Local knowledge of men and women farmers is an potential complementarities between formal and informal important asset in innovation and technology development, organizations (see also Module 7). MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE 525 Markets will continue to influence the choice of crop For each of these key areas for intervention, the follow- species and varieties in important ways. Markets can offer ing points should be kept in mind: opportunities for women as well as men, and crop interven- tions must not fail to consider this point (examples include Women and men, depending on their cultural and social assessing the export potential for women's crops or facilitat- backgrounds, perform different roles and have varying ing women's participation in niche markets for organic or responsibilities in agriculture--in crop production as fair trade produce). Markets are also important for provid- well as crop management. A better understanding of ing agricultural inputs. Because women so often lack the these differences will help to address the prevailing economic resources or mobility to reach input markets, gender issues. improving access to local markets can be particularly In making decisions about their livelihoods, men and important for them (see also Modules 5 and 8). For exam- women have different perceptions of what is important. ple, as discussed in Thematic Note 2, local seed markets are Men and women base their decisions on information an increasingly important means for women to obtain from different sources. improved crop species and varieties and exchange knowl- The unequal power relationships between rich and poor, edge. Flourishing food markets for local consumption can men and women, must be understood to achieve equi- render distinctions between cash and subsistence crops less table development and full participation of women. obvious, and local markets give women an opportunity to Interventions must be developed based on a comprehen- become involved in crop commercialization. sive understanding of the needs that women and men identify to improve their situations. The strategic inter- ests of women and the most disadvantaged groups need KEY AREAS FOR INTERVENTION to be addressed to improve overall crop production and Soil--specifically soil productivity and fertility--is a key reduce poverty. asset for resource-poor women and men. The degradation of soil through overuse and erosion can severely limit peo- The adoption and use of new technologies and inputs ple's livelihoods. Because sustainable soil management is are strongly affected by who controls and owns a given fundamental to the future of crop agriculture, Thematic crop. Failure to understand and address these and other Note 1 discusses interventions specifically designed to help socioeconomic dimensions of crop production means that women sustain soil productivity. interventions are bound to fail. All interventions that aim Diversity--both in the types of crops grown and in the to enhance the productivity of crop agriculture must take genetic makeup of specific crops--is another important explicit account of gender. The principal concerns are well asset, especially for resource-poor farmers. Farmers may known; many are discussed specifically in this volume. As select crops and varieties of crops that make it possible to a matter of course, women farmers must have access to pursue a greater range of livelihood strategies (which may information, credit, and other inputs, as well as the organ- vary by gender among household members), enhance izations through which markets are accessed and policies household food security, and minimize risk. For example, are influenced. Years of experience confirm that these the failure of one variety or crop may be mitigated by the things are still easier said than done. At the same time, it is survival of others. Strategies to understand and conserve critical to acknowledge the "feminization" of agriculture genetic diversity must not overlook the fact that women (particularly in sub-Saharan Africa) and overcome the bias often have different means of accessing and exchanging of associating women's farming exclusively with a food seed (Thematic Note 2). security agenda. Recognizing women's involvement in Women and children are often directly or indirectly commercial crop production and ensuring that they benefit involved in crop protection, and their limited access to infor- from research, extension, credit, land tenure rights, market mation about safe pesticide use imperils human health and access, and other elements of production, innovation, and poses an environmental hazard. Twenty to forty percent of participation still requires a significant organizational shift the world's potential crop production is lost annually to in many agricultural services. Without such a shift, it will be weeds, pests, and diseases (CropLife International 2007). difficult to broaden the base of women farmers who can Crop protection strategies that may be particularly relevant adopt crop technologies, and thus it will be difficult for agri- to women are discussed in Thematic Note 3. culture to contribute to poverty reduction, environmental 526 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE sustainability, and economic growth as envisioned in their families, and communities. Table 12.1 gives some ideas many countries. for indicators and sources of verification, though clearly modifications are required for each program. Depending on the country or region, it may be relevant MEASURING CHANGE: GENDER-SENSITIVE to also consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS as comparative indicators and when collecting data), It is important to be able to measure the impact that crop because women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usu- and soil initiatives have on men and women beneficiaries, ally in the most disadvantaged situation. Table 12.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Crops (continued) Indicator Sources of verification and tools Over a set period, an increase of x percent in household incomes · Household surveys from crop-based activities among women-headed households and · Project management information system poor households in program areas · Socioeconomic data from statistics office Changes over x-year period of project activities in household · Household surveys, before and after nutrition, health, education, vulnerability to violence, and · Project management information system happiness, disaggregated by gender · School records Number of local farmers involved in fair trade production and · Sales records of group marketing groups, disaggregated by gender Number of women and men holding management or treasurer · Bank account records positions in natural resource management groups · Committee meeting minutes Number of farmers using zero tillage, mulch, cover crops, and new · Agricultural extension records innovations to decrease labor needs and increase soil fertility, · Interviews with stakeholders disaggregated by gender · Observation Changes in soil condition in farmland, before and after program · Department of Agriculture surveys activities (such as nutrient levels, percentage of ground cover) · Farm records · Participatory monitoring by villagers or herders Number of women and men actively involved in participatory · Agricultural extension records research and innovations · Interviews with stakeholders · Observation · Participatory monitoring Percentage of men and women farmers who have access to high- · Agricultural extension records quality, locally adapted seed · Interviews with stakeholders Percentage of men and women farmers who implement seed saving · Agricultural extension records and participate in local seed supply systems · Interviews with stakeholders · Program records Seed type preferences, disaggregated by gender and ethnicity · Agricultural extension records · Interviews with stakeholders · Seed sales records Number of men and women participating in community seed bank · Committee meeting minutes management · Program and project records Number of women and men participating in training on integrated · Training records pest management Awareness of safe practices for handling agricultural chemicals and · Focus groups access to appropriate protective equipment, disaggregated by · Observation gender and ethnicity · Posttraining assessment · Stakeholder interviews Adoption of recommended practices and technologies among men · Case studies and women farmers, before and after program activity · Interviews of farmers · Sample surveys (Table continues on the following page) MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE 527 Table 12.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Crops (continued) Indicator Sources of verification and tools Gender differences in workload as a result of introduced practices · Case studies or new technology for crop production · Gender analysis (such as comparative time clocks of men's and women's activities) · Participatory rapid appraisal · Sample surveys Percentage of women and men community extension workers and · Department of agriculture records professional agricultural extensionists · Project records Numbers of years of formal education of farmers, disaggregated by · Household surveys gender · School attendance and examination records Level of satisfaction among women and men with access to and · Interviews of farmers quality of extension and training services · Sample surveys Women or other disadvantaged groups actively participating in · Committee meeting minutes management committees and boards of producer groups and · Interviews with stakeholders cooperatives · Local traditional authorities (such as a chief or local council) · Program and project records Source: Authors, with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. 528 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Gender and Soil Productivity Management WHY CONSIDER SOIL PRODUCTIVITY FROM A natural ecosystems (Hartemink 2004). Other factors, such GENDER PERSPECTIVE? as soil erosion and climate change (leading to more severe weather events), have further depleted soils and heighten H ealthy, fertile soils are integral to the goals of sus- the need for more holistic soil management approaches. taining agricultural livelihoods, attaining food Women--especially if they are the main providers of sta- security, and fostering agricultural development. ple food crops--are particularly affected by declining soil Because most high-quality agricultural land is already in fertility. Men often control the best land with the best soil to production, the marginal benefit of converting new land produce commercial crops, and women more often farm diminishes. In West Asia and North Africa, at least 87 per- marginal land. They have limited or no access to external cent of suitable land is already farmed; in South Asia, the inputs such as fertilizer. Often they have less access to land corresponding figure is 94 percent (FAO 2006). Natural itself, because inheritance laws and other legal and cultural resources such as land and water are increasingly scarce, and norms favor men (see also Module 4). When women own their quality is declining. Growth in food production will farmland, their plots are generally smaller than those owned depend primarily on further intensification of agriculture, by men. In Mexico, for example, women own less than mostly in high-potential areas (FAO 2005a). Yet unless con- 20 percent of all farmland (Korinek 2005), and in 2000, siderable care is taken, intensification can exact a heavy toll 56 percent of women farmers owned less than 2 hectares, on soil health, fertility, and productivity. compared to 35 percent of male farmers (White, Salas, and A recent report on how to meet the first Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015 argues that improving soil health is the first entry point for correcting soil Box 12.4 Africa: Consequences of Unproductive nutrient imbalances, improving agricultural productivity, Soils and thus reducing hunger, particularly in Africa (UN Mil- lennium Project 2005: 13). Soil fertility is an important Agricultural production is the main source of eco- component of soil health, along with organic matter content nomic activity in sub-Saharan Africa, where the and microorganism populations. Another critical entry declining health and productivity of the soil indi- point for improving soil productivity and reducing hunger cate that it is rapidly losing its value as a critical is the adequate, location-specific choice of crops and crop man- agricultural asset. Not only can less food be grown agement practices. on unproductive soils, but the production of cash As population pressure increases in many areas, espe- crops for export is endangered. It is essential that cially sub-Saharan Africa, traditional fallow and crop rota- agricultural production and soils be managed in tion systems no longer maintain and restore soil fertility. sustainable ways, so that the present generation is When soils become less productive, crop yields stagnate or fed and soil conditions can improve to support decline, and farmers become more dependent on external future generations. inputs to maintain crop productivity. Although soil fertility Source: "Sustainable Land Management and Soil Pro- losses are particularly worrisome in Africa (box 12.4), they ductivity Improvement in Support of Food Security in are also severe in tropical Asia and Latin America, where soil Sub-Saharan Africa," www.fao.org. nutrient losses are high in agricultural systems compared to 529 Gammage 2003). In this respect women face a complex women to buy. Fertilizer may be considered too risky to buy, challenge: they have to produce their crops on poorer soil, especially when it will be used to produce food crops with often on smaller areas, and with fewer or no inputs. little possibility of generating cash income. Even when farmers can afford fertilizer, they cannot always obtain it. Access is often directly limited by inadequate infrastructure EVOLVING APPROACHESTO GENDER- and transport facilities. RESPONSIVE SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT Conventional soil improvement technologies based Developing countries' approach to soil fertility management solely on the use of external inputs have widened the divide has evolved considerably over the last 50 years. Researchers between better-off and resource-poor farmers. External have shifted from an almost exclusive focus on inorganic inputs require cash and access to markets, so women (chemical) fertilizer toward a broader range of approaches engaged in subsistence agriculture have benefited least from and nutrient sources (NEF 2006). At least in the research their introduction. The vulnerability of resource-poor community, the value of integrated nutrient management-- households often makes them averse to risk and discourages "the judicious manipulation of nutrient stocks and flows" them from pursuing new activities or adopting new prac- (de Jager, Nandwa, and Okoth 1998: 37)--is now widely tices and technologies (ICAD 2004). The introduction and accepted. promotion of low-external-input technologies, which The high climatic risks, uncertain markets, and poor would rely on resources that are more easily available to infrastructure characteristic of many low-potential, isolated women in small-scale production systems, could improve zones have challenged the economic wisdom of using high their soil fertility management capacities and address dis- levels of external inputs and placed a premium on tech- parities between better-off and less-favored households, nologies that rely relatively little on such inputs (IFAD because these technologies are better suited to the latter. 2002). Many recognized alternatives to inorganic fertilizer As mentioned earlier, improving soil productivity is a are available. The use of animal manure, agroforestry, key to improving food security. Women may benefit from legumes, living mulch, compost, and other technologies that improved crop production by selling surplus in the local enhance soil fertility is traditional in many farming systems, market. Enhanced crop productivity could thus be a start- especially systems that are managed and controlled by ing point for livelihood diversification. Increased soil pro- women. In other contexts, such technologies have been pro- ductivity also increases returns to labor, which is especially moted actively (Uphoff 2002). The value of conservation important for labor-constrained women, because it may agriculture has been established in many locations, with free time for additional activities. Zero-tillage systems, important lessons to be drawn (FAO 2005b). cover crops, and mulches, for example, can significantly Low-external-input strategies to improve soil fertility are improve soil productivity and at the same time reduce often labor and knowledge intensive, however. Conse- labor for weeding. These alternatives are often context spe- quently they may be difficult for resource-poor farmers to cific; mulching, for instance, is more appropriate for small- adopt, given their limited access to labor and information, scale farming. especially in remote areas where few formal institutions Women farmers often apply different criteria to assess exist to strengthen human and social capital. soil productivity, because they are more concerned with Despite the recognized importance of low-external- the overall output of the cropping system (often a mixed input strategies, chemical fertilizer remains the basis of soil cropping system). Mixed cropping systems may yield as fertility management in many farming systems and most much or more food as monoculture systems, and often intensification trajectories (NEF 2006). Chemical fertilizer they are designed to foster overall crop stability and system is central to most extension messages, and the use of resilience. Agricultural research and development inter- nitrogenous fertilizer continues to increase rapidly in the ventions can be better targeted if they take these local developing world (van Dam 2005). For a host of economic strategies for managing soil productivity into account. and logistical reasons, however, resource-poor farmers, Combining fertilizer use with other soil productivity man- including women, cannot apply fertilizer at high rates. The agement strategies, such as mulches, cover crops, or inter- cost of fertilizer can represent a high proportion of the total cropping, could further improve the stability and variable cost of production, an investment that poor farm- resilience of cropping systems, characteristics that are ers can ill afford where there is a risk of crop failure (FAO gaining importance in light of the potential negative 2006). Fertilizer is often sold in quantities too large for poor effects of climate change. 530 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES still have limited capacity for studying the synergistic effects of soil amendments (such as manure and compost) and It takes time to improve soil productivity. The results of inorganic fertilizers (DFID 2002). investments in soil productivity are usually not seen in the In some countries the withdrawal of subsidies for inor- first years. The lag time between investment and results ganic fertilizer has reduced its availability for resource-poor means that farmers may face a trade-off between meeting farmers, including women. An alternative policy could be to their immediate needs (which may lead to nutrient min- adopt "smart" (targeted and time-bound) subsidies that ing) and ensuring the longer-term sustainability of their increase the possibility that poorer farmers will use fertil- land (DFID 2002). It also means that land tenure is a major izer, especially by making small packages of fertilizer avail- influence, both on the maintenance of soil fertility and on able at a reasonable price (DFID 2002). the ability to intensify farming sustainably. Because women so frequently lack secure access to land, they may be reluc- tant to invest in soil improvement. "Secure access" to land GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED refers not only to having legal title to the land but also to Actions to address key gender issues in managing soil pro- having the power within the household to make and influ- ductivity can be clustered into three categories: (1) the use ence decisions about how the land will be used. A possible of chemical fertilizer; (2) the use of low-external-input tech- scenario, for instance, is that men household members will nologies, including synergistic effects of fertilizer and other start managing a formerly unproductive field once the practices; and (3) the appropriate choice of crops and crop women have invested labor and resources to enhance its management practices to enhance soil productivity. The soil productivity. actions and corresponding lessons are discussed in the Extension systems continue to direct information on soil sections that follow. improvement largely to men (see also Module 7). The imbal- ance between men and women extension staff reduces the Chemical fertilizer use in gendered crop effectiveness of extension services for women farmers, and agriculture the apparent failure to focus on women's crops and produc- tion systems renders many extension messages meaningless The use of chemical fertilizer needs to be considered from a for them. Because fertilizer recommendations are usually regional perspective (table 12.2). The African continent designed for monoculture systems, they are difficult for (including North African countries and South Africa) has women to apply in mixed cropping systems. consistently represented only 2­3 percent of world fertilizer Extension systems supply limited information on alterna- consumption; the share for sub-Saharan Africa (excluding tives to chemical fertilizers, partly because research systems South Africa) is generally less than 1 percent (FAO 2005a). Table 12.2 Regional Disparities in Chemical Nutrient Consumption, 2002/03­2003/04 Nutrients (000 tons) Percentage of Region 2002/03 2003/04 Change (%) world total Africa 4,278 2,924 ­0.7 2.1 Central Europe 4,086 3,528 ­0.9 2.5 East Asia 50,612 51,751 1.0 36.3 Eastern Europe and 3,660 3,887 1.1 2.7 Central Asia Latin America 13,230 13,191 ­1.0 9.3 North America 22,022 22,024 1.0 15.4 Oceania 3,162 3,233 1.0 2.3 South Asia 20,882 20,937 1.0 14.7 West Asia 4,607 5,678 1.2 4.0 Western Europe 15,142 15,436 1.0 10.8 World 141,681 142,589 1.0 100.0 Source: "IFADATA Statistics," www.fertilizer.org. Note: Bold faced entries are regional totals. THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND SOIL PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT 531 The regional averages hide considerable variation among demand, whereas Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam countries. Whereas fertilizer use is increasing rapidly in are also important exporters. southern Africa (Crawford, Jayne, and Kelly 2005), it is stag- FAO (2006: 55) nant or declining elsewhere in Africa. The majority of The data suggest that the larger share of fertilizer is Africa's farmers (many of them women) are smallholders applied to commercial crops, which indicates that women with less than 2 hectares (Altieri 2002), and they grow most use only a small proportion on their staple crops. of their basic food crops with virtually no or minimal fertil- Many reasons account for women's limited use of fertil- izer. For example, 72 percent of millet, approximately half of izer. As mentioned earlier, because fertilizer is mainly sold in all food legumes, and nearly all yams and cocoyams are pro- large quantities, it is a big investment, especially for cash- duced in this way (Altieri 2002). In Tanzania and Uganda, constrained women. Women usually have less access to the average use of chemical fertilizers is less than 1 kilogram transport and find it more difficult to carry bags of fertilizer per hectare per year, which implies that most land is never home. In remote rural areas, fertilizer is not usually readily fertilized (Wynen and Vanzetti 2002). available, and thus it is especially difficult for women, who Overall trends in fertilizer consumption can be summa- have fewer opportunities to leave the village, to obtain. All of rized as follows (FAO 2006): these constraints reveal strategic entry points for interven- tions that could improve women's use of fertilizer. Fertilizer consumption has increased substantially, It is also important to emphasize that fertilizer is usu- although not consistently, in countries with rapidly ally promoted in conjunction with other technologies, increasing exports of agricultural commodities, such as especially improved crop varieties. The long-term sus- Argentina and Brazil. tainability of such "packages" depends on the continued Structural adjustment programs implemented to correct availability of their components. Box 12.5 illustrates the financial imbalances in certain developing countries in problems inherent in this approach and demonstrates the 1980s and 1990s negatively affected fertilizer use why it is vital to address gender inequality in access to among small-scale farmers. assets and services. In countries where centrally planned systems, with their heavy support to agriculture and planned allocations of Alternative crop management practices for improved fertilizer, were superseded around 1990 by market-oriented soil productivity systems, fertilizer consumption fell abruptly. For resource-poor farmers engaged mainly in subsistence In the few developing countries where governments continued to support fertilizer use, sometimes despite production, low-external-input technologies are usually a pressure to the contrary, fertilizer consumption contin- more affordable way to improve soil productivity. Crop ued to increase. rotations, improved fallows, agroforestry systems, inte- grated soil and water management practices, and the choice Unfortunately, no systematic national or global data sets of suitable crops are some of the options. It is important to compare fertilizer use by gender. Indirect evidence for the emphasize that the crop management practices described in unequal use of inorganic fertilizer can be obtained by ana- this section as a means to enhance soil productivity do not lyzing fertilizer use by crop species where data are available. exclude the use of external inputs. The use of these practices According to FAO: and the use of external inputs can be complementary, depending upon the resources and socioeconomic situation In Latin America seven crops (maize, soybean, sugar cane, of each farmer. beans, wheat, coffee and rice), plus vegetables and fruits, As mentioned, low-external-input technologies are often account for 88 percent of the total fertilizer consumption. A based on local practices that have been adapted in light of substantial proportion of the fertilizer is used on agricultural additional knowledge and skills. Recognizing the beneficial cash and commodity crops for the domestic commercial mar- effects of legumes on soil productivity, women farmers ket and export. Although statistics are not available, it seems that little fertilizer is used in the subsistence/small-scale farm- often grow legumes in combination with other crops such as ing sector. In SSA the main crops to receive fertilizer include tubers and cereals, but this practice requires, among other maize, millet and sorghum. In South Asia and Southeast Asia resources, farmers' time and knowledge. Because the lack of about 60 percent of fertilizers are used on cereals. In South Asia, labor is often cited as a major constraint to the adoption of crop production is oriented towards supplying domestic low-external-input technologies, it is essential to match the 532 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE Box 12.5 Ghana: Nuances of Success among Men and Women Farmers The Ghana Grains Development Project is one of the tons per hectare to 1.5 tons. The project's bottom-up few African success stories of long-term donor support approach integrated farmers in all stages of the to strengthen national research and extension for food research and included a socioeconomic assessment of production. Ghana is also one of the few African coun- the technology. Large-scale extension programs to tries with sustained increases in per capita food pro- promote the varieties and practices, supported by duction. The Ghana Grains Project focused primarily Sasakawa Global 2000 (a nongovernmental organiza- on increasing the output of maize and cowpeas tion [NGO]), enabled more than half of all maize through the development and adoption of well- farmers in Ghana to adopt improved varieties, fertil- adapted varieties and management practices for each izer, and planting methods by 1998. After fertilizer of Ghana's agroecological zones. Graduate-level train- subsidies were removed, fertilizer use dropped to 25 per- ing was provided to about 50 scientists, nearly all of cent, challenging the approach's sustainability. Adop- whom returned to the project. Annual maize produc- tion was significantly lower among women farmers tion rose from 380,000 tons in 1979, when the project (39 percent) than men (59 percent), reflecting differ- started, to more than 1 million tons by the project's end ences in access to assets and services, and especially the in 1998. Maize yields increased by 40 percent, from 1.1 biases in extension. Source: Canadian International Development Agency, personal communication 2006, cited in World Bank 2007. labor demands of such technologies carefully with house- by training and capacity building among researchers, exten- hold labor availability. These issues are especially important sion staff, and participating farmers. The shift to participa- for women farmers who have specific seasonal labor-use tory development of innovations has important positive patterns and who have no recourse to assets and services consequences for the development of human and social (World Bank 2007). capital, as seen in the following examples. For a range of cul- Some low-external-input technologies require no more tural and socioeconomic reasons, women often must be labor than current practices. Others, such as conservation specifically approached and encouraged to participate in tillage, are attractive precisely because they save labor. In some such initiatives. cases (such as stone bunds for soil conservation), the initial The examples also indicate the wide range of options labor investment for establishing the technology is high, available for integrated soil fertility management. Farmer- which can limit adoption if the work coincides with peak led research initiatives (Budelman and DeFoer 2000; labor periods. In Burkina Faso, for example, stone bunds con- DeFoer and Scoones 2001) have demonstrated the promise tribute to soil and water conservation, promoting higher of complex responses to nutrient scarcities that include yields and, eventually, higher returns to labor. Nevertheless, organic as well as inorganic nutrient sources. Rather than 48 percent of women involved in their construction claimed favoring one approach over the other, observations in the that the bunds added to their workload, and only 12 percent field indicate that farmers are interested in experimenting said the bunds lightened their work (Atampugre 1993). with organic and chemical fertilizers to better attune A further criticism of the application of low-external- responses to local needs, a process that inevitably requires input technologies is their highly context-specific nature, an integrated approach. which means that they must be adapted to particular agroe- Involving women in soil fertility management innovations. cological and socioeconomic conditions. Although much of It is widely acknowledged that the sustainability of projects the responsibility for local adaptation is ultimately borne by and programs to develop technology is linked closely to the farmers themselves, these technologies clearly imply an even participation of the target audience. Such participation is greater burden for national agricultural research systems especially important in projects that rely on the traditional (Sumberg, Okali, and Reece 2003). A shift to participatory knowledge of women farmers to develop soil fertility man- innovation development--a process that combines local agement innovations. Many promising experiences in pro- and external knowledge and skills--is required, supported moting farmers' innovations in soil management have been THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND SOIL PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT 533 described, but two projects funded by the Netherlands Box 12.6 Ethiopia: Women's Innovations in Soil offer examples that are especially pertinent for working Fertility Management with women farmers: (1) Promoting Farmer Innovations (PFI) and (2) Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation in Africa (ISWC). These projects, which operate in several A village study in Eastern Tigray, Ethiopia, revealed that women in different wealth classes pursued dif- African countries--including Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Tan- ferent types of innovation. Poorer women could zania, and Uganda--aim to establish multistakeholder take fewer risks, but this did not mean that they platforms for technology development and encourage were less innovative--in fact, the opposite may women's participation. have been the case. Poorer women felt that it was For instance, in all of Ethiopia, research and develop- too risky to borrow money and preferred to find ment related to land husbandry have usually ignored the ways of using their current resources more effi- potential of women's knowledge and innovation. Women's ciently. In improving soil fertility, for example, they domestic work has low status in Ethiopian society, and their tried to use animal manure whenever possible, but productive work in agriculture is seldom acknowledged. As poorer households had few or no livestock and lit- a rule, women in rural families do not regard themselves as tle access to this source of natural fertilizer. Some farmers and would not present themselves as innovators in women who headed poorer households found land husbandry. This situation is not unique to Ethiopia. alternative means of fertilizing their land, such as allowing animals of relatives or friends to graze Among farm families in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, the their land in return for the dung. Many women PFI also found that women did not come forward to show used cooking ash as fertilizer; one, who had a par- and explain their own innovations; instead, men household ticularly large amount of ash from kilning pottery, members assumed this task, even though they did not finds it to be an excellent soil enhancer. These prac- understand the innovations as well as the women did tices are not new to the area, but they indicate (Critchley, Ong'ayo, and Njoroge 2001). women's efforts to maintain soil fertility with the Many factors can explain women's lack of self-esteem with slim resources available. It is likely that a deeper respect to their farming activities: traditional beliefs and atti- study of fertility management would reveal inno- tudes regarding women's role in rural society; women's low vative means developed especially by poorer women. levels of formal education; the limited mobility of women Many of these women are reluctant to respond to compared to men, who often migrate to towns or other coun- the "encouragement" (through credit) of using tries to seek work; and women's poor access to external infor- artificial fertilizers, because they fear they will be unable to repay their debt if the rains fail. mation. In Ethiopia ISWC endeavored to recognize women's innovation in land husbandry as a means of changing percep- Source: Haile, Abay, and Waters-Bayer 2001. tions of this activity, including the perceptions of the women themselves, and of increasing the women's self-confidence and capacity to contribute to development. The first steps were to gather evidence of innovation by women farmers (box 12.6) emphasizes the importance of placing farmers at the center and to make these accomplishments more widely known of research and extension to improve the adoption of through training, tours, and exchange visits. legume-based technologies. Promoting the use of legumes as mulch and cover crops. The use of legumes to improve soil productivity is well Choosing new and more profitable crops established in traditional agricultural systems and in tech- nologies developed more recently by researchers. Projects Soil fertility is only one component of overall soil produc- promoting the use of legumes as green manure have often tivity. Many more possibilities are available to enhance soil achieved limited impact, however, because they ignored productivity. The selection of appropriate crops, in combi- farmers' multiple criteria for selecting suitable legume nation with soil-improving practices, is one alternative, as species. Women in particular resisted adopting species that seen in Bangladesh (box 12.8). people could not eat, even if they were the best choice for The Bangladesh case highlights the importance of pro- improving soils. Failing to involve men and women farmers moting innovations that mesh with the livelihood strategies in the selection of appropriate legume species may limit a of women across wealth categories, especially poorer and project's impact. An example from Malawi (box 12.7) landless women whose prospects for participation may 534 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE Box 12.7 Malawi: Gender Dimension in Box 12.8 Bangladesh: Homestead Vegetable Legume-Based Soil Improvement Production Technologies In the Saturia region of Bangladesh, credit and Legumes are uniquely suited for enhancing soil training were provided for women to grow vegeta- productivity and providing nutrient-enriched bles on small plots on or near their household com- grains and vegetables for farmers with few pounds. The improved vegetable varieties, which resources. Yet the substantial barriers to diversifi- could be purchased from a local NGO, included cation with legumes, including their establishment tomatoes, okra, Indian spinach (pui shak), red costs and moderate yield potential, indicate a need amaranth (lal shak), radishes, eggplants, amaranth for long-term engagement and farmer-centered (data), kangkong (kalmi shak), mung beans, and research and extension. sweet gourds. Because the vegetables were culti- A case study in Malawi illustrates that experi- vated on homestead land, it was easier for landless mentation with legumes and their adoption can be and land-poor households to participate, and their fostered among even the most resource-poor vegetable consumption increased. smallholders. Multieducational activities and par- A recent impact assessment found that the tech- ticipatory research involving farmer research teams nologies were relatively easy to adopt. They required were carried out within 80 communities. Over five very little land and only a small cash investment. years, more than 3,000 farmers tested legumes and Women did not need to move beyond the home- gained knowledge of their contributions to child stead. The nutritional benefits for the household nutrition and soil productivity. Legume systems were high. Women could coordinate vegetable culti- expanded on an average area of 862 square meters vation relatively easily and flexibly with their many in 2005 (772 square meters for women and 956 other household tasks. The technologies were square meters for men, indicating a gender dimen- unlikely to increase vulnerability, because they were sion to legume adoption). Farmers chose edible grown on homestead land where security was easily legume intercrops such as pigeon peas and ground- ensured. Nor were any other crops likely to be dis- nuts over the Mucuna spp. green manure system. placed, as homestead land is rarely used for crop- Women in particular preferred the edible species to ping. Women and their families liked the fact that meet their combined goals of food security and soil they could produce vegetables within the homestead improvement. without risking the harassment and loss of reputa- tion they would suffer from working outside it. Source: Kerr and others 2007. Source: Hallman, Lewis, and Begum 2003. initially appear bleak (Adato and Meinzen-Dick 2007). It experience in Bangladesh shows that if interventions based also shows the potential for empowering women beyond the on new and more profitable crops are to succeed among initial bounds of a project. In areas where market infra- women, the interventions must operate on a scale that is structure is available, vegetable sales could empower women accessible to them. Experiences from large-scale vegetable in the sense that earning money could increase their deci- production, for example, are not only different but are sion-making power within the household. In some areas it probably more suited to (men) farmers with far greater could create opportunities for women to move into public resources. The production of horticultural crops increases space, such as the market, to sell produce themselves. the returns on land about 10-fold compared to returns for Women who become members of groups involved in NGO- cereal crops (World Bank 2007). It generates considerable sponsored development projects gain self-confidence from employment in the field--horticultural crops require their solidarity with the group and the added status of being about twice the labor input per hectare of cereal crops-- part of an outside organization. and generates more off-farm jobs in processing, packaging, Although the rapid expansion of horticultural crop pro- and marketing. Women hold many of these new jobs, duction appears to hold considerable promise for poor although they often work under unfavorable conditions people who depend on agriculture, including women, the (see also Module 8). THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND SOIL PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT 535 Yet the possibilities for resource-poor farmers to invest Despite the promise of organic production practices, it in large-scale production of horticultural crops are lim- must be remembered that organic agriculture shares many ited. Horticultural crops are management intensive, a of the attributes of low-external-input agriculture. It is variety of crops are grown, the cash outlay is large, and the labor intensive and knowledge intensive and requires a use of chemicals is heavy (inflicting considerable harm on range of local inputs, such as manure and compost, which the environment; horticultural crops account for 28 per- are not always available. Yields of organic crops are often cent of global pesticide consumption; World Bank 2007). lower than yields of nonorganic crops. Conventional farm- Horticultural enterprises are risky because of pest outbreaks ing inputs, such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, are and volatile prices. Fruit production requires an invest- easily available, and farmers can use credit to purchase ment of several years to recoup costs. The production of them. Landless and smallholder farmers depend on share- high-value horticultural crops for export leads to labor cropping, which forces them to maximize short-term bene- shortages, which force women to reduce the time devoted fits from conventional farming, depend on the immediate to independent income-producing activities or crops returns gained from using chemical inputs, and forego the under their own control, with potentially negative longer-term benefits from organic farming. impacts on food security. Finally, obtaining organic certification is a costly process Organic production, with the corresponding practices to that requires a good amount of organization, even among maintain soil fertility and soil health, may be a potentially farmers with considerable assets. The successful establish- more benign alternative to conventional, high-value horti- ment of organic production systems will therefore require culture. The organic food movement has been endorsed by targeted services and infrastructure, including transport and FAO, which maintains in a recent report (FAO 2007) that markets, especially if women and the poor are to benefit. organic farming fights hunger, tackles climate change, and is good for farmers, consumers, and the environment. Organic GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR farming is now regarded less as a niche market within PRACTITIONERS industrial countries and more as a vibrant commercial agri- cultural system practiced in 120 countries on 31 million The following guidelines and recommendations apply to hectares of cultivated land and 62 million hectares of certi- practitioners: fied wild harvested areas. The organic market was worth $40 billion in 2006 and is expected to reach $70 billion by 2012. The lack of gender-disaggregated data on the use of fer- The strongest benefits of organic agriculture are its use of tilizer and other soil productivity technologies mirrors resources that are independent of fossil fuels, are locally the lack of attention given to this subject and makes it available, incur minimal agroecological stresses, and are cost difficult to analyze the impact of interventions from a effective (FAO 2007). Some have argued that women farm- gender perspective. ers, who already rely on few external inputs, may be well Experiences thus far have focused either on using fertil- positioned to become organic producers and benefit from izer to address short-term soil fertility problems or on the rising interest in organic produce. the development and promotion of low-external-input A report from the International Institute for Environ- technologies. Although the complementarity of these ment and Development in the United Kingdom (Datta and approaches is mentioned in the literature, there is little Kar 2006) examined 14 NGOs promoting ecological agri- evidence of their combined use in farmers' fields. The culture in Bangladesh. Most of the NGOs ran programs that judicious use of affordable doses of inorganic fertilizer, encouraged poor women to grow vegetables using organic combined with other soil fertility technologies, may offer fertilizers and pesticides on homestead land. This practice good prospects for women to improve overall crop pro- was extended to larger farms, generally controlled by men duction. A better understanding of the synergistic effects landowners. Farmers received environmental education and of soil amendments (such as manure and compost) and training along with financial and technical support. The inorganic fertilizers is essential--along with improve- training in organic agriculture had a significant impact on ments in research and extension capacity to develop and homestead farming and commercial farming. The aware- promote combined technologies. ness of organic agriculture rose significantly, particularly Support is needed for research to adapt existing methods among women, who used organic fertilizer and actively pro- of fertility management to specific agroecological zones moted these technologies outside the project boundaries. and to cropping systems managed by women in those 536 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE zones, and for extension to promote these techniques in for women; better targeting and institutional and policy ways that include women. Research on fertility manage- support may be needed to make the technology more ment technologies that specifically addresses women's accessible for women. resource constraints and livelihood strategies has been Soil productivity management interventions need to be limited. monitored and evaluated within a wider livelihood context. Land tenure is a major influence on the maintenance of Measuring short-term, single-crop productivity gains will soil fertility and on the ability to intensify farming in a not capture the full picture. Direct and indirect impacts of sustainable way. Given that farmers must have secure interventions, both quantifiable (such as yields, incomes, access to land if they are to invest in it, soil productivity and labor requirements) and qualitative (such as system initiatives must be accompanied by initiatives to secure resilience and stability or women's empowerment), need to women's access to land (see Module 4). be taken into account. Productivity gains in one crop do not Women's empowerment through participatory approaches translate directly into increased household income, and to technology development is critical. Although projects benefits are not equally shared between men and women seek to involve men and women, in practice women's household members. participation in soil improvement projects is often lim- Furthermore, a need is present to develop monitoring ited. A systematic effort is often needed to increase and evaluation criteria that measure the contribution of soil women's participation. productivity technologies to minimizing the risk of adop- tion for women farmers. Questions that elicit information A final lesson is that more holistic soil productivity indi- on women's reliance on and contribution to different liveli- cators are needed for monitoring and evaluation, especially hood assets, such as labor, knowledge, and local natural with respect to the gender effects of soil management inter- resources, are important for understanding the potential ventions. Until soil productivity management interven- impact on women. This list, although certainly not compre- tions are monitored and evaluated in a gender-disaggre- hensive, nevertheless indicates the importance of assessing gated way, meaningful conclusions on the gender equality technologies on the basis of criteria that extend beyond of interventions will be extremely challenging to obtain simple production data and of relinquishing the "one-size- (see also Module 16). Men's biases in adoption do not nec- fits-all" approach in developing and promoting soil man- essarily mean that a particular technology is inappropriate agement technologies. THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER AND SOIL PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT 537 T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Gender in Seed Production and Distribution Seed is one of the most crucial elements in the livelihoods of modify a traditional variety. Farmers may incorporate agricultural communities. It is the repository of knowledge improved varieties and expose them to local conditions and passed from generation to generation, and the result of contin- management, fostering their local adaptation. Local knowl- ual adaptation and innovation in the face of ever-greater chal- edge of men and women farmers is important because they lenges for survival. The potential benefits from the use of good manage different crop species and varieties and may partic- quality seed of adapted varieties by farmers can be enormous, ipate in different seed systems for different purposes. and the availability of quality seed of a wide-range of varieties Although much attention has been paid to the develop- and crops to farmers can increase productivity, reduce risks ment of formal, national seed systems, their contribution from pest, drought and disease pressure, and increase incomes. Production increases through the use of adapted varieties in a to noncommercial production systems remains limited. given area can create employment opportunities related to pro- One widely recognized problem in many countries is the cessing, marketing, and other activities generated through extended time between the initial identification of new quality seed production. varieties and their eventual release, seed production, and ASBP (2006: 6) sale, which considerably delays adoption. In many coun- tries local seed systems provide by far the largest share of seed farming community's food security depends heav- A for noncommercial crops. An estimated 80 to 90 percent of ily on its seed security. Women's need to ensure all seed used to produce staple food crops in subsistence good supplies of their preferred varieties of seed systems comes from local seed systems (FAO 2008b; GTZ can be particularly acute, because women are often the main and CGN 2000).1 In local seed systems, farmers themselves growers of food to feed the family. Although both men and produce, disseminate, and obtain seed directly through women farmers regard seed as a key resource for food and their own harvested crops or through sale, exchange, or livelihood security, it is crucial to remember that important barter with others in the local area (ASBP 2006; Sperling socioeconomic and gender differences in seed diversity, seed and others 2004). security, and food security must be understood to target any For resource-poor farmers, especially women, the local seed interventions effectively (FAO 2008b). seed system is not surprisingly the main and most reliable Farmers participate in multiple seed systems that help source of seed (FAO 2008b; Pionetti 2006; Smale and others them produce and obtain the seed they need. These systems 2007), but medium-scale and better-off farmers also rely on (box 12.9) can be divided broadly into formal and local seed from this source (FAO 2008b). An important reason (sometimes called "informal," "traditional," or "farmer") for relying on local seed systems is that small-scale farmers, systems. Commercial farmers rely mostly on formal sys- especially women, often grow a diversity of crops to mini- tems, which are responsible for the flow of improved and mize the risk of total crop failure and food insecurity (box hybrid seed. Subsistence farmers tend to rely more on local 12.10). Another reason is that women in many societies are systems. Local systems are responsible for flows of seed of in charge of selecting and storing seed of many traditional traditional as well as modern varieties, which enter the sys- food crops. Often these crops are valued for specific attrib- tem through different processes (Sperling and Cooper utes: they are cheaper, available in small quantities, better 2003). Farmers may mix seed from different sources if they adapted to local conditions, and easier to obtain, and they lack sufficient seed or if they wish to experiment with or possess other qualities (for food preparation, ceremonies, or 538 Box 12.9 What Is a Seed System? Box 12.10 South India: Seed and Crop Diversity in Women's Livelihood Strategies Seed systems are often large and complex. A seed Women farmers in South India frequently point system generally encompasses a large number of out that they could not grow such a wide range of individuals, organizations, and institutions crops if they did not have the seeds "in their involved in different functions related to seed, such hands." One farmer articulated the issues as fol- as plant breeding research and the subsequent lows: "Where would we get small amounts of multiplication, processing, storage, distribution, seeds for our traditional crops if we did not save and marketing of seed. Seed systems, very broadly them ourselves?" defined, can be categorized as informal (or tradi- Small-scale farmers need relatively small amounts tional) or formal seed systems. of seed for a large number of crop varieties: 100 Individual farm households are the foundation grams of sesame, 500 grams of black gram, 1 kilo- for informal seed systems, in which each household gram of finger millet, and a handful of roselle performs numerous seed system functions on its seeds. Women farmers also want to grow very spe- own. The formal sector, by contrast, consists of pub- cific crops in addition to staples such as sorghum lic and private organizations with specialized roles or maize. There is no guarantee that formal seed in supplying seed of new varieties. Different types of agencies can provide seed for all of these crops. seed from organizations and individuals in one Thanks to their carefully maintained seed stocks, stage of the seed chain will flow to the next stage the women can maximize the number of crops through informal and formal channels. Rules and grown on their land and achieve a varied and regulations, such as procedures for releasing new nutritious diet. varieties of seed to the public, intellectual property rights regimes, seed certification programs, seed Source: Pionetti 2006. standards, and contract law influence the structure, coordination, and performance of the seed system. Source: Maredia and Howard 1998. to large private seed companies and poorly served by public seed agencies. Partnerships between public and private agencies (for example, a public research organization could other uses) that are integral to cultural traditions. Seed of supply seed for multiplication and sale to small, private most of these crops and varieties is not developed or sup- entrepreneurs) may be another means of catering to these plied through formal channels. markets. Because women are responsible for selecting and Although the local seed systems are well adapted to farm- saving seed in many traditional farming systems, commer- ers' specific production environments, they often face cial seed production presents good opportunities for numerous constraints. Traditional varieties have been and including them as entrepreneurs, as contract farmers to continue to be lost for a variety of reasons (including con- multiply seed, and as marketers as well as employees. flict, drought, change in preferences, and research and extension campaigns promoting modern varieties). Inter- ventions to strengthen local seed supply systems, such as KEY GENDER ISSUES establishing seed banks and breeding and multiplying seed, The following sections describe the key gender issues in crop are gaining popularity among NGOs and public institutions agriculture and the potential benefits of addressing them. that supply seed. Often such initiatives enable formal and informal systems to work in complementary ways. Farmers Seed sources and access to information differ by also express demand for seed of new and improved crops socioeconomic group and gender and crop varieties and for improved seed management and processing technologies, which can be supplied by the for- As mentioned earlier, an apparent gender bias exists in mal seed system. access to formal seed systems. Men, who are generally more Small commercial seed enterprises might be a good involved in growing commercial crops, seem to access and means of serving these markets, which may not be attractive benefit more easily from formal systems. Women, in turn, THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER IN SEED PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION 539 rely more heavily on local systems to obtain seed for staple Women increasingly participate in the formation and and minor crops. A resource endowment bias has also been management of small seed enterprises (World Bank 2005). observed. Resource-poor farmers--men or women--gener- These more recent experiences need to be monitored and ally lack the cash to purchase seed of modern varieties from evaluated carefully to better understand their contributions formal seed suppliers. In Bangladesh access to irrigation was and impacts on improved seed security and overall liveli- a significant determinant of whether a farmer would adopt hood security. Applying a gender perspective to analyze and modern rice varieties (Hossain 1988). A study in Ghana improve seed systems will help to overcome or at least revealed that farmers preferred different rice varieties reduce existing biases in access to, availability of, and use of depending on whether they would be grown under high- adequate seed. input or low-input conditions (Stirling and Witcombe 2004). Gender-responsive action in the local seed sector POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES should increase the availability of adequate seed and thus increase food and livelihood security for resource-poor The following sections detail critical policy and implemen- farmers--especially for crops that are less interesting to tation issues. commercial seed suppliers.2 Encouraging local seed banks, establishing small-scale seed enterprises, and facilitating Public versus private seed enterprises local seed exchange through an enabling policy environ- Seed provision is at an important crossroads in many devel- ment are some measures to consider. oping countries. Donor support to public seed enterprises has diminished because these enterprises have been ineffi- Based on their different portfolios of crop species cient. Strategies for supporting the private seed sector are and varieties, men and women can contribute still evolving. A major challenge for public and private seed different knowledge of seed characteristics enterprises is to ensure repeated seed sales, because farmers Aside from multiplying and distributing seed, local seed sys- may purchase seed once and then save it from their harvest. tems are important sources of knowledge of seed character- The emergence of a private seed industry is almost always istics and management. Gender differences in local seed based on sales of hybrid seed, which must be purchased knowledge and skills are an important asset for strengthen- anew each season or yields will decline, or on seed that ing links between the local and formal seed systems. Given farmers find difficult to save, such as vegetable seed. Seed of women's traditional roles in selecting and saving seed, they many other crops (particularly self-fertilizing crops with a can be strategic partners for forming liaisons between for- low seed multiplication factor that are grown mainly for mal and informal seed systems. The formal system can play home consumption) is less likely to be available through a a more significant part in developing and supplying seed if nascent private seed industry based on large, centralized it adopts a gender perspective--in other words, if it suc- seed enterprises--a vision that shows the formal seed sec- ceeds in understanding and addressing the seed needs of tor's bias toward men and commercial farmers. Opportuni- different household members. ties may present themselves for including such crops in small, locally operating seed enterprises with lower trans- Women's role in local markets and small seed port and overhead costs, however. The development of enterprises small, local enterprises could be a means for women to break into seed markets and supply the local and improved Local markets are often a crucial link in local seed systems. seed of crops and varieties that are neglected by large com- Local markets bring in grain, which farmers can subse- mercial seed companies. quently sort and use for seed. These local "seed-grain mar- kets" differ from formal outlets selling seed that is specially Seed regulations and crop and variety protection produced as seed, on specialized fields, within the frame- work of a seed business enterprise.3 In many African and Numerous national and international policies influence the Latin American contexts, vendors of local seed and grain are development and operation of formal and local seed sys- to a large extent rural women. Farmers are sourcing less and tems. In many countries the regulatory and legal framework less seed from their "classic" informal source (their own for the national formal seed system limits the development stocks) and depending more on local seed and grain mar- of local seed systems and directly affects women's position kets (Smale and others 2007).4 within them. 540 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE National seed regulations are usually based on interna- Interventions strengthening the formal tional standards that are often incompatible with the reality seed system of farmers' lives.5 They restrict the free exchange and mar- The formal seed sector's achievements have been summa- keting of seed. The combination of compulsory variety reg- rized as follows: istration and seed certification, as practiced in countries in Since the 1960s, scientific plant breeding that developed Europe and elsewhere, heavily constrains the efficient func- improved varieties suited to smallholders in subtropical and tioning of the formal seed sector (notably the development tropical areas--the green revolution--has been one of the major of small-scale seed enterprises) and the development of success stories of development. Initially spearheaded by semi- alternative seed systems (GTZ and CGN 2000). The same dwarf varieties of rice and wheat and improved varieties of maize constraint arises from the implementation of strong intel- from international agricultural research centers of the Consulta- lectual property rights regimes (World Bank 2006) and tive Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), arrangements restricting access to genetic resources public breeding programs in developing countries have released (Louwaars 2007). more than 8,000 improved crop varieties over the past 40 years. The development of small-scale seed enterprises and local In the 1980s and 1990s, improved varieties are estimated to have seed markets requires an enabling policy environment. A accounted for as much as 50 percent of yield growth, compared clear recognition of the roles and contributions of men and with 21 percent in the preceding two decades. women farmers to seed development and management will World Bank (2007: 160) necessitate a review of farmer's rights, access and benefit- Because these achievements have not been uniform sharing regulations, and intellectual property rights. across regions or socioeconomic groups, formal seed sys- tems must develop better strategies for developing and dis- seminating seed of improved varieties to reach resource- GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED poor farmers. Past experiences highlight the need to look at both local and Plant breeding interventions. Countless breeding inter- formal seed systems, their linkages, and the policy environ- ventions aim to address the nutritional and production con- ment that affects them. straints of resource-poor farmers and significantly improve household food security. Perhaps the most controversial of these interventions is the development of GM crops. Even Interventions focusing on the local seed system more than conventional hybrids and other modern vari- An analysis of the local system is the starting point for any eties, GM crops face significant barriers to dissemination strategy that aims to strengthen and build on the existing and adoption. Most GM crops in developing countries are system. A blueprint approach to seed system development currently produced in large, commercial production sys- will not work; a thorough analysis of the limiting factors of tems, as they require inputs, knowledge, and management each existing system is vital. Within a household, for exam- skills that are not available to all farmers. The private sector ple, interests or priorities with respect to seed management is the main force behind the development of these crops, may vary by gender and age group. Within a community or and many questions arise about their suitability for poor, region, wealth status or ethnocultural differences can affect small-scale producers. knowledge, preferences, and access to critical resources such Attempts are being made--often by public organizations as seed (FAO 2008b). Projects operating at the community in collaboration with private enterprises--to develop GM level must be aware that stakeholders are likely to have dif- crops that tolerate unfavorable crop production conditions ferent needs and priorities (GTZ and CGN 2000). The iden- common in developing countries, such as poor soils or tification of weaknesses or gaps in seed security will help to drought.Vitamin- and micronutrient-enhanced crops, as well define activities that can improve household and commu- as crops that produce vaccines and other pharmacological nity seed security. For example, community seed banks (box products, are also envisioned in plant-breeding strategies to 12.11) and community seed fairs (box 12.12) both help to improve health and reduce poverty. Despite these efforts, strengthen local seed systems. Managed successfully, they numerous challenges remain in developing and approving can foster seed exchange networks and establish local insti- GM crops that can be considered to benefit poor people. The tutional mechanisms to supply seed, especially of traditional accessibility and suitability of such crops, including the poten- varieties, within a community. National seed security will tial ecological and socioeconomic risks for resource-poor improve when local seed security is increased. households, must be assessed further (see Thematic Note 3). THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER IN SEED PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION 541 Box 12.11 Enhancing Local Seed Systems through Community Seed Banks Community seed banks help to meet the complemen- farmers to be self-reliant by supporting the timely tary goals of improving local food security and recog- provision of seed. nizing and maintaining the contributions of local crop In Jeypore, India, interested households contribute a diversity. Seed of traditional varieties frequently cannot specific quantity of seed to the community seed be obtained in the market. Instead, rural people bank. Seed is mixed with powdered neem exchange seed within their villages or with people from (Azadirachta indica) and karanja (Pongamia pin- neighboring villages. This kind of seed exchange is an nata) leaves to preserve it from storage pests. The important instrument for seed supply and diffusion; it is village committee (palli samithi) forms the seed usually based on kinship, traditional relationships, and bank management committee, which consists of cultural practices. The establishment of a community three men and women who share the responsibility seed bank empowers local people to select and multiply of managing the bank. The bank records the names seed of traditional crops and varieties of their choice. By and quantities of seed required by needy farm fam- facilitating access to seed, especially among women, seed ilies, and it distributes the seed. The involvement of banks often encourage and sustain cultivation of tradi- women has strengthened the seed bank and the seed tional varieties and household seed security. The banks exchange system. The women perform vital tasks also help farmers to contribute and communicate their such as periodically monitoring seed quality. About knowledge of seed storage technologies. Two examples 200 farmers (men and women) are actively involved of community seed banks follow. in the program. The seed bank primarily stores seed of 15 traditional paddy cultivars, along with some In Paraiba, Brazil, frequent droughts and farmers' millet, oilseed, and vegetable varieties. In 2000 small landholdings mean that families often can- about 700 kilograms of seed were handled. not produce enough grain to use as food and to save as seed for the next year's crop. Genetic diver- Apart from their impact on food security, seed sity has also been eroded by the preference for banks can improve socioeconomic conditions in rural seed of commercial rather than local varieties. communities, especially the status of women. By estab- Commercial varieties are grown to meet market lishing self-help groups to operate seed banks, women demands and are also used for distribution in gov- can become more active in decision making and more ernment seed programs. Community seed banks self-confident, and can communicate more easily with help to reverse this trend through participatory, government officials or outsiders. Men can become collective efforts to grow and supply seed. In addi- more supportive of women, and conflict between men tion to conserving biodiversity, the banks enable and women can be reduced. Sources: Authors; FAO 2002 (India example); FAO 2008a (Brazil). Seed distribution interventions. Farmers like to experiment A detailed analysis of available resources is therefore neces- with new crops and varieties, and innovative distribution sary before promoting such varieties among women. strategies could facilitate poor women's access to improved seed. Packaging seed in small and affordable quantities could Interventions strengthening links between local and be one way of increasing women's access. It is also important formal seed systems to recognize that seed of improved varieties and hybrids often gives the best yields when grown in conjunction with fertil- In developing countries, farmers' demand for seed is com- izer and improved crop management strategies (following plex and diverse. It would be unrealistic or inefficient for the specific spacing, irrigation, and weeding practices, for exam- public, formal seed sector to attempt to meet total seed ple). The availability of these additional resources can be a demand; nor would private, commercial seed providers be crucial precondition for successful adoption of improved able to address all of the seed requirements of resource-poor seed, yet many women lack access to cash and irrigated land. farmers (Almekinders, Louwaars, and de Bruijn 1994).6 542 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE Box 12.12 Increasing Seed Diversity and Local Box 12.13 Decentralized Participatory Plant Knowledge through Community Breeding Seed Fairs Decentralized and participatory plant breeding Community seed fairs have shown positive results, approaches allow farmers to select and adapt tech- especially for women farmers. Community seed nologies to local soil and rainfall patterns and to fairs offer a venue for displaying and freely sharing social and economic conditions, using indigenous seed of different crops and varieties. Seed fairs also knowledge as well. Participatory plant breeding offer a good opportunity for knowledge to be and varietal selection have reduced the develop- shared across generations, between farmers, ment and dissemination of new varieties in some between communities, and with research and cases by 5 to 7 years, which is half the time (10­15 extension staff, thus contributing to expanding years) taken by conventional plant-breeding pro- farmers' social networks (FAO 2006). Experiences grams. from a range of organizations indicate that these In very poor areas of South Asia where rice is informal settings encourage women's participation. produced without irrigation (and where the Green In China, for example, participants in seed fairs Revolution never took hold), participatory plant promoted by the Center for Biodiversity and breeding is now paying off, with strong, early Indigenous Knowledge (CBIK) included 80­150 adoption of farmer-selected varieties that yield farmers, local agricultural technicians, officials, 40 percent more grain in farmers' fields. The scientists from the Yunnan Academy of Agricul- approach must be tested more widely in the more tural Sciences, CBIK staff, and other guests. Often heterogeneous rain-fed environments of Africa, the share of women participants was as high as 70 where involving farmers, especially women, in percent, because women are closely involved in selecting varieties has shown early success for farming and are the key decision makers when it beans, maize, and rice. The cost effectiveness of the comes to choosing new varieties. Farmers in each approach for wider use also needs to be evaluated. area have their own seed exchange networks but rarely have access to new species and varieties from Source: Adapted from World Bank 2007: 160­61. outside their network. The seed fairs, which were relatively new for participating farmers, served to improve the flow of seed and information within integrated seed system in which formal and local actors each and among communities and to promote the con- play a role.This approach does,however,require collaboration servation of a wide crop genetic resource base. between the many actors involved--breeders, genebanks, and Experts were invited to give speeches on topics of interest, such as marketing organic produce. Yao seed projects operated by the formal sector; farmers; and and Hani traditional healers took the opportunity NGOs. Experience with participatory plant breeding initia- to exchange knowledge about medicinal plants. tives offers some insight into the potential for fostering an integrated approach (box 12.13). Sources: Authors; CBIK (China example): www.cbik.org. Traditional breeding approaches tend to focus on one characteristic (such as higher yields, more stable yields, or disease resistance). Although the results may be impressive A recent World Bank evaluation of the Seed Systems with respect to that particular characteristic, farmers, espe- Development Project (SSDP) in Ethiopia, a project ongoing cially women, may not like the accompanying changes in for over 10 years, rated its outcome as moderately unsatis- other characteristics (such as grain color, taste, and ease of factory (DEReC 2007). The SSDP achieved its main objec- processing). In this instance, the knowledge and criteria that tive of decentralizing and strengthening the government men and women use in selecting seed and in their other crop seed-producing agency (the Ethiopian Seed Enterprise), but improvement efforts offer the opportunity to strengthen it failed to achieve its secondary objective of promoting seed links between local and formal seed systems. production by private firms and fostering local seed pro- Enhancing communication between local and formal seed duction by farmers. systems. Food and livelihood security can increase signifi- Recognition is growing that stronger links between local cantly when shortcomings in local seed systems are resolved. and formal seed systems can lead to the development of an For example, in areas of Bangladesh where CABI's Good THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER IN SEED PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION 543 Seed Initiative used videos to outline techniques to (which does not need to be certified). Most training is improve rice seed quality, seed yield rose an estimated concentrated in small community-based groups, often 10 percent. This initiative (supported by the Swiss Agency funded by development projects, but general knowledge for Development and Cooperation) aims to strengthen on how to improve seed quality must be mainstreamed farmers' ability to guarantee food security and improve in farming communities. their livelihoods. The approach, which combines local The capacity to produce high-quality seed is not enough; technologies with those developed by formal research farmers and farmer groups require much more training organizations to help women produce quality seed, is now in agroenterprise development. Seed enterprises need to being tested in Africa. CABI, WARDA (Africa Rice Center), yield profits on a continual basis. The commercial sector and their partner organizations in West Africa and has shied away from selling seed of subsistence and Uganda seek to reach as many as 10,000 farmers. Addi- open-pollinated crops because the profits are limited. To tional videos will be produced locally as the value of the stimulate consistent demand for this kind of seed, com- approach spreads. munities must diversify seed production by crop and Introducing new varieties into the local seed system. Farm- variety and, crucially, ensure that they have a sustained ers' experimentation with new varieties and the subsequent supply of new and appreciated seed. introduction of adapted and accepted varieties can poten- In reference to the point above, direct links need to be tially strengthen cropping systems by increasing yields, forged between those who breed new varieties and those improving drought resilience, boosting resistance to pests and who can multiply and distribute seed at a decent price. diseases, and capturing new market opportunities (Sperling Right now, new varieties filter through to communities at and Remington with Haugen 2006), all of which could widen an unacceptably slow rate. Research systems have to women's livelihood options. It is important to realize, never- deliver new materials not only to seed parastatals and theless, that not all "improved" varieties will benefit farmers commercial producers but directly to important com- in all agroecological and socioeconomic situations. A careful munity-based nodes throughout a country. gender-disaggregated analysis of demand for particular vari- Traders and farmer groups need continued access to advice eties is warranted. Sperling and Remington (2006) discuss key on quality control that is enabling and not threatening. A steps for ensuring that characteristics demanded by farmers trader who becomes known for truly good seed should are considered in introducing new varieties. eventually be able to garner worthwhile price margins. Local seed and grain markets, discussed earlier, can offer a good venue for introducing new varieties. These Encouraging the formation of small-scale seed enterprises. markets, which are frequently visited by rural women, have The formation of small-scale seed enterprises--that is, virtually no formal access to new varieties, to basic (foun- farmer seed enterprises--meets dual objectives: to distrib- dation) seed as an input, or to seed quality control ser- ute and promote sustainably modern crop varieties and to vices. Even so, there are dramatic examples of how quickly establish a regular source of "clean" seed of local or modern new varieties (including beans in western Kenya and green varieties. Yet experience indicates that a certain level of gram varieties in eastern Kenya) can move through local resources (such as labor and land) is required to manage markets, as farmers spread the word that the new varieties farmer seed enterprises successfully; the resource require- on offer really do perform.7 ment could exclude or discourage women from participat- Because the buyers and sellers in local markets are fre- ing. Some alternative strategies may be better suited to the quently women, the opportunity to support both groups limited resources controlled by poor people. of women by linking new varieties to local seed and grain For example, the Malawi Smallholder Seed Development markets appears substantial. The following actions are Project established by ActionAid in 1995 uses two seed pro- necessary to further strengthen women's capacity and duction strategies. The less-poor farmers are encouraged to access in this context: produce certified seed and operate independently, although they still face marketing problems, for which new Greater support needs to be given to increasing the qual- approaches, such as the use of stockists, are being investi- ity of seed for the crops and varieties in greatest demand gated. The poorer farmers (many of whom are women) are in the markets (these may be local varieties or new organized into community groups to produce and distrib- ones). Suppliers of large quantities of seed and grain to ute seed on a communal basis using group revolving funds the market require training to produce better seed (box 12.14). The second strategy has provided encouraging 544 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE Box 12.14 Malawi: Community-Based Seed Box 12.15 Southern India:The Role of Gender- Production Sensitive Policies for Plant Variety Protection and Farmers' Rights Through the Malawi Smallholder Seed Develop- ment Project, groups of smallholders produce In the dryland farming systems of South India's improved seed as a means of enhancing household Deccan Plateau, women's roles in maintaining seed food security. The project has organized 5,405 and crop diversity enable rural families to cope with smallholders into 235 community-based groups the region's many environmental demands. Here to produce seed. Group members are selected seeds and their management form an economy all through a participatory rural appraisal to identify of their own, whereby self-reliance in seed, crop and assess needs of poor households. The project's diversity, and nutrition are closely intertwined. concentration on the poorest households has But as seed increasingly becomes the"property" ensured that many more group participants are of private seed-producing enterprises, this self- women, who also perceive greater advantages in reliance is undermined. Plant variety protection belonging to groups than men do. About 70 per- enables private companies to cover the cost of cent of group members are women, and over 80 breeding new varieties, but it can restrict the scope percent of the seed-producing groups are com- for farmers to save their own seed through a mix of posed entirely of women. Women's groups are bet- technological, legal, and economic strategies. ter organized and their revolving grants for seed These strategies include reducing the genetic vari- production have higher repayment rates than ability of new crop varieties through pure line those of men's groups. Women get higher seed breeding methods; intellectual property rights yields, generate better savings, and sustain more regimes, such as breeders' rights and patents, cohesive groups. which make it illegal for farmers to reuse seed; variety registration and seed certification schemes Source: Musopole 2000. backed by economic rules; and gender-blind laws that provide no scope for enhancing women farm- ers' practices, choices, and concerns in the realms of biodiversity and seed production. evidence that women's skills and scarce resources can be mobilized to strengthen seed systems and enhance family Source: Pionetti 2006. seed and food security. Interventions to foster an enabling policy KEY IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES environment The guiding principle in any seed intervention is that seed All of the initiatives discussed earlier could benefit from security is a key component of food security. Women are the complementary efforts to foster a favorable policy envi- main food producers in farm households, and so their seed ronment, such as the development of seed legislation that security--in other words, their access to reliable supplies of protects breeders' rights, interventions that strengthen good seed--is of the highest priority. farmers' rights, and more flexible interpretation of seed A clear assessment of seed demand should be the first laws to support local seed systems. To stimulate the private step in designing any seed-related intervention. The sector and at the same time support local seed systems for precise nature of the demand for seed will significantly crops that are often ignored by the private sector, well- determine the appropriate seed supply response. It is designed seed and intellectual property rights laws will important to understand exactly why farmers seek seed need to go hand in hand with the recognition of farmers' off the farm: rights--a balance that is not necessarily easy to attain. Policies for plant variety protection and intellectual prop- Are farmers (men and women) searching for new vari- erty rights must also be gender sensitive. In some instances eties (which may simply require an initial introduction formal seed interventions and policies can be counterpro- of seed)? ductive, especially for women's participation in the seed Are men and women farmers purchasing hybrids (which system (box 12.15). can be supplied by a commercial enterprise)? THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER IN SEED PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION 545 Do farmers have seed quality or management problems These activities require multistakeholder interventions (which require specialized seed enterprises or extension targeting the following actors (GTZ and CGN 2000): advice to improve farm-level seed management)? Do seed purchases indicate a poverty-induced seed Individual farmers and farmers' groups, especially shortage (which will not be addressed by conventional women farmers seed provision)? Small seed enterprises NGOs and development agencies As formal and informal seed systems focus on different Researchers and technicians of national systems crop species and varieties and seem to serve different clien- Policy makers teles, they should be considered complementary. Both sys- Public and private seed companies. tems have strengths and weaknesses on which development interventions can be based. As seen earlier, women farmers are already active in local seed markets and informal seed Seed policy should create a framework that enables systems, and they could make important contributions to public and private resources to be used to meet gender- emerging small-scale seed enterprises. specific demand for seed and that fosters an enabling envi- The formal seed system can enhance the quality and ronment for the synergistic development of the formal and functioning of the informal seed system by, for example, informal seed system. This enabling policy environment implementing capacity-building activities addressing both will take into account such issues as secure tenure rights men and women, strengthening community seed banks, for women farmers and improved access to resources, such and improving seed selection and storage. as inputs or irrigation. 546 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Gender and Crop Protection ome 20­40 percent of the world's potential crop pro- S of them in developing countries.2 The costs of medical treat- duction is lost annually because of the effects of ment, lost labor, and reduced long-term productivity can be weeds, pests, and diseases (CropLife International high. Many farmers in developing countries overuse pesti- 2007). New pest problems continue to develop. Attempts to cides and do not take proper safety precautions because they control agricultural pests have been dominated by chemical do not understand the risks and fear smaller harvests. Mak- control strategies, but the overuse of chemicals has adversely ing matters worse, developing countries seldom have strong affected human health, the environment, international trade, regulatory systems for dangerous chemicals: pesticides and farm budgets. All of these concerns justify giving high banned or restricted in industrialized countries are used priority to crop protection in development interventions. widely in developing countries. Farmers' perceptions of Agriculture ranks among the three most hazardous occu- appropriate pesticide use vary by setting and culture. pations in developing and industrial countries, alongside Additional negative environmental effects and socioeco- mining and construction (World Bank 2007). The leading nomic costs include the debt incurred by farmers to pur- cause of injury on the farm is the improper use of chemi- chase these inputs, the loss of local knowledge and practices cals. Poor awareness of safe practices for handling chemicals once used to protect crops, and dependence on external and a lack of appropriate protective equipment also con- sources of inputs. tribute to injuries. As with so many capital-intensive technologies, the poor, Crop protection strategies--the management of pests, including women and children, are the ones least able to diseases, and weeds--have changed dramatically over time. benefit from their use. Recent research in India, for example, The intensification of agriculture alters agricultural practices shows that small-scale and marginal farmers take loans significantly. For example, in intensive agricultural systems, from private finance corporations to purchase inputs and more traditional and labor-intensive physical and biological then, unable to pay their debts, become answerable to mon- crop protection measures are superseded by pest-resistant eylenders (Mancini and others 2005). Ultimately farmers varieties and more capital-intensive use of pesticides.1 In may be forced to sell their land to cover their debts, thereby marginal areas, the generally small returns to these expen- losing their only economic asset. The same study also found sive chemical inputs make them difficult for farmers to use marginal farmers to have a 10 times greater risk of severe (IFAD 2002). The recent development of crops that are pesticide poisoning than large-scale farmers. genetically modified to resist specific pests and diseases A study by FAO, WHO, and UNEP (2004) broadly esti- presents yet another crop protection alternative to farmers, mates that between 1 million and 5 million cases of pesti- but the benefits and risks of this technology are still poorly cide poisoning occur each year, resulting in several thou- understood in many settings, especially with respect to gen- sand fatalities. Pesticide fatalities are overwhelmingly a der differences. developing country phenomenon. Although developing Pesticides can increase agricultural productivity, but countries use just 25 percent of all pesticides produced, 99 when handled improperly, they are toxic to humans and percent of deaths from pesticide poisoning occur in devel- other species. Aside from the health concerns posed by pes- oping countries. Children and women are especially at risk. ticide residues in food, unintentional poisoning from expo- In Egypt, for example, more than 1 million children who sure kills an estimated 355,000 people each year, two-thirds help to manage cotton pests are exposed to pesticides. 547 An agricultural production model is urgently needed pesticide use. High levels of pesticide poisoning among that starts to internalize the external costs of pesticide use resource-poor farmers, especially women, are often and incorporates the prevention of ill health, environmental reported to be linked to low levels of literacy and education. contamination, and the conservation of biological capital In many cases, the husband is responsible for buying pesti- into production processes and markets. This goal is speci- cide from the cooperative, market, or storekeeper, and no fied in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Develop- information is passed between the husband and wife about ment. Agenda 21, Chapter 14, deals with promoting sus- safe use--with the result, for example, that women reuse tainable agriculture and rural development, and section I pesticide containers for storing or transporting their crops covers "Integrated pest management and control in agricul- or cooking supplies. Often pesticide products are not ture" (UN 1992). The Agenda explicitly mentions women as labeled, but even if they are, many women cannot read the a specific target group for interventions. information. Although educating people in proper pesticide management is extremely important, education alone will not prevent poisoning. Other factors also require attention, KEY GENDER ISSUES including difficulties in obtaining protective gear, which The following sections detail the key gender issues in crop may be costly, may not be supplied by employers, or may be protection and potential benefits of addressing them. inappropriately designed for hot climates (London and Bailie 2001; Mancini and others 2005). Gender and pesticide exposure It is important to gain a better understanding of how Pesticide use is costly and unsuited to women's women are exposed to pesticides in agricultural production, cropping strategies as well as the differential patterns of pesticide use between Pesticide use is capital intensive: the pesticide, sprayer, and women and men. Marginal farmers are often engaged in protective gear all must be purchased. Women's limited professional pesticide spraying and therefore subject to con- access to productive resources often makes them more tinuous exposure. Women and children are specifically at reluctant than men to purchase inputs such as pesticides to risk because they are frequently employed in mixing pesti- use on their crops (which are usually food crops). The blan- cides and refilling pesticide tanks (Rother 2000). Women ket recommendations commonly provided by extension and children also perform secondary activities that have units or displayed on pesticide labels may be inappropriate been neglected in studies dealing with direct exposure. for women's complex mixed-cropping systems. To benefit Extremely time-consuming operations such as weeding are women, pest control mechanisms must be tailored to the often performed by women and children during the peak pests encountered in staple and minor crop production. spraying season, when residue levels in fields are high (Mancini and others 2005) and can cause secondary poison- ing. Women are also exposed to pesticides in the home, for Inconsistent benefits of alternative pest control example, by washing pesticide-soaked clothing and dispos- technologies across socioeconomic groups ing of (or using) empty chemical containers. "The distribution of benefits from commercial genetically Women's involvement in piecework and seasonal labor,and modified crops is uneven. Although these crops are now the unfavorable conditions associated with such work (such as grown more widely in developing than in developed coun- less training and protective equipment), increase their risk of tries, to date the benefits have been uneven, concentrated in pesticide exposure. Women are particularly vulnerable to pes- developed countries and a few commercial crops."3 The ticides at certain times of their lives, especially when they are challenge remains to develop and win approval for GM pregnant. Growing evidence of associations between pesticide crops that are suited to the agricultural preferences and exposure, women's reproductive health problems, and health constraints of poor women and men. In the near term, the problems passed on to offspring adds to the concern over pes- application of new molecular biotechnologies and new ticide poisoning in women (London and Bailie 2001). breeding strategies to crops that are specifically relevant to smallholder production systems in developing countries Gender and knowledge of pesticide risks will probably be constrained for a number of reasons: the Compared to men, women are usually less informed about lack of reliable longer-term research funding, inadequate safe pesticide practices and the dangerous side effects of technical and operational capacity, the low commercial 548 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE value of the crops, the lack of adequate conventional breed- These strategies include promoting alternatives to haz- ing programs, and the need to select the relevant production ardous chemicals; improving training and information for environments (FAO 2004: 24). women and others in agriculture; and reducing access to dangerous agrochemicals. POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES Promoting alternative to hazardous chemicals Many governments have inadequate legislation overseeing problematic pesticides and herbicides. Where the legislative Crops can be protected from pests in ways that preclude the framework is in place, enforcement capability is often weak. use of hazardous chemicals, including integrated pest man- The viability of occupational health and safety structures and agement (IPM), organic crop production, the use of less functions in developing countries is also a primary concern. toxic chemical products, and the promotion of GM crops Agriculture tends to be excluded from many national labor (although the risks, costs, and benefits of this last option are laws and is not subject to any comprehensive international still imperfectly understood in many settings). standard. Where regulations exist, they are often sporadically Integrated pest management. IPM (box 12.16) has been applied because of inadequate legal provisions, low levels of implemented successfully across a wide range of crops and unionization, and insufficient labor inspection. As women agroclimatic zones. Many aid and development agencies form a large percentage of agricultural laborers, they are have adopted IPM as the model for the agricultural develop- directly affected by this lack of oversight (see also Module 8). ment they support, and the OECD Development Assistance The chemical industry heavily promotes the use of pesti- Committee encourages its member states to support IPM. cides for crop protection. In developed countries, on the one IPM should go hand in hand with appropriate pesti- hand, the industry markets "new-generation" pesticides that cide management to allow for pesticide regulation and have high efficiency ratios (small doses achieve maximum control, including trade, and for the safe handling and dis- results) and limited adverse effects on people and the envi- posal of pesticides, particularly those that are toxic and per- ronment. In developing countries, on the other hand, sistent. Cumulative evidence shows that farmers trained significant quantities of outdated pesticides remain in cir- culation, and extension agencies and pesticide sellers may not necessarily promote "new-generation" pesticides, which Box 12.16 Integrated Pest Management Defined in any case are expensive. Instead, farmers buy older, cheaper, and more hazardous products. As much as 30 percent of the The Systemwide Program on Integrated Pest pesticides sold in developing countries do not meet interna- Management of the Consultative Group on Inter- tional quality standards. FAO has recently expressed concern national Agricultural Research offers a concise about the proliferation of cheap unlabelled pesticides in synthesis of IPM principles: Africa (FAO/WHO 2001). Many are adulterated, unautho- Integrated Pest Management is an approach to rized, or illegal. enhancing crop and livestock production, based on The current drive for economic growth and agricultural an understanding of ecological principles, that trade promotes an approach to food production that empowers farmers to promote the health of crops emphasizes agribusiness, land consolidation, and contract and animals within a well-balanced agro-ecosystem, farming (IIED 2003), in which pesticides play an established making full use of available technologies, especially role. Although these production systems are important in host resistance, biological control and cultural con- trol methods. Chemical pesticides are used only some segments of the farming community, they do not when the above measures fail to keep pests below address the specific circumstances and priorities of acceptable levels, and when assessment of associated resource-poor women farmers, who risk becoming even risks and benefits (considering effects on human and more marginalized if agriculture increasingly presents alter- environmental health, as well as profitability) indi- natives that they cannot adopt. The discussion of GM crops cates that the benefits of their use outweigh the costs. All interventions are need-based and are applied in needs to take this issue into account. ways that minimize undesirable side-effects. Experiences with crop protection in developing coun- tries suggest policies and other interventions that could sup- Source: SP-IPM In Brief, www.spipm.cgiar.org/Brief/ port crop protection strategies that do not further exclude spIPMbrif.htm. and endanger the poor, especially women and children. THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER AND CROP PROTECTION 549 in appropriate methods of pesticide use suffer lower Because IPM is knowledge intensive, it requires an inten- exposure and can achieve higher net returns than those sive educational approach, which is more challenging to who are not trained. scale up (as farmer field schools and training-the-trainer IPM has shown positive results in a wide range of socioe- approaches have shown) as well as demanding of human conomic and ecological conditions (FAO 1999, 2000; FAO and financial resources (Feder, Murgai, and Quizon 2004). and World Bank 2000; Tripp, Wijeratne, and Piyadasa 2005). The policy environment can also constrain expansion of An important advantage of IPM is that it builds on the IPM programs. Policies inhibiting the expansion of com- knowledge of women and men farmers about crop, pest, and munity IPM (Fakih, Rahardjo, and Pimbert 2003) include predator ecology to increase the use of pest-resistant vari- inequitable property rights over land and other natural eties, beneficial insects, crop rotations, and improved soil resources (see also Modules 4 and 10), which commonly management. It combines local knowledge with external affect women more than men. knowledge in the search for improved management strate- An important lesson of IPM projects in various countries gies. The success of IPM depends largely on how well farm- is that women have continued to be underrepresented ers understand and combine knowledge of biological and (Fakih, Rahardjo, and Pimbert 2003). Often IPM projects ecological processes with their farming experience to rigidly impose criteria for selecting participating farmers, develop and select options that reduce losses to pests, which include the completion of lower secondary school, increase agricultural productivity, manage risk, and meet some farming experience, and the ability to communicate the demands of local and global markets. As men and knowledge to others. Although useful in themselves--espe- women often possess different types of knowledge, applying cially where ensuring the dissemination of knowledge is a gender perspective to IPM is integral for understanding concerned--these criteria, if formally and rigidly applied, farmers' perceived pest management needs. restrict women's access. Other external constraints on IPM is thus knowledge intensive and builds on available women's full participation in farmer field schools and train- human and social capital. By addressing women as well as ing-of-trainer courses, as well as on their ability to be active men, IPM programs and projects can help to invest more farmer trainers, include the following (Nhat Tuyen 1997): equitably in developing human and social capital--two cru- cial assets for sustainable livelihoods. When women In many cultures women need permission from their attended farmer field schools to learn about IPM, they husbands or fathers to attend schools and courses, espe- reported that the schools helped them gain recognition of cially if all or most participants are men. In some cul- their personal skills and abilities. Mancini, van Bruggen, and tures it is simply unacceptable for women to participate Jiggins (2007) showed that the personal growth stimulated in group activities with men who are not their husbands by participation in field schools was particularly relevant to or close relatives. women and confirmed the importance of increasing It may be difficult to schedule activities so that they do women' access to these and other educational programs. not clash with the wide range of family support tasks for Because IPM is not capital intensive, it is suited to family which women bear primary responsibility. food production systems, including the production of tradi- The extent to which men farmers accept having women tional crops and varieties. Whereas pesticides are more as part of a group or as trainers must be determined. commonly used in commercial production systems, IPM, if Village leadership, including village administration and developed from a gender perspective, can contribute to cooperative management, plays an important if not increased food security. essential role in organizing IPM training courses. These Even in these cases, the wider promotion of IPM practices leaders interpret and apply the selection criteria. If men must overcome a number of limitations. IPM can be a time- dominate village leadership, as is often the case, this and labor-intensive strategy, with potential constraints for domination can easily lead to men's bias in selection. women, who often lack surplus labor to invest in such initia- The trainers'role is critical in organizing training events in tives. These factors are highly context specific and must be ways that meet the requirements of men and women understood thoroughly before making any decision to pro- farmers. When introducing a training course to local lead- mote IPM. For example, in some cases women have had to ers, trainers often lack information about how gender walk long distances to fetch water to prepare pesticides for operates in the local division of labor. For this reason, they cotton production, and switching to IPM based on biologi- do not have the capacity to negotiate fair representation cal pest control lightened women's labor. of women in field schools or other training events, and 550 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE often trainers themselves are not convinced that equality Aside from their environmental consequences, GM crops of representation is important. The degree to which have important socioeconomic consequences. The adoption women have participated in field schools, until now, has of Bt cotton can be cited as an overall success for increasing depended on the perceptions and initiatives of individual yields, improving farm incomes, and significantly reducing staff and trainers. pesticide applications, but these effects have varied depend- For these newer training approaches to succeed among ing on the context (World Bank 2007). Some farmers in men and women, a shift in attitudes must occur. The cus- India experienced losses following the adoption of Bt cotton. tomary preference for working with men farmers must In some parts of India, Bt cotton yields less than traditional not be transferred from conventional research and exten- cotton varieties. The reduced yields, together with rising seed sion approaches to new training approaches. costs, increased farmers' indebtedness.4 The distribution of benefits from commercial GM crops These constraints should be taken into account in future has been uneven, concentrated in industrial countries and a interventions. The IPM farmer field school literature pro- few crops. The largest share of GM crops is found in highly vides a good starting point for reviewing ways of overcom- commercial production systems (FAO 2004), and the strong ing gender bias. commercial interest of the private sector largely determines Other approaches to reduce hazardous chemicals. Other the kinds of GM crops and traits that are developed. A few approaches to reduce pesticide use are the promotion of less promising initiatives aim to develop and promote GM crops toxic pesticides, the promotion of organic farming (dis- with traits that are relevant for developing countries. New cussed in Thematic Note 1), and the development of pest- Rice for Africa (NERICA), a high-yielding, drought- and and disease-resistant crops, including GM crops. Scientists, pest-resistant type of rice developed specifically for African development practitioners, civil society organizations, and conditions, is one example. IFAD has provided $2 million to politicians have long debated the benefits and constraints of WARDA to promote the use of NERICA in West Africa and genetically modified crops. Recent conclusions with respect is now designing a series of grants to accelerate NERICA to these issues have been summarized as follows: seed multiplication activities in Côte d'Ivoire, the Demo- The scientific consensus is that the use of transgenic insect- cratic Republic of Congo, and Guinea (IFAD 2007). The lack resistant Bt crops is reducing the volume and frequency of insec- of gender-disaggregated data on the adoption and benefits of ticide use on maize, cotton and soybean (ICSU [International GM crops makes it impossible to draw gender-specific Council for Science]). These results have been especially signifi- conclusions, apart from pointing out the gender-specific cant for cotton in Australia, China, Mexico, South Africa and the constraints encountered with other interventions in crop United States. The environmental benefits include less contam- protection and in plant breeding more generally (see The- ination of water supplies and less damage to non-target insects matic Note 2 on seed systems, for example). (ICSU) ... As a result of less chemical pesticide spraying on cot- ton, demonstrable health benefits for farm workers have been documented in China. ... and South Africa. ... Herbicide use is Improving training and information for women in changing as a result of the rapid adoption of HT [herbicide-tol- agriculture erant] crops (ICSU). There has been a marked shift away from more toxic herbicides to less toxic forms, but total herbicide use Only safe, correct management will minimize the negative has increased. ... Scientists agree that HT crops are encouraging consequences of pesticides for human and environmental the adoption of low-till crops with resulting benefits for soil health and foster their sustained, positive impact on crop conservation (ICSU). There may be potential benefits for biodi- production and farmers' overall livelihoods. Given rural versity if changes in herbicide use allow weeds to emerge and women's generally poor access to information and extension remain longer in farmers' fields, thereby providing habitats for exposure, it remains a challenge to convey messages about farmland birds and other species, although these benefits are safe pesticide use to them. Government, the chemical indus- speculative and have not been strongly supported by field trials try, and NGOs have undertaken various campaigns to pro- to date. ... There is concern, however, that greater use of herbi- mote safe pesticide use, but their lasting impact on women's cides--even less toxic herbicides--will further erode habitats knowledge and on resulting levels of pesticide poisoning is for farmland birds and other species (ICSU). ... Scientists agree that extensive long-term use of Bt crops and glyphosate and not well documented. gluphosinate, the herbicides associated with HT crops, can pro- Some of the innovative communication strategies devel- mote the development of resistant insect pests and weeds. oped in IPM projects could help to convey this important FAO (2004, Section B, Chapter 4: 68­71) message to rural communities, specifically to women. Aside THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER AND CROP PROTECTION 551 from the farmer field schools and training-of-trainers ini- pesticide exposure and its ill effects among women in east- tiatives described earlier, these strategies have included ern and southern Africa. radio programs, audio cassettes, and local"resource centers" One must emphasize that educational strategies alone with exhibits and educational material, including videos of cannot protect farmers from the harmful effects of pesti- local people's experiences with IPM, comic books, leaflets, cides. Sherwood, Cole, and Murray (2007) note that and posters. These alternatives might be better alternatives research financed by the Novartis Foundation--the single for reaching women. largest study ever conducted on pesticide safety concerns-- Important subjects for an awareness campaign include concluded that it was unrealistic to expect poor people in the following: developing countries to manage pesticides safely. Major causes of poisoning in developing countries are the Delineating the links between chemical exposures, the improper labeling, storage, and use of chemicals. Uninten- effects on human health and the environment, and gender tional poisonings account for an estimated 50,000 deaths of differences in risks and impacts. In most communities, children aged 0­14 every year.5 Sherwood, Cole, and Murray people are unaware of their routine, even daily, exposure (2007) report that the Novartis Foundation study concluded to toxic chemicals in the workplace, at home, and in the that "any pesticide manufacturer that cannot guarantee the general environment. Raising awareness of the immedi- safe handling and use of its products should withdraw those ate health risks of toxic chemicals used in agriculture in products from the market"--a scenario difficult to envision developing countries is an intervention that informs in countries where government and industry capacity to work at all subsequent stages of the policy process. enforce standards is severely limited (see the next section). Explaining the different toxicity classes of pesticides and the Other factors, including the lack of appropriate protective meaning of their corresponding labels. gear (discussed earlier), the lack of facilities for washing, Describing the physiological effects of pesticide poisoning and the lack of health services, favor the continued unsafe (short and long term). Interesting lessons may be learned use of pesticides (London and Bailie 2001; Mancini and from participatory self-assessments of pesticide poison- others 2005). ing among men and women farmers (box 12.17). Reducing access to hazardous chemicals through Providing access to information, knowledge, and tech- regulation and enforcement nology that promote new and less hazardous methods of using pesticides is another approach that has shown bene- Access to the more dangerous agrochemicals could be fits. Box 12.18 describes how the development of appropri- reduced by strengthening and enforcing laws against expo- ate equipment for applying seed dressings helped to reduce sure to hazardous chemicals. Although regulation and Box 12.17 Farmer Self-Monitoring of Pesticide Use in Cotton in India: A Tool to Create Awareness In 2003 the Integrated Pest Management Program for villages that had farmer field schools. The idea was to Cotton in Asia (a joint effort by the European Union measure the health effects of pesticide exposures in real and Food and Agriculture Organization) designed a time (over the course of the cropping season) through participatory project to assess the frequency and sever- direct documentation by farmers. Because previous ity of acute pesticide poisoning among cotton growers studies focused on men farmers who applied chemical in Andhra Pradesh, India. Through farmer field schools, products, this effort concentrated on women as respon- the program educated farmers about the adverse effects dents (for themselves and for their men relatives). The of pesticides on human health and the environment and assessment's primary aim was to raise farmers' aware- presented sustainable alternatives to pesticide use. The ness of the seriousness of the pesticide poisoning assessment of acute pesticide poisoning was conceived occurring in the villages. It also aimed to quantify the as a complementary activity to be undertaken in three problem through direct reporting by farmers. Source: Mancini and others 2005. 552 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE Box 12.18 Tanzania and Zambia: Testing a Seed Dressing to Reduce Pesticide Problems Women in small- and medium-scale farming suffer the the large, expensive, imported machines that are worst health problems from pesticide use because they required. UNIDO developed a mobile seed dressing spray the fields themselves, usually without safety precau- applicator to meet the needs of women in small-scale tions. To assist them, the United Nations Industrial farming, initially focusing on Arusha in Tanzania and Development Organization (UNIDO) has developed a Lusaka in Zambia. Men and women were trained to use new way to coat seed with a minimal amount of pesticide the seed dressing equipment and to handle treated seed ("seed dressing"). Seed dressing has proved to be one of safely. Trials of the technology were conducted from the most effective and economic forms of protection. It 1992 to 1994, and the groundwork was laid for com- can control a wide variety of fungal and bacterial diseases, mercial implementation. Farming women were very in addition to soil-borne insects and nematodes. The pleased with the new approach, which would not only much lower amount of pesticide used also greatly reduces enable them to increase their yields, food supply, and the environmental and human health impacts. incomes, but would also dramatically reduce their Seed dressing is already used in many areas, but it is exposure to pesticides and reduce pollution in the local usually restricted to large-scale farmers who can afford environment. Source: UNIDO 1995. enforcement have no explicit gender component, men, in abandoning highly hazardous chemicals without suffer- women, and children alike would benefit if countries ing reduced yields. They conclude that "despite the claims strengthened and enforced the pesticide regulatory frame- of governments and industry, the problem with eliminating work to conform to best practice as laid out in the FAO highly toxics never has been a lack of alternatives, but Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides rather the political will to place the interest of the public (FAO 2003). The cooperation of the private sector is crucial over those of influential private actors" (Sherwood, Cole, to the success of such efforts. and Murray 2007: 33). Highly hazardous pesticides (Class I) are still common in There is growing recognition, based on ever-more evi- many smallholder farming systems. Because patents on dence, that Class I pesticides negatively affect health, many of these products expired long ago, chemical compa- especially of women and their unborn babies. The rapid nies can market them at bargain prices, which are attractive physiological changes experienced by women during preg- to farmers. Farmers are also reluctant to stop using them nancy, lactation, and menopause render them more vulnerable because the pesticides are often highly efficient, and farmers to toxins. Exposure to pesticides can cause miscarriage, pre- do not know about their serious health and environmental mature birth, birth defects, and low birth weight (WHO risks. Farmers may also believe that yields will fall if they 2006).A substantial portion (up to 33 percent) of a woman's stop using these chemicals, especially if no alternatives are chemical burden can be passed on to an unborn child dur- introduced. Restricting access to highly hazardous pesti- ing gestation and to a baby through breastfeeding. cides appears to have no measurable negative effect on rural In light of this and other evidence, FAO encourages the economies, aside from a decline in pesticide sales (Sher- early withdrawal of highly toxic pesticides (FAO 2006). Use wood, Cole, and Murray 2007). Farmers identify alterna- of such pesticides is prohibited or severely restricted in tives, "proving that these pesticides can be substituted by OECD countries, and in line with the International Code of switching to non-chemical pest control or less toxic pesti- Conduct, FAO would like to see them banned at the earliest cides. The latter are usually more expensive than highly toxics, date in developing countries, where it is virtually impossible but judicious use leads farmers to use them economically" to guarantee their safe use. A growing number of develop- (Sherwood, Cole, and Murray 2007: 32). Sherwood and ing countries, including China, Thailand, and Vietnam, have coworkers also report that knowledge-based methodologies, are already prohibited the use of methyl parathion, monocro- including farmer field schools, successfully assisted growers tophos, and several other Class I pesticides. THEMATIC NOTE 3: GENDER AND CROP PROTECTION 553 GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR a bias that must be addressed to ensure that women ben- PRACTITIONERS efit from information campaigns. Messages designed to improve women's awareness, knowledge, and skills with Pest control is undoubtedly essential for commercial and sub- respect to safe pesticide use must be designed to over- sistence farming systems to meet the growing demand for come the barriers that are often raised by women's lower food and contribute to other development goals, but evidence socioeconomic status, more limited education, and other is mounting that the sole reliance on pesticides to achieve constraints. The use of alternative communication chan- such objectives is unsustainable. The high environmental and nels should be explored. human costs of pesticide use must now be taken into account, along with the considerable gender effects of pesticide use, which despite their seriousness have been largely ignored. NOTES The strategies discussed in this Module to reduce the use Overview of harmful pesticides can be promoted in parallel. To suc- ceed, they will need supportive policies, and they will also This Overview was written by Sabine Gündel (Consultant) need to be devised with a full understanding of women's and reviewed by Ira Matuschke, Mary Hill Rojas, and circumstances. Several actions must be considered: Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Regina Laub (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Robert Tripp (ODI); Eija Pehu (World Bank); Government and institutional support: Alternatives to and Niels Louwaars (WUR). pesticide use must be promoted actively. Structural fac- 1. Although there is not scope in this Module to discuss tors that encourage the inappropriate and unnecessary urban agriculture, recent studies document its benefits use of pesticides--including direct or indirect subsidies; among women who are responsible for family food provi- pro-pesticide biases in research, extension, and training; sion (Anosike and Fasona 2004; Ba Diao 2004). Women use or credit linked to pesticide use--should be removed. urban agriculture as a primary strategy to maintain liveli- Research and extension services require institutional hoods and protect household income through subsistence production. Urban agriculture requires an investment of support to conduct work with a clear gender focus. household resources, such as land, labor, and capital, that Technical solutions: Farmers require solutions to their crop can motivate women to go beyond acquiring food for protection problems that take account of gender-specific domestic use. Urban food enterprises represent an avenue needs. Researchers must work with farmers, recognizing through which unskilled and uneducated women poten- gender divisions of labor, to develop appropriate solu- tially gain entry into the business milieu (Hovorka and Lee- tions. This collaboration is particularly important in Smith 2006). the promotion of genetically modified crops, because no 2. For a discussion of broader natural resource manage- gender-disaggregated data on risks and benefits are cur- ment issues in relation to gender, see Module 10. rently available. 3. For example, crops with greater amounts of micronutri- Farmer participation: Participatory field schools or their ents that promote human health, such as betacarotene, iron, equivalents are good channels for providing information and zinc. on safe crop protection strategies to farmers, for strength- 4. Among many examples, see Adato and Meinzen-Dick ening many good farmer practices, and for recognizing (2007). farmers' expertise. A focus on the gender differences in expertise for different crops and production systems is important. Farmers who use pesticides need to acquire the Thematic Note 1 knowledge and confidence to use sustainable alternatives. This Thematic Note was written by Sabine Gündel (Consul- Explicit inclusion of women: Unless women are specifi- tant) and reviewed by Ira Matuschke, Mary Hill Rojas, and cally identified and included in project planning and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Regina Laub (FAO); Maria implementation, and encouraged to assume leadership Hartl (IFAD); Robert Tripp (ODI); Eija Pehu (World Bank); roles, they are likely to remain invisible. Training, and Niels Louwaars (WUR). information, and extension to reach these women are essential, or else they will continue to bear many of the consequences of unsafe pesticide use. Thematic Note 2 Messages developed to reach women: Pest control mes- This Thematic Note was written by Sabine Gündel (Consul- sages have conventionally been targeted at men farmers, tant) and reviewed by Ira Matuschke, Mary Hill Rojas, and 554 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Regina Laub (FAO); Maria Adjei-Nsiah, Samuel, Thomas W. Kuyper, Cees Leeuwis, Hartl (IFAD); Robert Tripp (ODI); Eija Pehu (World Bank); Mark K. Abekoe, and Ken E. Giller. 2007. "Evaluating and Niels Louwaars (WUR). Sustainable and Profitable Cropping Sequences with 1. See also International Center for Agricultural Research Cassava and Four Legume Crops: Effects on Soil Fertility in the Dry Areas, "Contributions from Seed Programs and and Maize Yields in the Forest/Savannah Transitional Projects," Seed Info: Official Newsletter of the WANA Seed Agroecological Zone of Ghana." Field Crop Research 103 Network 33, www.icarda.org. (2): 87­97. 2. Examples of such crops include self-pollinating crops Anosike, Vide, and Mayowa Fasona. 2004. "Gender Dimen- (common beans, groundnuts, rice), vegetatively propagated sions of Urban Commercial Farming in Lagos, Nigeria." crops (potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava), and crops with Urban Agriculture Magazine 12: 27­28. limited seed demand (indigenous vegetables, forages, open- Ash, Neville, and Martin Jenkins. 2007. "Biodiversity and pollinated maize) (Scott and others 2003). Poverty Reduction: The Importance of Biodiversity for 3. Louise Sperling,"Finding the Seeds of Recovery Close to Ecosystem Services." Cambridge: United Nations Envi- Home," CGIAR News (March), www.cgiar.org. ronment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 4. See also ibid. Ba Diao, Maty. 2004. "Women and Periurban Agriculture in 5. N. P. Louwaars, "Seed Laws: Biases and Bottlenecks," the Niayes Zone of Senegal." Urban Agriculture Magazine www.grain.org/seedling_files/seed-05-07-2.pdf. 12: 23­24. 6. Niels P. Louwaars, "Seed Laws: Biases and Bottlenecks," Badstue, Lone B., Mauricio R. Bellon, Julien Berthaud, Ale- Grain (July): 3­7, www.grain.org/seedling_files/seed-05-07- jandro Ramírez, Dagoberto Flores, and Xochitl Juárez. 2.pdf. 2007. "The Dynamics of Farmers' Maize Seed Supply 7. See note 3 above. Practices in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico." World Development 35 (9): 1579­93. Balakrishnan, Revathi, and Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop. 2005. Thematic Note 3 "Rural Women and Food Security in Asia and the Pacific: This Thematic Note was written by Sabine Gündel (Consul- Prospects and Paradoxes." FAO, Regional Office for Asia tant) and reviewed by Ira Matuschke, Mary Hill Rojas, and and the Pacific, Bangkok. Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Regina Laub (FAO); Maria Chambers, Robert. 1997. Whose Reality Counts? Putting Hartl (IFAD); Robert Tripp (ODI); Eija Pehu (World Bank); the First Last. London: Intermediate Technology and Niels Louwaars (WUR). Publications. 1. Pesticides are chemicals, including insecticides, herbi- Cline, William R. 2007. "Global Warming and Agriculture." cides, and fungicides, that are used to control insects, weeds, Brief, September, Centre for Global Development, Wash- and other pests and diseases. ington, DC. 2. "Global Occupational Health," http://globalhealthedu. CropLife International. 2007. CropLife International Annual org/Pages/Default.aspx. Report, 2006­2007. Brussels: CropLife International. 3. "Brief 37-2007: Executive Summary Global Status of Crucefix, David. 1998. Organic Agriculture and Sustainable Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2007," www.isaaa.org. Rural Livelihoods in Developing Countries. Chatham: Nat- 4. "Indian Cotton Farmers Betrayed," press release, www. ural Resources and Ethical Trade Programme, Natural i-sis.org.uk. Resources Institute. 5. World Health Organization, "What Happens When Delgado, Christopher L., and Chandrashekhar G. Ranade. Children Live in Unhealthy Environments?" Fact Sheet 272, 1987. "Technological Change and Agricultural Labor www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs272/en. Use." In Accelerating Food Production in Sub-Saharan Africa, ed. John W. Mellor, Christopher L. Delgado, and Malcolm Blackie, 118­35. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. REFERENCES Department for International Development (DFID). 2005. Overview Growth and Poverty Reduction: The Role of Agriculture. Adato, Michelle, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick, eds. 2007. Agri- London: DFID. cultural Research, Livelihoods, and Poverty: Studies of Eco- ------. 2007. Gender Equality at the Heart of Development: nomic and Social Impacts in Six Countries. Washington, Why the Role of Women Is Crucial to Ending World DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. Poverty. London: DFID. MODULE 12: REFERENCES 555 Doss, Cheryl R. 1999. "Twenty-five Years of Research on Increased Investment in Agriculture for Rural Poverty Women Farmers in Africa: Lessons and Implications for Eradication." Press release. Agricultural Research Institutions." With an Annotated Jiggins, Janice, R. K. Samanta, and Janice E. Olawoye. 1997. Bibliography. CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat "Improving Women Farmers' Access to Extension Ser- Improvement Center) Economics Program Paper No. vices." In Improving Agricultural Extension: A Reference 99-02, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Manual, ed. Burton E. Swanson, Robert P. Bentz, and Center, Mexico, DF. Andrew J. Sofranko, chapter 9. Rome: Food and Agricul- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2007a. "Gender ture Organization. and Food Security. Synthesis Report of Regional Docu- Levi, Michael. 1987. `Weapons of the Strong: and How the ments: Africa, Asia and Pacific, Europe, Near East, Latin Weak Resist Them." Paper presented at the Midwest America." FAO, Rome. Political Science Association Meeting, Chicago. ------. 2007b. "Women and Food Security." FAO, Rome. Lipton, Michael. 2005. "The Family Farm in a Globalizing ------. 2007c. "Gender and Food Security: Facts and Fig- World: The Role of Crop Science in Alleviating Poverty." ures." FAO, Rome. 2020 Policy Brief No. 74, International Food Policy ------. 2008."Improving Seed Management Interventions: Research Institute, Washington, DC. Lessons Learned from the Field: A Review of Selected McSweeney, Brenda G. 1979. "Collection and Analysis of LinKS Studies." FAO, Rome. Data on Rural Women's Time Use." Studies in Family Gabre-Madhin, Eleni, Christopher Barrett, and Paul Planning 10 (11/12): 379­83. Dorosh. 2003. "Technological Change and Price Effects Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and in Agriculture: Conceptual and Comparative Perspec- Human Well-Being: Synthesis. Washington, DC: Island tives." MTID Discussion Paper 62, International Food Press. Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC. Murgai, Rinku. 2001. "The Green Revolution and the Gladwin, Christina H., Anne M. Thomson, Jennifer S. Peter- Productivity Paradox: Evidence from Indian Punjab." son, and Andrea S. Anderson. 2001. "Addressing Food Agricultural Economics 25: 199­209. Security in Africa via Multiple Livelihood Strategies of New Economic Foundation (NEF). 2006. A Long Row to Women Farmers." Food Policy 26: 177­207. Hoe: Family Farming and Rural Poverty in Developing Gruère, Guillaume P., Alessandra Giuliani, and Melinda Countries. London: NEF. Smale. 2006. "Marketing Underutilized Plant Species for Oluoch-Kosura, Willis, and Joseph T. Karugia. 2005. "Why the Benefit of the Poor: A Conceptual Framework." the Early Promise for Rapid Increases in Maize Pro- IFPRI Environmental and Protection Technology Dis- ductivity in Kenya Was Not Sustained: Lessons for Sus- cussion Paper No. 154, International Food Policy tainable Investment in Agriculture." In The African Research Institute, Washington, DC. Food Crisis, ed. Goran Djurfeldt, Hans Holmen, Mag- Hirschmann, David, and Megan Vaughan. 1984. Women nus Jirstrom, and Rolf Larsson, 181­96. Wallington: Farmers of Malawi: Food Production in the Zomba Dis- CABI. trict. Berkeley: Institute of International Studies. Pala, Achola O. 1983. "Women's Access to Land and Their Horie, Takeshi, Tatsuhiko Shiraiwa, Koki Homma, Keisuke Role in Agriculture and Decision-Making on the Farm: Katsura, Yohei Maeda, and Hiroe Yoshida. 2005. "Can Experiences of the Joluo of Kenya." Journal of Eastern Yields of Lowland Rice Resume the Increases That They African Research and Development 13: 69­85. Showed in the 1980s?" Plant Production Science 8 (3): Smale, Melinda, Lamissa Diakité, Brahima Dembélé, Issa 259­74. Seni Traoré, Oumar Guindo, and Bouréma Konta. 2008. Hovorka, Alice J., and Diana Lee-Smith. 2006. "Gendering "Trading Millet and Sorghum Genetic Resources: Women the Urban Agriculture Agenda." In Cities Farming for the Vendors in the Village Fairs of San and Douentza, Mali." Future: Urban Agriculture for Green and Productive Cities, IFPRI Discussion Paper No. 746, International Food Pol- ed. R. van Veenhuizen. Leusden: RUAF Foundation, icy Research Institute, Washington, DC. International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, and Tripp, Robert. 2006. Self-Sufficient Agriculture: Labor and International Development Research Centre. Knowledge in Small-Scale Farming. London: Earth- Howard, Patricia, ed. 2003. Women and Plants: Gender scan. Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation. World Bank. 2003. Reaching the Rural Poor: a Renewed Strat- London: Zed Books. egy for Rural Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). ------. 2007. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture 2007. "European Commission and IFAD Commit to for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. 556 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE ------. 2008. "Agriculture for Development: The Gender ------. 2005b. "The Importance of Soil Organic Matter: Dimensions." Agriculture for Development Policy Brief Key to Drought-Resistant Soil and Sustained Food and for the World Development Report 2008, World Bank, Production." FAO Soils Bulletin 80, FAO, Rome. Washington, DC. ------. 2006. "Fertilizer Use by Country." FAO Fertilizer and Plant Nutrition Bulletin 17, FAO, Rome. Thematic Note 1 ------. 2007. "Organic Agriculture and Food Security." FAO, Rome. Adato, Michelle, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick, eds. 2007. Agri- Haile, Mitiku, Fetien Abay, and Ann Waters-Bayer. 2001. cultural Research, Livelihoods, and Poverty: Studies of Eco- "Joining Forces to Discover and Celebrate Local Innova- nomic and Social Impacts in Six Countries. Washington, tions in Land Husbandry in Tigray, Ethiopia." In Farmer DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. Innovation in Africa: A Source of Inspiration for Agricul- Altieri, Miguel A. 2002. "Non-Certified Organic Agriculture tural Development, ed. Chris Reij and Ann Waters-Bayer, in Developing Countries." In Organic Agriculture, Envi- 58­73. London: Earthscan. ronment and Food Security, ed. Nadia El-Hage Scialabba Hallman, Kelly, David Lewis, and Suraiya Begum. 2003. "An and Caroline Hattam, chapter 4. Rome: Food and Agri- Integrated Economic and Social Analysis to Assess the culture Organization. Impact of Vegetable and Fishpond Technologies on Atampugre, Nick. 1993. Behind the Stone Lines. Oxford: Poverty in Rural Bangladesh." EPTD (Environmental Oxfam. and Production Technology Div.) Discussion Paper No. Budelman, Arnoud, and Toon DeFoer. 2000. "Not by Nutri- 112, International Food Policy Research Institute, Wash- ents Alone: A Call to Broaden the Soil Fertility Initiative." ington, DC. Natural Resources Forum 24: 173­84. Hartemink, Alfred E. 2004. "Soil Fertility Decline on Agri- Crawford, Eric, Thomas. S. Jayne, and Valerie Kelly. 2005. cultural Plantations in the Tropics." Paper presented at "Alternative Approaches for Promoting Fertilizer Use in the IFA Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific, Africa, with Particular Reference to the Role of Fertilizer Auckland, New Zealand, December 14­16. Subsidies." Department of Agricultural Economics, Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD). Michigan State University, East Lansing. 2004. HIV/AIDS, Gender Inequality, and the Agricultural Critchley, Will, Milcah Ong'ayo, and Janet Njoroge. 2001. Sector: Guidelines for Incorporating HIV/AIDS and Gen- "Women and Innovation: Experiences from Promoting der Considerations into Agricultural Programming in High Farmer Innovation in East Afria." In Farmer Innovation Incidence Countries. Ottawa: ICAD. in Africa, ed. Chris Reij and Ann Waters-Bayer, 110­21. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). London: Earthscan. 2002. "The Rural Poor: Survival or a Better Life? The Datta, Dipankar, and Kamal Kar. 2006."Getting the Message Choice between Destruction of Resources and Sustain- Across: Promoting Ecological Agriculture in Bangladesh." able Development." Paper submitted to the World Gatekeeper Series 122, International Institute for Envi- Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, ronment and Development, London. September. DeFoer, Toon, and Ian Scoones. 2001. "Participatory Kerr, Rachel Bezner, Sieglinde Snapp, Marko Chirwa, Lizzie Approaches to Integrated Soil Fertility Management." In Shumba, and Rodgers Msachi. 2007. "Participatory Dynamics and Diversity: Soil Fertility and Farming Liveli- Research on Legume Diversification with Malawian hoods in Africa, ed. Ian Scoones, 164­75. London: Earth- Smallholder Farmers for Improved Human Nutrition scan. and Soil Fertility." Experimental Agriculture 43: 437­53. de Jager, André, Stephen M. Nandwa, and Peter F. Okoth. Korinek, Jane. 2005. "Trade and Gender: Issues and Inter- 1998."Monitoring Nutrient Flows and Economic Perfor- actions." OECD Trade Policy Working Paper No. 24. mance in African Farming Systems (NUTMON). I. Con- Organization for Economic Co-operation and Devel- cepts and Methodologies." Agriculture, Ecosystems, and opment, Paris. Environment 71 (1­3): 37­48. New Economic Foundation (NEF). 2006. A Long Row to Department for International Development (DFID). 2002. Hoe: Family Farming and Rural Poverty in Developing "Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management." Key Sheets for Countries. London: NEF. Sustainable Livelihoods, DFID, London. Sumberg, James, Christine Okali, and David Reece. 2003. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005a. Current "Agricultural Research in the Face of Diversity, Local World Fertilizer Trends and Outlook to 2009/10. Rome: Knowledge, and the Participation Imperative: Theoreti- FAO. cal Considerations." Agricultural Systems 76: 739­53. MODULE 12: REFERENCES 557 UN Millennium Project. 2005. "Investing in Development: ------. 2008b. "Improving Seed Management Interven- A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Develop- tions. Lessons Learned from the Field: A Review of ment Goals." United Nations Development Programme, Selected LinKS Studies." FAO, Rome. New York. Hossain, Mahabub. 1988."Natures and Impact of the Green Uphoff, Norman. 2002. Agroecological Innovations. London: Revolution in Bangladesh." IFPRI Research Report No. Earthscan. 67, International Food Policy Research Institute, Wash- van Dam, A. A. 2005. "The Future of Oil and Agriculture in ington, DC. Developing Countries." Master's thesis, School of Devel- Louwaars, Niels P. 1994. "Integrated Seed Supply: Institu- opment Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich. tional Linkages in Relation to System Efficiency, Biodi- White, Marceline, Carlos Salas, and Sarah Gammage. 2003. versity, and Gender." In Alternative Approaches to Bean "Trade Impact Review: Mexico Case Study. NAFTA and Seed Production and Distribution in Eastern and Southern the FTAA: A Gender Analysis of Employment and Africa: Proceedings of a Working Group Meeting, Kampala: Poverty Impacts in Agriculture." Women's Edge Coali- International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), ed. tion, Washington, DC. Soniia David. Kampala: CIAT. World Bank. 2007. World Development Report 2008: Agricul- ------. 2007. "Seeds of Confusion: The Impact of Policies ture for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. on Seed Systems." Ph.D. dissertation. Wageningen Uni- Wynen, Els, and David Vanzetti. 2002. "Certified Organic versity, the Netherlands. Agriculture: Situation and Outlook." In Organic Agri- Maredia, Mywish, and Julie A. Howard. 1998. "Facilitating culture, Environment and Food Security, ed. Nadia El- Seed Sector Transformation in Africa: Key Findings from Hage Sciallaba and Caroline Hattam, chapter 3. Rome: the Literature." Policy Synthesis No. 33, United States FAO. Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Africa, Washington, DC. Musopole, Edson. 2000. "Small-Scale Seed Production and Marketing in Malawi: The Case of a Smallholder Seed Thematic Note 2 Development Project." In Finance and Management of African Seed and Biotechnology Programme (ASBP). 2006. Small-Scale Seed Enterprises, ed. Sam Kugbei, Michael "African Seed and Biotechnology Programme: Twenty- Turner, and Peter Witthaut, 78­83. Proceedings of a fourth Regional Conference for Africa." Conference Pro- Workshop on Finance and Management of Small-Scale ceedings. Bamako, Mali, January 30­February 3. Seed Enterprises, October 26­30, 1998, Addis Ababa, Almekinders, Conny J. M., Niels P. Louwaars, and G. H. de Ethiopia. Aleppo, Syria: ICARDA (International Center Bruijn. 1994. "Local Seed Systems and Their Importance for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas). for Improved Seed Supply in Developing Countries." Pionetti, Carine. 2006. "Seed Diversity in the Drylands: Euphytica 78: 207­16. Women and Farming in South India." Gatekeeper 126, DAC Evaluation Resource Centre (DEReC). 2007. "Ethiopia International Institute for Environment and Develop- Seed System Development Project (SSDP)." Report No. ment, London. 40124, DEReC, World Bank, Washington, DC. Scott, Jason, Patrick Kambewa, Rowland Chirwa, and Vas Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit Aggarwal. 2003. "Local Seed Systems for Beans in (GTZ) and Center for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands Malawi." CIAT Africa Occasional Publication Series, No. (CGN). 2000. Support for the Informal Seed Sector in 40. CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture), Development Cooperation: Conceptual Issues. Eschborn, Kampala. Germany: GTZ and CGN. Smale, Melissa, Brahima Dembélé, Issa Seni Traoré, Oumar Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2002."Rural and Guindo, and Bouréma Konta. 2007. "Trading Millet and Tribal Women in Agrobiodiversity Conservation: An Sorghum Genetic Resources: WomenVendors in theVillage Indian Case Study." RAP Publication 2002/08, FAO Fairs of San and Douentza, Mali." Discussion Paper, Inter- Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, FAO, Bangkok, national Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC. and M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. Sperling, Louise, and H. David Cooper. 2003. "Understand- ------. 2006."Community Diversity Seed Fairs in Tanzania: ing Seed Systems and Strengthening Seed Security." Guidelines for Seed Fairs." Report No. 51, FAO, Rome. Background paper for Effective and Sustainable Seed ------. 2008a. "Brazil: Community Seed Banks, Paraiba." Relief: A Stakeholder Workshop, FAO, Rome, May 26­28. Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, FAO, Sperling, Louise, and Tom Remington, with Jon M. Haugen. Rome. 2006."Seed Aid for Seed Security:Advice for Practitioners." 558 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE Practice Briefs 1­10,International Center for Tropical Agri- Pesticides Sold in Developing Countries Alarmingly culture and Catholic Relief Services, Rome. High." FAO/WHO press release, February 1. Sperling, Louise, Tom Remington, Jon M. Haugen, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Bank. Sigrid Nagoda, eds. 2004. Addressing Seed Security in Dis- 2000. "Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems aster Response: Linking Relief with Development. Cali: for Rural Development (AKIS/RD): Strategic Vision and International Center for Tropical Agriculture. Guiding Principles." FAO, Rome. Stirling, Clare M., and John R. Witcombe. 2004. Farmers and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Plant Breeders in Partnership. 2nd ed. London: Depart- 2002."The Rural Poor: Survival or a Better Life? The Choice ment for International Development. between Destruction of Resources and Sustainable Devel- World Bank. 2005. Agricultural Investment Sourcebook. opment." World Summit on Sustainable Development, Washington, DC: World Bank. Johannesburg, South Africa, August 26­September 4. ------. 2006. "Intellectual Property Rights: Designing ------. 2007. "Climate Change, Biofuel Markets, and Regimes to Support Plant Breeding in Developing Coun- Migration to Feature in African Green Revolution Con- tries." Agriculture and Rural Development. Report No. ference." Press release. 35517, World Bank, Washington, DC. International Institute for Environment and Development ------. 2007. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture (IIED). 2003. "The Millennium Development Goals and for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. Local Processes: Hitting the Target or Missing the Point?" IIED, London. Thematic Note 3 London, Leslie, and Ross Bailie. 2001. "Challenges for CropLife International. 2007."This Is Agriculture." CropLife Improving Surveillance for Pesticide Poisoning: Policy International Annual Report, 2006­2007. Brussels: Implications for Developing Countries." International CropLife International. Journal of Epidemiology 30 (3): 564­70. Fakih, Mansour, Toto Rahardjo, and Michel P. Pimbert. Mancini, Francesca, Ariena van Bruggen, and Janice Jiggins. 2003. Community Integrated Pest Management in Indone- 2007. "Evaluating Cotton Integrated Pest Management sia. London: International Institute for Environment and (IPM) Farmer Field School Outcomes Using the Sustain- Development. able Livelihoods Approach in India." Experimental Agri- Feder, Gershon, Rinku Murgai, and Jaime B. Quizon. 2004. culture 43: 97­112. "Sending Farmers Back to School: The Impact of Farmer Mancini, Francesca, Ariena van Bruggen, Janice Jiggins, Field Schools in Indonesia." Review of Agricultural Eco- Arun Ambatipudi, and Helen Murphy. 2005. "Acute Pes- nomics 26 (1): 45­62. ticide Poisoning among Female and Male Cotton Grow- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1999."Technical ers in India." International Journal of Occupational and Assistance to the Integrated Pest Management Training Environmental Health 11 (3): 221­32. Project: Indonesia." Report No. AG: UTF/INS/072/INS, Nhat Tuyen, Nguyen. 1997. "Women Farmers and IPM FAO, Rome. Farmer Field Schools in Viet Nam." ILEIA Newsletter ------. 2000. "Inter-Country Programme for Community 13 (4): 20. IPM in Asia: Phase IV Mid Term Review." FAO, Rome. Rother, Hanna Andrea. 2000. "Influences of Pesticide Risk ------. 2003. International Code of Conduct on the Distri- Perception on the Health of Rural South African Women bution and Use of Pesticides. Rome: FAO. and Children." African Newsletter on Occupational Safety ------. 2004. Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs and Health 2: 42­46. of the Poor? The State of Food and Agriculture 2003­2004. Sherwood, Stephen, Donald Cole, and Douglas Murray. Rome: FAO. 2007. "It's Time to Ban Highly Hazardous Pesticides." ------. 2006."FAO Encourages Early Withdrawal of Highly LEISA Magazine (September): 32­33. Toxic Pesticides." News release, December. Systemwide Program on Integrated Pest Management (SP- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations IPM). 2006."Biological Alternatives to Harmful Chemical Environment Programme (UNEP), and World Health Pesticides." IPM Research Brief No. 4, SP-IPM Secretariat, Organization (WHO). 2004. "Childhood Pesticide Poi- International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Cotonou. soning: Information for Advocacy and Action." UNEP, Tripp, Robert, Mahinda Wijeratne, and V. Hiroshini New York. Piyadasa. 2005. "What Should We Expect from Farmer Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Field Schools? A Sri Lanka Case Study." World Develop- Organization (WHO). 2001. "Amount of Poor-Quality ment 33 (10): 1705­20. MODULE 12: REFERENCES 559 United Nations. 1992."Agenda 21." UN Department of Eco- Muzira, Robert N., Pamela N. Pali, Pascal C. Sanginga, and nomics and Social Affairs, Rome. Robert J. Delve. 2007."Farmers' Participation in Soil Fer- United Nations Industrial Development Organization tility Management Research Process: Dilemma in Reha- (UNIDO). 1995. "Women, Industry, and Environment: bilitating Degraded Hilltops in Kabale, Uganda." In Sample Cases." Women in Industry Series, UNIDO, Advances in Integrated Soil Fertility Management in Vienna. Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities, ed. Andre Bationo, Boaz S. Waswa, Job Kihara, and Joseph World Bank. 2007. World Development Report 2008: Agri- Kimetu, 1051­59. Dordrecht: Springer. culture for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. World Health Organization (WHO). 2006. "Gender Equal- ity, Work and Health: A Review of the Evidence." WHO, Thematic Note 3 Geneva. Chandrasekar, K., and G. T. Gujar. 2004."Bt Cotton Benefits Short-Lived--Study." Indian Agricultural Research Insti- tute. Financial Express (India), February 11. FURTHER READING van den Berg, Henk, and Janice Jiggins. 2007. "Investing in Farmers: The Impact of Farmer Field Schools in Relation Thematic Note 1 to Integrated Pest Management." World Development 35 Food and Agriculture Organization. n.d. "Sustainable Land (4): 663­86. Management and Soil Productivity Improvement in Wilson, Clevo, and Clem Tisdell. 2001. "Why Farmers Con- Support of Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa." Avail- tinue to Use Pesticides Despite Environmental, Health and able at www.fao.org/ag/agl/agll/farmspi/spi.stm. Sustainability Costs." Ecological Economics 39: 449­62. 560 MODULE 12: GENDER IN CROP AGRICULTURE M O D U L E 1 3 Gender in Fisheries and Aquaculture Overview he fisheries and aquaculture sector is estimated to T inequities include the comparatively low value attached to provide direct employment and revenue to 200 work done by women, and women's limited access to essen- million people. The increasing demand on the tial resources such as ponds, new technology, education, and sector is met by both large-scale and industrial production information and skills. These inequities reflect societal norms systems and small-scale and artisanal production systems. of masculinity and femininity that determine who can and Small-scale fisheries of all kinds are a major source of ani- should do what and are visible in local communities, in mal protein in many parts of the world. Facing declining institutions serving these communities, and in the way fish stocks in capture fisheries, aquaculture has been the many national and international organizations operate. The focus of development investment since the 1980s and is investments include the following: now the fastest-growing food sector in the world. It is expected to contribute more than 50 percent of total fish The formation at the community level of gender-responsive consumption by 2020. Although just over 90 percent of resource management bodies and small groups for this production originates in Asia, and nearly 70 percent in accessing resources needed for aquaculture development China alone, efforts continue to expand its production (see Thematic Note 1 and Innovative Activity Profile 1) into new areas, such as sub-Saharan Africa and Latin The provision of gender-responsive advisory services America. Aquaculture is promoted as an alternative and that address systematic bias in essential services provid- sustainable income source to those involved in capture ing information and skills if small-scale family produc- fisheries and agriculture, as long as environmental and dis- tion systems are to remain competitive and everyone is to ease issues are addressed (Belton and Little 2008; World benefit (see Thematic Note 2 and Innovative Activity Bank 2006). It is also viewed as being especially attractive Profile 2) to rural women because it can be carried out with minimal Action to enable marginalized groups of fishers, proces- investment and close to homesteads and can be integrated sors, and traders to access new national and international into existing food systems. markets and to obtain improvements in work conditions This Module details investments that address livelihood in new labor markets (processing and packaging facto- problems arising from the ongoing changes in production ries at sea or on land) that are largely unregulated (see systems, marketing, and technology in the fisheries and Thematic Note 3) aquaculture sector and examines investments that reflect Support to marginalized groups,including poor women,in gender inequities that exist in many societies.1 These gender identifying and sustaining alternative livelihoods to reduce 561 reliance on their fishing activities, which put pressure on buyers and how these relationships influence how much fish the fragile and constricted marine resources and coastal they are allowed to buy. Consequently, even if one sex faces ecosystems (see Thematic Note 4). greater business risks than the other, without detailed, con- text-specific intrahousehold information on roles and All these investments are concerned with protecting liveli- responsibilities, it is difficult to predict the impact on hoods at risk and supporting strategic changes in gender household livelihoods. relations that will enable everyone to gain. Regardless of gender-role differences, wealthier groups of women and men play dominant roles in the parts of the chains where they operate. Poor members of the chain have GENDER ROLES, POWER, ANDTHE weak bargaining power and little control over others in DISTRIBUTION OF PROFITS the chain and prices paid for goods and services, and they Fisheries and aquaculture value chains are diverse and often are more vulnerable than wealthier groups to decreases in complex and dynamic systems, with men and women often catch and poor services because they are unable to accu- undertaking different and changing roles depending on mulate assets. For example, in capture fisheries not all men local norms about resource access and control and mobility, own boats. The majority work as crew and may never accu- type of technology involved, the extent of commercializa- mulate enough assets to own a boat (Allison 2003). The tion, and the product involved. Table 13.1 illustrates some of same is true of processors and traders. In parts of West this diversity for capture fisheries. As indicated in the table, Africa a hierarchy of traders and processors exist, with many small-scale fisheries operate with the men investing in younger and poorer women working for wealthier ones and fishing vessels, nets, and other gear and doing the fishing depending on them for their livelihoods. The situation of and with the women investing in processing equipment and these poorer women involved in fish processing is demon- being responsible for fish purchasing, processing, and sales, strated in the following description from the Sustainable but this pattern is not followed everywhere. In terms of boat Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP 2006: 6) of women investments, in some situations women use the proceeds fish processors in West Africa: from their trading to invest in boats and gear--for example, Their activities are less profitable; they access poor quality fish in Ghana, West Africa, described by Walker (2001), and in and are unable to keep fish fresh thereby attracting higher the Lake Victoria fisheries bordering Uganda, described by prices, since they have no information on marketing or ice. Allison (2003). These women may not enter the water to fish Loans from micro-finance institutions serve more as revolving but may hire crews for their own boats, thus securing their funds for marketing than investment loans for fishing and pro- incomes from fresh or processed fish. In Cambodia, the cessing equipment. Informal and formal credit is risky because Democratic Republic of Congo, and Thailand and in indige- profits are minimal. Poorer women use revolving funds to meet nous fisheries in Latin America, women are involved in boat household expenses in periods of poor catch which reduces fishing, and in a number of other countries (Benin, the funds available for business. Most female-owned fishery enter- Democratic Republic of Congo, and a number of countries prises are therefore small, and grow slowly, if at all (Benin, Niger and The Gambia in West Africa). in Asia, including Bangladesh and India) women collect shellfish, including crabs, and produce shellfish seed.Women's The distribution of power and therefore of profits is involvement in fish processing is widespread and, along similar in aquaculture chains and can be demonstrated by with the collection activities described here, is regarded as looking at the shrimp value chain, which is dominated by an appropriate activity for women given their domestic tasks China, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Thailand. A considerable and responsibilities. part of this market is almost entirely in the hands of large In small-scale systems, although it is possible to detail the producers, supported by external capital, and destined for divisions of labor by sex, often whole families are involved.2 the international market. In Bangladesh, which is also one Therefore, even though it is largely men who fish and women of the major players in the market for shrimp, most shrimp who purchase the fish, the women may include wives and production is in the hands of small producers, although other women relatives, especially those who have helped the processing is completed in factories (Gammage and others fisher in the past, and traders who have provided credit, who 2006).3 Figure 13.1 indicates the various stakeholders and may also be relatives. Jul-Larsen and others (2003) describe resources involved. the multiplicity and complexity of the relationships that men As many as 1.2 million individuals are reported to be fishers working on Lake Victoria have with their women directly involved in the shrimp value chain in Bangladesh, 562 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE Table 13.1 Gender Roles in the Capture Fisheries Value Chain Scale Region Investment Catch Processing Sales Small Sub-Saharan · Capital for boats · Boat owners: Women smoke and · Fresh fish purchase Africa and gear from wealthy and older dry fish and cook by women for processing and fish women and men for sale drying/processing sales · Crew: young men and sale · Community and boys · Fresh fish sales management groups · Nets: young boys depend on ice invest in landing · Mending nets: plants managed by sites and women of all ages local committees refrigeration · Women collect and private owners · Women invest in shellfish, for (especially fishers). processing and example, Benin and Sales are to long- drying Congo distance traders and to women for local sales.Women transport fish and act as middlemen. Small Asia · Savings: women · Boat owners: Women smoke and · Women and men · China: women and wealthy and older dry fish sell in local markets, men invest men and to contractors · Crew: adult and for international young men and national · Women and men markets mend nets · Sales are more · Women collect likely to be shellfish, for controlled by men example, Cambodia in "conservative" and Thailand locations Small Latin Especially indigenous · Boat owners: Women and young · Women and young America community fisheries women in Wayuu men men in local sales. indigenous Colombia: women communities and young men in · Women and men Wayuu fish in Brazil and communities; Mexico Honduras: · Crew: young men indigenous Garifuna fish traders. · Supermarkets buy through contractors Large National/ International and Industrial fishing fleets Factories: · Large local and global national capital dominate in some · Women clean, international buyers, countries in Latin resize, control including super- America but are quality markets, especially also significant in · Men fillet and in Latin America, other locations supervise southern Africa, and parts of Asia control marketing Source: Personal communication with Chitra Deshpande. Analysis based on various sources. Note: The men and women involed in small-scale production systems may be family members. In Latin America artisanal or small-scale fishers have larger boats (are semi-industrial) than in similar systems in other regions. with a further 4.8 million household members indirectly often locked in a cycle of debt with others higher up in the dependent on it for their livelihoods. Nevertheless, profits chain, although this is not to say that indebtedness does not generated from shrimp exports are not shared equally appear elsewhere in the chain. The chain is also a highly throughout the chain, and middlemen and exporters real- sex-segmented labor market, with women and men receiv- ize more profits than farmers and fry catchers. Fry catchers ing different wages along the chain for the work they do. are the most vulnerable workers along the chain. They are Women fry catchers and sorters earn about 64 percent of MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 563 Figure 13.1 Flow Diagram of the Shrimp Value Chain in Bangladesh Hatcheries Feed Land Labor Shrimp Fry faria faria Fry & Farmers & catchers aratdar aratdar Foreign markets Exporters Processing plants Land Labor Capital Source: Gammage and others 2006. Note: Faria are intermediaries who buy and sell products in Bangladesh. Aratdar are commission agents or intermediaries who buy and sell products in Bangladesh. what men fry catchers and sorters earn, for example, and sively serving the export market, although this may be these differences are linked directly with women's domes- changing rapidly. Both women and men are reported to be tic roles. Women are also found in the most insecure nodes benefiting from employment in these factories even though of the shrimp chain--working as fry catchers and laborers, conditions may be poor, but women are frequently reported and undertaking various low-paid tasks in the shrimp- as benefiting least. For example, women from fishing com- processing plants. munities in Orissa State (India) become wage earners in the With increased mechanization in production and even a growing seafood export processing industry, but at a cost-- reported influx of newcomers into the sector as other sectors they have to stay away from their homes for longer periods, decline, the pressure on resources increases, and many of the which makes it more difficult for them to fulfill their domestic existing actors struggle to maintain their position. Women roles, their wages are lower than those of men doing the same are frequently the first to lose their role in the sector. The work, and they experience poorer working conditions (Tietze following quotation from Tietze and others (2007: 3) about and others 2007). In Bangladesh women are also paid less capture fisheries in the states of Maharashtra and Orissa in than men, and their employment is casual and temporary India is typical of what is detailed for many countries as (Gammage and others 2006).Women find themselves in sim- systems become more commercialized: "Motorization and ilar situations in processing factories in Kenya (Markussen mechanization of fishing vessels led to a concentration of 2002), Latin America (Josupeit 2004), and Sri Lanka (de Silva fish landings at fewer harbours and landing sites and, in and Yamao 2006) (see also Module 8). some cases, resulted in the takeover of fish trade by fish merchants [who were men]. This process displaced many GENDER PLANNING women from the retailing of fish." Reports from a few locations tell of women engaging in From this Overview of the fisheries and aquaculture sector, sex-for-fish exchanges to ensure their access to fish (SFLP it is evident that asset access and control is vital for enabling 2006), and others may seek employment in industrial pro- those involved not only to survive but also to gain from ongo- cessing factories. In Latin America these factories serve local ing changes in the sector. These assets include everything supermarkets as well as the North American export market. from financial capital and ovens to knowledge about new Elsewhere, processing factories are more likely to be exclu- production systems and skills and collective organizing to 564 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE enable less-powerful actors to deal with powerful players in they will seek to secure agreements that will enhance the the value chains.Although the Sustainable Livelihoods frame- value of women's labor contribution, thereby increasing work points to the need for strategic investments to be women's self-esteem and contributing to the achievement made to challenge policies and social attitudes that limit of gender equity. the choices and options available to less powerful individu- Investments such as these are innovative and reflect the als and groups, various development programs using liveli- sense of urgency that has entered into the documentation hood approaches give the sense that targeting asset provi- on fisheries and aquaculture to move beyond only seeking sion to achieve these strategic changes is a straightforward outcomes of increased production and technical efficiency process. However, asset provision has been shown to be eas- and including women in these, to addressing social rela- ily subverted in the face of existing norms and values about tional issues that are causing major problems in this sector. what different categories of women and men can and should The following are central elements of any gender analy- do under certain circumstances, including when they are in sis for planning in the fisheries sector: the presence of more powerful players (see Thematic Note 1). Although many women and men have benefited from Investigate ongoing changes in livelihoods (at the com- ongoing changes in this sector, in a number of programs munity, household, and individual levels) and related women's reproductive roles (their caring responsibilities for gender issues. both children and adults) and their current economic roles Use an analysis that begins with gender roles, moves to have been used to justify limiting their role in new aquacul- gender relations, and includes local understandings ture systems (in northeastern Thailand and in Bangladesh, about what women and men are able to be and do with reported by Kelkar 2001 and Barman 2001, respectively). They their resources, rather than what resources they do or do can also be subverted by implementing organizations that not have. argue that it is too expensive to include both women and Focus interventions on addressing changes that are men in training programs and that it is too difficult to jus- increasing the vulnerability of the men and women tify organizationally given the interest in supporting small- involved and seek improvements that will address the scale family production systems (see Thematic Note 2 for a need for strategic changes in their lives and will ensure more detailed discussion on family approaches). The out- gender equity. comes of these kinds of decisions reinforce gender inequities that already exist or even introduce inequity where it did not BENEFITS FROM GENDER-RESPONSIVE previously exist; women may be left in the position of ACTIONS helpers to others, possibly weakening their bargaining posi- tions over the allocation of benefits produced. Alternatively, Several important benefits result from actions that are they might be placed in less-valued jobs.4 These issues of responsive to gender issues: exclusion are addressed in the interventions detailed in Thematic Notes 1 and 2. Securing the position of postharvest activities in natural The rapidly changing marketing situation for fish prod- resource planning processes will enhance the position of ucts and the growth of inequalities within fisheries and women and enable improvements in the sector as a marketing chains also point to the need for some kind of whole. protection against livelihood threats.5 These are explored Supporting women's independent rights to resources will in gender analysis but not in livelihoods. What might be enhance their capacity to strengthen their livelihoods referred to as social protection investment might include and cope with change. directly supporting women's entry into new markets and Using an investment approach that aims to increase the more profitable enterprises, working to raise the awareness capacity of women to engage in all aspects of new aqua- of the dangers of fish-for-sex transactions, and seeking culture systems technology and moves away from linking regulatory mechanisms for factories operating in the sec- their involvement in aquaculture with their domestic tor. Meso-level gender-responsive organizations have a responsibilities will help achieve women's empowerment particular role to play in these investments. In their role in and social advancement and help improve the livelihoods advocating for gender-responsive regulatory mechanisms, of women, their households, and their communities. MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 565 Protecting women's incomes and preventing the deterio- networks that they can use in other situations, and ration of their status and position in a context of chang- changes that involve women and men simply engaging in ing political, social, and economic circumstances are low-paid, low-status, and risky activities can lead only to essential for achieving the objective of creating responsi- increased livelihood insecurity and overall welfare losses. ble fisheries and aquaculture systems. The loss of local employment affects the money flows in local communi- MONITORING AND EVALUATION ties and therefore their economic security and survival (NEF 2002). Local job losses also can potentially destroy Table 13.2 provides indicators that might be used when the social fabric of the community as people maneuver monitoring gender issues in fisheries and aquaculture. to maintain their positions. Women and men in weaker Depending on the country or region, it may be relevant bargaining positions are unlikely to gain in these to also consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both processes. as comparative indicators and when collecting data), A focus on enabling women and men to benefit from because women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usu- new (for them) markets will provide them with skills and ally in the most disadvantaged situation. Table 13.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender in Fisheries and Aquaculture (continued) Indicator Sources of verification and tools Number of women and men actively participating in established and · Committee meeting minutes well-functioning fishers groups, fishing boats, fish marketing and · Interviews with stakeholders processing enterprises, or marketing cooperatives · Program and project records Women or other disadvantaged groups actively participating in · Committee meeting minutes management committees and boards · Interviews with stakeholders · Local traditional authorities (such as a chief or local council) · Program and project records Number of women and men holding management or treasurer · Bank account records positions in natural resource management groups · Committee meeting minutes Gender differences in workload as a result of introduced practices · Case studies or new technology · Participatory rapid appraisal · Sample surveys New and total employment or paid labor generated in · Administrative records of firms fish-processing factories for the local population, disaggregated by gender (with or without ethnicity) Over a set period, an increase of x percent in household incomes · Household surveys from fish-based activities (such as fisheries or aquaculture or · Project management information system processing) among women-headed households and poor · Socioeconomic data from statistics office households in program areas Among surveyed women in target group, x percent rate that their · Interviews with women in target groups (for instance, a sample access to income from fish (either via fishing or aquaculture) has of women in the defined area); ideally the interviews should be improved during the period covered by the program or project conducted before and after any project and program activities Number of women and men participating in training in new · Program and project records methods of fishing or fish cultivation · Training records Number of women and men starting new small enterprises in fish · Household surveys processing or marketing · Project records · Socioeconomic data from statistics office Change in attitudes of women and men about changed roles of · Group interviews or focus groups women in fisheries or aquaculture · Interviews, before and after Change in attitudes of women and men about access to credit and · Group interviews or focus groups satisfaction with repayments · Interviews, before and after (Table continues on the following page) 566 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE Table 13.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender in Fisheries and Aquaculture (continued) Indicator Sources of verification and tools Number of women and men participating in training in alternative · Program and project records income-generating topics · Training records Number of women and men starting new small enterprises in · Household surveys alternative, nonfishing livelihoods · Project records · Socioeconomic data from statistics office Community opinions (disaggregated by gender) with changes in · Group interviews or focus groups level of conflicts over gender · Interviews, before and after Community opinions (disaggregated by gender) with changes in · Group interviews or focus groups level of conflicts over fisheries exploitation · Interviews, before and after Improved health of fisheries stocks or aquatic habitats, measured by · Fisheries Department records total numbers of each species and the number of different · Participatory monitoring by villagers species, measured before and after program · Program records Changes over x-year period of project activities in household · Household surveys, before and after nutrition, health, education, vulnerability to violence, and · Project management information system happiness, disaggregated by gender · School records Source: Authors, with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 567 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Gender-Responsive Institutions for Accessing and Managing Resources he creation of gender-responsive institutions at all T men and women in fisheries and aquaculture, the "catching levels has been recognized as necessary for achiev- sector" (Bennett 2005) is the one largely dominated by men ing gender equity since the 1980s. As a gender- and determines policy agendas while the "processing and mainstreaming process, it has been at the core of gender marketing sector" is ignored. The invisibility of production planning since the mid-1970s and responds to the evidence activities dominated by women in fisheries and aquaculture assembled during the United Nations International is linked with the domestic roles of women and associated Women's Decade from 1976 to 1985 from many countries social and cultural understandings about the value of these (Dixon-Mueller 1989) that women are disadvantaged in rela- activities (Mowla and Kibria 2006, among others). tion to men in their resource access and control over decision The formation of women's user groups to enhance their making in a range of institutions, including the international resource access rights and for receiving targeted services is community, the state, the marketplace and communities, well established as good gender practice.Although both poor families, and kinship groups. This Thematic Note is con- men and poor women have been organized into groups to cerned with the formation of gender-responsive user groups access resources, it is women who are more commonly in fisheries and aquaculture1--community-based natural formed into small groups, and for whom this practice is resource management (CBNRM) groups and small groups regarded as ideal given their socially weaker positions and of women for accessing resources where previously they had limited mobility in public spaces in many societies. The fol- none--for achieving strategic changes in the status and lowing brief examples illustrate the kinds of actions involved position of women. in both fisheries and aquaculture: The major premise of community management is that The Bangladesh Meghna-Dhanagoda Command Area sustainable resource management is best achieved when Development Project (Asian Development Bank Financing): driven by those who rely on the resource for their survival. Under this program, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) Within CBNRM, the need for gender-responsive action is were engaged to organize the poor (2,590 landless and mar- based on the understanding that women who may have a ginal people, of whom 96 percent were women) into groups, direct or an indirect stake in the sector are more often than provide them with access to ponds for fish farming through not excluded from participating in the activities of these private lease arrangements, assist them with acquiring skills groups or have only token representation, are perceived by in fish farming and marketing, and provide them with micro- themselves and others as having no right to speak, and have finance services, including microcredit and savings facilities. no presence on major decision-making bodies (for fisheries, The Oxbow Lakes Small-Scale Fishermen's Project (supported see Bennett 2005). The exclusion of women is justified on a by International Fund for Agricultural Development, the govern- number of grounds by local and nonlocal stakeholders: that ment of Bangladesh, Danish International Development women's interests are taken care of by men, that benefits are Assistance, and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Commit- shared equitably within households, and that challenging tee): The primary work of this program involved providing local norms that constrain women's public action is cultur- men from villages surrounding government-owned lakes ally insensitive and politically unacceptable. with long-term access leases and forming them into lake The problem of women's visibility also presents itself, for management groups. The groups were large and experi- even though numerous documents describe the roles of both enced problems of conflict and lack of social cohesion. 568 Women were not initially considered as recipients of publicly leads to a whole-sector approach in addressing resource man- owned resources, and mixed groups in any case were not agement problems and planning solutions. This approach considered to be socially acceptable. When women were will result in gains in social and economic well-being for the targeted, they were formed into small pond farming groups community as a whole (see rural community evidence to access ponds on similar lease arrangements. These groups reported by NEF 2002). Within communities where men included widowed and divorced women, who were consid- migrate away to fish, the inclusion of women in these groups ered to be especially vulnerable and socially weak. None of will increase the viability of households in which both hus- the women's groups experienced problems of social cohe- bands and wives must be presumed to have a joint interest. sion, largely because of their size and the fact that members A central understanding behind the formation of groups of each group came from the same community (Nathan and of women and poorer members of communities is that these Apu 2004). members often access resources through social relationships The Oxbow Lakes Project, implemented in 1990, was based on dependency, relationships in which they have to unique in its attempt to give poor women group rights over trade in their autonomy for security.As shown by the Oxbow public water bodies, and its success demonstrates how Lakes example, the women's groups formed are expected to action to support women and poorer community members provide relationships based on solidarity and reciprocity can easily be sabotaged. During the project, powerful men and to build autonomy. attempted to sabotage the work of the project and acquire the long-term leases for themselves, taking over selling fish POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES and making purchases, especially of fingerlings, which are central to effective pool management. There were even reports CBNRM groups, with or without direct government involve- of husbands who had earlier deserted their wives returning ment, have a poor record of being gender responsive. This to seek benefits from them, as well as of husbands reducing reflects the technical agenda that inspired the formation of their own contributions to meeting household requirements the groups and that is the main concern of the ministries once wives or other women household members began to involved in their implementation. In response to the demand, earn income from the sales of their products (Nathan and by donors and others, that these groups become gender sen- Apu 1998, 2004). Of the ten pond farming groups formed, sitive, it is tempting for these public organizations to take five were retained by the women themselves, two were taken administrative action by appointing individual women to over by men, and three were leased to men by the women. fill quotas. As experience has shown from outside fisheries and aquaculture, such women are unable to speak directly, influence decision making, or use their membership to pro- BENEFITS FROM SUPPORTING GENDER- tect their livelihoods or achieve other development goals. In RESPONSIVE LOCAL INSTITUTIONS fisheries and aquaculture, the major policy challenge is to Ensuring the inclusion of women in decision making over ensure that plans for community-level resource management resources and enabling them to directly access resources and take into account all linked activities in the value chains and their benefits will lead to women's social and economic that all stakeholder groups are able to influence decision empowerment. The Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Manage- making. The COREMAP II program (see Innovative Activ- ment Program (COREMAP) II program, detailed in Innova- ity Profile 1) demonstrates the level of commitment tive Activity Profile 1, also demonstrates the link between required to making this happen. these empowerment objectives and other gains--in this case, The information from fishing communities in Benin, improvements in the condition of the coral reef. Reports also Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, and tell of improved solidarity and conflict resolution in natural The Gambia presented in box 13.1 demonstrates the problem resource management groups in which both women and of attendance for women in community-level groups, as well men are involved (reported by Westermann, Ashby, and as the issue of them having a voice in important matters. Pretty 2005, but not for fisheries).2 The main practical bene- All marginal groups experience some inequities, but the fits expected from this action are the protection of women's African women reporting here noted that men perceive that incomes and, therefore, their ability to contribute to the sur- women's participation and increased access to know-how vival of their households, families, and communities. and information will make them less submissive, more Community-level action, such as within CBNRM groups, independent, and better able to challenge them. As a result, that takes into account the interests of all local stakeholders although women may attend meetings, they may hesitate to THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER-RESPONSIVE INSTITUTIONS FOR ACCESSING AND MANAGING RESOURCES 569 Box 13.1 Factors within Households and Communities Blocking Women's Participation in New Institutional Arrangements Within households: Within communities: Family responsibilities and tasks reduce women's Because women are often less literate than men, availability for meetings. their contribution is less valued. Women's physical movement is subject to social con- Women have little experience in group manage- trol, so the timing and venue of meetings often limit ment and public speaking, and social and cultural the participation of certain categories of women. norms often support men's decision making in The time required to participate is costlier for public gatherings. women than men, especially for poorer women, Women have less access to media (radio and news- because their participation is made at the expense of papers) and information in general and are therefore carrying out other activities. less aware of what is going on around them. Source: Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme fieldwork (SFLP 2006: 4). take on leadership positions, to follow up on decisions, and main source of cash income. Indeed, by 1998 a number of the to practice newly acquired skills. Addressing these issues women's groups were already recording a range of benefits: requires relevant strategies and budget allocations. a higher per capita income from their aquaculture invest- Mowla and Kibria (2006), among others, provide some ments than from their small livestock activities, increased insight into the well-known problems associated with focus- knowledge of new production methods, interaction with ing on women's participation in user groups. They begin by traders and officials, and enhanced social and family posi- noting that the purpose of the Patuakhali Barguna Aquacul- tions (Nathan and Apu 1998). In spite of these reported ture Extension Project (PBAEP) implemented between 1997 positive outcomes, the reports from this project also point and 2004 was to strengthen the socioeconomic status of out that the change process is often long and will demand women and men and increase their participation in inte- considerable commitment on the part of all those involved grated pond farming: "Women expressed satisfaction with to maintain their independent right (claims) to productive their ability to meet their practical needs--access to fish-- resources (IFAD Oxbow Lakes documentation). Finally, and noted that they were able to do the work because of the action for married women is possibly more difficult to imple- location of the ponds close to their homesteads. Nevertheless, ment than for other categories of women because they must this was achieved at a cost--their labor burdens had increased negotiate what they do with spouses, in-laws, and others. and because they were too busy with the new activity plus their domestic work, they expressed reluctance to attend train- LESSONS LEARNED AND GUIDELINES FOR ing sessions, thus disadvantaging themselves" (pp. 21 and 26; PRACTITIONERS emphasis added). The following three sections offer advice and practical The issue of labor burdens on women who are largely, if knowledge gleaned from the experience of fisheries and not entirely, responsible for domestic work is rarely men- aquaculture projects. tioned in the documentation on fisheries and aquaculture projects. This short note on the PBAEP points to the dilemma Ensuring participation for women. They may wish to be involved, but the gains from their participation are often costly in terms of time and in All efforts must be made to ensure that the different stake- terms of their ability to access skills and information. holders attend meetings and participate in decision making. The women who gained most from the Oxbow Lake This is especially important for postharvest stakeholder Project were reported to be divorcées, widows, or women groups who in large part are women. The programs of CARE household heads, and for them aquaculture had become a Bangladesh and PROFOUND in Vietnam (see Thematic 570 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE Note 2), COREMAP II (see Innovative Activity Profile 1), Gaining control of management tasks and PBAEP in Bangladesh (reported in Mowla and Kibria While meeting household needs might be interesting to 2006) provide practical guidance when seeking the partici- women, they are unlikely to take on additional work bur- pation of women: dens over a long period if the work does not result in suffi- cient cash income. To achieve this, they must also control Meetings must be held at a convenient time and place the tasks that are essential to effective enterprise manage- because of the limits on women's mobility and because of ment, such as selling fish and making purchases of finger- their domestic roles. lings, in the case of aquaculture pond management. Women must be present in sufficient numbers within a stakeholder group if the group is to have influence. Using monitoring and evaluation indicators Postharvest stakeholder groups must be acknowledged as having rights equal to those of other stakeholder groups. From the various program examples referenced in this Module, Women must occupy some important decision-making it is clear that there are always at least two concerns: (1) how the positions in order to be in a position to press for action group or project is functioning and (2) how group members or in line with their interests. project participants are using their membership to serve their own interests and the interest of others for whom they are res- ponsible. This second focus is essential,given the interest of this Facilitating production group formation Sourcebook in achieving broader desirable development out- The formation of production groups for allocating valuable comes beyond economic growth and improved productivity. and therefore scarce resources to women and poorer groups will face significant opposition at all levels--donors, govern- Creating and strengthening institution and group focus ments, and local communities--where this conflicts with From the outset, a clear gender objective must be negotiated customary practice. Strategies need to be identified at the with local people and included in project objectives. To outset for dealing with these. In the Bangladesh case of the achieve its gender-equality objective, the SFLP conducted Oxbow Lakes Project, where groups of unmarried, widowed, gender-analysis training with its local collaborators and divorced, and married women were organized for receiving reached agreements with them about desirable changes and long-term user rights in public water bodies for aquaculture how to get them. In cases like this, indicators will be devel- production, documentation by Nathan and Apu (1998; oped by the groups themselves. 2004) provides some unique information on project out- The creation and strengthening of local institutions repre- comes and useful best practices for partnership formation sent the development of substantial resources at the group (highlighted in the following excerpts from various sections level--decision making, information flow and awareness, skill of the paper by Nathan and Apu 1998 and Barman 2001):3 learning, and so on.All these areas address how well the group With the support of the national government, and in collabora- is doing in terms of its objectives.The indicators should enable tion with BRAC and DANIDA as gender responsive funders, col- everyone to answer the question, How well does the institu- lective investments in aquaculture were made in Jessore in the tion draw on and invest in members for the ongoing institu- SW of Bangladesh where women are not commonly involved in tional development? It is useful to divide these into social, aquaculture. Here landless women (and men) who formed human, natural, financial, and physical resources. For exam- themselves into Fish Farming Groups (FFGs) and Lake Fishing ple, social and human resource development enables mem- Teams (LFTs) obtained long-term user rights in public water bod- bers to act collectively to manage the defined resources. ies (20 years in the first instance), which for the purpose of this activity were treated as common pool resources with access rights restricted to the FFGs and LFTs, and some other fishing Focusing on members groups around the lake. The project was documented as com- A second set of indicators is needed to answer the question, mercial with the desired outcome predicted on the strength of How are the management arrangements or group processes the incentive derived from acquiring long-term user rights in affecting members' lives? Again, it is useful to divide these common pool resources, of strengthening women's participa- tion in fish culture. To make this happen, women extension into social, human, natural, financial, and physical resources. agents were provided under the equally innovative Mymensingh For example, women's membership has affected their wider Aquaculture Extension Project (MAEP 1999) to deliver inputs social and gender relations, their ability to access fish, their required. (emphasis added) ability to negotiate with others, and so on. THEMATIC NOTE 1: GENDER-RESPONSIVE INSTITUTIONS FOR ACCESSING AND MANAGING RESOURCES 571 T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Family-Based Systems for Aquaculture Development in Asia he World Bank (2006) describes aquaculture in Asia T KEY GENDER ISSUES as having taken three distinct development path- Although both men and women are involved in small-scale ways that have sometimes merged and overlapped aquaculture systems in Asia, the extent of the involvement as social and economic conditions have changed in differ- of women varies considerably, even if their involvement has ent countries. The first is described as a static model rather increased substantially over the last decade or more. Fre- than a pathway because the system is vulnerable and lack- quently, women are described as lacking in knowledge and ing in growth potential. The second is described as a tran- skills that are regarded today as critical for engaging in sition pathway, depicting the more advantaged farmer or modern aquaculture systems described by the World Bank small enterprise with access to the knowledge, markets, as being knowledge based. This lack of skills and capacity on and capital necessary for increasing the scale of produc- the part of women was raised as early as 1995­96 in refer- tion and offering a way out of poverty for the household. ence to the Training of Trainers to Promote Women's Small- The last is referred to as a consolidation pathway, which Scale Aquaculture Enterprises program in rural areas of covers both corporate and community enterprises, in northern Vietnam (Voeten and Ottens 1997)2 and was found which corporate enterprises operate as vertically inte- to be a critical issue in the five-country study reported on by grated farms and community enterprises include a group Brugère and others in 2001, as well as in a review paper by of organized small farmers benefiting from economies of Nandeesha (2007) covering most countries in the region. scale by engaging in joint activities. The World Bank Although this neglect of women's capacity-building needs is (2006) argues that all three pathways have contributed to understood to be a reflection of the way service-delivery poverty reduction in the region and gives the example of organizations operate--employing largely men staff to the growth of catfish culture in the Mekong Delta from a deliver information to the main decision makers in house- subsistence family-based system through the Vietnamese holds who may or may not pass the information to others in integrated farming system, VAC (vuong/ao/chuong or gar- the household--it is also seen to reflect the kind of society den/pond/animal husbandry) system, to more commer- in which project implementation organizations work. cialized agribusiness.1 Debashish and others (2001: 149) describe the way in which The focus of this Thematic Note lies in the first two mod- training is often delivered in the promotion and improve- els that describe small farms or family-based systems that ment of small-scale aquaculture systems as follows: are found to a greater or lesser extent in all the countries in the region and are critical for sustaining livelihoods in a The successful management of aquaculture systems relies on several household members working together and yet the need number of countries such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, for a household approach in training is often overlooked as an and Vietnam, where they are the most common type of explicit strategy. Training sessions often target only one member aquaculture system. Like the VAC system found in Vietnam, of the household, either the husband or the wife. In the man- they are often intensive systems that rely on the labor of agement of ponds, rice-fish or cage system roles are separated family members for their success, although where they are along gender lines. This means that there is a reliance on the successful, households may employ a small number of trained participant to pass along all that she/he has learnt to the casual laborers. other family members. Even when information is transmitted 572 to others in the family, there is often a significant loss or in aquaculture, and the need, therefore, to adapt programs to transformation of the information as it passes from one person different situations. Distinctions have been made between to another. In addition, the majority of extension workers are what are described as conservative and less conservative men. This has implications for the training. For example, dur- locations (Zaman 1998); data from interviews with women ing training sessions, the men often dominate the discussion and men in locations covered by the New Options for Pest and women's views or needs can be dismissed or ignored. In Management (NOPEST) program of CARE Bangladesh sug- addition, male trainers often have little empathy with the gest what these differences entail (table 13.3). women and their specific requirements. Factors supporting the ability of women to become and Debashish and others also note that organizations fre- continue to be involved in aquaculture include geographic quently ignore the need for women's and men's different location, local traditions and outlook, the historical mobil- learning styles.At least in Bangladesh, women's lack of famil- ity of women, family support and interest, community and iarity with formal learning environments and their lower peer group support, the age of the women, and the effec- level of literacy can also result in their particular learning tiveness of the NGO support (Debashish and others 2001 needs and requirements being overlooked. Based on its expe- based on the CARE Bangladesh experience). rience in addressing these concerns in its aquaculture proj- In addition to this concern about information and skills ects, CARE Bangladesh adopted a three-tiered approach: being accessible to both women and men, women are fre- quently described as lacking access to other resources neces- Having specific goals for the participation of women sary for engaging in aquaculture and as lacking control over stated in project logical frameworks the benefits of improved household incomes and, therefore, Using extension approaches and promoting interven- as being more vulnerable than men in families. Critical for tions that facilitate increased benefits for women in agri- control over income is the involvement in marketing, and in culture and aquaculture systems this respect considerable variation exists within the region. Promoting changes, including staff development activi- Women in Cambodia and China are described as undertak- ties that result in a more gender-sensitive organization. ing a range of tasks in different aquaculture systems (more and less commercial and including the ornamental fish industry), At the same time, CARE and other organizations are including marketing the products. Women in Bangladesh, aware of the impact of culture on the ability of extension sys- Malaysia, and India are described as having more limited (if tems to build the capacity of both women and men to work growing) involvement, and only in"subsistence aquaculture" Table 13.3 Perceptions about Women Working in Conservative and Less Conservative Areas Perceptions of men and women in conservative areas Perceptions of men and women in less conservative areas Men's perceptions: Men's perceptions: · Women should not work outside the homestead for social and · Women learn from working outside. religious reasons. · It is all right for women to work outside the home. · It is superstitiously believed that having women working in the · Men value women's work and skills. fields will result in a poor harvest. · Both men and women are needed to manage a household. · Women have no time to work outside the home. · Men appreciate women's work. · Women are unable to do all kinds of work. · Women should stay within the homestead, as that is the way it has always been. Women's perceptions: Women's perceptions: · Women sometimes want to work outside the home, but there · Husbands are supportive. are no opportunities. · Husbands appreciate women's work. · Women cannot get permission from their husbands to work · Women can work near the home with the men. outside the home. · Women want to improve family welfare. · Women are unable to work outside. · Women want to work outside the home. · Women do not have time to work outside. · Women do not want to work outside. Source: Debashish and others 2001: 150. THEMATIC NOTE 2: FAMILY-BASED SYSTEMS FOR AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA 573 (Nandeesha 2007). In these three countries, in general men Integrated aquaculture systems, which can be located close are more likely to be involved in marketing than women. In to homesteads, were seen as an ideal intervention for enabling Indonesia, small-scale aquaculture (on farms of less than women to access directly some of these benefits and thus half a hectare) is largely undertaken as a family activity, but contribute directly to improving their own welfare as well as it is unclear to what extent women engage in marketing. the welfare of their families and thereby to changing their Men are reported to control aquaculture production in the status in the home. Philippines, where small-scale systems are less widespread, Programs have also sought to change customary norms whereas the opposite is true in Thailand, where marketing is that limit women's ability to access the knowledge and skills, dominated by women. Both cultural and practical reasons water, and financial resources required to participate effec- are given to account for this variation, including the more tively (to use aquaculture as a way out of poverty and for significant out-migration of men from rural areas in the livelihood growth as discussed by the World Bank 2006). case of Thailand and Vietnam. Reports on the use of a gender-responsive family approach in integrated aquaculture programs suggest that women can, for example, acquire new skills in breeding common BENEFITS FROM A FAMILY-BASED APPROACH carp or culturing fish in cages, ponds, and rice paddies and Bangladesh has been a focus of activities to improve the that, as a consequence, their mobility increases and their position and status of women in society since the country's status improves (Debashish and others 2001). war of liberation from Pakistan in 1971 and the famine in 1972. At that time international development assistance was POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES considered critical, and NGOs began their work. These NGOs were both international and national, and many specifically Although widespread recognition exists of the benefits of targeted women and were supported in their activities by adopting a family approach within integrated aquaculture the national government. This activity partly reflects the systems, the donors and implementing agencies in Bangladesh, role that women have in allocating food within the family, where this production system has been especially promoted, but it also reflects the levels of poverty in the country and have not found this approach straightforward. Issues of cost the constraints placed by customary norms on the use of for training both women and men in a family are often raised, public space and on women's ability to engage in produc- and project time frames are short for achieving sustainable tion activities outside the home. Interventions covering a social and economic change in what is considered to be a wide spectrum of welfare needs such as health and family- conservative social environment. For more than a decade, planning provisions, as well as resources for economic the Agriculture and Natural Resources sector of CARE development such as microcredit and training for income- Bangladesh has piloted such a family approach in its aqua- generating activities, have focused on women. Projects pro- culture programs. This approach has involved taking into moting integrated aquaculture systems in Bangladesh have account the social and cultural context within which the tried to focus on women specifically. This is justified on the program is being implemented from the outset and has following grounds: provided both men and women, husbands and wives, with information and skills. To facilitate effective learning, and Women are often responsible for managing homestead again considering the cultural context, men and women are vegetable gardens and livestock. preferably trained separately in groups, although staff work- Although the nutritional needs of all family members are ing in the field indicate that forming groups of women is often not met in lean seasons and in times of hardship, more difficult in conservative areas. women are likely to be especially disadvantaged by an In terms of policy and implementation, one of the most understanding that they have a lesser claim on household important issues in adopting this approach is the need for resources. organizations involved to develop a clear strategy for achiev- ing changes in the role and position of women in families Among the various options available, aquaculture is rec- and communities. CARE Bangladesh and PROFOUND in ognized as ideal for meeting the protein requirements and Vietnam both adopted a gender-mainstreaming strategy fish consumption needs of the population; if it is successful, that involved, in the first instance, an affirmative action pol- it can contribute significantly to the livelihood security of icy in staff hiring and a large commitment to staff training rural households and the economic status of the family. to change their behavior, followed by the involvement of 574 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE both men and women staff in working with family members was sustained after the withdrawal of the project, this sus- of both sexes. Implementation issues that are raised in many tainability was attributed to the active participation of programs--whether to form single-sex or mixed groups, for women in the program. Likewise, the education of women instance, or to restrict engagement with women to women on aquaculture and their involvement in the activity have staff--gradually disappeared as a result of implementing produced improvements in family nutrition as well as in this strategy. the family economy. In the case of the PROFOUND project in Vietnam--which was, among other things, designed to make women's contribution visible--after the training, LESSONS LEARNED AND GUIDELINES FOR women's position improved, they valued the technical PRACTITIONERS knowledge acquired, and men considered their training to To achieve the desired changes, implementing agencies must be a valuable investment. No gender conflicts were have gender-balanced field staff with interests in both tech- reported, and some husbands started to assist their wives nical and social issues. As the prevailing social circumstances with domestic work. pose many challenges to achieving a balanced staff compo- The use of gender analysis tools is mentioned in most sition, an organizational policy with a vision is essential to programs in fisheries and aquaculture that adopt a gender- overcome those challenges. To accomplish this, gender sen- responsive approach. The Food and Agriculture Organiza- sitization of the staff or others involved in implementation tion (FAO)/Sustainable Fisheries Livelihood Programme is the first essential step to be taken. Voeten and Ottens (SFLP) started all its community interventions by undertak- (1997: 417, 424) detail the PROFOUND approach to imple- ing gender and poverty analysis/profiling with community menting gender-responsive training in the training of train- members. PROFOUND introduced what it refers to as gen- ers program in Vietnam in which they were involved: der mapping,3 and all programs are very clear about the need to make community members, especially those directly Trainers who were trained to pass information and skills to others included members of the 4 communities in which the involved in the program, aware of possible gender issues. programme was being piloted, and representatives from the PROFOUND points to the significance of gender mapping Vietnamese Women's Union (VWU), trained 120 women, from for challenging established views about equality, for 120 households in the 4 communities. The training was organ- instance, and what this mapping might mean for individu- ized to fit into the women's existing time schedule and took als and their families. place within the communities, thus enabling women [to] attend Instead of aiming to transfer technology from laboratory with minimum disruption to their regular work. Both the train- to farmers, organizers' efforts to educate farmers on the basic ers and the women trained received practical skill-based infor- principles of the new technology and encouraging them to mation and were made aware of a central gender question that innovate further and adapt the technology to their farm con- the project was asking: Does an increase in fish production ditions based on their capacity will contribute to increasing mean an improvement in the economic and social position of productivity immensely. However, here again, it is critical to women? The two key organizations involved in this project, involve both men and women and allow them to discuss and VWU and PROFOUND, saw raising women's consciousness on this issue as the first step in moving from increased production decide on the strategy to be evolved in such an adaptation to increased income and higher social position, a shift that was process to suit their family economy and farm environment. considered to be essential for ensuring women's active partici- Paddy cultivation and pest management processes were pation in their own development . . . . The starting point for the not taught to women in the early stages of the CARE proj- on-farm research undertaken in this project addressed the ect. However, practical sessions that dealt with pesticides invisibility of women's contribution to VAC. . . . Detailed data and their impact on health and environment, sessions that on time use, access and control over resources involved, involved both women and men, had a dramatic effect on cost/benefit analyses and decision-making on management pesticide use. Such practical aspects of the programs of were all collected and discussed. Men in local power structures CARE and PROFOUND have made these projects attractive and husbands of women in training, participated. to local authorities because they help the local economy. In In the programs of CARE Bangladesh and PROFOUND the case of CARE, this resulted in local authorities provid- in Vietnam, the involvement of both men and women in the ing physical infrastructure and logistical support. In the case activities was found to have a great impact on the sustain- of PROFOUND, the rural women's union was supportive ability of changes. In the case of CARE Bangladesh, studies because its own prestige was increased as a result of the have shown that in areas where the rice-fish culture activity training activities. THEMATIC NOTE 2: FAMILY-BASED SYSTEMS FOR AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA 575 MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS CARE emphasizes the need for a participatory approach to monitoring and evaluation, with families involved in the Broad examples of indicators to measure improvements program determining indicators of change of value to them. at the household and community levels include the As is clear from the activities detailed in this Thematic following: Note, participation is costly in terms of time, and although Benefit distribution from the improved VAC system-- an incentive is always present to provide positive reports, the by sex pressure on time, especially that of women, needs to be mon- Improved health and nutrition of women and children itored. Voeten and Ottens (1997) note that knowing more Positive attitude of husbands and other men toward and being more involved in decision making result in more women's training time being spent in management. Although they report that More involvement of women in decision making in this was not regarded as a problem by the women involved in aquaculture management, especially stocking density, the PROFOUND pilot project, the authors argue that it must which is critical for farm productivity. be monitored because it can lead to costs in welfare. 576 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Associations for Protecting the Livelihoods of Fishers, Processors, andTraders M any examples exist of locations where the liveli- some local fish buyers, frequently men, may gain direct hoods of small-scale local fishers, processors, and access to fish by becoming licensed fishing operators, possi- traders are threatened by ongoing changes in the bly even purchasing fish directly from vessels before the fish fisheries and aquaculture sector. These changes reflect both is landed and excluding other local members of the value the impact of the globalization of markets for fish and fish chain. Reports also tell of increases in the incidence of sex- products, as well as economic shifts at the national and local ually transmitted diseases, which have been linked with levels. local women buyers engaging in risky fish-for-sex relations The massive growth in the international demand for fish with fishers, who are largely men, to maintain their access to and aquaculture products since the 1980s has led to a situa- the fish that they depend on for their livelihoods. tion in which powerful international and local firms now This Thematic Note is mainly concerned with interven- play significant roles in this sector, at times competing with tions to protect threatened livelihoods in the sector by local fishermen for the same species but with more sophis- enabling those already involved to enter new markets with ticated equipment and at other times purchasing directly new or value-added products. This action is linked with from small-scale fishermen and excluding local traders and others that seek to provide alternative income sources for processors. Shifts to industrial processing and packaging, those engaged in fish-for-sex transactions, as described by either on fishing vessels or on land, have meant that local WorldFish in Malawi (2007), and that seek to prevent any postharvest workers, a large proportion of whom are women, further spread of disease, provide care services for those in have been bypassed. Some of the small-scale local players high-risk situations (such as migrant fishers), and provide have found employment in the new factories, and although mitigation for families and communities already affected (as this employment has provided income-earning possibilities detailed in SFLP 2005). It is also concerned with seeking for men and women, the conditions of work for many are protection for workers in processing factories, making this a poor, the hours are long, and work is frequently casual and more valuable alternative income source that can serve for low paying in many parts of the world. Shifts in local livelihood building as well as for food security. economies in some locations have resulted in better returns to fishing and aquaculture, compared with alternatives such ACCESSING NEW MARKETS as food crop production. This has resulted in more people entering the sector and competing for fish and other prod- The challenge in successfully creating access to new markets ucts with small-scale operators. for small-scale fishers, processors, and traders is enormous, Fish stocks are also reported to be declining and the nat- regardless of the sex of the sellers. This is a risky venture, and ural resource base is deteriorating. Comanagement strategies few examples exist in the fisheries and aquaculture sector to achieve more responsible fisheries, sustain local liveli- where this has been attempted. In general, these suppliers hoods, and protect the resource base have been introduced are less organized and have fewer business and negotiating and can be effective (see Innovative Activity Profile 1) but skills than buyers such as wholesalers, contractors acting on may also lead to a higher-quality catch suitable for more dis- behalf of supermarkets, and exporters, who are regarded as tant and remunerative markets and exclude local processors the more powerful players in the marketing chain. This, along and traders. As competition for fish increases at local levels, with the small-scale suppliers'minimal access to capital,input 577 supplies, and advisory services, constrains their ability to Addressing this problem will involve engaging in advocacy establish and maintain a reliable supply of high-quality and drawing on existing international and national legisla- products that meet all health and safety regulations. Specific tion to support the demands for change. Although successful action that is required includes organizing groups of small- initiatives to change this situation have not been reported in scale fishers, processors, and traders; providing these groups this sector, organizations such as INFOPESCA operating in with training in business, management, and negotiating skills Latin America and the Caribbean have undertaken work to and training in improved product development practices expose poor work practices (Josupeit 2004). At least one that meet the international and national standards as well as company, Aqua Fish in Honduras, has, on its own initiative, the standards of individual buyers; ensuring their access to chosen to follow socially responsible practices. credit, which takes into consideration the level of risk involved in meeting the delivery conditions of large buyers; and BENEFITS FROM ADDRESSING ensuring they have horizontal links with associations, feder- LIVELIHOODTHREATS ations, and cooperatives that are in a position to support smaller groups and that have links with vertical institutions.1 Highlighting the threats to those involved in the sector is an issue addressed in the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. Protecting livelihoods is a major issue PROTECTING WORKERS IN PROCESSING for all small-scale fishers, processors, and traders as well as FACTORIES for the welfare of their communities because income loss Reports of poor working conditions in fish-processing and from increased competition and changes in the distribution packaging factories are now available for every continent. of benefits in the marketing chains affect everyone involved. However, despite the growing emphasis among some donors, Nevertheless, it is women who play the most significant governments, and private sector business on the need to adopt role in the postharvest sector and who are often reported to socially responsible practices, the link between pervasive be the first to be displaced by ongoing changes but who at social injustice and the food system has not generally been the same time lack the resources (social, economic, and polit- made. When it has, although exceptions exist, the dominant ical) to enter easily into alternative income-earning activities. picture is one of women occupying most, if not all, of the In many locations women are confined to low-status posts regarded as requiring minimum skills, working in activities already rejected by others and are unsupported by exceptionally poor conditions with no health or safety pro- services. Furthermore, incomes supporting livelihoods tection, and working on a casual basis with no job security beyond simple survival are gained by these women only or benefits (De Silva and Yamao 2006; Gammage and others through a significant increase in work burdens or, as in the 2006; Josupeit 2004; Markussen 2002; Swanrangsi 2003; Tiesze reported cases of their engagement in fish-for-sex activities, and others 2007). At the same time, women continue to at significant risk to themselves and their dependents. The shoulder virtually all the domestic work in their homes. Lit- weak bargaining position of women is pinpointed in studies tle information is available about precisely who these women of the spread of HIV and AIDS in fishing communities in are. For parts of India, Sharma (2003) describes them as being parts of sub-Saharan Africa, studies that also show how mostly younger, educated women who have been drawn women's comparative lack of knowledge and skills (apart into paid work for the first time and who may be subject to from their reported interests in meeting household food sexual harassment. Where factories are close to large towns security needs) is used, for example, to justify their exclu- or cities, the workforce may be drawn from the cities rather sion from new commercial activities in aquaculture (Kusabe than from communities directly affected by changes in the and Kelkar 2001; Nandeesha 2007). In the case of factory sector. Gammage and others (2006) provide a little more workers, although all involved workers may be considered to information beyond work conditions and note that very be in a weak bargaining position in the sense that few alter- few of the women employed at any level in factories in native sources of employment may be available, sufficient Bangladesh are key decision makers or active in trade unions. evidence exists to demonstrate that women are most likely Reports from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South to be placed at the bottom of the workforce, working under Asia suggest that women's livelihoods often become more conditions that make it difficult for them to combine this vulnerable when they take on work in these new processing work with their domestic labor. Addressing women's spe- factories; their employment simply serves to maintain their cific needs means seeking enforcement of codes of conduct poor economic circumstances and that of their dependents. that will lead to gender equality. 578 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES circumstances that affect women's ability to access particu- lar types of employment. These circumstances are shaped by To enable access to new markets (or existing markets not yet cultural norms, education, reproductive work, and gender reached) with new or improved existing products, both sup- relations. Reporting on their study, Barrientos, Dolan, and pliers and buyers need to be sure that their work is supported Tallontire (2003) note that none of the codes of conduct by appropriate economic policies. Public bodies must pro- they reviewed cover segment C of the pyramid, even though vide a policy environment that promotes mutually benefi- precisely these issues maintain women's subordinate and cial partnerships between buyers such as supermarkets and exploited position. They argue that because the wider social small producers and that promotes a legal framework that circumstances are what maintain women's subordinate and protects all partners involved and ensures the maintenance secondary status in society and underpin the gender division of good business practices. of labor within paid employment, codes can have only a very The central issues to be addressed at the implementation limited impact in addressing women's labor exploitation if level are the constraints on women and men entering these they fail to address segments B and C of the pyramid fully. marketing chains. Although women and men may share the The codes serve a dual purpose: (1) to provide a clear same disadvantages of illiteracy and lack of collateral for objective or target that civil society organizations and gov- taking a large loan, women are frequently more disadvan- ernments, for example, can use to monitor performance and taged by their gender-specific constraints--such as in social (2) to inform different categories of workers, including settings where their physical movement is restricted, includ- women, of their rights. The codes can help them understand ing their meeting in groups--and ideologies about men the meaning of their rights and serve to engage them in dis- breadwinners and the lower value attached to women's work cussions of the issues that need to be addressed. This is essen- (Kabeer and Subrahmanian 1996). Given these gender- tial if programs are supporting the associations of suppliers to specific disadvantages, care must be taken to resist adopting bargain collectively for their rights because the success of this assumptions about women's lack of interest in engaging in action will depend on all stakeholders being involved. commercial activities and about the appropriateness of Although addressing these threats to lives and livelihoods microcredit programs to meet their practical needs, which is not the core business of most implementing institutions might include small enterprise development. in fisheries and aquaculture, all programs must have some Growing international concerns about labor exploitation commitment to the creation of greater social and economic are placing pressure on governments to set standards and equality in addition to their main objectives of increasing systems for enforcing these standards. Even though evidence production while protecting the resource base. This com- from individual company reports suggests that the compa- mitment will involve working with organizations with nies themselves can introduce changes, it is not clear that expertise in these areas; working with fishers, processors, the sector can bring pressure to bear on its members. and traders who need support for their continued involve- A useful tool for clarifying what might be regarded as the ment in the sector; and working with their associations, who ideal outcomes of any interventions in the practice of pri- need to be able to act on their behalf beyond the life of indi- vate firms involved in processing and packaging in this vidual programs. sector is the "gender pyramid" conceptualized by Barrientos Civil society organizations of various kinds are essential (2001) and Barrientos,Dolan,and Tallontire (2003).This tool for achieving the strategic changes being sought in this consists of three interlinked segments that cover the key issues action because the transformation of existing norms is not relating to conditions of employment. Segment A covers an individual matter, even though at the individual and issues of employment regulation relating to formal employ- household levels changes may be sought and achieved ment (predominantly the International Labour Organization (Kelkar, Nathan, and Rownok 2003). However, civil society conventions and national legislation). Segment B refers to organizations, including women's organizations, are facing employment-related issues that facilitate women's employ- financial difficulties, although the Organization for Eco- ment (meeting practical gender needs such as child care nomic Co-operation and Development has recently intro- provision, maternity and paternity leave, transport, and duced changes to cover the financing of these organizations housing). These issues are particularly relevant to gender specifically (OECD/DAC 2006). As in the case of the pro- equality because they address the factors that enable women ducer groups discussed in Thematic Note 1 (which covers to combine paid productive employment with their repro- the creation of gender-responsive local institutions), if these ductive tasks. Segment C encompasses the socioeconomic organizations are well structured, they are the means by THEMATIC NOTE 3:ASSOCIATIONS FOR PROTECTING THE LIVELIHOODS OF FISHERS, PROCESSORS,AND TRADERS 579 which members will be able to exercise collective agency, In many locations both young women and adult women are support weaker members or members in need, advocate for especially vulnerable. policy support, and challenge norms of behavior that limit their capacity to participate in alternative livelihood-build- Lake Chad pilot project ing activities. Changing the position of donors on funding for these civil society organizations is one of the expected The following note reports briefly on a pilot project to benefits from these interventions. improve local fish supplies from Lake Chad and the Chari River by working with groups of fishers, processors, and traders: LESSONS LEARNED AND GUIDELINES FOR Strengthening the national capacity for fish health inspec- PRACTITIONERS tion and improvements in the quality of fisheries products Recent examples of good practice within fisheries and from Lake Chad and the Chari River: Pilot project 3 of the aquaculture on any or all of the actions covered in this DFID/SFLP (Period: April 2005­October 2006; Budget: Thematic Note are difficult to find. An early report refers $300,000). to a shrimp farmers association in Tamil Nadu, India, that The objectives of this project were to build local capacity in fish successfully used World Bank support (the India Shrimp safety and the responsible handling of fish and fishery products and Fish Culture Project, 1992­2000) to introduce a vol- in order to improve food security and increase incomes of fish- untary code of conduct among its members, control the ing communities along Lake Chad and the River Chari. quality of inputs, monitor ponds, and use collective- The project had two components: to improve national fish bargaining skills to market their product (Kumaran and inspection services, and to support training in the use of tech- others 2003). One of the most recent and comprehensive nology designed to improve fish preservation and processing, programs to address a range of social issues is the SFLP, as well as in accessing marketing niches in small-scale fishing supported by FAO and the Department for International communities within the project area. Development (DFID) in small-scale artisanal fisheries in The benefits/impact and lessons learnt: The groups set up West and Central Africa. Although program achievements and strengthened in gender-sensitive organizational develop- are still in the process of being documented, the program ment by the SFLP were trained in the use of improved posthar- vest equipment made available in what are referred to in the has integrated gender analysis along with poverty profiling documentation as "community technological platforms" and at at the community level for intervention planning, has the same time were made gender aware. Economic returns taken on the challenge of working with associations of from the fish products increased by 30­50 percent, and women suppliers to enter new markets (see the FAO Web site for were not marginalized in the use of the equipment provided. SFLP documentation: www.sflp.org), and has assisted in Nevertheless, problems arose with the competition for access to the creation of a policy environment conducive to guaran- the platforms by wealthy processors, and by the end of the proj- teeing investments on action to address HIV and AIDS in ect in October 2006, the extension officers were asked by FAO fishing communities in the countries covered by the pro- to work with the beneficiaries to set up a rotation for use by dif- gram. The donors for this program have been especially ferent groups in the community, and to periodically monitor concerned with influencing policy on all the issues covered the process. The national government has been involved in the in this Thematic Note, and the SFLP policy briefs are program from the outset and acknowledged both the technical examples of good practice in this regard. effectiveness of the platforms as well as the ability of the poverty profiling process, along with the strengthening of socioprofes- Although it is common in reporting on good practice to sional groups, to enable access to these facilities by poorer com- focus on technical outcomes such as incomes, the good prac- munity members. A national strategy was formulated at the tice interventions noted in the next two sections all focus on end of the project to allow up-scaling of this approach. social and economic empowerment. Together they demon- Communication with Yvette Diei Ouadi (FAO and SFLP) strate that enabling groups of disadvantaged suppliers to access new markets is a long process that must be supported In a separate note from the same source, it is made clear by other action if the threats to their lives and livelihoods in that although poor men and women were more vulnerable, existing markets are to be addressed. In addition, processes women processors and traders also faced competition from that are put in place to secure their social and economic men in accessing fresh fish. Although the men are described empowerment will need to be monitored to ensure that the as being engaged only in fishing, when the technology was interests of the most vulnerable members are protected. made available, they began to compete with the women for 580 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE access to the fish preservation and processing facility. They approval by Naturland and the Bio Swiss. Aqua Finca just started were able to access the fish directly or to meet other fisher- to transport fresh fillets using a technology called OceanChill to men on the lake itself, which the women were not able to do. its overseas market in the United States by boat, which reduces In addition, the women were more constrained in accessing both the energy spent for transport as well as operating costs. remote and more lucrative markets. The group focus of this Aqua Finca also has a huge interest in supporting social infrastructure activities in communities where it operates activity made it easier for the women to address these con- (reforestation, education, health centers, community-owned straints, even though the groups often had both men and fish cages), which are entitled by the company owner to receive women members. 10 percent of company production capacity, and this enables the communities to produce alongside Aqua Finca. Ethical fish processing in Honduras Some of the first studies of company practices in the Although factory managers may be reluctant to provide the fisheries and aquaculture sectors were undertaken by the data needed for improving poor working conditions, the Centre for Marketing Information and Advisory Services large increase in the number of codes of conduct developed for Fishery Products in Latin America and the Caribbean since the 1990s suggests considerable incentives now encour- (INFOPESCA) and are reported in Josupeit (2004). age companies to adopt good practices--to increase sales and profits from ethical trade, for example--and therefore MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS to respond to pressure that they demonstrate corporate social responsibility. The case of Aqua Finca's operations is In large part the focus of monitoring and therefore of the the best-known example in fisheries and aquaculture of a evaluation of marketing programs already initiated in this company that has been motivated to adopt ethical opera- sector has centered on the returns on the fish and fish prod- tional principles, including principles around working condi- ucts marketed. However, the main benefit sought through tions and labor contracts. Some of its environmental ethical the actions covered in this Thematic Note is the social and practices are covered in the following short communication economic empowerment of those involved, and especially from Helga Josupeit (FAO GLOBEFISH): of women, who have been identified in many locations as especially disadvantaged by ongoing changes. Indicators Aqua Finca has the largest tilapia farm in Honduras, with 30 tons are needed that will demonstrate changes in empower- of daily fresh fillet exports mainly to the United States. In 2006 Aqua Finca Saint Peter Fish opened a brand new fish meal plant ment--changes that may result from improved economic and a biodiesel plant based on tilapia oil. Total investment totaled circumstances of the women and men involved as well as $20 million, which included fish meal, biodiesel, processing, and their households, but may also result from the processes of production. All the vehicles and the machines of the farm are capacity building and other factors that are essential to running on biodiesel. The company is now venturing into enabling these women and men to engage in the new mar- organic aquaculture and has just received the organic seal of keting chains. THEMATIC NOTE 3:ASSOCIATIONS FOR PROTECTING THE LIVELIHOODS OF FISHERS, PROCESSORS,AND TRADERS 581 T H E M AT I C N OT E 4 Gender and Alternative Livelihoods for Fishing Communities P eople in rural fishing communities depend heavily development assistance and intervention, the increasing on aquatic resources as a source of protein and liveli- competition, natural resource restrictions, and other rapid hoods. The open-access nature of marine resources changes in the sector have forced many poor women to and coastal ecosystems drives a large number of people to work as agricultural laborers and construction workers and fish as an occupation of last resort when other sectors, such to take on other types of unskilled employment in addition as agriculture, decline. Groups of fishers often have limited to their already heavy workload. Although AL activities and alternative livelihood options, and this makes them particu- components can serve as special entry points for including larly vulnerable to changes in the condition of and access to gender dimensions in projects, AL activities also have the the aquatic resources on which they depend. Environmental potential to reinforce and worsen gender inequalities. degradation, habitat destruction, and overfishing have led to the point at which many fishers find it progressively KEY GENDER ISSUES AND BENEFITS OF harder to make a living from traditional fishing practices. GENDER-INTEGRATED FISHERIES In general, livelihood diversification activities available for MANAGEMENT fisheries communities can be grouped into two categories: (1) fishing and fishing-related activities (such as fish trading, Fishing has been understood to be predominantly men's marketing, and processing) and (2) activities unrelated to work, but awareness is growing that women play critical roles fishing, including aquaculture. In several contexts, migration in the fisheries sector in developing countries, particularly on and mobility are also parts of the diversification practices in the postharvest level (see Overview and Thematic Note 3). In fishing communities. The latter group of nonfishing-related coastal villages in West African countries, the main activity of activities is referred to as alternative livelihoods (ALs) in this women is the processing and marketing of fishery products Thematic Note (see the comprehensive list and specific exam- (FAO 1997), whereas in Manipur, India, fisheries activities are ples in Brugère and Allison, in preparation, and FAO 2007). largely dominated by women--they are involved in capture The term alternative refers to the diversification of sources of fisheries, aquaculture, fish processing, fish marketing, and household income rather than the dependence on a single fish transporting (Gurumayum, Devi, and Nandeesha 2004). economic activity that is heavily based on scarce natural In the Pacific Island countries, near-shore fishing activities, resources. In the context of fragile and constricted marine such as harvesting of fish, shellfish, crabs, and seaweeds for resources and coastal ecosystems, assisting fishing communi- family consumption, is frequently the work of women and ties in identifying and achieving sustainable AL to their fish- children, whereas men traditionally concentrate on fishing in ing activities bears much importance. deeper waters (FAO 1996). Including AL components in projects related to conser- Gender division of labor in the fisheries sector varies vation and sustainable use of aquatic resources is an integral largely among region and country, but women typically approach in project planning. For instance, the policy of have a different social and economic role in the community limiting fishing efforts in marine protected areas or the than men and hold different kinds of information about closure of traditional fishing grounds will have an impact aquatic resources. However, because the involvement of on the fishing community, so steps need to be considered women in the fisheries sector often tends to be at the small- to provide fishers with ALs. Moreover, without effective scale, artisanal level,1 activities by women such as the 582 harvesting of fish and shellfish for household consumption Studies in Orissa and Maharashtra in India have identified were not construed as fishing in some traditional cultures. possible livelihood opportunities for women in coastal As a result, women's contribution to the sector has often fishing communities: coastal horticulture and forestry been overlooked, and this has affected the way the fisheries (such as cultivation of coconuts and cashew nuts); produc- sector has been supported. tion of shellcraft items; weaving of fishing nets; production Although project developments that focus on the of palm leaf and bamboo products; retail activities; small- improvement on governance of fisheries management scale collection of wild sea bass, mullet fry, and prawn seed have been emphasized in recent years, the author's review to be sold to fish farmers; livestock production and pro- of the World Bank's fisheries and aquaculture portfolio cessing; crop production and processing; and agrotourism indicates that less attention has been paid to the gender (FAO 2007). aspect in the fisheries sector than in the agricultural sec- tor.2 Development activities affect men and women differ- GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED ently, and specific steps are often needed to make sure that vulnerable groups such as women and youth are included. AL options for fishing communities are diverse, and no sin- Moreover, fisheries conservation measures such as ban- gle approach or organizational structure is suitable for all ning of certain types of gear may have unforeseen gender situations. Therefore, it must be kept in mind that good impacts, because some types of fishing gear may be used practices and lessons learned must be adopted and applied by only one of the sexes. to reflect local needs. AL covers a wide range of sources of household income, and so most of the discussion and recommendations in ALs as an entry point to address gender issues other modules in this Sourcebook (particularly Crops, Identifying and developing sustainable ALs can be an entry Labor, Livestock, Markets, Rural Finance, and Rural Infra- point for investments to address the above gender inequali- structure) are applicable to this Thematic Note. For ties in the sector. Many examples can be identified of the instance, key elements of sustainable AL development promotion of ALs for fishing communities and small-scale include "capability building of fisherfolk organizations fishers with different policy objectives. In many cases ALs such as cooperatives and associations to implement liveli- provide an opportunity to empower women groups through hood projects, the preparation of feasibility studies and increased income. Despite offering an entry point or special business plans, technical skills development, sound finan- opportunity to address gender issues, AL activity may not cial management practices, development of innovative and automatically be gender sensitive. As such, explicit efforts to high quality products, access to new markets including integrate gender issues in projects and programs that pro- urban and regional markets and the full participation of mote ALs are warranted. fisherfolk in the identification of livelihood activities and micro-enterprises" (FAO 2006: v). Examples of ALs This section presents concrete examples and more rele- vant types of development support in the fisheries sector. Various forms of aquaculture have been promoted as part of livelihood diversification in several tropical countries, Community-based initiatives backed up by such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Tanzania (see The- technical and credit assistance matic Note 2). In the Pacific Islands, the search for ALs was initiated by coastal communities with support from inter- Applicable to both aquaculture and other AL activities, national NGOs to complement the recovery and rehabilita- technical assistance is an important tool to help fishing tion of resources taking place in their locally managed community organizations identify suitable livelihood activ- marine areas.3 The AL activities include the opening of a ities. In many cases, credit assistance is needed as starting women's souvenir shop in the Solomon Islands, and the sources of funds for the community. In the coastal commu- setting up of a mat-buying venture and the establishment nities of Zanzibar Island in Tanzania, where most women of a honey-making venture by women and youth in Fiji. In had no major source of income, the introduction of seaweed Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia, sponge cul- farming has generated income for women and enabled them ture was identified as a potential income-generating activ- to take a greater part in the decision making at home because ity for women that does not conflict with traditional roles.4 they were now making a significant financial contribution THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER AND ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS FOR FISHING COMMUNITIES 583 Box 13.2 Tanzania: Strengthening Technical and Marketing Assistance Seaweed farming in Tanzania has been practiced almost World Bank's Marine and Coastal Environment exclusively by women. Seaweed farming was intro- Management Project (MACEMP) in Tanzania has paid duced in Tanzania in the early 1980s, and seaweed cul- special attention to the gender aspects in the fisheries ture on a commercial scale was started in Zanzibar in sector, particularly through assistance for ALs for 1989 by two private seaweed farming companies on the women. In the planning phase, the project has identi- east coast of the island. Soon commercial seaweed fied a variety of AL opportunities (for example, crop farming flourished there, and many coastal villagers, farming, seaweed farming, solar salt ponds, aquacul- particularly women, have benefited from this practice, ture, and crafts), but women are often restricted by the but seaweed farmers are now facing challenges. Cur- availability of capital, training, or market access. For rently two Eucheuma species are cultured in Tanzania: example, gender roles exist in marine resource use E. spinosum and E. cottoni. The traded price for E. cot- activities (for example, women collect shellfish, fish, toni is significantly higher than that of E. spinosum, but octopus, and farm seaweed), and this may restrict the because E. cottoni is more difficult to grow, a need exists feasibility of certain AL activities. MACEMP is provid- for technical support. Farmers are depending on their ing seaweed farmers technical assistance and exploring buyer company for the supply of seed, stakes, and the possibility of developing value-added seaweed ropes, so they have no negotiating power on price. The products to improve market access. Source: FAO 1991, MACEMP Project Appraisal Document. to the household (box 13.2). A similar success story of com- their economic gains from the project. The experience of munity initiative based on seaweed farming can be found in working in groups and shouldering collective responsibilities Kojadoi Village of Eastern Indonesia. The COREMAP team has enhanced women's skills in interpersonal relationships as provided a range of assistance that included information, well as in microenterprise management (FAO 2003). training, organizational expertise, and funding (see also The Kerala initiative has provided some valuable lessons Innovative Activity Profile 1). related to technology development and transfer to end users. A mariculture project in the state of Kerala in India also For instance, the gap between technology development and gives an example of how community-based initiatives could adoption could be bridged more successfully through par- be supported by the government and financial institutions ticipatory action plans where all stakeholders form part of with credit assistance. The project was initiated in 1994 as a the decision-making process. The initiative also illustrated pilot field test of the culture of oysters and mussels under the importance of providing a package of services and inter- the guidance of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute ventions to assist women's self-help groups (SHGs) that scientists. The pilot initiative has grown into a lucrative includes technological assistance, credit, capability building, business activity and AL for over 250 families in about 15 stakeholder participation, and support for community orga- villages of the northern Malabar coast of Kerala (FAO 2003). nization. The follow-up studies on livelihood opportunities With an initial production of a few kilograms involving a and microfinance support for women in coastal fishing few women, mariculture production increased to 1,300 communities in the states of Orissa and Maharashtra5 found metric tons involving more than 1,000 women and 250 men that although many women SHGs and cooperatives have in 2002. The demonstration effect of this activity turned been formed and training had been provided through NGOs, commercial venture has now spread to the neighboring government agencies, and banks themselves, only a few states of Goa, Karnataka, and Maharashtra (FAO 2003). women have received bank loans (FAO 2007). To link SHGs The major gender impacts are the contribution of women with financial institutions, bank staff must be sensitized as to household income and the freedom in economic decision to the concept of SHGs and familiarized with operational making at the household level, which have given them a mea- guidelines on lending to SHGs.A need for sensitizing women sure of economic independence. Moreover, women gained fish workers was also identified because many are presently more self-confidence and self-esteem, more important than not aware of the SHG movement. 584 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE Critical aspects of the success of the Kerala project The initiatives supported by community groups were include the following: backed up by credit assistance from financial institutions and local government. The initiative started out as a pilot activity to assess the Information campaigns and awareness building pro- feasibility and potential of the ALs venture. grams were carried out. The technology for the culture of the bivalves was simple and user friendly. Empowering fisherwomen through a multisectoral A close partnership existed between the women's group approach and the men's group in pilot farming activities: for mus- sel farming, the women's SHGs procured the seed and The following example shows how multisectoral ALs (out- prepared the seed ropes while men were hired to erect side of the fisheries sector) can empower poor rural fishing poles in the estuary. Women saw to the routine upkeep of communities.6 Coastal communities in Bangladesh, where the seeded ropes. For oyster farming, women took charge the primary livelihood activity is artisanal fishing, are home of the upkeep and marketing activities while men con- to the country's poorest inhabitants. These communities structed racks and harvested the oysters. face a number of challenges, including declining fish stocks The project incorporated all key players, such as village due to overfishing. The Empowerment of Coastal Fishing elders, interested village people, bank officials, village Communities for Sustainable Livelihoods Project (box 13.3) extension workers, and district administrators into the emphasized empowering highly disadvantaged groups of interactive sessions to promote technology. rural poor, primarily in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, and on Constant technical support was provided to community creating and sustaining livelihood security.7 The project organizations, such as help setting up demonstration considered a holistic view of development and attempted to farms and detailed training and interactive sessions to assist the target communities through a gender-sensitive promote the technology. development approach. Box 13.3 Bangladesh: Empowerment through Multisectoral Alternative Livelihoods The Empowerment of Coastal Fishing Communities income-generating opportunities in 37 villages, poultry for Sustainable Livelihoods Project (Government of rearing was considered a top priority area for com- Bangladesh/UNDP/FAO: 2000­06) was designed to munity members, especially for women and for facilitate the empowerment of poor rural Bangladesh improving nutrition and income. In the second year fishing communities. The project had seven compo- 167 women community members were trained in nents (themes): mobilization, health, education, livestock and poultry rearing. Selected women members income generation, disaster preparedness, legal assis- were also trained to vaccinate poultry. Additionally, tance, and coastal fisheries resource management. training in homestead vegetable farming was con- Emphasis was placed on gender for the development of ducted, and 196 women in 11 village organizations alternative income-generating activities. benefited from this training and adopted the recom- Within the first two years of project implementation, mended vegetable farming. The project took a partic- need-based community-level skill training was provided. ipatory process involving communities, government The project also conducted a series of field-level result personnel, and NGOs and helped communities to ori- demonstrations for the target beneficiaries, and 1,753 ent and understand the project objectives. As a follow- community members (both men and women) were up to the participatory rapid appraisals, need-based trained during the second year of project implementation. training was organized for the communities, which Based on the participatory rapid appraisals con- led them to undertake appropriate income-generating ducted to identify and prioritize resources and activities. Source: DiPasquale 2005. THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER AND ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS FOR FISHING COMMUNITIES 585 The project evaluation report indicated that the move- communities to reduce vulnerability and as an alternative ment of women has increased through participation in village to their fishing activity. These activities take several forms: organization meetings, parents' meetings in schools, gov- traditional seasonal migrations, temporary mobility to find ernment offices, NGO offices, and other marketplaces. employment opportunities and business ventures elsewhere, Social bonding has also increased, as has participation of and permanent or long-term migration. Although mobility women in various income and nonincome activities other and migration usually offer an important opportunity for than household work. Income-generating activities have greater gender equalities, they often involve some increased shifted from shrimp-catching activities to other activities vulnerability for those who left and those left behind, and largely related to livestock rearing, kitchen gardening, and particularly for poor women and men.10 The old, disabled, fish drying. Additionally, and perhaps most important, the and single women heads of households and poor women project generated a considerable level of economic freedom often find it more costly and more risky to migrate. These among women members of the community. people generally have disproportionately less access to infor- Critical for success are (1) village-organization-based par- mation, rural infrastructure, and favorable labor markets ticipatory exercises, such as participatory rapid appraisals, and thus are at higher risk to migrate. IMM (n.d.) points to which enabled communities to identify and plan for potential potential pressures on family structure caused by migration: nontraditional income-generating activities, both farm and nonfarm based, and prioritize activities based on the analysis Women who themselves migrate in search of work are of attributes, including their limitations, and (2) taking a particularly susceptible to exploitation and insecurity. multisectoral approach to ALs, which enabled communities Those able to migrate permanently face considerable risk to move away from destructive fishing practices. because they lose contact with the networks of social support, patronage, and kinship that are often so impor- tant in their livelihoods. Linking marine conservation and ALs High transaction costs and the risk or cost of loss of Environmental NGOs and development agencies have social safety nets and decision-making power are higher attempted more often to provide ALs as a means of reduc- for women because of related cultural and structural fac- ing pressure on degraded marine resources and coastal tors perpetuating gender inequalities. ecosystems. However, the effectiveness of such interventions was found to be very mixed (Perera 2002). Limited studies exist on gender dimensions of migration A study that reviewed different interventions to generate and mobility, especially in the context of fishing communi- ALs for people dependent on mangrove and coral reef ties. More studies could be devoted to better understanding ecosystems in Sri Lanka found that initiatives aiming at the the impact of migration and mobility on the livelihoods of promotion of alternatives have suffered from several com- migrants and those left behind and on gender inequalities. mon failings.8 In particular, conflicts arose between the desire to reduce the exploitation of natural resources and GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR the needs and priorities of the poor themselves (Perera PRACTITIONERS 2002). The study also found that community-based organi- zations should be identified and strengthened before an AL Projects that promote alternative livelihoods and facilitate program is introduced. migration and mobility have the potential to reduce gender The experiences from the Fourth Fisheries Project in inequalities, but they also have the potential to reinforce or Bangladesh (2000­07)9 provided valuable lessons about the worsen gender inequalities. Projects must make explicit pro- problems caused by (1) the lack of support to strengthen visions to include gender dimensions in these strategies to both men and women groups and their consultation before ensure positive equity impacts. the introduction of AL program and (2) the lack of govern- The examples in this Thematic Note and other studies ment's willingness to provide ALs with gender-specific focus. suggest that a participatory approach in decision making throughout all project phases is crucial to the long-term success of AL projects. If the AL options are identified and Coastal migration and mobility discussed among all stakeholders, it is more likely that the Mobility and migration are also an important part of the activities for women will be supported by the entire com- livelihood diversification strategies used by poor coastal munity. Several studies suggest that a close link between ALs 586 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE and traditional fishing occupations can make it easier for the conservation purposes, task team leaders need to pay spe- activities to be accepted by communities and avoid conflicts cial attention to the local needs and division of labor between with traditional gender roles. men and women. Community organizations, such as fishers' organizations Finally, feasibility studies and capacity building through and women's groups, play vital roles in decision making and training and basic education are important. These are neces- voicing their particular interests to obtain support from sary not only for beneficiary groups but also for imple- the project. Thus, it is important to identify and strengthen menting agencies, such as fisheries departments, in order to community organizations before introducing alternative raise gender awareness and so that agencies can provide the income-generating activities. Targeting women as special continuous support required by fishing communities. beneficiaries could be counterproductive or at least insuffi- cient to improve their contributions to as well as benefits MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS from development. It is important to take overall structural factors into consideration, including the rules and practices Human resource capacity built by the project of households and community, market behavior, and the Community organizations identified and strengthened particular characteristics of the relationship between men Improved involvement of stakeholders in decision making and women in each society. Conflicts over gender roles minimized or resolved As highlighted in the Sri Lanka review study, the AL Improved living conditions in coastal communities (evi- projects driven by the desire to reduce the exploitation of dence of socioeconomic benefits) natural resources tend to overlook the needs and priorities Participation of women and youth in both non-income- of poor people. As a result, they often fail to gain commu- and income-generating activities nity interest and support. In designing AL programs for Improved health of fisheries stocks or aquatic habitats. THEMATIC NOTE 4: GENDER AND ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS FOR FISHING COMMUNITIES 587 I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Indonesia: Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION the household budget. Women also engage directly in fisheries and aquaculture activities, although their specific he Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management T roles vary in accordance with local customs. In Papua, Raja Program, Phase II (COREMAP II), aims to increase Ampat District, for example, many women work full time in family welfare from fisheries and aquaculture in 250 fisheries, whereas women in other districts, such as Sikka, coastal villages located in seven districts spread across east- cultivate seaweed. In Matiro Kanja village in Pangkep Dis- ern Indonesia (Biak, Buton, Pangkep, Raja Ampat, Selayar, trict, South Sulawesi, women engage in processing and in Sikka, and Wakatobi). Districts included in the project have producing fish cakes and shredded meat, among other significant coral resources, totaling 3,300 square kilometers. products. In other COREMAP areas, women often collect Village residents are poor with an average per capita monthly fish and sell it in the marketplace. In general, women in income of $25 and depend on reef fish to supply about COREMAP villages fill a wide range of roles, from catching 90 percent of their protein intake. Like other coral reefs and collecting fish and aquaculture products to processing throughout the nation, the condition of these reefs has dete- and marketing. riorated, with only about 30 percent now in good health. Field analysis undertaken by COREMAP II determined About 60 percent of the Indonesian population lives that women who work in fisheries and aquaculture face within 120 kilometers of the coast, and 80 percent of these various constraints on their ability to contribute to house- people engage in activities that depend on marine activities, hold livelihoods and community development. These including fishing and mariculture. Coral reefs are able to constraints include low educational status, poor economic meet the needs of the local population for marine food, but status of the family, undervaluation of their lives, and the the reefs have deteriorated as a result of unhealthy practices expectation that they will stay home to care for children such as overfishing, destructive fishing using bombs and and the house. poisons, and coral mining. Economic problems are one of the main reasons behind these negative practices. The deterioration of this resource base has had a major GENDER APPROACH impact on fisher households. Fishers, who are largely men, are faced with a declining catch, and women find difficulties COREMAP II specifically aims to improve coastal and taking care of the family, because they commonly control fisher women's capacity to engage in coral reef manage- ment and community development. The project seeks to (1) increase the total number of women managing and What's innovative? COREMAP II seeks to trans- implementing the program and (2) increase women's eco- form women's economic and social status and nomic and social empowerment. If these objectives are foster change in household and community wel- achieved, women will play a more significant role in fare and coral reef management. Women have also improving the welfare of their households and communities. been encouraged to work through community This will thereby change fishing practices linked with the groups and to take up leadership roles in the deterioration of coral reefs. administration and management of COREMAP. COREMAP II has highlighted gender throughout the planning, design, policy development, implementation, 588 and monitoring and evaluation processes. After thorough BENEFITS AND IMPACTS discussions, the government was convinced of its value, Progress to date is significant. At the central level, the and minimum gender participation percentages were national coordination unit (NCU) coordinates national incorporated into the project's legal documents. With clear planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. guidelines set, the project has worked hard to meet, and By 2007 women's participation at this level reached 16 even exceed, the goals. Gender issues are reflected at every percent at the NCU, 43 percent at the national project level of implementation, from the national to village levels. implementation unit (NPIU) of the Indonesian Institute These goals are constantly monitored by both the govern- of Sciences (Lembaga Ilmu Pengatauan Indonesia), and ment through internal meetings and the Bank at the time 13 percent at the NPIU of the Ministry of Forestry's Forest of its missions. For example, the 2006 World Bank Second Protection and Conservation Section (Perlindungan Supervision Mission made detailed recommendations as Hutan dan Konservasi Alam). The regional coordination to the numbers of women to be included in the project units (RCUs) participate in implementation at the provin- management units (PMUs) and on the community-based cial level and coordinate, monitor, and evaluate progress management teams. It was recommended that all PMUs with gender objectives at the district level. Total women's should prioritize recruitment of women senior extension participation at the provincial level has varied from a low and training officers and community facilitators to reach a of 18 percent to a high of 27 percent; at the district level, 30 percent target by 2007; and all PMUs were required to women's participation varied from 11 percent to 33 percent. recruit equal numbers of men and women village motiva- The 50 percent target for village motivators was fully met tors. In addition, the project has established community by 2007. Efforts continue to boost the numbers of women groups (Kelompok Masyarakat, or POKMAS [self-help at the project's operating units. group]) consisting of three subgroups, one of which focuses An additional, and perhaps more telling, indication of on gender concerns (POKMAS Gender). The remaining two impact, is that women hold positions of major significance, groups focus on production and conservation issues. especially at the national and provincial levels. Examples COREMAP II is innovative in its gender approach in a include the project's Senior Contracts Officer, the Monitor- number of ways. First, at a time when most programs sub- ing, Evaluation, and Feedback Coordinator, the assistant sume gender issues under poverty objectives and when director of the PHKA program, primary budgeting staff, gender objectives commonly focus on meeting practical and key consultants. gender needs, COREMAP II explicitly seeks to foster At the village level, women play a leading role in imple- strategic shifts in women's economic and social positions menting the planned activities by becoming members of the within the project. Second, the project is clear in its under- POKMAS for gender, production, and conservation. standing that such a transformation in women's status and Women's membership in the gender POKMAS has reached position will lead to changes in household and community 87 percent of the target. Women's membership in the welfare and ultimately to improvements in the condition production and conservation POKMAS, although existent, of the coral reefs. Third, the project has demonstrated is as yet limited. practical ways of achieving these structural changes. Training offered to members of women's community Women's community groups have been given key roles in groups (such as prayer and social groups) has enabled them promoting messages on the core program objective of pro- to become the primary communicators of key messages on tecting the coral reefs through community-based manage- coral reef management and community participation to ment, and in addition, women are managing village and family members and others in their community. Among the district funds. women working in the RCUs and PMUs, 167 have been Although the program has yet to demonstrate clear long- trained on gender and a range of technical issues relating to range outcome impacts, it has demonstrated good practice the project (table 13.4). by (1) adopting specific targets to be achieved within a spe- cific timeframe, (2) ensuring that sufficient numbers of women are involved in the project to make their presence LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR visible, (3) ensuring that women occupy a number of key WIDER APPLICABILITY positions to demonstrate the value of their work, and (4) engaging women directly in the main program activities and COREMAP II, although still in the midst of implementa- providing them with technical as well as gender training. tion, has already demonstrated some useful lessons learned. INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: INDONESIA: CORAL REEF REHABILITATION AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 589 Table 13.4 Training Related to Gender Issues in COREMAP II's Regional and Project Management Units Attendees Participating Units Type of training Aims of training Time and place (Total = 167) RCU South Sulawesi Capacity building for To increase women's capacity in Hotel Cokelat Makassar, 30 coastal and fisheries fisheries entrepreneurship July 25­28, 2007 women RCU Nusa Tenggara Fisheries women To increase women's capacity in Kupang, December 4­6, 30 Timar (NTT) training fisheries 2007 PMU Pangkep Gender training To transfer gender knowledge to Gedung APTISI Jl. Perintis 47 participants; to increase Kemerdekaan participation in public Kotamadya Makassar, campaigns to ensure coral South Sulawesi reef sustainability; to increase Province, December skills in regard to family 11­12, 2006 economic development PMU Wakatobi Gender training To increase women's Gedung Dharmawanita, 30 participation in COREMAP II Wangi-Wangi Kab. publicity activities Wakatobi, October 15­16, 2006 PMU Biak Gender training To train communities, especially Hotel Mapia Biak, 24­28 30 POKMAS gender groups, in November 2006 using fisheries resource to increase family incomes Sources: PMU 2007; RCU 2007. Four steps, which can be taken in different contexts, are opportunities equal to those of men, they can develop central to achieving gender objectives in COREMAP II: their skills themselves and contribute to their own welfare and that of their communities. Set clear, defined gender targets. Develop the understanding of the contribution that Socialize the targets so that all stakeholders are aware of everyone makes to development. This process of the program's gender objectives. COREMAP II seeks to understanding is achieved through individuals and create a sense of program ownership among women. organizations and by examining their value systems. When women understand that they have abilities and Give women the opportunity to develop themselves. 590 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 CARE Bangladesh: Family Approaches in Integrated Aquaculture he Agriculture and Natural Resources sector of T All five projects operated for three to five years through CARE Bangladesh operates five major projects that farmer groups, except for CAGES, which worked largely centered on improving livelihoods and promoting through partner NGOs. Their success attracted additional integrated aquaculture and agriculture over the last 15 years. funds--mainly from DFID and the European Union--for Two projects--Integrated Rice and Fish and New Options exploring new ideas through new projects or in new areas. for Pest Management--aim to reduce or eliminate pesticides The projects, which operated in different parts of Bangladesh, in paddy cultivation and to promote rice-fish culture wher- employed more than 700 staff. Each project had a central ever possible. Other objectives are to raise paddy yields technical team that provided support to field-based staff, all through efficient use of inputs and increase farmers' income of whom had bicycles to enable easy movement. Field staff by using dike space in paddy fields to grow vegetables. organized several thousands of men and women into The Greater Options for Local Development through groups, and the projects' strategic interventions helped to Aquaculture (GOLDA) project in southwestern Bangladesh improve livelihoods, as well as the local environment in was operated to improve prawn production practices and which the projects operated. The projects offered no mate- reduce the risk to poor farmers in producing this high-value rial support. They shared knowledge and skills and guided but high-risk activity. participants to appropriate credit organizations whenever The Cage Aquaculture for Greater Economic Security they needed such support. (CAGES) project introduced new technology for the poor and poorest farmers with limited or no access to ponds and land. The technology consists of small cages of one to two cubic GENDER OBJECTIVES AND INNOVATIVE meters for the culture of fish in ponds or open water bodies. FEATURES OF CARE'S PROGRAM The Locally Intensified Farming Enterprises (LIFE) proj- CARE Bangladesh has explored ways to (1) enhance ect has relied on farmer participatory research to increase women's participation in integrated aquaculture and (2) the productivity of farm families by improving farming empower women through aquaculture programs. Family practices; rice-fish culture and fish culture in ponds formed approaches, which have involved including women and men the major aquaculture component. in extension activities, farmer field schools, participatory monitoring and evaluation, and action research, have been found to be effective in achieving these objectives in a What's innovative? This program is almost unique among fisheries and aquaculture programs in suc- sustainable way. cessfully implementing a gender-mainstreaming This program successfully implemented a gender- strategy to achieve its gender objectives. The main- mainstreaming strategy to achieve its gender objectives, and streaming strategy--which helped women and men this success is almost unique in fisheries and aquaculture pro- engage in aquaculture development for the benefit of grams. The main component of the gender-mainstreaming their families as well as themselves--challenges strategy (to hire, train, and use men and women staff to orthodox perceptions of the financial value of family address social as well as technical issues) was essential for approaches. working in Bangladesh. This strategy provided an enabling environment for women and men, especially husbands and 591 wives, to engage in aquaculture development to benefit in program activities, they were replaced by other family themselves and their families. The success of this approach members. Although efforts were made to form mixed-sex challenges orthodox beliefs about its value in financial terms. groups, separate groups of 20­30 men or women were formed. Participants preferred the single-sex groups, even though they were sometimes difficult to form. In forming BENEFITS AND IMPACTS groups of women, special care had to be taken, and greater This CARE approach reflects the understanding within flexibility was needed until the community understood the gender analysis that existing norms and behavior within project interventions. communities and development organizations may need to be challenged directly to transform gender relations and achieve sustainable gender-equitable outcomes. These are Management of gender-based farmer groups the kinds of benefits and impacts sought in all programs Though in the beginning men trainers managed the men's but are frequently not achieved because of program time group and the women trainers focused on women, once the frames and the priority placed on production outcomes community recognized the commitment of the trainers, the over the distribution of benefits. gender of the trainer became irrelevant. Trainers trained groups but also provided follow-up support to each of the Gender-balanced teams farm families involved in carrying out the activities on their own farms. CARE evolved its own organizational gender policy, which guided the organization in undertaking gender-sensitive activities. In recruiting staff for the projects described earlier, Economic, social, and environmental impacts efforts were made to hire gender-balanced teams, particu- larly for field operations. In all of the projects, women With the addition of women's labor to the workforce, the constituted 30­50 percent of the teams. In some projects, area under rice-fish production in different areas increased such as GOLDA, the ratio was almost 1:1. The recruitment by one-third, but the biggest benefit by far was the dramatic process had an electrifying effect, contributing to many pos- reduction in pesticide use. Productivity increased by 20 to itive developments while presenting new challenges to a 40 percent. The prawn farming lessons had impressive pos- conservative society resisting change. Although women staff itive effects that helped to increase incomes by almost 50 initially experienced many difficulties in working in the percent. Using small cages of one cubic meter, women field, constant support from the organization and continu- demonstrated the possibility of growing 20­30 kilograms ous interaction with the community created an environment of fish in six months. A woman managing three to four in which the staff could contribute productively. cages could earn enough to sustain herself and improve the Staff participated in practical technical and social train- nutrition of her children as well. ing. Social training covered issues such as organizing farmer Empowered men and women not only improved their groups, raising gender awareness, and building community livelihoods from aquaculture and agriculture but also networks to sustain activities after the projects ended. The made progress in breaking gender and social barriers more GOLDA project placed the staff in farm families for a week generally. Aside from field days, which increased partici- so that they could witness the conditions in which the pants' experience and confidence, Farmer Science Con- families lived, learn how to address issues in fish and prawn gresses were organized to share results. Women dominated culture as they arose, and focus on meeting practical needs. the presentations. Days were also devoted to discussing gender issues and setting goals and a timeframe for meeting them. Gender Gender-responsive participatory processes issues confronting each area were identified, and short CARE targeted both men and women family members in all learning sessions developed. Field trainers were trained to of its agricultural projects out of a conviction that the discuss the issues with men's and women's groups. Discus- empowerment of women should begin with building their sions on children's education focused on girls. Adequate knowledge about the technology and providing skills to food provision was emphasized as essential for both boys undertake activities that would bring economic benefits to and girls. Issues of dowry, work distribution patterns, work the family. If either the husband or wife could not take part sharing, and family decision-making processes all provided 592 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE material for learning sessions. The discussion and learning 2. Gammage and others (2006) stated in their part of the days were very well received and appreciated as a step in the Bangladesh shrimp production report to USAID that right direction to bring change. women who are self-employed are likely to be accompanied by dependent children and that this accounts for some of the reports of child labor being used in small-scale fisheries. LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES 3. Shrimp production was selected as the example for FORTHE WIDER APPLICABILITY aquaculture because there is more information available on OF FAMILY APPROACHES the social implications of shrimp production and because it is largely the boom in shrimp production that has driven the The family approach is highly effective but expensive. global market in aquaculture products. Other species have Funding agencies are often more interested in increasing the led to or preceded the boom in aquaculture in more number of families covered by the program than in ensur- regional or local products (for example, catfish, tilapia, ing that everyone in a family receives the necessary infor- grouper, scallops, or lobster culture). mation. For this reason it is essential to convince donors 4. These are the intangible elements of knowledge and that both the husband and wife must be trained if the lives skills in the sense that what is seen to be required can vary of all household members are to improve and if they are all depending on who is being trained or who is applying for to achieve higher productivity. employment. Training programs always contain tangible Development projects should allocate resources to and intangible elements. invest in building knowledge and skills through adequate 5. More recent thinking on social protection includes the numbers of gender-balanced field staff. Building a gender- use of interventions that are transformative in purpose balanced staff of sufficient strength is a task that can be (see Devereux 2001; Devereux and Sebates-Wheeler accomplished only when there is an organizational policy 2004). that will ensure gender-balanced staff recruitment and that sets out definite strategies to attain this balance within a Thematic Note 1 given time. Once a balanced team is built, the impact on project outcomes is far reaching. This Thematic Note was written by Christine Okali (Con- sultant) and was reviewed by Eriko Hoshino, Catherine Ragasa, and Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Yvette Diei NOTES Ouadi, Ib Kollavick-Jensen, Rebecca Metzner, Susana Siar, Ilaria Sisto, and Rohana Subasinghe (FAO); Maria Hartl and Overview Antonio Rota (IFAD); and Kieran Kelleher and Eija Pehu The Overview was prepared by Christine Okali (Consul- (World Bank). tant), with inputs from M. C. Nandeesha (Central Agricul- 1. The term gender-responsive user groups is used here in tural University, Tripura); Chitra Deshpande (Consultant); preference to the term self-help groups, which describes and Katrien Holvoet, Helga Josupeit, and Melba Reantaso groups that are not making claims on government or have (FAO); and was reviewed by Eriko Hoshino, Catherine no expectations of service delivery but rather rely on bot- Ragasa, and Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Yvette Diei tom-up processes for their development. Rubinoff (1999) Ouadi, Ib Kollavick-Jensen, Rebecca Metzner, Susana Siar, refers to them as small cooperative groups. Ilaria Sisto, and Rohana Subasinghe (FAO); Maria Hartl and 2. This study analyzed data from 46 rural programs in 20 Antonio Rota (IFAD); and Kieran Kelleher and Eija Pehu countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. (World Bank). 3. Examples of the different possible roles that can be 1. Considerable variation exists in the position and status expected to be performed by different partners are given in of women in society. In China and Southeast Asian coun- SFLP (2006). tries (for example, Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Thailand, and Vietnam), for instance, women are often able to play more independent economic roles and Thematic Note 2 have at least some, if not total, control over benefits, whereas in South Asian countries (for example, Bangladesh, India, This Thematic Note was written by M. C. Nandeesha (Cen- and Pakistan) women are more constrained, especially in tral Agricultural University, Tripura) and Christine Okali their ability to market produce that is viewed as central to (Consultant), with inputs from Melba Reantaso (FAO), and achieving control over income. (However, for India see was reviewed by Chitra Deshpande, Eriko Hoshino, and Busby 1999 and Prahdan and Flaherty 2008.) Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Susana Siar, Ilaria Sisto, MODULE 13: NOTES 593 and Rohana Subasinghe (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and 2. Implementation completion reports for 26 completed Kieran Kelleher (World Bank). Bank projects and project appraisal documents for 15 ongo- 1. The Vietnam VAC system is a system with a mix of ing projects (in 2007) that had at least one component related annual and perennial crops, including fruits and vegetables, to fisheries, aquatic resource management, or aquaculture small livestock and poultry, and several species of Chinese were reviewed to extract examples of positive or negative and Indian carps grown in ponds. Since 1989 the Vietnamese impacts on gender. government has distributed land to farmers and encouraged 3. Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Women in Fish- the development of the family economy through such diver- eries Information Bulletin (March 16), www.spc.int. sified farming systems. The system is labor intensive and 4. "An Assessment of the Role of Women in Fisheries in protects the environment. Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia," www.spc.int. 2. This was a pilot project involving the Vietnamese 5. The studies were carried out as a follow-up to the national Women's Union plus PROFOUND, a Dutch development workshop on best practices in microfinance programs for organization, in consultation with the Asia Institute of women in coastal fishing communities in India, held in 2003. Technology and the Vietnamese Research Institute for 6. This discussion was mainly taken from the various proj- Aquaculture. The project was funded by the Commission of ect documents available at www.livelihoods.org. the European Communities. For ease of reference in this 7. See also Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme, document, the project is referred to as PROFOUND. "Gender Credit Study in Tanji and Albreda Fishing Com- 3. PROFOUND uses this gender tool to make women's munities," www.sflp.org. position in the household and society visible. It involves 8. This refers to the South Asia Cooperative Environment mapping resources and institutions in the community, Programme (SACEP) review of different interventions to adding male and female signs for access to and control over generate alternative livelihoods for people dependent on these, and decision making. mangrove and coral reef ecosystems in Sri Lanka. The proj- ect was initiated in April 2002 at the inaugural session of the Sri Lanka Coral Reef Forum, a joint venture of SACEP, Thematic Note 3 CORDIO (Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean) and GCRMN (Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network), at This Thematic Note was written by Christine Okali (Con- which more than 40 stakeholders gave their initial inputs. sultant) and Katrien Holvoet, Helga Josupeit, and Yvette Diei Ouadi (FAO), and was reviewed by Chitra Deshpande, 9. This section was drawn heavily from project documents. Eriko Hoshino, Catherine Ragasa, and Mary Hill Rojas 10. Integrated Marine Management, "The Sustainable (Consultants); Susana Siar and Ilaria Sisto (FAO); Maria Coastal Livelihoods," www.ex.ac.uk/imm. Hartl (IFAD); and Kieran Kelleher (World Bank). 1. These horizontal links include associations such as the Innovative Activity Profile 1 Latin American Network of Women in Fisheries, or Red Mujer, the South Indian Federation of Fishermen, and the This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Dian Fiana Fisherfolk Association in Gabon. (COREMAP II Consultant), with inputs from Charles Greenwald (COREMAP II), and reviewed by Chitra Desh- pande, Christine Okali, Catherina Ragasa, and Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Melba Reantaso, Susana Siar, Ilaria Thematic Note 4 Sisto, and Rohana Subasinghe (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); This Thematic Note was prepared by Eriko Hoshino (Con- and Pawan Patil (World Bank). This Profile was largely sultant), with inputs from Catherine Ragasa (Consultant), drawn from the author's own experiences from being and reviewed by Christine Okali and Mary Hill Rojas involved in the program. Other references used were Fiana (Consultants); Katrien Holvoet, Rebecca Metzner, and (2007); NCU (2005, 2006, 2007a, 2007b); PMU (2007); Susana Siar (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Kieran Kelleher RCU (2007); and World Bank (2006). and Eija Pehu (World Bank). 1. Artisanal fisheries are traditional fisheries involving Innovative Activity Profile 2 fishing households (as opposed to commercial companies), using relatively small amounts of capital and energy, rela- This Innovative Activity Profile was written by M. C. Nandee- tively small fishing vessels (if any), making short fishing sha (Central Agricultural University, Tripura) and Christine trips, close to shore, mainly for local consumption (defini- Okali (Consultant); and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande, tion based on FAO fisheries glossary). Catherine Ragasa, and Mary Hill Rojas (Consultants); Melba 594 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE Reantaso, Susana Siar, Ilaria Sisto, and Rohana Subasinghe Technical Paper 426/1 and 2, Food and Agriculture Orga- (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); and Pawan Patil (World nization, Rome. Bank). This Profile is based in large part on Debashish and Kelkar, Govind. 2001. "Gender Concerns in Aquaculture: others (2001). Women's Roles and Capabilities." In Gender Concerns in Aquaculture in Southeast Asia, Gender Studies, Monograph 12, ed. K. Kusakabe and G. Kelkar, 1­10. REFERENCES Bangkok: Asian Institute of Technology. Markussen, Marith. 2002. "Women in the Informal Fish Overview Processing and Marketing Sectors of Lake Victoria." Allison, Edward H. 2003. "Linking National Fisheries Policy Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research to Livelihoods on the Shores of Lake Kyoga, Uganda." Working Paper 115, Oslo. LADDER Working Paper No. 9, Overseas Development New Economics Foundation (NEF). 2002. "Plugging the Group, University of East Anglia, Norwich. Leaks: Making the Most of Every Pound That Enters Your Barman, Benoy K. 2001. "Women in Small-Scale Aquacul- Local Economy." NEF, London. ture in North-West Bangladesh." Gender and Technology Pradhan, Dolagobinda, and Mark Flaherty. 2008. "National Development 5 (2): 267­87. Initiatives, Local Effects: Trade Liberalization, Shrimp Belton, Ben, and David Little. 2008. "The Development of Aquaculture, and Coastal Communities in Orissa, India." Aquaculture in Central Thailand: Domestic versus Society & Natural Resources 21: 63­76. Export-Led Production." Journal of Agrarian Change 8 Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP). (1): 123­43. 2006. "Gender Policies for Responsible Fisheries-- Busby, Cecilia. 1999. "Agency, Power and Personhood: Dis- Policies to Support Gender Equity and Livelihoods in courses on Gender and Violence in a Fishing Community Small-Scale Fisheries." New Directions in Fisheries--A in South India." Critique of Anthropology 19 (3): 227­48. Series of Policy Briefs on Development Issues. Rome: De Silva, D. A. M., and Masahiro Yamao. 2006."The Involve- Food and Agriculture Organization. ment of Female Labour in Seafood Processing in Sri Tietze, U., Susana Siar, Suchitra M. Upare, and Maroti A. Lanka: The Impact of Organizational Fairness and Upare. 2007. "Livelihood and Micro-Enterprise Devel- Supervisor Evaluation on Employee Commitment." In opment Opportunities for Women in Coastal Fishing Global Symposium on Gender and Fisheries: Seventh Asian Communities in India: Case Studies of Orissa and Fisheries Forum, 2004, ed. Poh-Sze Choo, Stephen J. Hall, Maharashtra." FAO Fisheries Circular No. 1021, Food and Meryl J. Williams, 103­14. Penang, Malaysia: World and Agriculture Organization, Rome. Fish Center. Walker, Barbara Louise Endemaño. 2001. "Sisterhood and Devereux, Stephen. 2001. "Livelihood Insecurity and Social Seine-Nets: Engendering Development and Conserva- Protection: A Re-Emerging Issue in Rural Development." tion in Ghana's Marine Fishery." Professional Geographer Development Policy Review 19 (4): 507­19. 53 (2): 160­77. Devereux, Stephen, and Rachel Sebates-Wheeler. 2004. World Bank. 2006. Aquaculture Review: Changing the Face of "Transformative Social Protection." IDS Working Paper the Waters. Meeting the Promise and Challenge of Sustain- 232, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, U.K. able Aquaculture. Report 36622-GLB. Washington, DC: Gammage, Sarah, Kenneth Swanberg, Mubina Khandkar, IBRD/World Bank. Md. Zahidul Hassan, Md. Zobair, and Abureza M. Muzareba. 2006. A Pro-Poor Analysis of the Shrimp Sector Thematic Note 1 in Bangladesh. Report prepared for the Office of Women in Development of the U.S. Agency for International Barman, Benoy K. 2001. "Women in Small-Scale Aquacul- Development, Dhaka, Bangladesh. ture in North-West Bangladesh." Gender and Technology Josupeit, Helga. 2004. "Women in the Fisheries Sector of Development 5 (2): 267­87. Argentina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil." FAO Fisheries Bennett, Elizabeth. 2005. "Gender, Fisheries and Develop- Circular, No. 992, Food and Agriculture Organization, ment." Marine Policy 29: 451­59. Rome. Dixon-Mueller, Ruth. 1989. Women's Work in Third World Jul-Larsen, Eyolf, Jeppe Kolding, Ragnhild Overå, Jesper R. Agriculture. Geneva: International Labour Organization. Nielsen, and Paul van Zwieten, eds. 2003. "Management, Mowla, Runia, and Md. Ghulam Kibria. 2006. "An Inte- Co-management or No Management? Major Dilemmas grated Approach on Gender Issues in Coastal Fisheries." in Southern African Freshwater Fisheries." FAO Fisheries In Global Symposium on Gender and Fisheries: Seventh MODULE 13: REFERENCES 595 Asian Fisheries Forum, 2004, ed. Poh-Sze Choo, Stephen Fisheries, ICLARM Contribution No. 1587, ed. M. J. J. Hall, and Meryl J. Williams, 21­28. Penang, Malaysia: Williams, M. C. Nandeesha, V. P. Corral, E.Tech, and P. S. World Fish Center. Choo, 147­56. Penang, Malaysia. Mymensingh Aquaculture Extension Project. 1999. "Female Nandeesha, M. C. 2007. "Asian Experience on Farmer's Involvement in Different Activities of Women in Innovation in Freshwater Fish Seed Production and Mymensingh Aquaculture Extension Project." Paper Nursing and the Role of Women." In "Assessment of presented at Workshop on Women's Involvement in Freshwater Fish Seed Resources for Sustainable Aquacul- Fisheries, NFEP, Parbatipur, Dinajpur, Bangladesh, July. ture," FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 501, Food and Nathan, Dev, and Niaz Ahmed Apu. 1998. "Women's Inde- Agriculture Organization, Rome. pendent Access to Productive Resources: Fish Ponds in Voeten, Jaap, and Bert-Jan Ottens. 1997. "Gender Training the Oxbow Lakes Project, Bangladesh."Gender Technology in Aquaculture in Northern Vietnam: A Report." Gender, and Development 2 (3): 397­413. Technology and Development 1: 413­32. ------. 2004. "Case Study of the Oxbow Lakes Small-Scale World Bank. 2006."Aquaculture Review: Changing the Face Fishermen's Project (OLSSFP) IFAD Innovation Main- of the Waters. Meeting the Promise and Challenge of streaming Initiative, Bangladesh--1990­1997." Draft doc- Sustainable Aquaculture." GLB Report No. 36622, ument submitted to International Fund for Agricultural IBRD/World Bank, Washington, DC. Development, Rome. Zaman, F. 1998. Dissemination of NOPEST Activities Study New Economics Foundation (NEF). 2002. Plugging the and Sustainability Study. Dhaka: CARE Bangladesh. Leaks: Making the Most of Every Pound That Enters Your Local Economy. London: NEF. Rubinoff, Janet Ahner. 1999. "Fishing for Status: Impact of Thematic Note 3 Development on Goa's Fisherwomen." Women Studies International Forum 22 (6): 631­44. Barrientos, Stephanie. 2001. "Gender Flexibility and Global Value Chains." IDS Bulletin 32 (3): 83­93. Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP). 2006. "Gender Policies for Responsible Fisheries-- Barrientos, Stephanie, Catherine Dolan, and Anne Tallon- Policies to Support Gender Equity and Livelihoods in tire. 2003. "Gendered Value Chain Approach to Codes of Small-Scale Fisheries." FAO Policy Brief on New Conduct in African Horticulture." World Development 31 Directions in Fisheries No. 6, Food and Agriculture (9): 1511­26. Organization, Rome. De Silva, D. A. M., and Masahiro Yamao. 2006. "The Involve- Westermann, Olaf, Jacqueline Ashby, and Jules Pretty. 2005. ment of Female Labour in Seafood Processing in Sri Lanka: "Gender and Social Capital: The Importance of Gender The Impact of Organizational Fairness and Supervisor Differences for the Maturity and Effectiveness of Natural Evaluation on Employee Commitment." In Global Sympo- Resource Management Groups." World Development 33 sium on Gender and Fisheries: Seventh Asian Fisheries (11): 1783­99. Forum, 2004, ed. Poh-Sze Choo, Stephen J. Hall, and Meryl J. Williams, 103­14. Penang, Malaysia: World Fish Center. Gammage, Sarah, Kenneth Swanberg, Mubina Khandkar, Thematic Note 2 Md. Zahidul Hassan, Md. Zobair, and Abureza M. Brugère, Cecile, Malene Felsing, Kyoko Kusabe, and Govind Muzareba. 2006. "A Pro-Poor Analysis of the Shrimp Kelkar. 2001. "Women in Aquaculture." Final Report, Sector in Bangladesh." Report prepared for the Office of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Project, FWG 03/99, Women in Development of the U.S. Agency for Interna- Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani, Thailand tional Development, Dhaka, Bangladesh. and Institute of Aquaculture, Stirling, U.K. Josupeit, Helga. 2004. "Women in the Fisheries Sector of Commission of European Communities (CEC). 1993. Argentina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil." FAO Fisheries Women and Development, Cooperation with Latin Amer- Circular No. 992, Food and Agriculture Organization, ica, Asian and Mediterranean Countries, Management of Rome. the Project Cycle. Brussels: CEC. Kabeer, Naila, and Ramya Subrahmanian. 1996. "Institu- Debashish, K. S., M. Shirin, F. Zaman, M. Ireland, G. tions, Relations and Outcomes: Framework and Tools for Chapman, and M. C. Nandeesha. 2001. "Strategies for Gender-Aware Planning." Discussion Paper 357, Institute Addressing Gender Issues through Aquaculture Pro- of Development Studies, Sussex, U.K. grams: Approaches by CARE Bangladesh." In Proceed- Kelkar, Govind, Dev A. Nathan, and Jahan I. Rownok. 2003. ings of the International Symposium on Women in Asian "We Were in Fire, Now We Are in Water: Micro-Credit and 596 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE Gender Relations in Rural Bangladesh."Consultant report, Thematic Note 4 International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome. Brugère, Cecile, and Edward Allison. Forthcoming."Liveli- Kumaran, M., N. Kalaimani, K. Ponnusamy, V. S. Chan- hood Diversification in Coastal and Inland Fishing drasekaran, and D. Deboral Vimala. 2003. "A Case of Communities: Misconceptions, Evidence and Implications Informal Shrimp Farmers Association and Its Role in for Fisheries Management." Working Paper, Food and Sustainable Shrimp Farming in Tamil Nadu, India." Agriculture Organization, Rome. Aquaculture Asia 8 (2): 10­12. DiPasquale Brandi M. 2005. "Empowerment of Coastal Kusakabe, Kyoko, and Govind Kelkar, eds. 2001. Gender Fishing Communities for Livelihood Security Literature Concerns in Aquaculture in Southeast Asia. Gender Synthesis Report." UNDP, FAO, and government of Studies Monograph 12, Gender and Development Bangladesh. Available at: www.livelihoods.org. Studies. Bangkok: School of Environment Resources Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1991. "Seaweed and Development, Asian Institute of Technology. Collection and Culture in Tanzania." Aquaculture for Markussen, Marith. 2002. "Women in the Informal Fish Local Community Development Programme. Processing and Marketing Sectors of Lake Victoria." GCP/INT/436/SWE.14. Rome: FAO. Also available at Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research www.fao.org. Working Paper 115, Oslo. ------. 1996.Vanuatu--Technical Report:"An Assessment of Nandeesha, M. C. 2007. "Asian Experience on Farmer's the Role of Women in Fisheries in Vanuatu." Mechanical Innovation in Freshwater Fish Seed Production and Report, FAO, Rome. Nursing and the Role of Women." In "Assessment of ------. 1997. "Workshop on Gender Roles and Issues in Freshwater Fish Seed Resources for Sustainable Aquacul- Artisanal Fisheries in West Africa. Lomé, Togo, 11­13 ture," FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 501, Food and December 1996." Technical Report 97, January, ed. Agriculture Organization, Rome. Benoit W. Horemans and Alhaji M. Jallow. Rome: FAO. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop- Also available at www.fao.org. ment/Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC). 2006. "Summary Record of the Fourth Meeting of the ------. 2003. "Report of the National Workshop on Best DAC Network on Gender Equality, Paris 5­7 July 2006," Practices in Microfinace Programmes for Women in Paris, September. Coastal Fishing Communities in India. Panaji, Goa, India, 1­4 July 2003." FAO Fisheries Report No. 724, Sharma, Chandrika. 2003. "The Impact of Fisheries Devel- FAO, Rome. Also available at www.fao.org. opment and Globalization Processes on Women of Fishing Communities in the Asian Region." Asia-Pacific ------. 2006. "Report of the National Workshop on Micro- Resource Network Journal 8: 1­12. Enterprise Development in Coastal Communities in the Philippines: Sharing of Experiences and Lessons Learned." Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP). FAO Fisheries Report No. 850, FAO, Rome. Also available 2005. "Impact of HIV/AIDS on Fishing Communities: at www.fao.org. Policies to Support Livelihoods, Rural Development and Public Health." In New Directions in Fisheries--A Series ------. 2007. "Livelihood and Micro-Enterprise Develop- of Policy Briefs on Development Issues. Rome: Food and ment Opportunities for Women in Coastal Fishing Agriculture Organization. Communities in India--Case Studies of Orissa and Maharashtra." FAO Fisheries Circular 1021, FAO, Rome. Swanrangsi, Sirlak. 2003."Technological Changes and Their Also available at www.fao.org. Implications for Women in Fisheries." Fish Inspection and Quality Control Division, Department of Fisheries, Gurumayum S. D., G. A. Devi, and M. C. Nandeesha. 2004. Bangkok. "Women's Participation in Fisheries Activities in Manipur Valley in India with Traditional Fish-Based Tietze, Uwe, Susana Siar, Suchitra M. Upare, and Maroti A. Beliefs and Customs." In Global Symposium on Gender Upare. 2007. "Livelihood and Micro-Enterprise Devel- and Fisheries: Seventh Asian Fisheries Forum. Penang, opment Opportunities for Women in Coastal Fishing Malaysia: World Fish Center. Communities in India: Case Studies of Orissa and Maharashtra." FAO Fisheries Circular No. 1021, Food Integrated Marine Management (IMM). n.d. "The Sustain- and Agriculture Organization, Rome. able Coastal Livelihoods." Available at www.ex.ac.uk/ WorldFish. 2007. "Innovative Fish Farming Project for imm. HIV-Affected African Families Doubles Incomes Lyn, L. 2000."An Assessment of the Role of Women in Fish- and Boosts Household Nutrition in Malawi." Press eries in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia." Avail- release, August. able at www.spc.int. MODULE 13: REFERENCES 597 Perera, Nishanthi. 2002. "Alternative Livelihood through FURTHER READING Income Diversification: As Management Options for Overview Sustainable Coral Reef and Associated Ecosystem Man- agement in Sri Lanka." South Asia Co-Operative Envi- Allison, Edward, and Janet Seeley. 2004. "HIV and AIDS ronment Programme (58), Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sum- among Fisherfolks: A Threat to `Responsible Fisheries'?" mary available at www.icriforum.org. Fish and Fisheries 5: 215­34. Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). 2007."Women Bennett, Elizabeth. 2005. "Gender, Fisheries and Develop- in Fisheries Information Bulletin." Issue of March 16. ment." Marine Policy 29: 451­59. Available at www.spc.int. Brugère, Cecile, Malene Felsing, Kyoko Kusakabe, and Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP). 2004. Govind Kelkar. 2001. "Women in Aquaculture." Final "Gender Credit Study in Tanji and Albreda Fishing Com- Report, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Project, munities." Available at www.sflp.org. FWG 03/99. Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani, Thailand, and Institute of Aquaculture, Stirling U.K. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005. "Increas- ing the Contribution of Small-Scale Fisheries to Poverty Innovative Activity Profile 1 Alleviation and Food Security." Technical Guidelines for Fiana, D. 2007. "COREMAP II and Gender Dimensions: Responsible Fisheries No. 10, FAO, Rome. Recent Progress and Challenges." Report submitted to Harrison, Elizabeth. 1997. "Fish, Feminists and the FAO: the Executive Secretary and Project Management Advi- Translating`Gender' through Different Institutions in the sor of the World Bank, World Bank, Washington, DC. Development Process." In Getting Institutions Right for National Coordination Unit (NCU). 2005. "World Bank 1st Women in Development, ed. Anne Marie Goetz, 61­74. Supervision Mission Aide Memoire Action Items." London: Zed Books. Unpublished Project Report. Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme. 2005. ------. 2006. "World Bank 2nd Supervision Mission Aide "Impact of HIV/AIDS on Fishing Communities: Policies Memoire Action Items." Unpublished Project Report. to Support Livelihoods, Rural Development and Public ------. 2007a. "Project Quarterly and Annual Reports, Health." New Directions in Fisheries--A Series of Policy 2005­2007." Unpublished Project Report. Briefs on Development Issues. Rome: Food and Agricul- ture Organization. ------. 2007b."Progress Review Action Items."Unpublished Project Report. Project Management Unit (PMU). 2007. "Project Quarterly and Annual Reports, 2005­2007." Unpublished Project Thematic Note 1 Report. Regional Coordination Unit (RCU). 2007. "Project Quar- Allison, Edward, and Frank Ellis. 2001. "The Livelihoods terly and Annual Reports, 2005­2007." Unpublished Approach and Management of Small-Scale Fisheries." Project Report. Marine Policy 25: 377­88. World Bank. 2006. "Final Aide Memoire on COREMAP II: Ferrer, Elmer, Lenore de la Cruz, and Marife Domingo, eds. Second Supervision Mission." World Bank, Washington, 1996. Seeds of Hope: A Collection of Case Studies on DC. Community-Based Coastal Resources Management in the Philippines. Manila, Philippines: CBCRM Resource Center. Kusakabe, Kyoko. 2003. "Women's Involvement in Small- Scale Aquaculture in Northeast Thailand." Development Innovative Activity Profile 2 in Practice 13 (4): 333­45. Debashish, K. S., M. Shirin, F. Zaman, M. Ireland, G. Chap- Kusakabe, Kyoko, and Govind Kelkar, eds. 2001. Gender man, and M. C. Nandeesha. 2001."Strategies for Address- Concerns in Aquaculture in Southeast Asia. Gender Stud- ing Gender Issues through Aquaculture Programs: ies Monograph 12, Gender and Development Studies, Approaches by CARE Bangladesh." In Proceedings of the School of Environment Resources and Development, International Symposium on Women in Asian Fisheries, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. ICLARM Contribution No. 1587, ed. M. J. Williams, M. Leach, Melissa, Robin Mearns, and Ian Scoones. 1997. C. Nandeesha,V. P. Corral, E.Tech, and P. S. Choo, 147­56. "Environmental Entitlements: A Framework for Under- Penang, Malaysia. standing the Institutional Dynamics of Environmental 598 MODULE 13: GENDER IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE Change." IDS Discussion Paper 359, Institute of Devel- Seaweed Farming: An Alternative Livelihood for Small-Scale opment Studies, Sussex, Brighton, U.K. Fishers?: www.crc.uri.edu. Locke, Catherine. 1999. "Constructing a Gender Policy for Semporna Islands Darwin Project--Alternative Liveli- Joint Forest Management in India." Development and hoods: www.sempornaislandsproject.com. Change 30: 265­85. Trends in Poverty and Livelihoods in Coastal Fishing Com- Nandeesha, M. C. 2007. "Asian Experience on Farmer's munities of Orissa State, India: www.fao.org. Innovation in Freshwater Fish Seed Production and Nursing and the Role of Women." In "Assessment of Freshwater Fish Seed Resources for Sustainable Aquacul- Innovative Activity Profile 1 ture," FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 501, Rome, Food Cesar, Herman. 1996. "Economic Analysis of Indonesian and Agriculture Organization. Coral Reefs." Working Paper Series "Work in Progress," Sullivan, L. 2006. "The Impacts of Aquaculture Develop- World Bank, Washington, DC. ment in Relation to Gender in Northeastern Thailand." Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. 2007. "Quarterly In Global Symposium on Gender and Fisheries: Seventh Progress Report: Implementation Status of COREMAP Asian Fisheries Forum, 2004, ed. Poh-Sze Choo, Stephen II. Period April­June 2007." Coral Reef Rehabilitation J. Hall, and Meryl J. Williams, 29­42. Penang, Malaysia: and Management Program II, Directorate General of World Fish Center. Marine, Coastal, and Small Islands, Indonesia. World Bank. 2004. "Technical Appraisal." In "Project Appraisal Document for the Coral Reef Rehabilitation Thematic Note 4 and Management Project (Phase II), Indonesia," World Assisting Coastal Communities in the Pacific Islands with Bank, Washington, DC. Alternative Sources of Livelihood and Income: www.spc.int. Environment and Development in Coastal Regions and in Innovative Activity Profile 2 Small Islands: Developing Alternative Livelihoods: Nandeesha, M. C. 1994."Aquaculture in Cambodia." Infofish www.unesco.org. International 2: 42­48. JFPR Grant to Develop Alternative Livelihoods for Poor ------. 2007. "Asian Experience on Farmer's Innovation Fishers in Indonesia's Coastal Communities: in Freshwater Fish Seed Production and Nursing and www.adb.org. the Role of Women." In "Assessment of Freshwater Fish Livelihood and Micro-Enterprise Development Opportuni- Seed Resources for Sustainable Aquaculture," FAO Fish- ties for Women in Coastal Fishing Communities in India: eries Technical Paper No. 501, Food and Agriculture Case Studies of Orissa and Maharashtra: www.fao.org. Organization, Rome. MODULE 13: FURTHER READING 599 M O D U L E 1 4 Gender and Livestock Overview emands for meat and milk are growing because of D to consider--from intrahousehold roles and relations to population increases, economic growth, and con- institutional supports and barriers and beyond to policy sumer preference. The projected demand for meat considerations. As the range of issues is broad, the Module alone is expected to increase by 6 to 23 kilograms per person suggests a number of references that can provide the reader worldwide by 2050.1 This draws attention to the potential with more in-depth coverage on particular issues. benefits that can be gained from livestock production. Live- stock provides income generation, employment creation, and OVERVIEW OFTHE SECTOR improved food and nutrition security across different pro- duction systems (table 14.1) and along different value chains The livestock sector continues to grow globally. On the one (such as meat, dairy, live animals, hides, and eggs).2 In some hand, extensive rangeland systems face potentially dramatic countries, livestock now accounts for up to 80 percent of the changes to grazing lands, feed, and water availability. On the agricultural gross domestic product (World Bank 2007). A other, a rapidly industrializing sector based on more inten- number of challenges face the livestock sector, including sive systems depends on high-performing livestock breeds,3 ensuring food, resource, and livelihood security for poor greater inputs, waste management, and food safety and smallholder producers and processors. The challenges biosecurity measures. As such, the livestock sector faces demand innovative and sustainable approaches, particularly numerous challenges and poses challenges to other sectors, given that more than 200 million smallholder farmers in Asia, including finance and trade, water and land, education, and Africa, and Latin America rely on livestock as the main source health. Furthermore, current concerns around the social, of income (FAO 2006b). Applying a "gender lens" to identify economic, and health-related impacts of transboundary and address women's and men's different needs and con- animal diseases, such as avian influenza, highlight a number straints related to relevant livestock production systems and of other issues facing the livestock sector (FAO 2006a), value chains is important for determining the most optimal including the following: outcomes as well as the most effective use of resources. This Module is intended to support efforts to strengthen Ensuring safe trade in livestock and animal products the design and implementation of livestock initiatives. It Safeguarding environmental sustainability and biodiver- applies a Gender in Sustainable Livelihoods approach sity, which is paramount to the sector to livestock sector programming (see also Sourcebook Finding effective prevention and control of major animal Overview). In so doing, it highlights a range of gender issues diseases to safeguard animal and public health. 601 Table 14.1 General Characteristics of Different Livestock Production Systems Production system Characteristics Landless industrialized · Industrial, market-driven production systems systems · Detached from their original land base, commercially oriented, and specialize in specific products · Generally associated with large-scale enterprises · Small-scale urban-based production units also important in developing countries Potential areas for gender concern: labor conditions, mobility, control over production, decision-making power Small-scale landless · Small-scale landless livestock keepers typically not owning croplands or with access to large communal grazing systems areas · Typically found in urban and periurban areas and in rural areas of high population density Potential areas for gender concern: access to water, fodder, decision-making control, control over benefits, access to information on disease prevention, control Grassland-based or · Typical of areas unsuitable or marginal for growing crops grazing systems · Most often found in arid and semiarid areas · Adaptive management practices needed for challenging environmental conditions Potential areas for gender concern (depends on scale): large-scale ranches: labor conditions, living conditions such as accommodation, control over decision making; small-scale: intrahousehold decision making, control over benefits, decision making, local knowledge, and gendered roles in animal husbandry, disease prevention, and control Mixed farming systems · Most of the world's ruminants kept within crop-livestock systems · Characterized by relatively low levels of external inputs · Products of one part of the system used as inputs for the other Potential areas for gender concern: access to and control of inputs (land, water, credit); intrahousehold decision making; access to extension, veterinary services; capacities for scaling up Sources: FAO 1997, 2007. Most notable, perhaps, is the increasing demand by the to prevent property and asset confiscation, yet it is still com- sector for natural capital (land, water, fodder, fuelwood), mon practice for a husband's family to take livestock and physical capital (transport, abattoirs, market and home other assets from a widow and her children upon the hus- refrigeration) (based on FAO 2006a, 2006b; World Bank band's death. This has immediate impacts on a woman and 2005b), and human capital (labor, knowledge, public-private her children in terms of loss of food security insurance, partnerships in research and extension). potential income, draft power, and fertilizer.4 Moreover, land tenure is often required to establish access to other inputs such as credit, an often essential ingredient for KEY GENDER ISSUES improving livestock productivity and food security and liveli- A number of gender issues are central to discussions of agri- hood improvement.5 Because of a number of factors that cultural livelihoods. These include, but are not limited to, relate particularly to a lack of human capital (for example, access to and control of assets and gendered divisions of knowledge, capacity, political commitment) and financial labor (IFAD 2004). Within the Sustainable Livelihoods capital (for example, lack of funds, decentralization con- framework, gender issues must also be considered in the straints), many countries still face challenges in translating wider political, economic, institutional, environmental, legislation related to women's access to and control of social, cultural, and demographic context. This means con- resources into action at the community and household levels sidering related factors, such as age, vulnerability, and (IFAD 2004). This impacts women's capacity to control and socioeconomic status. The following sections discuss some benefit from livestock. Poultry pose an almost universal of the key gender issues currently facing the livestock sector. exception; around the world, women tend to have more control over the poultry they produce and market. Access to and control of livestock and other assets Roles, responsibilities, and decision making Controlling assets such as land, water, livestock, and agri- cultural implements has a direct impact on whether men, In general, women, men, boys, and girls provide labor for women, boys, and girls can forge life-enhancing livelihood different livestock-related tasks. However, gendered roles are strategies. For example, Namibia has implemented legislation not set in stone and are open to change for different social, 602 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK economic, environmental, and health-related reasons. For security, whereas men saw livestock as a way to meet needs instance, in a case from Tanzania, the pastoralist groups of such as school fees, food, and a way to invest. Morogoro and Tanga showed a clear division in gender roles. Yet in times of labor shortages, women could and did Livestock services and a restructuring sector perform "men's" tasks, such as herding and watering ani- mals. On the other hand, men seldom performed Gendered asymmetries in access to and delivery of live- "women's"tasks, except in cases where there was potential to stock and veterinary services not only do a great disservice gain control over assets (Hill 2003). to women and men livestock producers and processors, Although differences, of course, exist within and between but they also stifle the potential for more sustainable and different livestock production systems and across regions, effective actions along a given livestock value chain. With a women are almost universally recognized for their role as restructuring of the livestock sector has come the restruc- the main actors in poultry, small ruminant, and microlive- turing of services. As services are increasingly privatized, stock production as well as dairying, including the process- women face disproportionate challenges compared to men ing and marketing of milk and milk products.6 Increasingly, in accessing livestock services and information for reasons experience shows (Bravo-Baumann 2000; Niamir-Fuller mentioned above and in other sources. Women's poor 1994) that women's labor and responsibilities in animal access to markets, services, technologies, information, and production remain underrecognized and underappreciated credit decreases their ability to improve productivity and by those designing and implementing livestock policies and benefit from a growing livestock sector (for more on dif- plans (IFAD 2004). Further, women and girls may or may ferent constraints faced by poor smallholders in general, not control, or be part of, household decision-making see FAO 2006a). processes, especially in relation to the disposal of animals and animal products.7 In the agropastoral systems of Iringa, WHY MAINSTREAM GENDER? Mara, and Mwanza in Tanzania, women could not sell or slaughter their animals without consulting their husbands, Mainstreaming gender can benefit both beneficiaries and but they could decide to use their money from the sale of project implementers and other stakeholders. Some of the surplus food crops to buy livestock. They could also sell or key benefits that can be gained from mainstreaming gender exchange their poultry without seeking their husband's per- in livestock initiatives follow. mission. In the intensive systems of Kilimanjaro, milk, which was once under women's control, came under Key benefits: beneficiaries women's and men's control as it became a key source of household income (Hill 2003). Improve individual and household well-being. Understand- ing men's and women's different decision-making powers and negotiating strategies can inform livestock initiatives of Women and men as custodians of local knowledge the dynamics within and between households that need to and domestic animal diversity be addressed in developing more viable livestock options As keepers of local knowledge, women and men contribute and, in turn, improving the livelihoods and overall well- to the enhancement of gene flow and domestic animal being of all household members. Addressing gender in diversity (FAO 2002). They also hold knowledge useful in livestock projects means identifying, understanding the rel- the prevention and treatment of livestock illness. Men, evance of, and addressing the different livelihood needs, women, boys, and girls will often have differing livestock priorities, interests, and constraints of men and women knowledge and skills depending on their roles and responsi- along lines of age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and abil- bilities in animal husbandry. Women who process wool may ity (among others). It means maximizing the available have far different criteria for breed selection than men. Men social capital through engaging all household members as herding cattle may have different knowledge of fodder and agents of poverty reduction. Women and men are far more disease prevention than others in their household. Men's and likely to participate in efforts to improve their livestock women's reasons for keeping livestock may differ, as shown initiatives if they can see that the benefits (for example, in a study conducted in Bolivia, India, and Kenya (Heffernan, improved productivity, food security, income generation, Nielsen and Misturelli 2001 in IFAD 2004). In Kenya women less disease) outweigh the costs (for example, time, labor, thought of livestock as primarily contributing to food social commitment). MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK 603 Address women's and men's needs and interests. Main- gender in project design and the subsequent suboptimal streaming gender in livestock initiatives means addressing outcome. The project sought to transform buffalo milk pro- the perceived needs and interests of women, men, boys, and duction from subsistence to integration into the cash econ- girls involved in livestock production. Women may have omy. The strategy focused on supporting the production of very different interests and criteria for selecting livestock, as buffalo milk for the Kathmandu market. Although many shown in the example from the study from Bolivia, India, households benefited from improved income to cash and and Kenya noted above. Addressing gender issues in live- food security, benefits were distorted along gender lines. stock production can contribute to women's and men's eco- Women and girls' labor grew because of the increased needs nomic and social empowerment, particularly for those who for fodder and fuelwood collection, stall cleaning, feed are vulnerable or living in marginalized areas. This empow- preparation, milking, and buffalo bathing. Women and girls erment can contribute significantly to meeting commit- faced restricted mobility and decreased leisure time, and, ments agreed upon in international conventions (such as furthermore, girls also dropped out of school. Even though the Committee on the Elimination of the Discrimination women were the primary buffalo caretakers, none of them against Women, Article 14; World Food Summit) as well as seemed to gain any extra income or other personal assets. the Millennium Development Goals, particularly Goal 1 On the other hand, men were more concerned with the (Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger) and Goal 3 (Pro- investment in, rather than the management of, the buffalo moting gender equality and empowering women). (Thomas-Slayter and Bhatt 1994). Improve social protection. Addressing gender in livestock Monitor changes in livestock-related livestock strategies and programs and projects is important as a social protection overall well-being more effectively. National- and project- measure. Doing so builds assets at the individual, house- level agricultural and livestock surveys may collect age and hold, and community levels through reducing vulnerability sex of head-of-household data, yet the researchers rarely use and increasing the opportunities of men, women, boys, and these data to analyze and interpret what is really happening girls. Women in many areas around the world use income with people's agricultural livelihoods. However, experience generated from poultry and dairy production--for shows that collecting data along these lines can greatly instance, to pay for social goods such as children's school inform livestock program initiatives, improve implementa- fees, medical fees--and other assets to provide for their tion (working with the most appropriate beneficiaries), and families. This is particularly relevant to protect those in vul- lead to a more effective monitoring and evaluation process nerable situations from being forced to take risks to secure (for example, defining gender-sensitive indicators to assess food, income, shelter, clothing, and other necessities. In sub- who is benefiting or not benefiting, how, and why).9 Saharan Africa, preventing confiscation of livestock upon Promote better livestock technology development and adop- the death of a husband is an important social protection tion. Involving adult men and women--and where appro- mechanism. Heifer Zambia, an NGO, recognized the con- priate, boys and girls or elder women and men10--in live- straints women faced in owning and inheriting property, stock technology development is more likely to lead to more including livestock. Heifer worked with households and relevant technologies and greater adoption rates. As dis- communities to establish joint ownership of livestock by the cussed, different household members typically hold differ- husband and the wife. A signed contract also allowed for a ent livestock responsibilities; they also may have different woman to inherit the livestock if her spouse died,8 which livestock priorities and constraints. Over time, extension provided a form of social protection. services in Chiapas, Mexico, tried to improve wool produc- tion through cross-breeding Chiapas sheep with exotic breeds. However, the animals they introduced either died or Key benefits: program implementers produced little. This was in great part because of the diffi- Use programming resources effectively and ensure more optimal cult environment in the mountains. Then the Institute of outcomes. Understanding women's and men's livelihood- Indigenous Studies at the University of Chiapas began to related roles and responsibilities can lead to more effective work with women Tzotzil shepherds to select breeding ani- design and implementation of livestock programs. An mals based on the women's own criteria, which included approach that considers the gender and equity dimensions evaluating fleece quality. The selection program showed from within the household as well as across the spectrum of results through significant increases in the quality and relevant livestock value chains works best. An example of a quantity of wool. The Tzotzil women showed high accept- project from Nepal highlights the consequences of ignoring ance of the "improved Chiapas sheep," to a great extent 604 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK because of their involvement throughout all project phases asked households to rank the best form of investment. In all as well as the animals' quick adaptation to local conditions three countries, livestock outranked business and housing (GRAIN n.d.). The project showed that women will be (IFAD 2004). Women and men who raise livestock may gain reluctant to adopt an improved breed if it means they must income quickly by selling animals during times of need: for allocate an unreasonable amount of time and labor because example, when women need medicine for their children or the costs to them will far outweigh any benefits that might sick relatives. Regular income from the sale of milk, eggs, be gained. Similarly, they may value certain breeds far dif- manure, livestock transport, or breeding sires can provide ferently than men based on their priorities and interests. money for other household goods and services (for exam- Women benefit most when they have decision-making ple, school fees, implements, livestock services) or for "trad- authority over the animals they manage, even if they do not ing up" (for example, acquiring larger or greater numbers of hold the legal ownership (Miller 2001). livestock). Finally, livestock may also act as a social asset. As The next section provides an overview of the SL frame- such, livestock may confer status on its owners and build work as it pertains to livestock production. The framework social capital through the exchange of animals or their use can be used to help assess the gender issues facing different in ceremonies (de Haan 2001). Thematic Note 3 highlights production systems and inform subsequent planning and the importance of livestock as women's and men's assets in implementation of livestock-related initiatives. relation to livestock technology development. Markets. Trade can improve food security and well- being for poor, vulnerable women and men. Specifically, THE SL FRAMEWORK AND LIVESTOCK trade can support women's and men's rise out of poverty Understanding the significance of mainstreaming gender is and provide income for food and other goods. However, an important step in redressing the lack of attention to women and men face gender biases in livestock-marketing women's and men's different roles, responsibilities, needs, systems and infrastructure (Baden 1998). For example, interests, and constraints in the planning of livestock initia- women typically face more constraints in accessing live- tives. However, translating this understanding into action stock markets than do men for various reasons, including poses the greatest challenge to livestock officers, planners, gendered asymmetries in intrahousehold decision-making and implementers at all levels and across regions. This sec- powers and access to transport (for example, access to tion provides an overview of the SL framework in the con- money for transport, control over household transport, text of the livestock sector. The framework and the issues safety while traveling, and lack of mobility though limited therein can be adapted to different production strategies, impositions on overnight stays). Examples from Nepal and livestock value chains, and situations. Tanzania provided in this Module suggest that when live- stock are produced to generate income, men often take over the decision-making matters related to the sale of animals SL framework: elements or products and the distribution of income benefits within The key defining elements of the SL framework as they per- the household. tain to the livestock sector are described in the following As the livestock sector restructures, women as well as paragraphs. Box 14.1 provides a SL checklist for livestock men increasingly find themselves working in situations in initiatives to help guide the mainstreaming of gender in which they have less control over production and processing livestock programs. (such as industrial factory operations). Moreover, poor live- Assets. Livestock acts as a financial, social, and natural stock producers, particularly women, typically face dispro- asset, contributing to smallholder livelihood portfolios of portionate barriers in meeting a growing number of regula- an estimated 70 percent of the world's rural poor women tions (for example, phytosanitary standards) required by and men. For many of these women and men, livestock acts more structured markets. They also find it more difficult to as a primary form of savings, as well as insurance against compete when barriers such as tariffs are in place. accidents, illness, and death. Few other resources can match Women, more than men, may also face an increased risk of livestock as a means of investment. Livestock acts as collat- harassment and abuse as they move into working situations eral for accessing other inputs, such as agricultural credit-- in which they do not control their own labor, as is found in usually with large animals (Dorward and others 2005). In a industrial livestock systems. comparative study of poor livestock keepers in Bolivia, Finally, market "shocks" may affect women and men in India, and Kenya, Heffernan, Nielsen, and Misturelli (2001) different ways, particularly in terms of their access to MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK 605 Box 14.1 Sustainable Livelihoods Checklist for Livestock Initiatives The following checklist draws on the SL framework and may have different livestock knowledge, needs, provides a number of issues that may be relevant to the interests, and priorities. Avoid "elite capture," where design and implementation of livestock initiatives. Note resources are deflected into the hands of dominant that differences may exist based on region, production community groups or other stakeholders. system, and locally specific concerns. The framework and Identify and build on women's and men's different checklist can be used to guide initial assessments or to livestock interests, priorities, and needs (such as reflect on implementation midway through a project. food security, income generation, and status). They are also useful for informing a monitoring and eval- Consider the costs and benefits to women and men uation framework and developing appropriate gender- from proposed livestock interventions (for example, sensitive indicators to measure impact and results. labor inputs and diversion from other activities, time, Livelihoods development context: Livestock policies income generated, food security, and social impacts). and institutions Markets Examine the different policies and regulations that guide the livestock sector. Consider how the policies Consider how and to what extent women and men might support or constrain women producers and participate in and have decision-making power in processors as compared to men. Consider sanitary ­ Land designation mechanisms and markets measures and tariffs. ­ Livestock and livestock product markets (such as Consider how relevant institutions address gender dairy, hides, and live animals) in their organizational and programming efforts. ­ Finance markets that support livestock production. Look for a guiding gender policy, strategy, or plan. Look at how these differences might impact women Look at how policies translate into action in com- as compared to men in initiatives to strengthen live- munities and with women producers and processors stock-related livelihood strategies. Explore whether as compared to men. other factors come into play, such as age, ethnicity, Consider that relevant institutions may have gender- caste, and socioeconomic class. differential implications for the livestock sector; these include line ministries of agriculture, district If relevant (that is, beyond subsistence production), veterinary and livestock extension offices, commu- consider the distribution of risks and gains for women nity customs and institutions, livestock research and men along a particular livestock value chain (such offices, and, on a more regional and global scale, the as dairy, poultry, and eggs) as World Trade Organization and similar bodies and district and community customs and institutions. Producers (for example, in terms of income gener- ated and food security gained from livestock) Assets Processors (for example, in access to processing technologies and information) Examine the differences in women's and men's Marketers (for example, access to transport, safe property rights around livestock, land, and water. overnight accommodation, potential abuse and Consider how these might impact women's and harassment from others at markets--women may men's capacity to improve their livestock-related expect demands for sexual transaction in exchange activities and livelihoods. for buying a product) See women and men as important custodians of Economies of scale (for example, bringing women local knowledge for domestic animal diversity, dis- together to improve marketing position). ease prevention and control, processing, and so on. Explore with them their roles and responsibilities, Risk and vulnerability and build on their custodianship. Different communities and the women and men Consider livestock-related roles and responsibilities therein may face different risks associated with live- along gender, age, caste, and ethnicity lines as differ- stock. Consider the following points and think about ent age groups as well as different castes or classes which may be relevant to the particular situation. Look 606 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK Box 14.1 SL Checklist for Livestock Initiatives (continued) at women's and men's different experiences in and Livestock extension and veterinary information and capacities for responding to the following: services and artificial insemination services Participating in developing livestock programs and Livestock sector trends (for example, policy biases policies (for example, vaccination, culling, compen- and changes, supermarketization, lengthening live- sation, and restocking programs) stock value chains, and vertical integration) Developing livestock and related technologies (for Regional shocks affecting livestock (for example, example, fodder, breeding, disease prevention, climate and ecosystem change, drought, flooding, biosecurity, livelihood decision-making tools) political upheaval, conflict, animal disease, demo- Training and engagement as community animal graphic shifts) health workers/paraveterinarians. Household shocks (for example, illness or death of family member,"distress sales"of livestock to pay for Consider how these differences might impact medical treatment, and livestock confiscation upon women as compared to men in initiatives to strengthen the death of a husband). livestock-related livelihood strategies. Explore whether Information and organization other factors come into play such as age, ethnicity, Where relevant, consider women's and men's access to, caste, socioeconomic class, and so on. participation in, decision making in, and contributions to the following: Source: Author; Questions adapted from SL Framework, Sourcebook Overview. compensation and restocking schemes (for example, market Along with traditional veterinary and extension services, shocks and responses around avian influenza). Thematic women's networks and groups have been proven to be useful Note 2 addresses the relationships between gender and differ- "organizational" pathways for passing information on live- ent aspects of livestock markets and proposes areas for action. stock to women. A study on Heifer Project International's Information and organization. Addressing the challenges efforts to disseminate improved goat breeds through a village faced by the livestock sector depends increasingly on an group process in Tanzania showed that social capital influ- effective and efficient flow of information. This is crucial to enced people's ability to access a goat. Their ability to access addressing the production, economic, environmental, and and manage information was also crucial (de Haan 2001). health aspects, among others, of the sector. Whether on a This study showed that women's groups help women access small or a large scale, women and men producers and other resources they may not otherwise be able to access. processors depend on information related to markets, con- It is equally important for information to be passed sumer demands, and disease patterns to help them plan their from women and men producers and processors to those enterprises. For example, it is crucial that all involved along a regulating the livestock sector, developing improved breeds poultry value chain (from producers to consumers) have up- and other technologies, and monitoring livestock diseases. to-date access to information on the status of avian influenza Innovative Activity Profile 2 in this Module discusses the in their area so that they can take effective (farmer and other) importance of recognizing local gender and age-based biosecurity or biocontainment measures and respond to any knowledge in prioritizing breeding criteria in two different market shocks (through, for example, diversification, com- regions of Tanzania. pensation, and restocking). Women and men leverage social Risk and vulnerability. Women and men keep livestock, capital and collective action (such as women's groups and in part, as a means of livelihood diversification and impor- neighbors) around livestock activities to strengthen their tant capital in savings, insurance, and the management of livelihoods and resilience against possible shocks (for exam- risk, and the livestock can be disposed of in times of need ple, market, environmental, and health). or emergency (FAO 2006a; SDC 2007; Upton 2004). At the MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK 607 same time, these aspects of their livelihood are vulnerable products for the consumer and an increase in returns to the to animal disease (see Thematic Note 1), market trends producer, small-scale livestock producers and processors, and shocks, overall restructuring of the livestock sector, particularly women, face great challenges entering wider and environmental factors, including climate change. markets because of different sanitary restrictions, tariffs, Women often have less access to information on sanitary and concentrated distribution channels imposed under dif- measures in more intensive, industrial systems, potentially ferent political and legal frameworks (FAO 2006a; SDC putting them at greater risk. In part because of a lack of 2007). Innovative Activity Profile 1 looks at the social, eco- information and other resources, women in Vietnam face nomic, scientific, and other benefits of collaboration risks to their own health where they are often on the front- between formal and informal researchers on improving lines with poultry and are at most risk of becoming local sheep in Chiapas, Mexico. exposed to avian influenza. Similarly, because women are not seen as "owners" and MEASURING CHANGE: GENDER-SENSITIVE their roles and responsibilities are often neglected by deci- MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS sion makers and planners, they risk being left out in vacci- nation, compensation, and restocking schemes. On the It is important to be able to measure the impact that livestock other hand, livestock also provide a certain degree of initiatives have on men and women beneficiaries, their fam- resilience to those owning or benefiting from them because ilies, and communities. The SL framework is useful for they can be sold in times of distress (such as for medicines identifying areas in which change should be measured and or funerals). This is not ideal, but selling their livestock is for developing gender-sensitive indicators to assess change. often the only way that women can access money to pay for Because the livestock sector covers many issues and includes treatment for a family member or themselves. Gender- several levels, it is not possible or advisable to prescribe gender- differentiated knowledge is important to risk aversion, par- sensitive indicators across the board. Ideally, such indicators ticularly in transhumant pastoralist systems. Thematic Note are best developed with the participation of those concerned-- 1 looks at some of the key gender and livelihood issues for example, men and women smallholder livestock keepers, related to livestock disease control and biosecurity and pro- abattoir workers, marketers, and consumers (see table 14.2 vides examples of good practices and lessons learned. for examples of indicators). Beneficiaries are best placed to Policies and institutions. Effective policies and programs identify their livestock and livelihood priorities. The follow- are required to respond effectively to the many challenges ing areas are examples of issues to consider at different levels: faced by the livestock sector, particularly in the face of global warming and economic globalization. Improving livestock Establish a baseline. What is the situation like now? How productivity depends on the maintenance of the primary do livestock planners see the situation? How do men natural capital of livestock development: domestic animal and women producers, processors, and laborers view genetic resources. Examples from Mexico and Tanzania out- the situation? lined in Innovative Activity Profiles 1 and 2 point to the Establish a target or different targets. Women and men importance of human and social capital in this process may have different priorities, needs, and concerns because smallholder women's and men's custodianship of depending on their gendered roles and relations, their local husbandry knowledge and skills maintains and livelihood strategies, and their roles with different live- improves domestic animal diversity and productivity. Yet stock. It is important to consider not only the economic institutional mechanisms and policy frameworks across factors in identifying targets (and indeed baselines), but regions tend to favor large-scale production of fewer breeds also the targets in relation to human and social capital. over small-scale production based on a diversity of breeds. How are the targets entwined with information and mar- At the household level, the claims that women can make in ket needs and constraints? What vulnerabilities face relation to land access have eroded, which undermines their women as compared to men, youth as compared to capacity to provide for the family and invest in their own adults and elders? What different risks do women poten- assets including livestock (Diarra and Monimart 2006 in tially face as compared to men? Trench and others 2007). Clearly, policies and institutions Define target results. After identifying a baseline and tar- impact the processes that affect livelihood outcomes; they gets, women and men, livestock planners, and others can impact markets, information, risk and vulnerability, and then define "success" or "benefits" from meeting those assets. Because of policies intended to ensure safe animal targets. This will help identify and develop effective 608 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK Table 14.2 Examples of Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Livestock Indicator Sources of verification and tools Change in sales by x percent per month of livestock products (such · Participatory monitoring by producer or herder groups as milk, eggs, meat, and fiber) · Project records Over a set period, an increase of x percent in household incomes · Household surveys from livestock-based activities among women-headed households · Project management information system and poor households in program areas · Socioeconomic data from statistics office Changes over x-year period of project activities in household · Household surveys, before and after nutrition, health, education, vulnerability to violence, and · Project management information system happiness, disaggregated by gender · School records Change in amount of milk and animal protein consumed by · Child health records household family members · Household surveys · Rapid nutrition surveys Change in nutritional status of children under five years old, before · Child health records and after program activities · Household surveys · Rapid nutrition surveys Changes in soil and pasture condition in farmland, before and after · Department of Agriculture surveys program activities (such as nutrient levels and percentage of · Farm records ground cover) · Participatory monitoring by villagers and herders Number of women and men participating in training in new · Program and project records methods or types of livestock raising per quarter · Training records Level of satisfaction among women and men with veterinary and · Interviews of farmers training services · Sample surveys Adoption of recommended practices and technologies among men · Case studies and women farmers, before and after program activity · Interviews of farmers · Sample surveys Percentage of women and men farmers practicing proper use and · Farm records management of veterinary chemicals · Interviews of farmers Number of women and men who have accessed credit and training · Case studies from the project and are engaged in livestock production · Project management information system or administrative records · Sample surveys Percentage of women community animal health workers, livestock · Department of agriculture records extension agents, and paravets · Project records Access to extension services (animal production, artificial insemination, · Department of agriculture records marketing, and health): number of contacts, disaggregated by gender · Project records Percentage of men and women farmers who have access to · Agricultural extension records high-quality, locally adapted livestock · Interviews with stakeholders Morbidity and mortality of livestock per quarter, disaggregated by · Household surveys gender of owner · Project management information system · Veterinary department records Women or other disadvantaged groups actively participating in · Committee meeting minutes management committees and boards of producer groups and · Interviews with stakeholders cooperatives · Local traditional authorities (such as a chief or local council) · Program and project records Number of women and men holding management or treasurer · Bank account records positions in natural resource management groups · Committee meeting minutes Gender differences in workload as a result of introduced practices · Case studies or new technology for livestock production · Gender analysis · Participatory rapid appraisal · Sample surveys New and total employment or paid labor generated in livestock · Administrative records of enterprises population for the local population, disaggregated by gender (with and without ethnicity) Number of women and men starting new small enterprises in · Household surveys animal product processing or marketing (such as milk, eggs, meat, · Project records or fiber products) · Socioeconomic data from statistics office Source: Authors, with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK 609 gender-responsive indicators to monitor change. Quan- Depending on the country or region, it may be relevant titative and qualitative indicators are both important and to also consider ethnicity and caste alongside gender (both need to be measured in different ways. Participatory as comparative indicators and when collecting data), as approaches are useful for looking at different stakehold- women of lower castes or ethnic minorities are usually in ers' perceptions and views. the most disadvantaged situation. 610 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Livestock Disease Control and Biosecurity L ivestock acts as natural and economic capital, con- KEY GENDER ISSUES tributing to women's and men's diets and liveli- Engaging women and men producers, processors, traders, hoods through income generation and home researchers, and service providers in livestock disease pre- consumption, acting as live banks, imparting social status, vention and control can promote more sustainable liveli- and providing draft, transport, and fertilizer, especially for hoods along livestock value chains (from farmer to market) resource-poor men and women farmers. Yet an estimated and beyond. The following paragraphs discuss some of the 30 percent of livestock production in developing countries key gender issues associated with this subsector. is lost because of disease (Upton 2004). Animal diseases, "By knowing who does what, one can discover who is in particularly transboundary animal diseases,1 including the best position to observe clinical signs signalling animal zoonoses (diseases that can be spread from animals to health problems" (Curry and others 1996). Knowing this humans), are an ongoing threat to women and men live- can also help expose possible biosecurity risks along live- stock producers and processors as well as to markets and stock value chains--for example, movement of hatching consumers (Otte, Nugent, and McLeod 2004). The impact eggs, birds, and poultry products before retail (Lucas 2007 of livestock disease on the livelihoods and food security of in Otte and others 2007). Adult and older women and men poor livestock producers and processors, particularly as well as younger boys and girls may all hold different women, is of great concern because they are less resilient to human capital associated with their livestock health and disease-related shocks such as market loss, loss of animals, production roles (for example, women's groups, grazing and domestic animal diversity, and because they have less groups, knowledgeable elders, and healers). In a study con- access to compensation and restocking programs (World ducted in India (Geerlings, Mathias, and Köhler-Rollefson Bank 2005). 2002), researchers found that, for the most part, women Zoonotic diseases have captured global concern because mentioned different plants than men in terms of their eth- of their potentially far-reaching impact on both human noveterinary applications. Women and men may also access health and markets, livelihoods, and food security. The eco- social capital that supports their livelihoods and livestock- nomic losses alone due to highly pathogenic avian influenza related activities, as in the case of exchanging goats in Tanza- (HPAI) are estimated to be at least $1 billion worldwide nia (de Haan 2001).In Uasin Gishu,Kenya,both adult women (World Bank 2005). In a study conducted in Vietnam, all of and older men and adult men had daily responsibilities the communities surveyed had suffered losses due to avian caring for the cattle. Both men and women respondents influenza outbreaks; 96 percent of those surveyed were knew nearly half of the 65 unique syndromes. Women vol- poultry producers, and 78 percent of them (smallholders) unteered only about one-quarter of these, as did men. had not received compensation.2 Except for rinderpest, which was not present in the district This Thematic Note addresses some of the key gender at the time of the study, women respondents were familiar and livelihoods issues related to livestock disease control with the terms that described diseases across categories. and biosecurity and provides examples of good practices Women's knowledge of local disease terms was comparable and lessons learned as well as suggestions for ways to to that of men. The study showed that veterinary extension move forward. activities also need to be geared toward adult women and 611 older men to improve diagnostic capabilities on farms BENEFITS FROM GENDER-RESPONSIVE (Curry and others 1996). Elsewhere, in a study conducted by ACTIONS Anthra in India, out of 316 traditional healers interviewed, The following benefits may be gained from gender-respon- 293, or 93 percent, were men, and only 23, or 7 percent, were sive actions: women (Ghotge and Ramdas 2002). Researchers found the low number of women surprising; they suggested that it Working with local women and men (including elders and could be due to a highly gendered flow of information from ethnoveterinary practitioners) and sharing their knowl- fathers or grandfathers to sons. edge can be helpful in identifying disease patterns and Women, as well as men, may be well placed to identify identifying more technically effective and cost-effective disease, yet they may not have direct access to veterinary or ways to prevent outbreaks or transmission. Finding out epidemiological services for various reasons. All too often, who does what (for example, milking, raising chicks, those working formally on livestock disease prevention and control perceive adult men to be the ones raising livestock.3 grazing cattle), who controls what (income, draft imple- ments, donkey transport, grazing lands), who knows what Yet adult women, girls and boys, and often elder men and (disease patterns, availability and quality of water, grazing women, may be responsible for diverse production and lands, market trends), and who is affected by what helps health activities. Men often have greater access to physical health care officers design more effective processes of pre- capital (such as transport) than women to travel to disease vention, diagnosis, and treatment of livestock disease. prevention and control offices or training. They likely hold Knowing who has decision-making power over livestock better access to financial assets to pay for services and infor- in the household and community can enable animal mation. In Vietnam women have less access to important health practitioners to identify ways of building on valu- human capital than men, and they are less informed than able human capital (for example, men may make the men about poultry production issues, particularly in terms decisions, but women may have specific knowledge). of HPAI prevention and control. Women who lack access to Women and men may be active in a number of roles information are also the ones at greater risk of being exposed (production, slaughtering, marketing, consuming) along to HPAI because of the roles they play in poultry production livestock value chains (such as poultry and dairying). In (FAO/MARD/ACI 2007). Vietnam women control their poultry in operations in Furthermore, finding ways of preventing and responding which there are only a few chickens, but men tend to effectively to animal disease requires a certain type of social control larger poultry operations even though women capital--the active involvement and participation of men provide the labor. and women--at the household, community, and national Gender-responsive remedial action can provide more levels. Yet at the household level, disease prevention or con- cost-effective and technically effective responses to dis- trol measures may actually add to women's workloads, ease fallouts such as those experienced from market reducing their capacity to participate in community meet- shocks such as those witnessed in a number of countries ings related to animal health. affected by avian influenza. Gendered asymmetries in capacity development affect live- Health care officers can help improve the livelihoods of stock disease prevention and control. Women are increasingly rural men, women, and children by ensuring that entering into, and practicing in, fields related to livestock improved veterinary technology and knowledge are pro- disease prevention and control, including veterinary medi- vided directly to those members of the household respon- cine, epidemiology, lab technology, and research. Elsewhere, sible for livestock health care and production. A more however, it is estimated that only 15 percent of the world's agricultural extension agents are women.4 At the commu- proactive and interactive system of working with clients, including interaction with adult women and younger nity level, women are still less present in general in the roles boys and girls, can facilitate the improvement of overall of formally trained community animal health workers or livelihoods through more effective disease diagnosis and paraveterinaries. In many areas, cultural or religious factors overall health maintenance (Curry and others 1996). bar men from meeting or talking to women to whom they are not related. In these areas women need to be trained and supported in other ways (such as adequate and safe Some of the preceding issues were addressed in an initia- housing and transport) to work with other women producers tive undertaken in India. The gendered livestock roles in and processors. India are changing rapidly for many reasons: an urbanizing 612 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK environment, migration of men for jobs, industrialization disease intelligence and biosecurity strategies include of agriculture and postharvest activities, and the impact of women and men from the household level to the global HIV and AIDS on rural households and labor. Despite level. Yet women's involvement as livestock managers, pro- women's involvement in day-to-day care, livestock manage- ducers, processors, researchers, and policy makers comes ment is still considered a man's role by livestock planners into question. Women have difficulty accessing resources and decision makers because the work that women do is and information essential to meeting government-regulated seldom recognized. Women are also kept out of decision- standards.5 A lack of effective incentives (such as well- making processes. Anthra, a local nongovernmental organi- designed compensation packages that benefit women and zation (NGO), found that although women in different men producers and processors) also hinders disease intel- communities were knowledgeable about local remedies, ligence and reporting. Further, preventive vaccination cures, and medicines for treating small ruminants, they had, campaigns that do not consider women's and men's abili- for the most part, been kept out of professional healing. ties to pay, or that do not include training for those Women expressed a desire to gain this knowledge, and they involved in the actual production responsibilities, are wanted to learn how to recognize conditions that were not unlikely to succeed. treatable with local remedies. To rectify this, Anthra ensured The provision of infrastructure and services to prevent and that 75 percent of all new animal health workers were combat livestock diseases is a public good, which is more effi- women. Apart from focusing on animal health issues, train- ciently offered by governments rather than by communities of ing also focused on women's health and gender in sustain- farmers in many cases (Otte, Nugent, and McLeod 2004). able development and natural resource use. The project However, it has been well established that women have less encouraged the animal health workers to work closely with access to public and private livestock services than men. It is other women in the village to share their knowledge with important that governments must address cost-effective them (Ghotge and Ramdas 2002). incentives to participate in control efforts (for example, for women, men producers and processors; Otte, Nugent, and McLeod 2004). This cost effectiveness needs to be addressed POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES in terms of economic and social costs (for example, labor To address livestock disease control and biosecurity mea- reduction, time reduction, improved income generation, sures, action is required at all levels and across different food security, lower cost inputs) to women and men live- livestock value chains (from producers to markets to con- stock producers and processors. sumers). Increasingly, initiatives to prevent or stop the Effective prevention and progressive control of major ani- spread of livestock disease recognize the importance of mal diseases depend on strong capacity across a number of considering the different socioeconomic and gender fac- levels. Involving men and women in both formal and infor- tors involved--for example, malignant catarrhal fever in mal capacity building is an effective and cost-efficient way Kenya, trypanosomiasis in Uganda (Mugisha 2004), and of capitalizing on what can be costly training. Men and HPAI in Vietnam (Kariuki 2003). Yet addressing the chal- women who are trained in disease prevention and control lenges of transboundary diseases becomes more complex and the design and application of effective biosecurity in a global environment increasingly contextualized in measures can have a better chance at ensuring wider out- longer market chains and wider geographical sourcing of reach to women and men raising and processing livestock. products (FAO 2005). The global strategy for the progres- Useful policy changes affecting tertiary education include sive control of HPAI (FAO/OIE/WHO 2005) points to sev- promoting the strengthening of curricula to include gender- eral key policy and implementation issues in which gender sensitive participatory methods in disease diagnosis, treat- is relevant in livestock disease control and biosecurity, ment, and biocontainment. including the following: In southern Sudan, Vétérinaires sans Frontières-- Controlling livestock disease, particularly transboundary Belgium's community-based animal health program-- animal disease, is a public good requiring both public and aimed at increasing household food security in pastoralist private intervention in prevention, diagnosis, and response. communities through improving the supply of milk, blood, Rapid response to disease outbreaks calls for increases of meat, and livestock for sale and barter. Women were not biosecurity, containment, culling of infected animals, and involved in the community dialogue in developing the ani- disinfection and the use of vaccination when appropriate mal health program, and the program implementers real- (Brushke, Thiermann, and Vallat 2007). Key actors in ized that very few women were seizing the opportunity to be THEMATIC NOTE 1: LIVESTOCK DISEASE CONTROL AND BIOSECURITY 613 trained as community animal health workers. The program emerging practices have the capacity to improve and better managers conducted an assessment to look at the pro- support animal health practices in general. gram's expected impact on women as opposed to men. Studies on avian influenza from Vietnam and Egypt have They assessed the extent to which the program responded shown that initiatives to mitigate impacts related to animal to the specific needs and interests of women and identified disease, such as compensation mechanisms (Geerlings 2007), opportunities for women's involvement. They believed need to identify gendered needs, interests, and constraints and that understanding the roles that different household respond accordingly. Vouchers for school fees or medical members play as animal health care providers is essential costs may be more appropriate for women in cases where to the program. Many observers had assumed that men they do not control household income. alone care for the animals. Yet women play very important Involving women in developing communication messages roles in animal care, roles that are not acknowledged and interventions is important in effectively controlling ani- because the women do not own animals; these roles mal disease and/or developing rehabilitation strategies, as include cleaning, collecting cow dung, releasing and bring- lessons emerging from Egypt indicate.7 Because they are ing in the cattle, milking, observing ill health in animals often on the front line of disease diagnosis, women are and reporting this to men, and caring for calves, goats, and important conduits for information on the prevention, chickens (Amuguni 2000). control, and responses to livestock disease, as demonstrated in the case of avian influenza in Vietnam. To this end, the Southern Africa Newcastle Disease Programme worked GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED with women as community vaccinators and as income Over the last 15 years or so, women and men have received providers. Controlling Newcastle disease also allowed the growing attention as custodians of animal health and man- women's groups to further develop their village poultry agers of livestock in their own right. Yet, for the most part, enterprises (AusVet 2006). national plans and strategies to develop biosecurity mea- Lessons from Egypt suggest that in cases where restocking is sures and prevent and control livestock disease have not not feasible (for example, because of ongoing outbreaks), it is recognized and employed this knowledge to the fullest important to develop alternative income-generating activities extent. The following discussion presents a number of (Geerlings 2007). As part of this, it is important to consider examples and lessons learned regarding the improvement of women's constraints, particularly those of women who are disease prevention, control, and response strategies. illiterate or who face restricted mobility. Recent studies on malignant catarrhal fever in Kenya Although it is often promoted as a way of averting risk, (Kariuki 2003), Newcastle disease in southern Africa (Alders livestock microinsurance may pose several gender-based ques- and others 2005), and vector-borne diseases in Uganda tions that need to be answered before engaging in widespread (Mugisha and others n.d.) confirm the importance to animal promotion.Women, more so than men, and particularly those health planning of recognizing and understanding the linkages in marginal populations (poor and vulnerable) and areas between gender and animal health across production systems (arid and semiarid) likely face particular difficulties in invest- and in different areas. ing in livestock microinsurance; they must divert scarce Addressing gender in tertiary curricula supports animal resources (perhaps from school fees or other foodstuffs) for health practices in communities. For years, men, more than such insurance. There is no guarantee that they can continue women, have been viewed as the "livestock raiser" by animal to pay the premiums should a serious difficulty arise, such as health workers and others. This is changing slowly, however, an ill or dying household member or lost income.8 Moreover, as lessons emerge from the practices of tertiary education because women are often more likely to be illiterate than men institutes such as Makerere University in Uganda. In the in communities, they may face difficulties in reading and early 2000s, the university's veterinary faculty sought to understanding policies. Finally, "the whole thrust behind change its curriculum in ways that would address gender [promoting] micro-finance has been the search for a self-help concerns. Currently there is a course unit of veterinary strategy for poverty reduction which has limited costs for sociology (with a large focus on gender) in the veterinary donors and avoids difficult questions about wealth redistrib- curriculum. Other programs including gender issues are the ution and basic service provision. Microinsurance, like Bachelor's in Animal Production Technology and Manage- micro-finance in general, is only useful as part of a broader ment program and the Master of Sciences in Livestock programme to address the underlying causes of risk and Development Planning and Management program.6 Such vulnerability facing poor women and men." 614 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK Strategic research that builds on women's and men's knowl- toward livestock disease control and biosecurity. This may edge and experience in disease diagnosis, prevention, and local include promoting women, as well as men, in relevant fields biosecurity measures is useful for informing strategies to at the tertiary education level and providing incentives for address animal disease and adapting practices elsewhere. For pursuing relevant career paths. example, experiences such as those of working with the Vietnam Women's Union on HPAI can be useful for inform- Intermediate (institutional) level ing strategic prevention and response interventions elsewhere in the region. Ensure women and men are provided with the opportunities to train as community animal health workers. Training for women, and perhaps some men, may need to be broader in GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR terms of confidence building, literacy, numeracy, advocacy, PRACTITIONERS and other factors. Provide gender support to community- The following recommendations apply to practitioners at based institutions, such as those supporting the training and the three levels. support of community animal health workers. Engage men in dialogue (both animal health workers and community mem- bers) to support women community animal health workers. Macro- (policy/strategy) level Schedule vaccination campaigns, training, and informa- Evaluate proposed solutions for transboundary disease and tion campaigns for times and places that meet women's and control/biosecurity using gender-sensitive criteria.9 Improve men's needs, such as at women's group meetings, at mobile the evaluation of proposed technical solutions and costs clinics in the fields with the women, and in households. of transboundary animal diseases and various control Promote the understanding of animal health and other efforts and biosecurity to address socioeconomic, gender, staff in this field of the socioeconomic, gender, and age- age, and livelihoods concerns (for example, impact on based linkages to disease prevention and control. Campaign women's and men's labor, time, livestock management for staff to work on animal health and biosecurity issues roles, men's and women's different capacities to pay for more closely with women, as well as with men in livestock- preventive vaccinations). keeping households. Consider women's and men's differential abilities to ben- Collect and use data disaggregated by gender and age to efit from insurance (including microinsurance) programs. support animal health policy and planning. As shown, When considering the cost effectiveness of insurance as women and men are often responsible for different aspects opposed to the control of transboundary animal disease of livestock production and animal health. Moreover, directly, it is important to consider women's and men's dif- younger boys or girls may hold specific knowledge useful for ferential abilities to contribute to, and benefit from, insur- informing animal health policy and planning because of ance programs. In many cases, group rather than individual their specific roles (such as grazing and dairying). programs may be more appropriate and enable more women to leverage assets collectively to benefit. Consider Local level the potentially different impacts of insurance programs on men and women beneficiaries. Plan for disease prevention, control, and response issues, needs, Ensure terms of reference call for addressing gender and and constraints along gender, age, and socioeconomic lines.10 livelihoods concerns and identifying gender-sensitive indica- As noted above, it is important to identify adult men and tors in collective agreements, funding, and management of women, elder men and women, and boys' and girls' roles in, global, regional, and national responses. This should consider and knowledge of, different aspects of animal husbandry and gender-sensitive compensation packages. livestock production. Understanding women's and men's dif- In establishing intelligence-gathering strategies for disease, ferent use of labor and time can be important to ensuring ensure that incentives for reporting benefit both women and sustainability and success of any animal health initiative. men producers and processors. Incentives might include Consider the social and economic costs and benefits of compensation, capacity strengthening, improved access to biosecurity measures (including farmer biosecurity) to women information, and strengthening social networks. and men. Ensure local (household) social and economic Enhance countries' capacities to undertake national action cost effectiveness of bioexclusion and biocontainment mea- that considers gender-responsive participation in efforts sures in terms of (1) financial costs--poor rural women THEMATIC NOTE 1: LIVESTOCK DISEASE CONTROL AND BIOSECURITY 615 raising livestock typically lack access to money or credit livestock disease and biosecurity measures should be (financial assets) in many areas--and (2) costs to human developed in a way that considers gender- and age-differ- and social capital--women's use of time differs from that of entiated impacts. Such indicators should be developed men and also differs along lines of age. with women and men in a participatory manner to look at Ensure that women, as well as men, are involved in informa- the impact of proposed or ongoing initiatives on women's tion sharing in outreach related to disease control, biosecurity, and men's livelihood strategies, their income, labor, and and animal health in general. differentiated access to knowledge and training. Indicators should consider both the economic and social impacts on women's and men's livelihoods and well-being, including MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS the impacts on their social networks, local knowledge and Indicators to monitor changes in numbers of livestock skills, and means of exchanging information.11 See exam- lost, culled, or restocked and general economic impacts of ples in table 14.2. 616 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Livestock Marketing, Market Integration, andValue Chains he livestock sector supports the livelihoods of an T points along different value chains. Trade agreements and estimated 600 million rural poor people around related mechanisms tend to favor large producers and the world. The volume of livestock production in processors over small ones, many of whom are women developing countries has steadily increased since the 1980s, (such as meeting sanitary regulations). The restructuring of in terms of both internal consumption and regional and the sector brings opportunities for generating income, but it international exports (World Bank 2005).1 Improved access also brings the risks of unregulated and gender-insensitive to livestock markets can play a significant role in increasing employment (sexual harassment, insecure contracts, depen- women's and men's income and livelihoods. However, with dence upon suppliers). Following structural changes, the restructuring of the livestock sector and subsequent women may face different challenges than men in working lengthening of value chains to meet the growing demands of with (1) different kinds of livestock (such as changes in a globalizing economy, poor producers and processors, par- labor, skills, and information); (2) different livestock man- ticularly women, face numerous challenges in benefiting agement systems (such as time and information); (3) new from these changes. One challenge is dealing with the effects technology for housing, health, and processing (such as of trade agreements and regulations that favor large pro- information, skills, and education); (4) changes in transport ducers and processors, because women tend to be more arrangements (such as infrastructure); and (5) changes in actively engaged in the smallholder sector. Another chal- institutional arrangements to enable vertical integration in lenge is finding effective means of averting risk and the market (Okali 2004). A study in Kenya in the 1990s responding to extreme events and market shocks (such as showed how the economic changes eroded women's posi- flooding, drought, and avian influenza). Women also face a tions in negotiations with their husbands over cattle "own- lack of access to market information, education (numeracy ership" (Oboler 1996). and literacy), and enterprise training that would provide For the Nandi people in Kenya, cattle have been part of them with a solid foundation for commercializing their live- traditional household property. Men traditionally inherited stock activities. and controlled livestock. Women accessed livestock prod- This Thematic Note addresses the relationships between ucts through being food providers and household man- gender and livestock marketing, market integration, and agers. A woman had cattle assigned to her house to provide value chains from a gender and livelihoods perspective. milk for her family when she married. Men and boys Module 5 in this volume addresses the issues of gender and received the morning milk, and women and girls the markets in greater detail, focusing on the challenges facing evening milk. As dairy production become increasingly the sector (see also Module 1, which covers food security commercialized, cross-bred cattle began to replace the Zebu and value chains). cattle. Husbands usually bought these cross-breeds and considered them their property. As a result, women's rights to milk from specific cattle have been disappearing. KEY GENDER ISSUES Because morning milk is being sold more often, the evening A number of gender differential impacts arise from the milk must now be shared among the entire household restructuring of the livestock sector and are present at different (Huss-Ashmore 1996 in IFAD 2004). 617 Figure 14.1 Kenya: Dairy Market Chains, 2004 Dairy market chains, Kenya 2004 42% Milk bar, 15% 15% shops, kiosks 17% 23% farmers Mobile Dairy traders 24% Consumers Dairy farmer groups 17% Processors 2% Source: FAO 2006. The Kenyan market chain in figure 14.1 (FAO 2006) (IFAD 2004). Although the dairy cooperatives were estab- highlights key points at which gender issues can be lished in the wives' names, a committee of men actually addressed, including the following: managed the group. By extension, it is assumed they could more easily access information and services as they made Access to, control of, and use of resources the decisions. Access to production, market, and veterinary information Market shocks can affect women and men differently. and services There are different types of shocks to livestock markets-- Participation in decision making from natural disasters (drought, flooding) to human- Change in labor and time use induced shocks (conflict, policy, media and consumer reac- Mobility and access to markets tions to disease) to disease-related shocks (animal deaths, Benefits and costs (social, economic, environmental). culling). The impacts of, as well as the responses to, market shocks can differ along gender, age, and socioeconomic Women and men have different access to markets, infra- lines. Droughts in arid parts of Africa can polarize the structures, and related services. Expanding supermarketization wealth in pastoralist communities, such as when small- in developing countries since the 1990s has meant the rise of holders sell their livestock to large herd owners (White wholesalers, large-format stores, national and multinational 1990). In Egypt women raising ducks were left out of the chains, and the consolidation of national chains (FAO campaign to raise awareness about HPAI because the focus 2005). For the most part, women producers, more than was on chickens.2 men, face greater constraints in accessing different points along these chains, as well as the related technologies, infra- BENEFITS FROM GENDER-RESPONSIVE structures, and information about livestock markets. A study ACTIONS undertaken by the International Food Policy Research Insti- tute in Ethiopia showed that an increase of 10 kilometers in Gender-responsive actions in livestock market and value the distance from the rural village to the closest market chain initiatives can convey a number of benefits to both town reduces the likelihood of sales of livestock and live- women and men beneficiaries as well as other stakeholders. stock products and decreases the likelihood that women The following are a few of these benefits (see also box 14.2): engage in and sell processed foods (Dercon and Hoddinott 2005). Women who lack the financial capital also have a Opportunities to narrow gender-based gaps and trans- more difficult time accessing privatized veterinary and form women's and men's livelihoods and overall well- extension services that are often essential in helping pro- being. In India the NGO Anthra trained village women ducers meet phytosanitary standards. One example of how as community animal health workers. Not only did they this could happen comes from a study in Orissa, India gain the skills to deal more effectively with their animals, 618 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK Box 14.2 China: Credit, Pigs, and Livelihoods: Improving Women's Access to Resources "Cui, a 40-year-old woman, has been married for 16 200­300 per month from the shop and plans to years and is the family breadwinner. The family has expand the business. Her two sons go to school. `We been facing hard times because of poor production were very poor and when my sons were in primary from their land. When she heard about the project, she school we found it hard to keep them in school as there decided to apply for credit to raise pigs. She was able to was no money to buy food. Now it is different.' She raise and sell a sufficient number of pigs to repay the laughs and adds,`Now there is no shortage of food and loan in one year. Having started with one pig, today I can also say there is no shortage of money. Today she has 12. The piglets are sold for CNY 150 when they I have the same standard of living as people who are are two months old. She is pleased with this new better off in this area.' The neighbours admire her and income and has used the extra cash to open a shop that would like to follow her example. She is in fact known stocks items for daily use. She earns on average CNY as the star of the village." Source: IFAD 2002: 24. but they gained the confidence to become more involved and goods, women smallholders keeping livestock and grow- in community decision making and conflict resolution ing crops are often neglected or merely given lip-service (Ghotge and Ramdas 2002). (Garcia and others 2006) in the development of agriculture, Improved identification of relevant responses to potential livestock, and general trade-related policies. Yet, as shown in or real market shocks. A recent initiative in Vietnam set this Module, women play active roles in livestock produc- out to ensure that women, as well as men, were compen- tion across production systems, across regions, and along sated after the culling of their poultry. value chains. More effective restructuring of subsectors when women Policies increasingly promote intensification to landless and men are included in decision making. When women systems, creating greater gaps in women's access to, and control were left out in efforts to transform the buffalo dairy sec- over, livestock-related resources. As the urban demand for tor from subsistence to commercial enterprises in Nepal, livestock products grows, policies increasingly promote their labor inputs increased, yet they gained no visible intensification to landless systems, creating ever-widening financial or social benefits. gaps in terms of women's access to and control of the natu- Greater participation of women when they can see the ral, social, and human capital around them and affecting benefits and assess the costs. their capacity to make decisions about their livestock. With the intensification of livestock production systems, poor women stand to face even greater challenges in terms of POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES being able to access guaranteed favorable employment con- Various policy and implementation issues that must be ditions that pay and treat them fairly without discrimina- addressed are discussed in this section. tion or abuse. Women and men smallholders are often neglected in live- Policies promoting intensified landless production may stock and trade policies. In recent years trade liberalization force employment migration, affecting women's and men's live- strategies have emphasized the need for an export-driven stock roles, relations, control, and income. In cases in which economy. To this end a number of developing countries have greater control of intensified landless production is responded by developing domestic agricultural policies in assumed closer to the urban market, women and men may line with this thinking. Yet many developing countries have increasingly be forced to migrate away for employment. become net importers, rather than exporters, of agricultural This leads to their suspending or abandoning their role as produce. Milk is the most imported item by weight, and custodians of local production systems and knowledge of imports of poultry and pigs are growing fast (Upton 2004). local breeding and animal husbandry practices, as well as A gap clearly exists in meeting the need of domestic markets methods of disease surveillance, prevention, and control. for livestock products. With trade liberalization geared These are all crucial to the sustenance of domestic (local) toward increased production of export-oriented produce animal diversity and, ironically, to the livestock sector in THEMATIC NOTE 2: LIVESTOCK MARKETING, MARKET INTEGRATION,AND VALUE CHAINS 619 general. Moreover, jobs such as those in big livestock sheds were already engaged in a small business. They were able to or in large-scale processing may not always result in expand their businesses, which included processing and improved living conditions for women or their families. selling hides and skins, running butcheries and kiosks, and Implications can be drawn from across sectors in terms of trading livestock. The women benefited financially and increased demand for women's labor. When men migrate, gained confidence. With greater assets, they began to bor- women are often left behind to take up the agricultural row from other lending institutions. The project realized labor shortage. Women may also migrate away for labor, its effectiveness and expanded to other groups and dis- working in abattoirs, dairies, meat-packing facilities, and tricts (FARM Africa 2002). other placed. This "heightened demand for female labour is USAID-funded research was carried out under the not usually associated with higher wages, but is associated Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program with an increase in flexibility of the labour market. This (http://glcrsp.ucdavis.edu). In particular, the work of the generally goes hand in hand with low wages, a lack of social "Improving Pastoral Risk Management on East African protection, and poor contractual conditions such as very Rangelands" (PARIMA) project in Kenya and Ethiopia and short-term contracts with reduced benefits, long working of the "Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source hours, and no rights of association, all of which exacerbate Food Management" (ENAM) project in Ghana has had a the exploitation of women and child labour" (Garcia and thematic focus on gender issues. The PARIMA project stud- others 2006: 39). ied collective action by women's groups and identified their efforts to combat the effects of drought by successfully and sustainably managing cooperative microfinance efforts, GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED range management, and destocking. These Ethiopian Lessons learned from previous projects as well as good prac- women's groups were also involved in cross-border tices are addressed in this section. exchanges with Kenyan women's groups, and the activities Building women's, as well as men's, assets in other areas of both sets of groups were enhanced through the process. such as credit and information is likely to promote more sus- The ENAM project, still under way, is also building strong tainable outcomes around livestock initiatives for all. The women's groups and providing them with microfinance and Asian Development Bank funded the Second Participatory nutrition education to promote the establishment of enter- Livestock Development Program 2003 in Bangladesh. The prises that provide income to be used for the purchase of program sought to raise women's employment and incomes animal source foods to improve children's nutrition. These by addressing gender in all components; increasing women's efforts link household-level improvements to expanding involvement at all stages of project planning and implemen- enterprises with benefits to the wider community.4 tation; building women's assets through increased access to Livestock market initiatives are more likely to be successful and control over assets like credit, information, training, when they are developed in a participatory, gender-responsive and livestock support services; and increasing women's manner. Lessons from a number of experiences in different employment in livestock rearing and in marketing livestock countries show that failing to consider women's and men's products, such as feed. An IFAD-funded initiative in needs, priorities, and constraints can have disastrous conse- Bangladesh identified the need to consider different aspects quences. For example, the government of India developed a of women's poultry production, from microcredit to the goat distribution project for women living in poverty in appropriate development and use of hatchery technology, to Maharashtra. The project failed because the women benefici- the use of income generated.3 aries, most of whom had never raised goats, were not con- In Dukana, Kenya, women lacked collateral security as sulted or trained before the goats were distributed. Within six compared to men because they rarely owned livestock or months, most of the animals had died (Ghotge and Ramdas owned or controlled other tangible assets. Microfinance 2002). Lessons point to the importance of the need to also for women was limited. FARM (Food and Agriculture assess employment protection specifically for women work- Research Management) Africa considered these concerns ing in the informal and formal livestock sectors (Okali 2004). and initiated a program that provided credit to women Continual monitoring at points along a livestock value without collateral (assets). FARM Africa began a savings chain using sex- and age-disaggregated data helps highlight and credit system based on the Grameen Bank system and areas of success or concern. This allows for midcourse correc- worked with 23 women to form a pilot group. The women tions to promote equitable benefits. As shown by projects were mostly single mothers or widows and women who that did not consider gender in the design or implementation 620 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK stage, the cost of not establishing a baseline along gender women on management boards or generally in the manage- (and age, socioeconomic, and ethnicity) lines means higher ment structure. Lessons pointed to the need to work with costs and potential failure over time. For example, in Nepal women and men, particularly in the need for changing per- the Asian Development Bank supported the Department of ceptions of roles and decision making as well as related Livestock Services' (DLS) reorientation of its approach to behaviors.5 Another IFAD project in Vietnam also points to the livestock sector and to developing the capacity of rural the need for livestock projects to engage with men, particu- communities to plan and manage livestock development larly husbands, to support the goals of women's empower- with improved access to inputs, markets, and services pro- ment and gender equity.6 vided by NGOs and the private sector. Although Nepali women are responsible for 70 percent of the livestock- GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR related work, the project had neglected women in terms of PRACTITIONERS their participation and access to benefits. The lack of women technical assistants and a lack of men project staffs' The following recommendations apply to practitioners at awareness of the gender-differentiated roles led to limited the three levels. outreach to women farmers. A series of midproject correc- tions were identified and put in place: Macro- (policy/strategy) level Developing a gender action plan to promote meaningful Address, in a gender-responsive manner, the constraints to participation of men and women farmers smallholder livestock raisers and producers along livestock Conducting an assessment of women's roles, constraints, value chains. Consider potential impacts on women's and and opportunities in livestock development men's livelihoods as they are forced to migrate away from Conducting a two-day regional gender training program rural areas because of unfavorable policies. What employ- for DLS management, field staff, men and women farm- ment policies are in place? Do they support or discriminate ers, district women in development offices, and NGOs against women in the labor force? Focusing on gender-differentiated roles in the livestock Look at the different and interlinked livelihood issues subsector and women's constraints to access training, related to livestock production systems in developing and credit, and participation in mixed farmers' groups implementing livestock policies.7 Consider the opportunities Focusing on constraints and opportunities in processing and constraints that men and women producers, laborers, and marketing livestock and livestock products. and processors face in accessing other important assets, such as information, labor, land, water, infrastructure, and As the Third Livestock Development Project came to a transport. close in 2003, project staff agreed that the gender action plan Identify the different constraints that smallholder women had significant impacts, including women's increased capac- and men livestock producers may have to meet in terms of ity to access credit without collateral and an increase in share required government regulations and phytosanitary standards of agroprocessing activities. The gender-mainstreaming to compete in the market. Facilitate processes and capacity approach was incorporated into the Community Livestock building for women and men producers and processors to Development Project in Nepal in 2003. meet these standards and provide necessary capital to help Building women's and men's capacities around production, them integrate. processing, and marketing is key to promoting successful tran- Consider the different needs of men and women producers sitions to market economies. In an IFAD-funded project and processors in accessing and benefiting from the design intended to empower women dairy producers in Bosnia and and implementation of infrastructure related to livestock Herzegovina, training included topics characteristic of live- markets (such as abattoirs, transport, and market routes). stock activities carried out by women, including cattle Plan proactively to identify and avert potentially different breeding and milk production. Training also included a risks for smallholder women and men producers. Understand- focus on the new European Union standards for the milk ing the roles that women and men play in the particular sector and guidance on how to apply these. However, capacity livelihood strategy and livestock production system is crucial at another level was shown to be needed. Men, who were to identifying and developing appropriate compensation typically in the decision-making bodies of the producers' and restocking schemes or finding other appropriate means associations, felt threatened and were not ready to accept of responding to market shocks. THEMATIC NOTE 2: LIVESTOCK MARKETING, MARKET INTEGRATION,AND VALUE CHAINS 621 Intermediate (institutional) level GENDER-SENSITIVEVALUE CHAINS ANALYSIS FOR IMPROVING LIVESTOCK MARKETING Seek ways to facilitate more equitable access by women and men to services. Women, as well as men, need access to mar- The first step of conducting gender analysis is identifying keting services and information. In some cases, for religious appropriate interventions for different aspects related to or cultural reasons, this may mean training more women on livestock markets and value chains. A "recipe-book" service delivery and information (government regulations, approach to prescribing interventions has little effect in a marketing information, changes in prices, livelihood risk complex subsector, contextualized in a rapidly globalizing diversification, marketing rules, and others) so that they can economy (see Mayoux 2005). A useful model to adapt to the reach women in rural areas. livestock sector for such an analysis is that developed by the Find innovative ways to make capital more accessible to International Labour Organization's gender-sensitive value women, as well as men, producing, processing, or marketing chains analysis: livestock. In most areas women still face more constraints than men in accessing credit, particularly those living in 1. Identify the main questions facing the livestock value chain. remote or marginal areas and lacking other collateral. Often 2. Conduct a stakeholder analysis to identify the different women's groups are more effective at leveraging loans than actors and their interests and roles along the livestock individual women. Credit facilities need to be made more value chain (such as farmers, abattoirs, markets, and con- accessible to women also so that they can benefit from sumers). (Remember to consider adult men, women, emerging livestock markets. elder men, women, and boys and girls in this analysis because different considerations may exist, particularly in areas that are affected by conflict, migration, or HIV Local level and AIDS, for example.) 3. Map the following: Support women livestock entrepreneurs through strengthening their capacity in numeracy, literacy, negotiation, and business Supply, production, marketing, or consumption management. Without such skills, it is difficult for women to chains related to the particular livestock subsector benefit from a rapidly restructuring livestock sector. Sup- Main types of products and markets (for example, port is also effective when provided to groups of women so milk, meat, live animals, hides, or manure) and differ- that they can work collectively to improve their livelihoods ent types of activity (herding, collecting milk, value and identify and benefit from appropriate markets. addition, marketing, consumption) Support women's, as well as men's, diversification into Productive units and geographical locations. feasible livestock enterprises. Local women can benefit from diversifying their livelihoods to include adding value 4. Look at the relative distribution of "values" to different to their products. In some places drying, smoking, or stakeholders at different points of the chain (poor men canning meat may be appropriate to ensure a longer life of and women smallholders, women and men marketing live the product. This may best be done through a women's animals or livestock products). Consider the numbers of processing collective or another context-specific and women and men involved and the different proportions of appropriate way. "value"going to them. Remember:"Values"may be attrib- Promote women's participation in agricultural fairs and uted for the following reasons: economic, social--for farmers' days. Local women may benefit from participating example, the status gained, the relationships built through in local agricultural fairs or farmers' days to "advertise" their livestock--and natural--capacity for offspring or manure livestock or livestock goods. They can use these opportuni- for women's and men's crops. Men and women may ties to market their livestock services (such as a hatchery or attribute different values to livestock all along the value breeding ram). chain, including marketing and consumption, and factors Promote women's, as well as men's, involvement in produc- such as taste and cooking quality. ers' decision-making bodies. Efforts should be made to work 5. Investigate the following: with both men and women on effective ways of changing their perceptions and behaviors to encourage and support The barriers to women's and men's entry into the live- the active involvement of men and women in decision- stock value chain (for example,women's lack of collateral making bodies. to obtain inputs, poor men's and women's lack of 622 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK access to transport and markets, and lack of market marketization of poultry in Thailand. The preceding value information) chains analysis can be used to consider what kinds of gender Women's and men's different interests and power rela- issues might be present and how they can be addressed. tions in the value chain (for example, socioeconomic conditions influence ability to engage in the value MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS chain, and men may have greater decision-making power along particular value chains, such as those The process of developing a livestock marketing initiative related to the meat and live cattle trade) should include the development of a monitoring framework The contextual factors explaining inequalities (based that addresses who and what is to be measured, as well as why, on gender, socioeconomic status, caste, and others) and where, and when. Ideally, gender-sensitive indicators should be inefficiencies and blockages in the livestock value chain. developed in participation with the men and women produc- ers, processors, laborers, and traders at different points along 6. Identify potential "leverage" points for upgrading the the livestock market chains. This may include extension chain as a whole and redistributing values in ways that workers, health care practitioners, those developing livestock benefit both men and women, particularly poorer small- market infrastructures, and these promoting livestock market holders based on the preceding analysis. (For example, integration. Increasingly, particularly in cases in which there consider things such as income and employment gener- is vertical integration, the livestock producer may also be the ation and spin-offs to promote empowerment of women processor and trader. Lessons learned show that it is impor- in community decision making.) tant to monitor the following issues: The chain for commercial chicken production and Whether men and women are benefiting along the par- supply shown in figure 14.2 highlights the increasing super- ticular livestock value chain Figure 14.2 Thailand: Commercial Chicken Production and Supply Chain, 2003 Commercial chicken production and supply chain in Thailand in 2003 Breeding company: import grandparents, produce parents & day-old chicks <20% of chicks Day-old chicks Individual Farm owned by Contract farmer the company farmer Finished chickens Small-scale Slaughterhouse owned by public and the company illegal 45% slaughtering 55% Exportation Processing 25% processed Wholesaler company 75% fresh Supermarket Local retailer-wet marker may be owned by the breeding company Source: FAO 2006. THEMATIC NOTE 2: LIVESTOCK MARKETING, MARKET INTEGRATION,AND VALUE CHAINS 623 How men and women are benefiting, or not (note that due to the HIV and AIDS epidemic, out-migration, or this should consider age as well because adult men may emergency situations, such as conflict or environmental benefit more than young men or boys and adult women) disaster. It is important to develop qualitative, gender- along the value chain sensitive indicators that capture women's and men's different The reasons why women and men are benefiting, or not. perceptions of priorities, constraints, and benefits. Focus groups, interviews, participant observation, and the use of It may be important to develop indicators that also con- other participatory learning approaches are all useful sider factors such as age and socioeconomic class, particu- methods for collecting such qualitative information. See larly in rural areas experiencing fast-changing demographics examples in table 14.2. 624 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 The Development and Use of LivestockTechnologies to Improve Agricultural Livelihoods ivestock technology development applies to a wide L showed that the majority of women viewed livestock pri- range of activities across livestock production sys- marily as a means of ensuring food security for the family, tems and value chains, including feed and fodder whereas men perceived livestock as a means of meeting development, breed improvement, dairy mechanization, present needs, such as food and school fees and as a form of disease prevention and control, and draft power and trans- investment. In Bolivia both men and women considered port. If livestock technologies are developed in ways that livestock a source of income and a guarantee of future food consider the needs, interests, and concerns of poor women security. In India both men and women highlighted the and men, they can reduce women's and men's workloads, role of livestock in income generation and food security increase productivity and improve food security, provide (IFAD 2004). Women and men living in arid areas may important information to producers and markets, and con- need breeds that are adaptable under extreme climatic con- tribute to the generation of income. Yet the development ditions. They may also have other criteria specific to their and delivery of livestock technologies have often been own needs (for example, in terms of meat or milk produc- biased toward larger, better-off producers and intensive tion). Younger women and increasingly older women and industrial (landless) systems, areas in which men have men (as in cases in which grandparents take in orphaned tended to benefit more than women. Women tend to have grandchildren) who may have to pay school fees on an more presence in the smallholder sector, a segment of the ongoing basis or who require protein for sick household population that tends to benefit less from technology devel- members may need fast-producing poultry that provide a opment.1 This Thematic Note addresses the relationships continuous source of income and nutrition security between gender and the development and use of different through egg production. Finally, women, more than men, livestock technologies to improve agricultural livelihoods. may be constrained by a lack of access to other productive resources, such as land and water, and other inputs, such as credit. KEY GENDER ISSUES Men and women are custodians of livestock knowledge Many gender issues are specific to discrete factors in the and skills that are important in strengthening technology subsector, such as production system, livelihood strategy, development and adoption. Women and men have different socioeconomic class, caste, ethnicity, and environmental knowledge and skills about different livestock breeds and constraints. However, some gender issues cut across regions animal husbandry practices. This can form a solid founda- and production systems. These issues are outlined in the fol- tion for informing the development or strengthening of lowing paragraphs and are summarized in a hypothetical livestock production or disease prevention and control example in table 14.3. (IFAD n.d. [b]). In part because of their role in milking Men and women have different needs, interests, and cows, Maasai women have an intimate knowledge of the constraints related to livestock technology development and character and qualities of their cattle. They also hold delivery. Many examples may be pointed to of new tech- knowledge on their animals' bloodlines (FAO 2007). nologies that have not been adopted because the technology Women know whether or not a cow is docile, fertile, a good did not suit women's sociocultural, physical, or economic milk producer, or a good mother. This information is criti- needs, interests, or constraints (FAO n.d.). A study in Kenya cal because it is believed that these kinds of traits are passed 625 Table 14.3 Key Gender Issues in Livestock Technology Development Issues related to access Points to consider for a Issues related to technology, Issues related to technology to and participation in hypothetical community interests, and needs knowledge and skills technology development Women: consider, for · Food security · All aspects of poultry · Mobility to local market example, age, ethnicity, and · Income generation for production · Access to extension and socioeconomic status school fees or cooking · Egg marketing veterinary services utensils · Prevention of disease in · Women have shown that · Mobility larger stock (goats and they work well in groups · Improved poultry cattle) production · Dairying (goats) Men: consider, for example, · Food security · Little involvement in · Control cattle and goats age, ethnicity, and · Income generation for poultry production · Land tenure in men's name socioeconomic status farming implements or · Younger men and boys · Mobility provides access to larger stock graze cattle extension and veterinary · Status · Adult men market cattle services through use of bikes or road transport (trucks or buses) Source: Author. on in the women's line. In selecting a breeding bull, the BENEFITS FROM GENDER-RESPONSIVE Maasai also look at the performance of its dam. Women, ACTIONS with their extensive knowledge in this area, are crucial in Some observers have suggested that women tend to adopt this process. technologies earlier than men and are therefore well placed Women and men may have different access to technology to act as catalysts for technology change (IFAD 2004). Other development and extension. Experiences from Afghanistan benefits from engaging in gender-responsive actions in the show the importance of training women in technology development and delivery of livestock technologies include research and development. Village women play important the following: roles in cattle management yet cannot be approached by men extension workers or technology developers. In a Ger- More effective use of financial, human, social, physical, man-supported dairy project in the Kabul, Kunduz, and and natural assets, at both the household and institu- Mazar regions, women extension staff are employed and tional levels used for fieldwork.2 A case from Senegal shows the impor- Better, more relevant technology design in line with men tance of working with both women and men to inform and women's priorities, interests, and needs technology development. Doing so can also expose cultural Improved chances of technology adaptation and sustain- biases that can affect the use of draft technologies, for exam- ability by those responsible for particular aspects of live- ple. The case shows that"even where taboos [against women stock production and processing working with cattle] do not exist, men tend to monopolize Improved livelihoods and overall well-being of women, animal traction when they are present in the community, men, boys, and girls because, traditionally it is a man's technology. The same Better use of women's and men's labor and time. applies to animal traction with horses in Senegal, where men justify the prohibition against women by saying that POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES the implements are too heavy and that the women have not been suitably trained. In point of fact, however, the imple- Women and men depend on other resources for livestock pro- ments for inter-row work are much lighter in Senegal than duction. Livestock production depends on other productive in other parts of Africa and even small boys use them. It resources, including land and water. The development of seems, therefore, that the men's arguments are unfounded" different livestock technologies such as those related to (IFAD/FAO 1998: 7­8). improving fodders, zero grazing, and dairying are therefore 626 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK strongly linked to women's and men's capacity to access and GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED use other productive resources. Any livestock technology A number of goals must be linked to identify opportunities in development--such as the development and introduction developing technological innovations intended to benefit poor of improved breeds and poultry intensification--must rural women (Kaaria and Ashby 2001). These also can be therefore consider possible gender-based constraints to applied to the livestock sector and include the following: these resources. Curricular changes are required at the tertiary level of Increasing returns to women's labor and their independent agricultural education. A need exists to broaden the focus income through the integration of women's production of agricultural education at the tertiary level to include a and processing activities related to livestock through focus on the development context in which livestock tech- developing or adapting labor-saving technologies (for nologies are designed and introduced. In the early 2000s, example, improvement of local breeds, donkey trans- Makerere University worked to engender the veterinary port), particularly for low-return activities where curriculum in Uganda through engaging in research, devel- women do not control the products. oping materials, and changing course requirements and Considering the linkages between technology development, course material. intensification, and women's capacity to rehabilitate the Local breeds of livestock are often more adaptable to context- natural resource base on which this intensification depends specific environmental and weather changes, food availability (such as scaling up of cashmere goat production in China). and quality, and desired characteristics. Women often place Considering both production and processing activities great value in local breeds because they are often more because the opportunities and constraints to technology likely to help them divert risk and ensure greater food and development and adoption need to be seen along the income security. As Geerlings, Mathias, and Köhler-Rollefson livestock market chain (for example, women may be (2002: 1) point out, "The development of high-performing involved in production but not in the marketing or livestock and poultry breeds has no doubt greatly con- obtaining the benefits from a particular technology). tributed to the increase of food production, especially in tem- perate climates. But their indiscriminate export into tropical Technology research and adoption need to evolve with local countries has often ended in failure, as the animals cannot women and men over a period of time to encourage adoption stand the heat, need optimal inputs, and readily succumb and "carry" consensus affecting changes to traditional prac- to disease." tices (IFAD n.d. [a]). Innovative Activity Profile 1, which Using a gender-in-livelihoods focus in the research and focuses on Chiapas, Mexico, highlights the importance of development of livestock technology can be useful for identifying long-term technology innovation strategies. environmentally sustainable practices for use by women and Comprehensive approaches are needed for developing live- men producers and processors--for example, in waste manage- stock technology, including linking feed, disease prevention, ment and fodder improvement. Understanding how women's water points, shelter, and waste management. In Ethiopia a and men's production strategies differ, the types of resources study on urban livestock production showed that women they use, and the management of products such as manure, are involved in feeding large animals, cleaning barns, milk- skins, and feathers is important for determining sustainable ing dairy cattle, processing milk, and marketing livestock environmental practices. products. It also noted the role of women in managing con- Diverse perspectives are important for effective livestock fined animals and their critical role in managing manure, technology development. Men's and women's different per- which is often made into cakes for sale or fuel. Involving spectives as producers and as more formal researchers and women in livestock technology development within the practitioners are important in technology development. urban environment is crucial because they have a major role Governments need to look at ways to attract women in live- in minimizing environmental pollution and public health stock sciences and related fields (such as water and land problems (Tegegne 2004). See box 14.3 for a good-practice management) and develop incentives to ensure they example in Jordan. remain in these fields. This also means supporting girls in Livestock technology development has typically been biased primary and secondary education to develop the skills nec- toward the promotion of exotic breeds and cross-breeding essary for furthering their studies in the area of livestock rather than the improvement of local breeds. Such efforts have technology development. often neglected poor or marginal households and women THEMATIC NOTE 3:THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF LIVESTOCK TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS 627 Box 14.3 Jordan: Engendering Livestock Technology Research, Development, and Extension--The Badia Livestock Extension Project The DFID-funded Badia Livestock Extension Project Applying participatory rural appraisal tools to ana- grew out of a livestock research project with Bedouins lyze gender differences in livestock production. The in an area difficult to access by vehicle. Political (bor- project worked with women and men farmers in a ders), environmental (declining oases and increased range of communities, and women from local piped water), economic and market (grain subsidies), NGOs and the Ministry of Agriculture worked with and social (schooling) factors have all played a part in men in the project. the Bedouins' increasing move to establishing perma- Developing an impact assessment framework and nent settlements and migrating only seasonally. The gender-sensitive framework that helped them iden- project forged links to the Ministry of Agriculture and tify livestock interventions that would have the most made progress on improving livestock extension by impact for women and men. addressing the needs and interests of both women and Forming women's farmers groups. Once the men in a difficult institutional context that assumed woman extension specialist was in place, the team most clients were mobile and largely men. Their strat- was able to form women's farmers groups, and egy included the following: attendance of women was high. Notably, the women's groups stated they also wanted to address Recruiting a local woman with experience in gender women's strategic interests, such as literacy as well and participation to work closely with expatriate as livestock production. men livestock specialists. Recruiting a woman veterinarian and a local woman Providing gender awareness training for two of the extension specialist. This helped the project influ- men extension staff. ence the institutional acceptance of women as Including the need to conduct gender training in the "technical specialists" and highlighted the benefits terms of reference of short-term consultants. of hiring women. Source: "Rural Livelihoods: Gender Issues in Livestock," case studies, June 1999, www.siyanda.org/docs_gem/index_sectors/ natural/ nr_case9.htm. and have often led to the disappearance of local breeds that Information and communication technologies offer possi- are important for minimizing farmers'risks and strengthening bilities for helping poor men and women livestock keepers. livelihoods (Gura and League for Pastoralist Peoples 2003). Recently, the field of information and communication tech- Training women in specific livestock technologies is not nologies has shown promising developments to help poor enough. A study of the Integrated Livestock Development livestock keepers. Notably, the University of Reading's Live- Program in Orissa, India (IFAD 2004), showed that train- stock Development Group has developed software called ing women in specific technologies is not enough. Women the Livestock Guru to help farmers diagnose, present, and, were trained as Community Link Workers on particular where possible, treat specific livestock diseases. Even farm- veterinary livestock technologies (poultry vaccination, ers unable to read can use the touch-sensitive computer deworming of sheep and goats, and castration of bucks screen to help them with their livestock health questions. and rams). Yet the women had little education, and their Insurance programs are helpful for mitigating women's role as Community Link Workers broke with tradition. risks, or perceived risks, in adopting technologies. One inter- The experience suggests that women also need related esting proposal for mitigating women's risks, or perceived training and confidence-building measures to function risks, in adopting technologies is the use of insurance effectively as technology users and providers and help schemes for livestock purchases (IFAD n.d. [a]). For exam- them challenge traditional norms. Working with the rest of ple, in India women opted to buy cows and goats on the the community or community leaders to raise their aware- basis of repaying the loans from milk yields, but inadequate ness of the need for women to work in new roles related to fodder proved to be available for the cross-bred cows, which livestock is also helpful. led to low milk yields (IFAD n.d. [a]). 628 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS ment of livestock technologies must be built on the lives and FOR PRACTITIONERS livelihoods of women and men. Although some research must necessarily take place in laboratories or similar places, The following recommendations apply to practitioners at much research is best done in the communities, particularly the three levels. with the men and women involved in working with livestock. Macro- (policy/strategy) level Local level Engage men and women in civil society in identifying and defining livestock technology research policies. Include those Link technology development and use to women's and men's whose livelihoods are dependent, in part or in whole, on live- different assets.3 Look at who uses the different assets related stock and consider the needs and constraints of those living to livestock production and who has access to and controls in marginal or remote rural areas. This may identify areas of the different assets (assets including knowledge and infor- concern that were not previously considered (for example, mation, grazing lands and other land, water, money). What issues of rural smallholders as opposed to larger producers) implications does this have for promoting sustainable live- or identify local technologies that can be strengthened (such stock production and improving the livelihoods and overall as Chiapas sheep). Give higher priority to women's and well-being of all household members? men's knowledge systems related to livestock (husbandry Consider technology-related gendered roles and responsi- practices, breeding management, and ethnoveterinary bilities. In researching and developing livestock technolo- knowledge) and protect these through regimes such as farm- gies, look at who is responsible for different aspects of ani- ers' rights or similar appropriate mechanisms in use or mal husbandry and how these relate to other aspects of the under proposal under different international agreements. livelihood strategy. Consider, where relevant, selection and Link women's and men's smallholder technologies with con- breeding, care, cleaning, fodder, water collection, disease sumer demands. In defining livestock technology research, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, herding, marketing, and consumer preferences should be identified and ways found value addition. Think about adult women, adult men, boys, for smallholder women and men to look at their livestock girls, elder men, and elder women. Consider how the intro- production to identify possible technology needs. duction of the proposed technology may change the existing Link gender-responsive approaches to developing livestock division of labor. Whom will it affect? How? What sorts of technology to other pressing concerns and related sectors to impacts will this have on other parts of their livelihood respond better to issues such as global warming, as well as strategy? How will it affect their well-being? smallholder risk aversion in cases of drought, flooding, food Understand and build on women's and men's existing live- shortages, and disease outbreaks. stock and related technologies. Work with local women and Promote women's property rights through translating inter- men to understand the livestock and related technologies national and national commitments into tangible action at they currently use and get their inputs on how these can be the local level. Women have more chances to be involved in improved. This may lead to better adoption and more sus- the process of technology definition and development when tainable application over the long run. they can leverage capital (including, above all, land, water, Identify potential gendered technology benefits and costs. livestock) to influence technology decisions. Working with those involved with the particular livestock technology will help identify potential benefits or negative impacts. It is important to consider how women and men Intermediate (institutional) level measure these benefits. This may be in terms of income gen- Keep women and men beneficiaries in mind when defining erated, social networks formed or strengthened, knowledge livestock technology research and development agendas. Expe- gained, local practices validated, and confidence strengthened. rience shows that it is important to include technology users It may also open up women's options in other ways or raise in the research and development of new technologies. their status. On the other hand, the opposite may happen, in Women and men (as well as boys and girls) may all be useful which case mitigation strategies must be identified. in developing different livestock technologies, as experiences MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS from Bangladesh, Mexico, and Tanzania demonstrate. Recognize men's and women's different spaces and schedules Although adoption rates of technologies are important to when developing livestock research. The research and develop- the technology developers, it is equally important to monitor THEMATIC NOTE 3:THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF LIVESTOCK TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS 629 the perceptions of women and men around technologies. This helps establish a baseline. For example, women might Whether monitoring initiatives focused on improving draw a sick cow, three chickens, and little feed. breeds, waste management, fodder, or information and com- From there, asking participants to draw how they munication technologies, it is important to avoid using the would like the situation to be in the future helps estab- general categories "women" and "men." Rather, it is useful to lish a target or different targets. This should be done identify specific groups of women and men to monitor tech- separately with women and men to compare priorities, nology adoption and use as well as elite capture.4 It is also needs, and constraints. Here, women might draw two important to monitor whether the ownership, control, use, healthy cows, chickens and eggs, and increased access to and benefits move from one group to another. For example, feed for their animals. there may be a move from poor women to poor men or to From there, participants can be asked to think about how better-off women or men depending on the technology they would define success or benefits from meeting those introduced and the sociocultural, political, and economic targets. This can help identify gender-responsive indica- context in which it is introduced. Livestock technologies may tors to monitor change. Quantitative indicators may have adverse effects; gender and age-based labor and time- arise, such as "increase in number of eggs sold by partic- use patterns may actually increase with a new technology, ipating women" or "women's income generated by eggs which should be monitored. sold increased by x percent." Qualitative indicators might The first step in developing gender-sensitive indicators also be noted, such as "women's sense of well-being should be to work with the women and men (this may also increased." These types of qualitative indicators are best include elder and younger women and men) in the identi- measured using participatory approaches to discuss fication of technology priorities related to their livestock women's perceptions and views (for example, focus and livelihoods: groups or participatory learning approaches). Although these examples all focus on men, the indica- One useful way of developing gender-sensitive indicators is tors should look at the situation in comparison to men to ask participants to draw a picture to describe the current in the household and community. See examples in status of their livestock and related livelihood activities. table 14.2. 630 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Chiapas, Mexico: Indigenous Women in Sheep Improvement Research I n the early 1990s, the Institute of Indigenous Studies at Indigenous Studies began to collaborate with Tzotzil the University of Chiapas in Chiapas, Mexico, set out to women on a sheep-improvement plan. The institute worked improve sheep by involving those responsible for sheep to improve sheep based on the women's own needs, as well husbandry: the women Tzotzil shepherds. The process con- as their criteria for fleece quality. The local women's direct tinues today and shows the value of long-term collaboration participation in sheep husbandry and weaving is considered and of approaches that value women's local experience, a key factor in the success of this program (Castro-Gámez expertise, knowledge, and interests. and others n.d.). Animal extension approaches that introduced cross- The initiative focused on breeding improvement, animal breeding intervention and exotic genes for sheep improve- health, and management. The institute used an ethnoveteri- ment have failed in the past because of high-performance nary approach to look deeper into the local indigenous breeds' lack of ability to adapt to local conditions. Govern- knowledge to understand the possibilities for learning about ment programs in Mexico had tried to introduce exotic animal management and health (box 14.4). They learned to breeds such as Rambouillet and Merino to Chiapas to increase "listen carefully and respectfully to those who, educated or wool production in the area. These breeds were known to not, know better" (Perezgrovas, Peralta, and Pedraza 2002: 1). produce several kilograms of wool every year, compared to The project is also one of the only initiatives that has rec- the local sheep that barely produced 1 kilogram of wool ognized and respected (at least partly) local women's and during the same amount of time. However, several problems men's property rights. The project helped maintain prop- presented themselves: the sheep did not adapt to the climate, erty rights by could not thrive on the poor forage, and could not fight par- Developing the flock from the local population and asitic illnesses without depending on supplements of com- managing it in a way that agreed with local traditions mercial foods (Gomez, Castro, and Perezgrovas 2001). and customs Working with the breeding and culling decisions of the INNOVATIVE FEATURES Tzotzil women who worked with the sheep Ensuring that local (Tzotzil) communities got first About 36 percent of the income of the Tzotzil ethnic group choice of the progeny of the nucleus flock (Anderson and comes from sheep husbandry and weaving. Past govern- Centonze 2006). ment efforts tried to substitute local wool sheep with high- producing breeds but had no success. Then the Institute of BENEFITS AND IMPACTS The list of benefits and impacts over the many years of col- laboration between researchers and shepherds is extensive: What's innovative? By involving Tzotzil women in the decisions about which traits should be improved A demonstrated genetic gain was seen in those traits in the sheep, the initiative helped the women bring selected by the local women. about demonstrable gains in the sheep characteris- A high demand exists for and by the Tzotzil communities tics that they had deemed desirable. for the breeding rams produced by the programs (Anderson and Centonze 2006). 631 Researchers gained a clear picture of the sheep management Direct participation in the program by local experts in Box 14.4 Mexico: Researchers Listen to system (Perezgrovas, Peralta, and Pedraza 2002). sheep husbandry and weaving has been a key factor in Women Tzotzil Shepherds the success of the research approach. Women couldn't process the wool of the new, exotic animals, which they considered to be of LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER poor quality. It was too short and too thin and APPLICABILITY broke easily during the hand-weaving processes. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, poor The short, thin, white wool, much appreciated by people need animal genetic diversity that is suitable to their industrial standards, is exactly the opposite of what the Tzotzil women want or need. They prefer needs and livelihoods, particularly because they often face a coarse, long locks of wool of different colors to number of production challenges posed by difficult environ- process by hand instead of by machines. Over the mental, climatic, and economic conditions. Breeds used for life of the project, researchers used a number of intensive production systems have been found to be inap- approaches to working with the women, including propriate for livelihoods of many smallholder livestock pro- the following: ducers, particularly those living in remote or marginal areas (Anderson 2004). This was shown to be the case in Chiapas. Talking individually to many shepherdesses The original approach employed by government staff from different villages failed, mainly because they did not have close contact with Walking with women as the flocks grazed the women shepherds, who were the key users and benefici- Helping them build wooden shelters aries. Their recommendations were not only out of context, Helping them gather plants and herbs for sick but were also at cross-purposes with the culture of the animals Tzotzil people, for whom sheep are "sacred animals" that are Chatting with some of the women Transforming wool fiber into woolen garments named, cared for, and respected as integral members of the Sharing scarce food during bad weather. family (Perezgrovas, Peralta, and Pedraza 2002). "Improved" traditional management systems stand a Source: Perezgrovas, Peralta, and Pedraza 2002. better chance of being adopted by local communities when they build on the communities' existing systems and are designed within the cultural context of the people. Researchers underwent a change in attitude (they became TIME FRAME the learners, and the shepherds became the teachers) and learned to observe carefully and respect opinions. The work with the Tzotzil women has been proceeding for Improved rams from the nucleus flock have been intro- more than a decade. The experience shows the value of duced within community flocks, and their offspring have long-term commitment to working with women and men inherited superior fleece-quality traits. raising livestock. 632 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 2 Maasai Men's and Women's Knowledge in Cattle Breeding nder the LinKS ("gender, biodiversity, and local U this end, the project aimed to enhance insights into the rela- knowledge systems for food security") project, tionship between local knowledge, biodiversity, gender roles, many key researchers, scientists, policy makers, and sustainable agricultural production. It also intended to and extension experts from different institutions were strengthen agricultural and rural development in southern invited to work together on a field study among women and and eastern Africa. men Maasai livestock keepers in two areas of Tanzania. The The study specifically focused on Maasai women's and study focused on women's and men's management of live- men's local knowledge of breeding and selecting cattle and, stock genetic resources. Designing and conducting the study to a lesser extent, sheep and goats. It also focused on the brought the researchers into direct contact with local women relationship of their knowledge and practices in relation to and men and their knowledge and technologies. The study the goals of food security and herd survival. The study was used informal, participatory research methods to enhance the carried out in three phases: exchange of information and mutual learning. Initially, the project objectives were to enhance knowl- Phase 1 was conducted in Simanjiro in northern edge and increase awareness among policy makers, Tanzania, a presumed area of origin of Maasai livestock researchers, and extension agents on the role of women's keepers. and men's local knowledge in the sustainable use and man- Phase 2 was carried out in Mbarali in southern Tanzania, agement of animal genetic resources. Later the objectives an area to which Maasai livestock keepers have migrated were amended to focus on improving the capacity of agri- over the last 50 years. cultural sector institutions to work efficiently at the village Phase 3 included an exchange visit organized for north- level. It was felt that a better understanding of women's and ern Maasai people to visit the southern study area, and men's knowledge among representatives of such institutions for southern Maasai to visit the northern study area. would contribute significantly to achieving this objective. To INNOVATIVE FEATURES There were at least three innovative aspects to the project. What's innovative? Although not all of these were planned to address gender specifically, all were relevant to addressing research in The project drew on the expertise of researchers from many disciplines related to ways that took into account a gender (and broader liveli- livestock and relied on the collaboration of hoods) perspective. multiple institutions. Multidisciplinary, interinstitutional collaboration. The The study associated with the project used research team was composed of people from different gender-sensitive informal research methods to institutions: the central government, an extension field yield a more accurate picture of the situation. service, and two different universities. The team was not The project organized exchange visits between interdisciplinary per se, because all team members had two groups of Maasai people who lived 1,200 livestock-related backgrounds (for example, veterinary kilometers apart. medicine, animal production, animal nutrition, animal husbandry, range management, farming systems research), 633 but it was clear that this kind of interinstitutional collabo- scientists, policy makers, and extension officers. Without ration was a novelty. Team members received fairly general further investigation, it is not clear to what extent their training on the principles of gender analysis at the begin- views of the Maasai have changed as a result of this activity. ning of the study. The training was not specifically on In Kenya and Tanzania, the Maasai are still discriminated Maasai women or on the role of women in livestock. This against and are seen as "backward" or "primitive." Much helped to some extent in strengthening the understanding work is still needed to change the attitudes of researchers, of those involved of the importance of gender concerns in extension workers, and politicians and their attitudes the research. toward Maasai women and men in terms of their views that Use of informal research methods. The study used informal they should "give up their traditional ways of life and start gender-sensitive research methods. Such methods were new being serious [sic] about livestock-keeping. `Serious' in this to the researchers because they came from a thoroughly respect means using`improved' breeds, stall-feeding the ani- formal and technical background. At the inception of LinKS, mals, selling more animals . . . to pay for modern veterinary team members received training in informal and participa- drugs."1 Researchers have been trained in "formal" institutes tory research methods. This included training on some of that value, above all, "modern" technology. In most cases, the basic principles of gender. However, this was far from their training leaves them with a lack of respect for or providing a sufficient basis on which to conduct a proper understanding of the value of women's and men's local informal and gender-sensitive field study. It has been sug- knowledge and ways. gested that the quality of the study suffered because of the Compared to conventional methods, gender-sensitive disdain that some researchers felt for the "unscientific" participatory research methods are meant to be less extrac- research methods. Some of the team members worked hard tive, less top-down, and more egalitarian. To have positive to apply the informal research methods, while others kept effects all around, it is essential for those involved to have opposing them throughout the process. adequate training in gender and participatory research Inclusion of a farmer exchange visit. The most innovative methods. An extended process of strengthening capacity is element was the (unplanned and rather accidental) decision needed; such a process should provide participants the to dedicate Phase 3 to a farmer exchange visit. Four women opportunity to question their own formal training and to were included in each of the two groups of 12 Maasai who explore the value of women's and men's local knowledge participated in the exchange. The researchers had to be per- and skills. A participatory study is supposed to have positive suaded to agree to the idea because in the original plans, effects on the studied population, such as active involve- Phase 3 was meant to be a conventional sort of seminar to ment in the research process, the analysis and interpretation "present the research results" to the usual stakeholders, of the results, ownership, awareness, and emancipation. In including relevant authorities, heads of services, politicians, this particular case, mainly because of lack of experience university scientists, and some farmers' representatives. The with this (still seemingly innovative) research method, these exchange visit turned out to be a much more useful activity. effects have been minimal. It was extremely interesting for the 24 Maasai who took part in the exchange visit to see how other Maasai 1,200 kilome- ters away managed their livestock and dealt with different LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER constraints. Even more interesting was to see that despite APPLICABILITY different circumstances, the constraints faced by women Informal research methods, like formal methods, provide and men in both groups were so similar and that the two serious ways of exploring livestock technology development distant communities shared a common base of local knowl- and other issues. Over the past 20 years, they have been edge on the management of animal genetic resources. increasingly recognized by many disciplines. To make the best use of informal research methods, researchers working BENEFITS AND IMPACTS on livestock-related issues should do the following: It is not yet clear to what extent the Maasai women or men benefited from the study. Clearly, participating in the Prepare thoroughly for research and become familiar exchange provided the women and men with an opportunity and conversant with the methodology. to explore other experiences, skills, and knowledge. Still, dif- Collect relevant information about the area to be stud- fering perceptions exist about the impact of the study on ied before going to the field--for example, demographics, 634 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK livestock population, prevailing livestock and agricul- NOTES tural production system, livelihood strategies, and Overview socioeconomic aspects. "Relevant" information should be of a certain scientific level and quality and not sim- This Module was written by Catherine L. M. Hill (Consultant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande and Catherine Ragasa ply agricultural statistics. It is important to leave (Consultants); Deborah Rubin (Cultural Practice); Daniela behind preconceived ideas about, for example, liveli- Battaglia, John Curry, Yianna Lambrou, and Anni McLeod hood strategies and women's and men's knowledge (FAO); Delgermaa Chuluunbaater, Maria Hartl, and Antonio and skills. Rota (IFAD); and Jimmy Smith (World Bank). Prepare guiding gender- and age-sensitive questions and 1. Ian Scoones, "The Growing Demand for Livestock." checklists with care. ID21 Insights 72, February, Brighton, Institute of Develop- Conduct interviews with men and women (including ment Studies, www.id21.org. elders and youth where relevant) in a serious and 2. For more on typologies of livestock production systems, respectful way. see FAO (2006c, 2007). Document gender- and age-disaggregated data meticu- 3. This is also leading to a trend in diversity-reducing gene lously. flow, according to FAO (2007). 4. Ida-Eline Engh, Libor Stloukal, and Jacques du Guerny, More important, participatory learning or informal "HIV/AIDS in Namibia: The Impact on the Livestock Sec- research methods are not to be taken lightly. It takes time tor," www.fao.org. and practice to be comfortable and conversant with them. 5. Women's rights to land and other property are Gender in livelihoods analysis should be central to the enshrined in international agreements, including the Con- development of a research framework and the design and vention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination application of an informal livestock research methodology. against Women (CEDAW), which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. Articles 14, 15, Research leadership in understanding gender and liveli- and 16 in particular contain provisions relating to equal hoods approaches. It is important to have someone guiding access to land, equal inheritance and succession rights, and and supporting livestock technology research who is con- equal legal capacity. versant in gender and livelihoods approaches and who 6. World Bank, personal communication in comments on respects and understands the need for looking at livestock the outline for this paper. technology issues in terms of whole livelihood strategies and 7. In many areas, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, num- systems. This includes contextualizing research within the bers of child-headed households engaged in agricultural gender, age, and other sociocultural structures and rela- livelihoods are increasing because of the loss of one or both tions, as well as understanding technology development parents through HIV and AIDS. and selection criteria in the wider environmental, social, 8. Suzanne Kindervatter, "Institutionalizing Gender Equal- and economic context. ity as a Force for Global Development,"www.interaction. org. Collection and use of gender and age-disaggregated data. 9. The author's experience is that FAO has conducted Before going to the field to conduct informal gender- capacity building on gender-disaggregated data and sup- sensitive research into livestock and agricultural livelihoods, ported national agricultural processes. These initiatives it is important to have a clear understanding of the concepts showed the value of collecting data disaggregated by sex and linkages between gender, local knowledge systems, and and age. broader livelihood. Some of the research team should have 10. In many areas affected by the HIV and AIDS epidemic, extensive experience in the design and collection of gender- elder- or child-headed households face different needs and and age-disaggregated data. It is important to collect infor- constraints than those typically addressed by those working mation from men and women on their different gendered on livestock technology or extension. livelihood roles, responsibilities, and their criteria for tech- nology development. Moreover, it is important to recognize that gendered livelihood roles and relations are dynamic, Thematic Note 1 adapting or responding to changing situations caused by This Thematic Note was written by Catherine L.M.Hill (Con- things such as disease outbreaks, trade and environment sultant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande and Catherine policies, and changes in livestock markets. Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Rubin (Cultural Practice); MODULE 14: NOTES 635 Daniela Battaglia, John Curry, Yianna Lambrou, and Anni Thematic Note 2 McLeod (FAO); Delgermaa Chuluunbaater, Maria Hartl, This Thematic Note was written by Catherine L.M.Hill (Con- and Antonio Rota (IFAD); and Jimmy Smith (World Bank). sultant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande and Catherine Biosecurity combines bioexclusion (measures for preventing a Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Rubin (Cultural Practice); pathogen from being introduced to a herd or flock) and bio- Daniela Battaglia, John Curry, Yianna Lambrou, and Anni containment, which addresses the ability of a pathogen to McLeod (FAO); Delgermaa Chuluunbaater, Maria Hartl, and spread among animal groups within a farm and the possibil- Antonio Rota (IFAD); and Jimmy Smith (World Bank). ity of it being released from the farm (Otte and others 2007). 1. Livestock also provides over half of the value of global 1. Transboundary animal diseases are "those of significant agricultural output and one-third in developing countries. economic, trade and/or food security importance for a con- See also Upton (2004). siderable number of countries; which can easily spread to 2. Katinka de Balogh, personal communication, October other countries and reach epidemic proportions; and where 2005. control/management, including exclusion, requires cooper- ation between several countries" (Otte, Nugent, and 3. IFAD, Micro-Finance and Technical Support Project McLeod 2004: 6). (MFTSP) update, 2007. 2. PowerPoint presentation by Cao Thi Hong Van, 4. Personal communication with Doborah Rubin, Direc- "AIERP--Poultry Restocking Impacts for Smallholders," tor, Cultural Practice. Workshop on the Future of Poultry Farmers in Vietnam 5. IFAD,"Empowerment of Women Producers Association after Highly Pathogenic [Avian] Influenza, March 2007. Project," Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed in 3. Ellen Geerlings contextualizes this phenomenon in her May 2005. 2001 thesis "Sheep Husbandry and Ethnoveterinary 6. "Rural Income Diversification Project in Tuyen Quang Knowledge of Raika Sheep Pastoralists in Rajasthan, India," Province, Vietnam," Supervision Report, September 6­18, submitted for partial fulfillment of the M.Sc. degree in 2006. environmental sciences, Wageningen University. 7. The SL framework outlines a number of these inter- 4. See FAO's Education, Extension, and Communication linked issues. (www.fao.org). 5. Regulation is an essential tool in preventing the spread Thematic Note 3 of disease and avoiding market shocks. In fact, regulation is the instrument of choice in most Organisation for This Thematic Note was written by Catherine L. M. Hill Economic Cooperation and Development and other high- (Consultant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande and density livestock countries. Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Rubin (Cultural 6. Anthony Mugisha, personal communication, October Practice); Daniela Battaglia, John Curry, Yianna Lambrou, 24, 2007. and Anni McLeod (FAO); Delgermaa Chuluunbaater, Maria 7. "Livelihoods at Stake in Rural Egypt," policy brief pro- Hartl, and Antonio Rota (IFAD); and Jimmy Smith (World vided through personal communication with Ellen Geer- Bank). See Module 7 for more on this subject. lings, October 2007. 1. ILRI, "African Women Make Their World Go Round," 8. This discussion is based on Linda Mayoux, "Gender www.ilri.org. Dimensions of Micro-Insurance: Questioning the New 2. FAO project, Development of Integrated Dairy Schemes Bootstraps," draft paper, www.genfinance.info/Documents/ in Afghanistan (GCP/AFG/040/GER), 2005-08. Microinsurance.pdf. 3. This section is adapted from ITDG (1996) and Amuguni 9. This section is adapted from Otte, Nugent, and McLeod (2000). (2004) and Otte and others (2007). 4. Elite capture refers to situations where those with power 10. This section is adapted from ILRI, "African Women and status in a community influence development processes Make Their World Go Round," www.ilri.org. based on their own priorities and potential gains. See World 11. For more on developing indicators using participatory Bank (2008), CDD and Elite Capture: Reframing the Conver- approaches, see Dorward and others, "Guide to Indicators sation, Social Development How to Series, February. and Methods for Assessing the Contribution of Livestock Keeping to Livelihoods of the Poor," Department of Agri- Innovative Activity Profile 1 cultural Sciences Imperial College London, n.d. The frame- work and approaches can be adapted for use in a Gender in This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Catherine L.M. Livelihoods approach and analysis. Hill (Consultant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande and 636 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Rubin (Cultural ------. 2002."Rural Women: Crucial Partners in the Fight Practice); Daniela Battaglia, John Curry,Yianna Lambrou, and against Hunger and Poverty: Side Event Report." FAO, Anni McLeod (FAO); Delgermaa Chuluunbaater,Maria Hartl, Rome. and Antonio Rota (IFAD); and Jimmy Smith (World Bank). ------. 2006a. "Livestock Report 2006." FAO, Rome. This Profile draws heavily on Anderson (2004); Anderson and ------. 2006b. "Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Centonze (2006); Castro-Gámez and others (n.d.); Gomez, Issues and Options." FAO, Rome. Castro, and Perezgrovas (2001); Perezgrovas, Peralta, and ------. 2006c."State of Food and Agriculture." FAO, Rome. Pedraza (2002). ------. 2007. "The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture." FAO, Rome. Innovative Activity Profile 2 Ghotge, Nitya, and Sagari Ramdas. 2002. "Women and This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Catherine Livestock: Creating Space and Opportunities." LEISA L. M. Hill (Consultant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande Magazine 18 (4), (December): 16­17. Also available at and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Rubin www.leisa.info. (Cultural Practice); Daniela Battaglia, John Curry, Yianna GRAIN. n.d."Participatory Breed Improvement of the Chi- Lambrou, and Anni McLeod (FAO); Delgermaa Chuluun- apas Sheep." In"Sustaining Agricultural Biodiversity and baater, Maria Hartl, and Antonio Rota (IFAD); and Jimmy the Integrity and Freeflow of Genetic Resources for Smith (World Bank). This Profile was prepared based on the Food and Agriculture." Paper prepared for the Forum extensive inputs provided by Marie-Louise Beerling from for Food Sovereignty. Barcelona: GRAIN; Winnipeg: her experience as a consultant on the LinKS project, as well ETC; Rugby: TDG. as documentation from the LinKS project's and elsewhere. It Heffernan, Claire, Louise Nielsen, and Federica Misturelli. was edited by the lead module author, who takes responsi- 2001. Restocking Pastoralists: A Manual. Livestock Pro- bility for any mistakes or misrepresentations. The Profile duction Programme. London: Department for Interna- was also based on FAO (2007) and UNDESA (2007). tional Development. 1. Marie-Louise Beerling, personal communication. Hill, Catherine. 2003. "Livestock and Gender: The Tanzan- ian Experience in Different Livestock Production Sys- REFERENCES tems. A Glance at LinKS: LinKS Project Case Study No. 3." FAO, Rome. Overview International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Baden, Sally. 1998. "Gender Issues in Agricultural Liberali- 2004. "Livestock Services and the Poor: A Global Initia- sation." Topic paper prepared for Directorate General for tive. Collecting, Coordinating and Sharing Experiences." Development of the European Commission, Report IFAD, Rome. No. 41, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, U.K. Miller, Beth. 2001. "Rights to Livestock." In 2020 Focus No. Bravo-Baumann, Heidi. 2000."Gender and Livestock: Capital- 06, Brief 04, August, International Food Policy Research isation of Experiences on Livestock Projects and Gender." Institute, Washington, DC. Working document, Swiss Agency for Development and Niamir-Fuller, Maryam. 1994. "Women Livestock Man- Cooperation, Bern. agers in the Third World: A Focus on Technical Issues de Haan, Nicoline. 2001. "Of Goats and Groups: a Study of Related to Gender Roles in Livestock Production." Social Capital in Development Projects." Agriculture and IFAD, Rome. Human Values 18: 71­84. Otte, Joachim, David Roland-Holst, Dirk Pfeiffer, Ricardo Diarra, Marthe, and Marie Monimart. 2006. "Landless Soares-Magalhaes, Jonathan Rushton, Jay Graham, and Women,Hopeless Women?"Issues Paper 143,International Ellen Silbergeld. 2007. "Industrial Livestock Production Institute for Environment and Development, London. and Global Health Risks." Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Ini- tiative Research Report, June. Dorward, Andrew, Simon Anderson, Yolanda Nava, James Pattison, Rodrigo Paz, Jonathan Rushton, and Ernesto Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Sanchez Vera. 2005. "Guide to Indicators & Methods for 2007. "The Livestock Revolution: An Opportunity for Assessing the Contribution of Livestock Keeping to Poor Farmers?" Inforesources Focus No. 1/07, SDC, Livelihoods of the Poor."Department of Agricultural Sci- Bern. ences, Imperial College, London. Thomas-Slayter, Barbara, and Nina Bhatt. 1994. "Land, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1997. "Manage- Livestock and Livelihoods: Changing Dynamics of Gen- ment of Livestock Resources." Committee on Agriculture der, Caste and Ethnicity in a Nepalese Village." Human (COAG), 14th Session, COAG/97/4, Rome, April 7­11. Ecology 22 (4): 467­94. MODULE 14: REFERENCES 637 Trench, Pippa, John Rowley, Marthe Diarra, Fernand Sano, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).2005."The Global- and Boubacar Keita. 2007. "Beyond Any Drought: Root izing Livestock Sector: Impact of Changing Market." Com- Causes of Chronic Vulnerability in the Sahel."Sahel Work- mittee on Agriculture, 19th Session, Rome, April 13­16. ing Group, International Institute for Environment and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/Ministry of Agri- Development, London. culture and Rural Development (MARD)/Agrifood con- Upton, Martin. 2004. "The Role of Livestock in Economic sulting International (ACI) 2007. "Gender Analysis in Development and Poverty Reduction." Pro-Poor Live- Poultry Production in ChúcSontown, Chuong M~y Dis- stock Policy Initiative Working Paper 10, FAO, Rome. trict, HàTây Province and ChàLâ Commune, Duong- World Bank. 2005a."Gender Issues in Monitoring and Eval- MinhChàu District, TãyNinh Province." PowerPoint uation in Rural Development: A Toolkit."Internal report, presentation at the workshop The Future of Poultry Farm- June, World Bank, Washington, DC. ers in Vietnam after Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, ------. 2005b. "Managing the Livestock Revolution: Policy Hanoi, Vietnam, March 8­9. and Technology to Address the Negative Impacts of a FAO/OIE/WHO. 2005. "The Global Strategy for the Progres- Fast-Growing Sector. Report No. 32725-GLB, World sive Control of Highly PathogenicAvian Influenza (HPAI)." Bank, Washington, DC. Draft Report.Rome: FAO (Food and Agriculture Organiza- ------. 2007. "World Development Indicators." Report, tion); Paris: OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health); World Bank, Washington, DC. Geneva: WHO (World Health Organization.) Geerlings, Ellen. 2007. "Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza: A Rapid Assessment of the Socio-Economic Impact on Thematic Note 1 Vulnerable Households in Egypt." Food and Agriculture Alders,R.,B.Bagnol,M.Harun,H.Msami,L.Sprowles,and M. Organization/World Food Programme Joint Project Young. 2005."The Impact of Newcastle Disease Control in Report, July, Rome. Village Chickens Using I-2 Thermotolerant Vaccine in Geerlings, Ellen, Evelyn Mathias, and Ilse Köhler-Rollefson. Rural Areas of Dodoma and Mtwara Regions, Tanzania." 2002. "Securing Tomorrow's Food: Promoting the Sus- Paper presented at the DFID Livestock Production Pro- tainable Use of Farm Animal Genetic Resources: Infor- gramme International Workshop on Improving the Well- mation for Action." League for Pastoral Peoples, Ober- Being of Resource-Poor Communities: The Contribution Ramstadt, Germany. Also available at www.pastoral of Small Livestock,Howick,SouthAfrica,September 12­15. peoples.org. Amuguni, Helen. 2000."Assessing the Gender Impact of the Ghotge, Nitya, and Sagari Ramdas. 2002."Women and Live- Community Based Animal Health Programme in South- stock: Creating Space and Opportunities." LEISA Maga- ern Sudan: A Gender Assessment Study in Mading Area, zine 18, no. 4 (December): 16­17. Also available at www. Latjor State, Upper Nile." April, Vétérinaires Sans Fron- leisa.info. tières­Belgium, Brussels. Kariuki, G. 2003. "Gender, Environmental and Traditional AusVet. 2006. "Southern Africa Newcastle Disease Control Knowledge in Managing Malignant Catarrhal Fever in Project SANDCP July 2002­October 2005 Independent Maasai Herds." Draft, Kenya Agricultural Research Insti- Completion Report." June 26. tute, November 5. Bruschke, Christianne, Alex Thiermann, and Bernard Vallat. Lucas, Caroline. 2007. "Bird Flu's Link with the Crazy Trade 2007. "Implementing Appropriate OIE/FAO Prevention in Poultry." Financial Times, February 26. Measures in Different Country Contexts." In Proceedings Mugisha, Anthony. 2004. "Socio-Economic and Gender of Technical Meeting on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Aspects of Control of Vectorborne Diseases: A Study of and Human H5N1Infection, Food and Agriculture Orga- Intra-Household Dynamics and Decision-Making in the nization (FAO), June 27­29, 2007, Rome, Italy. Back- Pastoralist System of Southwestern Uganda." Ph.D. the- ground Paper No. 3.2a.i. Available at www.fao.org/docs/ sis, University of Reading School of Agriculture, Policy eims/upload//229371/ah656e.pdf. and Development. Curry, John, Rebecca Huss-Ashmore, Brian Perry, and Mugisha,Anthony,Anni McLeod, Rachel Percy, and Elizabeth Adrian Mukhebi. 1996."A Framework for the Analysis of Kyewalabye. 2008. "Socio-economic Factors Influencing Gender, Intra-Household Dynamics and Livestock Dis- Control of Vector-borne Diseases in the Pastoralist ease Control with Examples from Uasin Gishu District, System of South Western Uganda." Tropical Animal Kenya." Human Ecology 24 (2): 161­89. Health and Production 40(4): 287­97. de Haan, Nicoline. 2001."Of Goats and Groups: A Study on Otte, Joachim, David Roland-Holst, Dirk Pfeiffer, Ricardo Social Capital in Development Projects." Agriculture and Soares-Magalhaes, Jonathan Rushton, Joay Graham, and Human Values 18 (1): 71­84. Ellen Silbergeld. 2007. "Industrial Livestock Production 638 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK and Global Health Risks." Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Ini- Oboler, Regina. 1996. "Whose Cows Are They, Anyway?: tiative (PPLPI) Research Report, June. Ideology and Behaviour in Nandi Cattle `Ownership' and Otte, Joachim, Rachel Nugent, and Anni McLeod. 2004. Control." Human Ecology 24 (2): 255­72. "Transboundary Animal Diseases: Assessment of Socio- Okali, Christine. 2004. "Gender Issues in Changing Domes- Economic Impacts and Institutional Responses." FAO tic Markets for Livestock Production in Developing Livestock Policy Discussion Paper No. 9, Food and Agri- Countries." Paper for the expert consultation, Food and culture Organization, Rome. Agriculture Organization, Rome, June 22­24. Upton, Martin. 2004. "The Role of Livestock in Economic Upton, Martin. 2004. "The Role of Livestock in Economic Development and Poverty Reduction." Pro-Poor Live- Development and Poverty Reduction." Pro-Poor Live- stock Policy Initiative (PPLPI) Working Paper 10, Food stock Policy Initiative Working Paper 10, Food and Agri- and Agriculture Organization, Rome. culture Organization, Rome. World Bank. 2005."Managing the Livestock Revolution: Pol- White, Cynthia. 1990. "Changing Animal Ownership and icy and Technology to Address the Negative Impacts of a Access to Land among the Wodaabe (Fulani) of Central Fast-Growing Sector."June, World Bank, Washington, DC. Niger." In Property, Poverty and People: Changing Rights in Property and Problems of Pastoral Development, ed. P. Baxter and R. Hogg, 240­54. Manchester, U.K.: Man- Thematic Note 2 chester University. Dercon, Stephan, and John Hoddinott. 2005. "Livelihoods, World Bank. 2005. "Policy and Technology to Address the Growth, and Links to Market Towns in 15 Ethiopian Vil- Negative Impacts of a Fast-Growing Sector."World Bank, lages." FCND Discussion Paper 194, International Food Washington, DC, June. Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC. FARM (Food and Agriculture Research Management) Africa. Thematic Note 3 2002. "Microenterprise Development Best Practices from Amuguni, Helen. 2000."Assessing the Gender Impact of the FARM-Africa's Pastoralist Development Project in Kenya." Community Based Animal Health Programme in South- Booklet, Food and Agriculture Organization, Nairobi. Also ern Sudan: A Gender Assessment Study in Mading Area, available at www.fao.org. Latjor State, Upper Nile." Vétérinaires sans Frontières­ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005. "The Belgium, Brussels, April. Globalizing Livestock Sector: Impact of Changing Mar- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2007. "Maasai ket." Committee on Agriculture, 19th Session, Rome, Men and Women's Local Knowledge in Breeding Cattle." April 13­16. In Breeding for a Purpose: Maasai Men and Women's Local ------. 2006. "Livestock Report 2006." FAO, Rome. Knowledge in Breeding Cattle. CD-ROM. FAO, Rome. Garcia, Zoraida, with contributions from Jennifer Nyberg ------. n.d. "Planning Livestock Interventions with a Gen- and Shayma Owaise Saadat. 2006. "Agriculture, Trade der and HIV/AIDS Lens: Why a Gender and HIV/AIDS Negotiations and Gender." Food and Agriculture Organi- Focus?" Fact sheet, FAO, Rome. zation, Rome. Geerlings, Ellen, Evelyn Mathias, and Ilse Köhler-Rollefson. Ghotge, Nitya, and Sagari. Ramdas. 2002. "Women and 2002."Securing Tomorrow's Food: Promoting the Sustain- Livestock: Creating Space and Opportunities." LEISA able Use of Farm Animal Genetic Resources: Information Magazine 18 (4) (December): 16­17. Also available at for Action. League for Pastoral Peoples." Ober-Romstadt, www.leisa.info. Germany. Also available at www.pastoralpeoples.org. Huss-Ashmore, Rebecca. 1996. "Livestock, Nutrition, and Gura, Susanne, and League for Pastoralist Peoples. 2003."Los- Intra-Household Resource Control in Uasin Gishu Dis- ing Livestock, Losing Livelihoods." Seedling (January): trict, Kenya." Human Ecology 24 (2): 191­213. 8­12. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 2002."IFAD in China: The Rural Poor Speak."IFAD,Rome. 2004. "Livestock Services and the Poor: A Global Initia- ------. 2004. "Livestock Services and the Poor: A Global tive. Collecting, Coordinating, and Sharing Experiences." Initiative. Collecting, Coordinating and Sharing Experi- IFAD, Rome. Evaluations are available at www.ifad.org. ences. IFAD, Rome. ------. n.d. (a). "Changing Traditional Practices in Animal Mayoux, Linda. 2005."`Gender Lens' in Value Chains Analy- Husbandry," IFAD, Rome. sis for Decent Work, A Practical Guide." Draft for Inter- ------. n.d. (b). "Lessons from Processing and Marketing." national Labour Organization, Geneva, November. IFAD, Rome. MODULE 14: REFERENCES 639 International Fund for Agricultural Development/Food and (FAO)." In Indigenous Women and the United Nations Agriculture Organization. 1998. "Agricultural Imple- System: Good Practices and Lessons Learned, 3­8. New ments Used by Women Farmers in Africa." September, York: United Nations. Also available at www.un.org. IFAD, Rome. ITDG (now Practical Action). 1996."Discovering Technolo- gists: Women's and Men's Work at Village Level." ITDG, FURTHER READING Colombo, Sri Lanka. Overview Kaaria, Susan, and Jacqueline Ashby. 2001. "An Approach to Technological Innovation That Benefits Rural Women: Asian Development Bank (ADB). n.d. "Gender Issues in The Resource-to-Consumption System." Working docu- Livestock." In "Gender Checklist: Agriculture." Available ment No. 13, CGIAR System-Wide Program on Partici- at www.adb.org/Documents/Manuals/Gender_Check patory Research and Gender Analysis, Cali. lists/Agriculture/agri0508.asp?p=genchck. Tegegne, Azage. 2004."Urban Livestock Production and Gen- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005. "SEAGA der in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia."Urban Agriculture 12: 29­31. Livestock Guide: Planning with a Gender and HIV/AIDS World Bank. 2008. "CDD and Elite Capture: Reframing the Lens." June. Available at www.fao.org/sd/dim_pe1/docs/ Conversation." Social Development How to Series, Feb- pe1_050901d1_en.pdf. ruary, World Bank, Washington, DC. ------. 2006. "Planning Livestock Interventions with a Gender and HIV/AIDS Lens." Fact Sheet. Available at www.fao.org/ag/AGAinfo/subjects/documents/livestock Innovative Activity Profile 1 aids0606.pdf. Anderson, Simon. 2004. "Environmental Effects on Animal International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Genetic Resources: A Review." Commissioned by AGAP, 1999. "Memory Checks for Programme and Project Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. Design: Household Food Security and Gender: Livestock." Available at www.ifad.org/pub/memory/e/insert2. pdf. Anderson, Simon, and Roberta Centonze. 2006. "Property Rights and the Management of Animal Genetic Resources." Sere, Carlos, and Henning Steinfeld. 1996."World Livestock CAPRi (CGIAR Systemwide Program on Collective Production Systems: Current Status, Issues and Trends." Action and Property Rights), Working Paper No. 48, Animal Production and Health Paper 127, FAO, Rome. February, International Food Policy Research Institute, World Bank. 2007. "Gender and the Millennium Develop- Washington, DC. ment Goals." World Bank, Washington, DC. Castro-Gámez, Hilda, Gabriel Campos, Reyes López, Raúl Perezgrovas, and Héctor Castillo-Juárez. n.d."Heritability and Permanent Environmental Effect for Fleece Quality Thematic Note 1 Assessed by an Ancient Tzotzil Indigenous Evaluation Bruschke, Christianne, Alex Thiermann, and Bernard Vallat. System." Unpublished report. 2007. "Implementing Appropriate OIE/FAO Prevention Gomez, Tona, Hilda Castro, and Raul Perezgrovas. 2001."The Measures in Different Country Contexts." Background Real Sheep of the Tzotzil." Compass (December): 29­31. paper, Technical Meeting on Highly Pathogenic Avian Perezgrovas, Raul, Marisela Peralta, and Pastor Pedraza. Influenza and Human H5N1 Infection, Rome, June 27­29. 2002. "Sheep Husbandry among Tzotzil Indians: Who McLeod, Anni. n.d. "Socio-Economics of HPAI Control in Learns from Whom?" PLA Notes. CD-ROM 1988­2001. Viet Nam: the Past and the Future." PowerPoint presen- Also available at www.iied.org/NR/agbioliv/pla_notes/ tation at the workshop The Future of Poultry Farmers in documents/plan_02007.pdf. Vietnam after Highly Pathogenic Influenza, Hanoi, Viet- nam, March 8­9. Innovative Activity Profile 2 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2007. "Breeding Thematic Note 2 for a Purpose: Maasai Men and Women's Local Knowl- Bennett, Anthony, Frederic Lhoste, Jay Crook, and Joe Phe- edge in Breeding Cattle." Study developed under the lan. 2006. "The Future of Small Scale Dairying." In FAO LinKS project, FAO, Rome. Livestock Report 2006. Rome: FAO. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Costales, Achilles, Pierre Gerber, and Henning Steinfeld. (UNDESA). 2007. "Indigenous Women and the Food 2006. "Underneath the Livestock Revolution." In FAO and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Livestock Report 2006. Rome: FAO. 640 MODULE 14: GENDER AND LIVESTOCK Joss, Stefan, Hans Schaltenbrand, and Peter Schmidt. 2004. Proceedings of the 4th All Africa Conference on Ani- "Clients First: A Rapid Market Appraisal Tool Kit." The- mal Agriculture and the 31st Annual Meeting of the oretical Background and Experiences from Various RMA Tanzania Society for Animal Production, Arusha, Tanza- Events, Helvetas, 2004. Note: Although this is not"gender nia, September 20­24. sensitive," it does propose a participatory methodology Nuffic (Netherlands organization for international coopera- for appraising markets. The framework and tools can be tion in higher eduction). n.d."Collaborative Application of "gendered" and adapted to livestock markets. Empirical Criteria for Selecting High-Quality Fleeces: Van Houten, Helen. 2002. Microenterprise Development: Best Tzotzil Shepherdesses and Sheep Scientists Work Together Practices from FARM-Africa's Pastoralist Development to Develop Tools for Genetic Improvement." Available at Project in Kenya. Nairobi: FARM (Food and Agriculture www. unesco.org. Research Management) Africa. Innovative Activity Profile 1 Thematic Note 3 Geerlings, Ellen, Evelyn Mathias, and Ilse Köhler-Rollefson. Heffernan, Claire. 2005. "Demand-Led Research, Biotech- 2002. "Securing Tomorrow's Food: Promoting the Sus- nology and the Poor: Issues from the Livestock Sector." tainable Use of Farm Animal Genetic Resources." League In The Role of Biotechnology in Animal Agriculture to for Pastoral Peoples, Ober-Romstadt, Germany. Available Address Poverty in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges, at www.pastoralpeoples.org. MODULE 14: FURTHER READING 641 M O D U L E 1 5 Gender and Forestry Overview FORESTRY AND LIVELIHOODS: CHANGES 2002). Thus, forests can and must assume a more promi- ANDTRENDS nent role in meeting the United Nations' 2000 Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015. F orests cover just under 4 billion hectares--30 percent "What happens to forests" will be largely determined by of the earth's land surface (FAO 2005a). They fulfill "what happens outside forests" (FAO 2007a: 79) One reason major economic functions, help maintain the fertility that deforestation and forest degradation will continue in of agricultural land, protect water resources, and reduce the most developing regions is the expansion in agricultural risk of natural disasters such as landslides and flooding. The land use for both subsistence and commercial cultivation. world's forests are home to at least 80 percent of remaining Deforestation continues at an alarming rate--about 13 terrestrial biodiversity and are a major carbon sink that miti- million hectares per year (FAO 2005a). A reversal of the gates climate change (World Bank 2002). situation would depend on structural shifts in economies to More than 1.6 billion people depend to varying degrees reduce direct and indirect dependence on land. The World on forests for their livelihoods. About 60 million indigenous Bank's forest strategy Sustaining Forests (World Bank 2002) people are almost wholly dependent on forests. Some 350 recognizes that forests are always a part of larger economic, million people who live within or adjacent to dense forests environmental, and governance systems that must work depend on them for subsistence and income. In developing together if the goals of poverty reduction, sustainable eco- countries, about 1.2 billion people rely on agroforestry nomic development, and environmental protection are to farming systems that help to sustain agricultural produc- be met. Total forest area continues to decrease, but the tivity and generate income. Worldwide, forest industries results of the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO's) provide employment for 60 million people. Some 1 billion Global Forest Resource Assessment (FAO 2005a) indicate people depend on pharmaceuticals derived from forest the rate of net loss is slowing. Forest planting, landscape plants for their medicinal needs. restoration, and natural expansion of forests have signifi- Mounting evidence suggests that poverty--and poverty cantly reduced the net loss of forest area (FAO 2005a). in rural areas in particular--can be reduced only by sus- Concern about climate change has already focused tainably managing the natural resources that both generate increased attention on the role of forests in carbon seques- income and provide environmental services. The forests of tration, reducing carbon emissions and substituting for fos- the world, which are among the most important of these sil fuels. Climate change may also affect forests themselves, natural resources, provide support to nearly half of the 2.8 altering forest ecosystems and increasing the incidence and billion people who live on $2 or less a day (World Bank 643 severity of forest fires as well as pest and disease infestation. The Module is presented under a series of pertinent themes, At the same time forests will be increasingly valued for the with lessons learned and best practices. environmental services they provide, which includes their However thoroughly one recognizes the importance of role in conserving biodiversity and in arresting desertifica- forests to livelihoods, poverty, sustainability, and conser- tion and land degradation. In industrial and rapidly devel- vation, the full potential of forests may never be grasped oping countries, recreational use of forests is receiving more without an understanding of how women and men use attention, requiring changes in forest management. forest resources differently. If decision making in forestry Geographical shifts in the production and consumption programs and policies follows a "gender-neutral" path- of wood and nonwood forest products are likely to inten- way, the implementation of those programs will not gar- sify, especially as a result of the rapid growth of the emerg- ner the knowledge and skills, nor address the needs, of ing economies in Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and half of the rural population. Gender- and wealth-disag- the Pacific. This will be countered by slow growth of gregated data on the resource management practices of demand in many industrial countries, due to demographic forest- and agroforestry-dependent communities needs to changes and lower income growth rates. Technological be consistently and regularly gathered. The Module uses changes, including biotechnology and material technology the Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) framework to capture in wood-consuming industries, will improve productivity the full scope of gender-related issues as they relate to and reduce raw material requirements. livelihoods. For many developing countries, wood will remain the most The need for gender-disaggregated data on the forestry important source of energy.The rising price of oil and increas- workforce was recently reinforced by a United Nations Eco- ing concern for climate change will result in increased use of nomic Commission for Europe­FAO study on women in wood as fuel in both developed and developing countries. forestry in Europe: An understanding of how society-forest relationships are Ideas of specific masculine or feminine qualities are con- likely to evolve is important in preparing the sector to nected to certain roles, positions, tasks and professions in address emerging challenges and opportunities (FAO individuals. The perception of what is "appropriate" for 2007a). Practitioners and others must not consider natural men and women forms the basis for the distribution of forests solely in terms of the economic value of timber. work, the design and evaluation of different tasks, and Drawing on local knowledge can reveal the full range of the criteria for promotions. Forestry is not an exception social, economic, and ecological functions of these resources to this since it has been generally regarded as an arena and how different groups use and benefit from them. Ana- mainly for men's work, business and governance. Within lyzing the complex interactions between local people and organizations, from households to companies and the forests can reveal the impact of forest interventions on authorities, a gendered organizational logic is at work, livelihoods. By facilitating negotiation between stakehold- which not only reproduces a structure of gender division ers, practitioners may support the development of collabo- but also, paradoxically, at the same time, makes gender rative and adaptive strategies to manage forest resources invisible. Gender invisibility takes many forms. . . . In many countries, reliable statistics on the demographics (FAO 2006a). Successful improvements in forest manage- of the forestry workforce are difficult to obtain, and ment quite often resemble and build upon traditional when it concerns women's participation, data are virtu- activities already practiced in the area. If innovators do not ally non-existent. (FAO 2006b: 1) understand local practices and know which local groups rely on which forest and agroforestry products, they risk International agencies and nongovernmental organiza- introducing innovations that are technically feasible but tions (NGOs) such as the International Union for Conser- that result in negative socioeconomic effects. vation of Nature are influential in the forest sector and This Module revisits the gender and forestry analysis and maintain a variety of gender strategies, guidelines, and experiences of rural and community forestry themes that resources. The World Bank forest strategy, for example, were profiled in the 1990s (Rojas 1993)1 and reexamines clearly states that "the sustainable use of forests requires gender-related issues in the forest sector in light of recent the participation of all rural populations, including developments and ongoing trends in the sector (FAO 2007a; women" (World Bank 2002: 22). The strategy also states, World Bank 2002). Drawing on documented evidence, it however, that although women's needs often differ from aims to provide practitioners with a commentary on practi- those of men, many programs continue to overlook cal experiences of gender in forestry projects and programs. women's specific needs regarding forestry. This lack of 644 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY gender awareness constrains the sustainable use and man- successful project experiences cited in this Module demon- agement of forests and forest ecosystems throughout the strate how to overcome this barrier. world. The World Bank forest strategy also points to a lack Women are the principal practitioners of traditional of adequate data, information, and methodologies to agroforestry in production systems such as home gardens in address this concern. It acknowledges that "gender analysis Kerala State in India and Sri Lanka (Kumar and Nair 2004). will be an important tool to provide simple information They are also often innovators who develop or adapt new on resource use, responsibility, perspectives and needs, and agroforestry technologies, such as dairy fodder and the serves a critical role in the quality of forest investment domestication of indigenous fruits (World Agroforestry Cen- design" (World Bank 2002: 22). tre 2008).Yet their presence in policy,decision making,and the A number of concerns regarding forestry and the science of agroforestry remains proportionally minimal. livelihoods of rural women and men warrant prominent Women are engaged in many roles in the forest industry in treatment: the developing world, often in the most menial jobs in sawmills or plantation nurseries. Women also gain employ- Depletion of forest resources often severely increases ment in catering and prostitution in forest logging camps. women's labor, especially with regard to the time However, an overall lack of data exists with regard to women's required to gather fuelwood and the cost of purchasing employment in large-scale forest enterprises. This lack of it. Without adequate fuelwood for cooking, household visibility of women's employment in forest industry data sug- nutrition may be negatively impacted. Conservation gests the likelihood of poorer working conditions and lower measures that bar entrance into forests also increase remuneration. If women's working conditions and employ- women's labor. ment opportunities are to improve, gender disaggregated data Access rights to trees and forests by men and women are are required in the forest industries sector. This Module often limited by confusion, or lack of clarity between for- focuses on women's role in small and medium forest enter- mal and local customary rights. Access to particular non- prises, and more notably the nonwood forest product wood forest products, such as honey and fodder, is often (NWFP) sector, for which a large body of literature and proj- guided by traditional and cultural norms, regardless of ect experience can be consulted. The entrepreneurship of local whether they are collected for subsistence or for market. people,especially women,in forestry activities and enterprises, Both women's and men's knowledge of trees and other may be constrained by centralized ownership, cultural norms, forest products should be incorporated in forest man- and poor access to extension, training, credit, and markets. agement and conservation plans. Including and applying The 2005 Human Development Report identified HIV this often heavily gendered traditional and indigenous and AIDS as the factor inflicting the single greatest reversal knowledge can be critical to the success of a project. in the history of human development (UNDP 2005). HIV and AIDS are undermining progress toward the Millennium Protected areas are specific and unique natural habitats Development Goals (MDGs), including the third MDG on where human encroachment is restricted to preserve biodi- gender equity. Women in sub-Saharan Africa are infected versity. In many protected areas around the world, however, more often and earlier in their lives than men. By virtue of people with legitimate or historical land ownership rights the gender inequality that is embedded in many cultural tra- live within the established boundaries. Women's and men's ditions, the domestic burden of HIV and AIDS care falls relationships with the environment in the protected areas especially heavily on women (UNAIDS 2006). Additional and their buffer zones, in the context of their respective gen- domestic responsibilities to care for the sick translate into a der roles, are crucial for the very survival of these natural differential use of time in the allocation of other domestic habitats (IUCN 2003). The Innovative Activity Profile on and productive duties, including a differential use of forest gender, protected areas, and tourism presents an FAO World products. In high-prevalence areas, women who become Heritage national park small enterprise development project caregivers of ill members of the household have less time for that developed and applied an innovative gender strategy. agricultural activities on their own plots. As a result, in, for Although many cases of women successfully managing example, miombo woodland areas, the household becomes community groups in participatory forestry and agro- more reliant on forest foods and income from fuelwood that forestry field projects can be identified, women continue is often gathered by children (FAO 2005b). Pandemics such to be nominal stakeholders in the decision making and as HIV and AIDS increase poverty and affect the use of planning of decentralized and local forestry programs. The forest resources (Shackleton and others 2006). MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY 645 Emergencies, such as conflicts and natural disasters, in BENEFITS AND CONSTRAINTS OF GENDER- which populations are massively displaced often lead to RESPONSIVE POLICY additional reliance on forest products for subsistence prod- Created by the Economic and Social Council of the United ucts. The local forest cover often becomes depleted as people Nations in 2000, the United Nations Forum on Forests who live in camps, mainly women and children, gather fuel- (UNFF) provides a platform for high-level policy discussions wood in the area. As wood resources are depleted, women and global cooperation to promote improved management, and children are obliged to travel longer distances to collect conservation, and sustainable development of forests. wood, making them vulnerable to gender-based violence Women are represented at UNFF, as one of the nine Agenda (SAFE2). Research recommends investing heavily in forested 21 major groups. The other major forest stakeholder groups areas during postconflict periods to prevent renewed fight- include indigenous peoples, business and industry, small ing and help protect the forest itself (Kaimowitz 2005). forest landowners, youth and children, NGOs, local author- Two recently published reports on gender and forestry in ities, unions, and representatives of the scientific and tech- Europe (FAO 2006b) and Africa (FAO 2007b) consider the nological community (www.un.org/esa/forests). employment and positions of women in forestry services In some forested countries, the directors of forest depart- (officers and rangers), forestry education, and the technical ments or ministries of environment and forests are women. and administrative staff of forest ministries. Even the Euro- This has been shown to enhance the profile of women's role pean report recognizes that "quantitative data [are] known in the forest sector, particularly with regard to smallholder to be patchy and insufficient to determine, with confidence, forestry, forest associations, and livelihoods-related issues. In the number of women working in the forest industry, or most countries, however, women's role and representation in their roles and employment levels" (FAO 2006b: 11). How- decision making that pertains to the forest sector are very ever, the report also notes that "examples of good practice, limited. Considerable efforts can be made through training have been emerging, which proves that concerted and sus- and job placement in both public and private sectors to tained commitment and planning at senior organizational enable more women to gain employment in the public sec- level can result in quantifiable improvements in the number tor and be effective forest managers and entrepreneurs, as of professional women foresters employed and the level of well as to enhance their advocacy and representational skills seniority they can attain" (FAO 2006b: 11). The Africa (FAO 2006b). report is extremely critical of the status quo, which it char- Although an outspoken political commitment exists on acterizes as having a near total absence of data on gender in nearly all levels to integrate gender considerations into the forest sector, combined in some cases with a complete policy development, reality lags behind. Most policy deci- lack of motivation by policy and decision makers to address sions are still taking a gender-neutral approach, ignoring gender issues in the sector.3 The report emphasizes the need the complementary capacities of women and men in for gender-disaggregated data to better appreciate the gen- implementing these policies. der disparities in forest education, employment, and career Many people working in the forestry sector are familiar opportunities in the formal sector, as well as to appreciate with the operationally focused gender materials produced the different roles of rural women and men with livelihoods by the Forest Trees and People Program at FAO in the mid- based on forest-related activities. Such information would 1990s. In recent years, however, mainstream publications also enable the development of more gender-conscious for- pertaining to forests, livelihoods, and poverty became est sector programs and policies. gender neutral, referring, for example, to "rural people," Organizational and institutional support to women's "farmers," and "households." Women per se and recogni- groups is required if rural and disadvantaged women are to tion of women's specific challenges and acknowledgment access resources, credit, technical and entrepreneurial train- of their specific achievements had largely disappeared ing, and guidance. Having women employed as frontline (FAO 2006a, 2007a). The recent release of PROFOR's extension staff, project managers, policy makers, and forest Forests and Poverty Linkages Toolkit explicitly includes gen- enterprise employees and managers would be advantageous der in its tools for analysis of livelihoods. Interim results in securing this support. An acknowledged requirement is from midterm reports piloting the toolkit in Cameroon, for more and improved training for women in all cadres of Ghana, Madagascar, and Uganda demonstrate clearly the the forest professions, as well as improved facilities to enable significance of collecting and analyzing gender- and women and men to be trained and to accumulate work wealth-disaggregated data.4 In Madagascar results from one experience (FAO 2007b). 646 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY community found that poor women rely significantly more during conflicts and periods of economic hardship. Strong on the forest resource for their livelihoods than do poor examples of support in advocacy and home visits provide men--37 percent of women's income came from the forest hope that innovative programming will overcome some of compared to 22 percent of men's income. Wealthier men, the difficulties and alleviate the horrors faced by these on the other hand, gained more of their income from the families. However, larger initiatives to support the most forest than wealthier women. marginalized families directly have yet to be implemented. These kinds of results clearly indicate the contrasting Although training in organizational and representational uses and perceptions of forest resources and its products by skills is very important, training in business and negotiation different members of society. The data also emphasize the skills for small-scale enterprises is fundamental to the suc- vulnerability of poor women and their families, and the cess of identified women's enterprises. For an enterprise to likely impacts on the most marginalized segments of a com- be independently sustainable, training and credit support munity if they are excluded from decision making about the needs to be provided for at least five years. Projects should forest resource base, the products of which often provide not consider engaging for periods less than this. one-third of their income (see Technical Note 1 for more The gendered nature of resource use, access, control, and details). The data collected in piloting this toolkit could also responsibility with respect to trees and forests is highly be indicative of how differential forest product use and complex (Rocheleau and Edmunds 1997). Women's rights to access develop between men and women as households particular areas of cropping land, trees, and tree products, as move out of poverty. well as to "in between spaces" in agricultural landscapes, are It is obvious that sustainable development, particularly often based in negotiable customary law and are often sub- in forestry, can be achieved only if decision and policy mak- stantial. These rights, however, may be marginalized or not ers continuously connect gender awareness from local to recognized, sometimes regarded as well-meaning efforts to national and global levels. A prerequisite is the continued create statutory laws and administrative procedures (Roche- collection of gender-disaggregated data and the use and leau and Edmunds 1997). Women's rights are often negoti- application of gender-conscious language and tools in policy ated and may subsequently not be best served by formal texts and field manuals. titling of land, which often vests ownership in a single head of household. Agroforestry and forestry projects and programs can better protect women's access rights by allowing for mul- INNOVATIVE APPROACHESTO OVERCOME tiple uses of specific spaces and resources by multiple users, GENDER BARRIERS and by prioritizing renewable uses, such as the gathering of The SL conceptual framework for analyzing the agricultural fruits or harvesting of fallen wood, prunings, coppiced wood, livelihoods of women and men, girls and boys, is an adapta- and leaf fodder, which do not preclude most other uses tion of the sustainable livelihoods concept and considers (Rocheleau and Edmunds 1997). assets, risks and vulnerability, information and organiza- Designers of agroforestry projects and programs are tion, markets, policies, and institutions. In the forestry con- advised to disaggregate gendered knowledge, access, and text, many of these barriers are probably higher and more control further, so as to also include tree products, such as intractable than in other rural sectors. Much has to do with timber, fuelwood, fruits, and fodder. In many cases, traditional management regimes and decision making, but although women have substantial labor and management much also relates to the potential wealth of the sector and responsibilities for a particular resource, men control the the dominance of large-scale concessions. disposal or marketing of the products of that resource, as At the local level, groups of women have improved their well as the distribution of its benefits. Reporting gender-dis- access to decision making in the management of forest aggregated data on agroforestry practices should also be resources through organization and advocacy. Time and encouraged. It has long been recognized that women are the again the material presented in this Module will demonstrate principal holders of knowledge and managers of traditional that through enhanced organization and representation, home gardens (FAO 1999), and 60 percent of the practi- they have improved their incomes and the well-being of tioners of innovative agroforestry practices such as domes- their households, as well as the educational opportunities of tication of indigenous fruit trees and production of dairy their children. fodder are women (see Thematic Note 2). These particular Women and children are often the most vulnerable in practices are easily adaptable to women's niches on farms. forest conflicts and the most reliant on forest resources However, the gender aspects of innovative agroforestry MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY 647 practices such as these are perhaps not afforded the profile livelihood and the security of their families. This requires in that they warrant in program reports and scientific publica- particular a rethinking of traditional gender-biased land tions. Using and applying gender-disaggregated data will tenure and property rights; greater gender equity in land raise the profile of women agroforestry practitioners and tenure and rights to forest resources would be building thereby enable their greater access to technical information, blocks for the sustainable and long-term-oriented develop- credit, and related extension support. ment of livelihoods based on forest resources. Policy and Gender-related considerations have been integrated in decision makers are encouraged to use the potential of almost all relevant forest policy commitments and related gender equity in working toward the Millennium Develop- fields, such as climate change. However, a gap still exists in ment Goals on all levels by ensuring universal access to translating these policy commitments into implementation. education and training and building entrepreneurial True change and gender-responsive action can be achieved capacity in sustainably managing forest resources. only if policy and decision makers face their responsibility to ensure an inclusive implementation of their gender- MEASURING CHANGE: GENDER-SENSITIVE relevant commitments at project and program levels. MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS The Innovative Activity Profiles demonstrate that gender awareness in implementation needs a strong backup from Being able to measure the impact that forest policy, train- the policy level to achieve the change of traditional and ing, and management initiatives have on men and women sometimes obsolete attitudes on the roles of men and beneficiaries, their families, and communities is important. women in forest management. Demographic developments Table 15.1 gives some ideas for indicators and sources of and changing family patterns require that women be verification, though clearly modifications are required for involved in decision making on all levels to sustain their each program. Table 15.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Forestry (continued) Indicator Sources of verification and tools Over a set period, an increase of x percent in household incomes · Household surveys from forest-based activities among women-headed households · Project management information system and poor households in program areas · Socioeconomic data from statistics office Changes over x-year period of project activities in household · Household surveys, before and after nutrition, health, education, vulnerability to violence, and · Project management information system happiness, disaggregated by gender · School records Proportion of annual household income (or consumption) derived · Household surveys from upland farming, agroforestry, or forest activities Percentage of women and men actively participating in natural · Bank records resource management committees (including bank account · Committee meeting minutes signatory roles) · Interviews with stakeholders · Local traditional authorities (such as a chief or local council) · Program and project records Number of women and men actively involved in management (that · Community monitoring committees is, protection or conservation or production) of protected areas · Forest management plans or reserves based on a management framework or plan Capacity-building support provided for community-based resource · Project records management, forest enterprises, and others · Training records Change in perceptions of men and women regarding importance of · Focus groups forest protection and management, measured before and after · Stakeholder interviews activity Percentage of women and men community extension workers and · Forest Department records professional forestry extensionists · Project records (Table continues on the following page) 648 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY Table 15.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Gender and Forestry (continued) Indicator Sources of verification and tools Level of satisfaction among women and men with access to and · Sample surveys quality of extension and training services · Stakeholder interviews Percentage of representations and mentions of women and men in · Survey of training and information materials training and awareness-raising materials Number of women and men actively involved in participatory · Forestry extension records research and innovations in agroforestry or forestry, before and · Interviews with stakeholders after project activities · Observation · Participatory monitoring Number of women and men involved in seed collection, · Forestry department records propagation, and tree nursery techniques in district, before and · Participatory forest management group records after project activities · Project records · Stakeholder interviews Changes to access rights by women- and men-headed households to · Case studies common property resources (timber and nontimber) in forests · Interviews of local authorities and community leaders · Participatory rapid appraisal Changes in time taken to collect firewood daily, before and after · Participatory monitoring project activities · Project records Number of conflicts over natural resources access or land · Interviews with stakeholders (from all relevant groups in conflicts) ownership per year · Local traditional authorities (such as a chief or local council) · Program and project records Number of women and men from district employed in forest · Administrative records enterprises, annually Incidence of occupational health and safety problems among · Administrative records workers in plantations and processing plants, disaggregated by · Review of procedures against local and national regulations gender Spread of HIV and AIDS, prostitution, alcoholism, and other · Community health surveillance problems from in-migrant workers, compared with baseline · Health records · Local authority reports Community satisfaction (disaggregated by gender) with changes in · Group interviews or focus groups forest access and forest resources dispute treatment · Interviews, before and after Source: Authors, with inputs from Pamela White, author of Module 16. MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY 649 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Forests as Safety Nets: Gender, Strengthening Rights, and ReducingVulnerability F orests have a significant role in reducing vulnerability and implementation of projects. Community forestry, and providing safety nets and subsistence (food, however, remains a popular approach to forest manage- fuelwood, and incomes) for the rural poor who ment, and the demand for support in carrying out commu- depend on forests for their livelihoods. Livelihoods vulner- nity forestry projects among communities remains high. ability may arise from natural disasters, human conflict, human and animal disease epidemics, food insecurity, agro- Nonwood forest products ecological factors such as water variability, and market and price risks. Poor households are more exposed to these risks Poor households in particular depend on NWFPs, which and less resilient in coping with them. They tend to have provide essential food and nutrition, medicine, fodder, fuel, weaker political representation and to experience greater dif- thatch and construction materials, and nonfarm income.1 ficulty in securing their rights to land, other resources, and NWFPs are particularly important in relieving "hunger support in times of crisis (see also Module 11). Women are periods" in the agricultural cycle; they provide seasonal typically the principal agents of food security within a employment and a buffer against risk and household household and tend to suffer the most in terms of increased emergencies. The poor, moreover, tend to have more access workload when livelihood shocks occur. to the forest than other natural capital and few land rights elsewhere. Within poor households, gender asymmetry in ownership and access to productive resources such as land KEY GENDER ISSUES causes women to rely disproportionately on NWFPs for Several key gender issues face women in regard to forestry income and nutrition (FAO 1995). In many communities issues. women are responsible for the household activities that involve forest-based foods and firewood. Generally the poor and more marginal households Experiences in community and participatory engage in the local trade of nontimber forest products forest management (NTFPs), and this is a particularly important activity for One step forward in linking sustainable livelihoods and women (Kaimowitz 2003). In a series of studies in Brazil, forests has been approached through community forestry. Cameroon, and South Africa, 40 to 50 percent of those Too often, however, the community has been viewed as a active in this trade were women who headed their own homogeneous unit in terms of status, influence, wealth, households (Shackelton, Shanley, and Ndoye 2007). In gender, and access to resources (Muckarjee, Jayaswal, and Cameroon the trade in four popular edible NTFPs was Parihari 2006; Wollenberg and others 2001). Even when dominated by women, who were responsible for most of the these differences have been recognized and participatory harvest and who formed 94 percent of the traders (Ndoye, processes have been employed, issues of power and the Ruiz-Perez, and Eyebe 1997). Wholesalers were often men. capacity of groups to negotiate solutions have not always In eastern Amazonia both poor men and women collect and been adequately considered. As a result, many women's con- sell a number of forest fruit species, whereas in the city most cerns regarding forest use and access have been neglected in fruit wholesalers were men, and most fruit processing was the consultations undertaken in the participatory design undertaken by poor urban women (Shanley, Luz, and 650 Swingland 2002). Local trade in many nontimber products of affected households and documented adjustments in use is an area in which women are free to earn income with and access to woodland resources by women and children of little interference or threat of expropriation by men households with sick adults, as well as households in which (Schreckenberg, Marshall, and Te Velde 2006). Where the an adult had recently died (box 15.1). opportunity cost of women's labor is relatively low, the par- ticipation of women can make NTFPs commercially viable. Global markets for NTFPs often overshadow local trade Forests, natural disasters, and conflicts in traditionally important products. Yet neglect of local Natural disasters and civil strife affect large numbers of trade can lead to further marginalization of low-income displaced people who rely on forests for shelter, fuelwood, groups whose livelihoods depend on that trade (Shackleton, fodder, and nutrition. Large concentrations of displaced Shanley, and Ndoye 2007). Many households require flexi- populations in camps place excessive pressure on already ble local income-earning opportunities that allow space for degraded natural resources. This can endanger food secu- responsibilities such as child care, nursing the ill, maintain- rity and livelihoods in nearby communities and foster ing homes, and crop production. The production of NTFPs resentment within the host population (FAO Forest for local markets can provide part-time, seasonal, occa- Department brief prepared for SAFE, 2007). Charcoal and sional, or full-time year-round employment, depending on wood are needed for fuel, and branches and timber for the product, location, and individual household. This flexi- shelter constructions and women are typically responsible bility makes NTFP-related activities particularly appealing for collecting them. Many who leave camp to collect forest to women, enabling them to combine collection and trade materials are subject to gender-based violence (Miguel of these products with their other domestic duties and Trossero, personal communication 2007; SAFE 2007). responsibilities (Shackleton, Shanley, and Ndoye 2007). Alternative fuel, energy saving, and reforestation initia- tives undertaken in the vicinity of displaced persons camps HIV and AIDS and communicable diseases may help to reduce women's vulnerability. These can The most important actions in dealing with the medical include establishing fast-growing woodlots immediately and health emergencies created by the HIV and AIDS pan- adjacent to refugee camps, promoting the use of "fireless" demic are public awareness programs aimed at preventing cookers, energy-saving mud stoves, and cooking techniques further spread of the disease. Although this aspect of HIV such as soaking beans before cooking them and covering and AIDS mitigation is generally outside the mandates of lids while cooking. agriculture and forestry departments, all sectors of society Forested areas have been the stage for wars in some two have a role to play in alleviating the impacts of the disease, dozen countries that are home to over 40 percent of the both in the immediate and in the long terms. The forest sec- world's tropical forests during the last 20 years (box 15.2). tor can help to mitigate the impacts of AIDS in a number of Various reasons have been given for this. Forested regions ways (FAO 2002): tend to be inaccessible and easy for armies to hide in. Armies have been able to fund their activities by extorting money By enhancing short-term agricultural productivity from petroleum, mining, and logging companies; drug deal- By enhancing long-term agricultural productivity ers; and farmers in these areas. Some militias carry out By developing education and human resource develop- mining, logging, and drug trafficking operations themselves. ment strategies in extension and services (forestry training Soldiers often survive by hunting and fishing and preying on and education) isolated farmers in remote forested areas. Many people living By transferring skills from one generation to the next. in these areas deeply resent the fact that they have been neg- lected or mistreated by national governments, particularly if One example of the implementation of an HIV and AIDS they perceive outsiders as benefiting from the local natural response within this mandate came as a result of a request of resources. The influx of migrants of other ethnic groups the government of Malawi to support field studies that often stirs conflicts with local people (box 15.3). Armed address the interactions between miombo woodlands and the groups of various types and inclinations frequently earn a morbidity and mortality caused by communicable diseases, certain degree of local support or acceptance by filling the especially HIV and AIDS.2 The results demonstrated the vacuum left by a national government with weak presence crucial role of the woodlands in supporting the livelihoods locally (Kaimowitz 2005). THEMATIC NOTE 1: FORESTS AS SAFETY NETS: GENDER, STRENGTHENING RIGHTS,AND REDUCING VULNERABILITY 651 Box 15.1 Firewood, Food, and Medicine: Gender, Forests,Vulnerability, and Rural Responses to HIV and AIDS The Malawi country study (Kayambazintu and others to cope with expenses and productivity losses related to 2005) found that because of the gender differentiation illness is supported by evidence from the case studies. in woodland activities within households, the impacts Commonly, firewood collection duties changed of morbidity and mortality will depend on who in the from the adult women to girls and boys when an adult household is ill or deceased. family member was ill. In polygamous households the Women household members predominantly carry effect of adult illness on subsistence woodland activities out subsistence woodland activities; they also have the such as firewood collection was less pronounced than role of primary caregiver when a member of the house- in households with only one woman head. Households hold is sick. Their labor is therefore typically reallo- in which children are old enough to engage in wood- cated for care giving, decreasing subsistence collection land activities also offset the labor reduction caused by of forest products. adult illness. In all cases, it was found that less laborious commer- In those households for which the importance of cial activities remain a viable option for income genera- woodland activities increased following adult mortal- tion during illness. These include products for which ity, children were often involved in the collection and value can be added through home-based work and are sale of forest products. The types of forest products that less gender differentiated, such as reed mats, baskets, and households reported selling are also products that are food processing. The value of such commercial activities typically collected by children and women. Sources: Kayambazintu and others 2005; UNAIDS 2006. Box 15.2 Some Tropical Countries with Armed Box 15.3 Rape:The Ultimate Weapon in a Conflicts in Forested Regions in the Decade-Long Conflict Past 20 Years Immaculate Birhaheka, head of the women's rights Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, Côte group Paif, in Goma, Democratic Republic of d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, spoke of what happened in villages on the Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, India, Indonesia, road south from Goma toward Bukavu: "The Liberia, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, women who come from there tell us that every Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, woman in every village has been raped over the Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, years. Some were captured and taken into the forest Solomon Islands, Sudan, Surinam, and Uganda. for months, even two years. When they are released some are in such bad condition that they die." Source: Kaimowitz 2005. Source: Guardian Weekly, November 16, 2007. applied in projects and programs at the local level.3 The design GENDER INTHE IMPLEMENTATION OF and implementation of gender-equitable interventions that POVERTY-FOCUSED FORESTRY PROGRAMS seek to strengthen rights and reduce vulnerability among In 1995 the Forest, Trees and People program at FAO pub- forest-dependent communitie remain a challenge (box 15.4). lished a series of publications that set out practical methods (Programs involving wood energy, fuelwood saving, and alter- for gender analysis in the planning and implementation of native fuels provide an important exception and do focus on community-based forest projects and programs. Yet there is women, although it is evident that women's roles in forestry little or no indication that gender analysis is systematically are far more expansive than these programs' coverage.) 652 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES Box 15.4 Gender Analysis in Forestry Programs: Where Is It? Three examples illustrate a selection of the key issues facing policy making and the design and management of interven- Any rural livelihoods-focused forestry program tions that effectively capture gender. must analyze the activities and resources available to both men and women as men and women have Gender and wood energy in Asia different experiences, resulting from intergenera- tional knowledge transfer and years of experimen- During the Regional Expert Consultation on Gender and tation in forest product harvesting, processing. and Wood Energy in Asia in 1995, discussions raised a number domestication. A few of the questions to be consid- of observations that would be endorsed by the participants. ered are as follows: What forest-related tasks are The burden of providing traditional energy supplies for undertaken by men, women, boys, and girls? Who domestic use is commonly the responsibility of women. has access and the power to decide whether and Rising woodfuel prices, lower woodfuel quality, and reduced how resources are to be used, and how they are to access to woodfuels increase this burden. Interventions in be allocated? How is knowledge of the forest and its the energy sector, such as land use and fuel price reform, resources gendered? Who has control over the out- often have disproportionately negative implications for put or product? Market access for harvested and processed forest products is not gender neutral: women, especially those from lower-income groups. In many Who has access to which markets and why? What Asian countries, the concerns of women are underrepresented are the gendered barriers to adding product value in shaping wood energy policies and strategies. and market access? In addition to the gender analy- Wood energy plays an important part in women's repro- sis, an inclusion analysis would shed light on many ductive tasks. Access to inexpensive, less time-consuming, of the above issues in the initial phases of a forest and sustainable sources of wood energy and to efficient and livelihoods program: How are men and women cooking and heating devices will directly benefit women. included in each aspect of decision making with Women also have increasing energy needs in their produc- regard to forest resources, and products for use by tive roles as bread winners. Many self-employed women the community and by individual households? depend on wood or other biomass energy for commercial activities such as food preparation for sale or are employed Source: Author's adaptation from Feldstein and Poats 1990. in establishments that rely on woodfuel. Others are eco- nomically dependent on trading in fuelwood and charcoal, and some have escaped poverty through this trade. The A number of factors contribute to gender blindness, both need to understand and to relate to women's needs in regard at the national policy level and in field project design. Field to these matters is thus of central importance in wood projects and forest offices are predominantly staffed by men energy planning at all levels. forestry officers, who are therefore the majority of those responsible for running participatory rural appraisals and other types of participatory consultation in the villages. In Forest law, nonwood forest products, and income-earning opportunities for many rural societies, village women are culturally restrained women in Lao PDR from speaking in public. In many instances it is not consid- ered appropriate for men from outside the community to In the Lao People's Democratic Republic, policy makers encourage women to participate in meetings or to suggest recognize the importance of NWFPs in alleviating poverty separate meetings with women participants. Combined and supporting national economic development. The lack of with the common lack of frontline women forestry officers, clear legal guidelines, enforcement mechanisms, support these cultural proscriptions mitigate against women's per- services, and institutional capacity has been recognized as a spectives being aired during village discussions and data major constraint to realizing the products' potential in these generation exercises. Although women are ordinarily roles. The government has strengthened a number of institu- responsible for the nutrition and food security of their tions and was encouraged in introducing new policies and a families, the products that women harvest and market to legal framework to promote NWFPs. The FAO assisted the feed their families are generally not included in conven- government and other involved stakeholders by creating a tional forest inventories or data collection exercises. model for the development of marketing systems for NWFPs THEMATIC NOTE 1: FORESTS AS SAFETY NETS: GENDER, STRENGTHENING RIGHTS,AND REDUCING VULNERABILITY 653 using the Market Analysis and Development approach.4 At the workplace and core mandate functions of the sector. the provincial level, stakeholder meetings were held involving The document presents the principles that guide the imple- local communities, the private sector, and local stakeholders. mentation of the strategy, including those that promote Between 30 and 50 percent of the membership of the local gender equality and greater involvement of men, women, start-up NWFP enterprises and community groups are and children living with HIV and AIDS, transparency, women.National-level task forces were established to develop accountability, and evidence-based programming. The a framework for market information systems. These are the objective is to reduce the further spread of HIV and AIDS first step in reducing bottlenecks in legislative procedures and mitigate its impact and to foster the sustainable man- and access to market information that have thus far agement and development of forest resources (see also restrained the development and application of women's Government of Malawi 2007). entrepreneurial skills and their access to credit. LESSONS LEARNED AND GUIDELINES FOR HIV and AIDS and national-level policy PRACTITIONERS in the forest sector The key actions identified in a group of successful projects The Department of Forestry in Malawi is a pioneer in develop- reviewed as part of the preparation of this thematic note ing and implemented a Forestry Sector HIV andAIDS Strategy. were the empowerment and visibility of women in local- The government recently launched this strategy covering 2007 level decision making pertaining to forest resources. to 2011. The major goals of the strategy are as follows: Women's self-help groups facilitated better access to and management of resources in all the successful projects. Self- To prevent the further spread and transmission of HIV and AIDS among workers, communities, households, help groups also enabled the women to better represent and individuals that are dependent on forestry their views in community decision making and to receive To improve sustainably the livelihoods and quality of life of technical and skills training. The North Eastern Region those who are living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. Community Resource Management Project for upland areas in India provides an example of the types of activities under- In line with the National HIV and AIDS Policy and the taken by self-help groups in forest programs (box 15.5). National Action Framework, the strategy focuses on both Along with income, the most highly valued components of Box 15.5 India:The North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project for Upland Areas Along with natural resource management groups, self- SHG members see value in meeting every week to help groups (SHGs) make up the bulk of the activities discuss common problems. While meeting to save within the International Fund for Agricultural Develop- and lend, women have the opportunity to discuss ment's North Eastern Region Community Resource collectively other needs, such as health and educa- Management Project for Upland Areas. In Nonglang vil- tion. Literacy has become one of the goals of the lage in the West Khasi Hills district, poor women have SHG. With the encouragement of the project, the seen the benefit of forming SHGs and working together. group has organized a school for young children who Microcredit has been the focus, but women's organiza- previously either did not attend classes or did so only tion into SHGs has brought other social benefits too. in the morning. Women members meet once a week and pool group According to a survey conducted to assess the resources for saving and lending purposes. These sav- impact of SHGs, the most important aspects noted by ings have been used for income-earning purposes as the group members themselves were "empowerment," well as for health and education needs. Over time "increase in income," and "awareness," in that order. groups have recognized value in loans for the benefit of They also appreciated improved consumption patterns the village apart from those for individual members. and skill development. Source: Deseng and Yirmeila 2005. 654 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY project support through the women's groups were When village-level groups have formed around a com- empowerment and awareness. mon purpose and are active, they are more effective in A review of project experiences led to the following strengthening their rights and reducing the overall vulnera- recommended sequencing of support to community-based bility of their members. They may come together in associ- organizations (CBOs):5 ations or more formally in federations (box 15.7). SHGs do not function in isolation from other forest- related stakeholders, nor are all SHGs women's groups. 1. Identify existing women's groups (CBOs) in the proposed Depending on the objectives of the group, CBOs and SHGs project area, their objectives, activities, successes, and may have men, women, and youth members. Once a CBO constraints. is organized and embarks on an activity such as marketing 2. Provide demand-driven support and training to those NTFPs or lobbying for forest resource access, the group is groups that already exist following an analysis of prob- likely to encounter constraints imposed by other forest lems and opportunities in forest access and resource use. stakeholders, as well as by forest policy and law beyond the 3. If there are no community-level organizations or associ- immediate boundaries of the village. Conflicts may occur ations in which women play an active role, assist local between the village associations and these stakeholders. authorities in the creation of self-help groups and Some CBOs have been set up in response to existing con- village-level development associations in which women flicts. CBOs often require the additional support of third can play a more active role. parties to enhance their negotiation and marketing skills: 4. Build capacity and provide management training based for instance, when they set out to gain greater access to on the goals of the groups. NTFP value chains. Many documented cases exist of this type of support.6 The Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh Tribal Development Pro- However, other types of conflicts that occur, for exam- gram in India applied these steps to empower women and ple, in the context of illegal logging, mining, or illicit develop their technical skills (box 15.6). crops, may be violent. CBOs benefit from advocacy by Box 15.6 India:The Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh Tribal Development Program The program focuses on tribal people in Jharkhand medicines. Some forest products are also sold for a and Chhattisgarh, two of the three Indian states with small cash income. the highest proportion of tribal people. Tribal peoples The program has two principal subcomponents: are among the poorest in India. The program targets marginal households, women, landless people, hill cul- Grassroots empowerment and technical capacity tivators, and tribal people. The goal is to empower building tribal people to participate in their own development Livelihood systems enhancement. through local self-government. In the Chhattisgarh area, women's productive work consists of agriculture, The former component provides training to the gathering forest products, and wage labor. Women's tribal population, especially women and other marginal workdays are typically 16­18 hours of often physically groups, on broad-based awareness of tribal rights, gen- demanding labor. Women generally go to the forest as der, and equity issues, as well as legal and managerial a group to collect forest products. Tribal people strengthening training. The latter component focuses depend on the forest for their livelihoods, including more on technical aspects, such as establishment of for nontimber or "minor" forest products. From these nurseries and support for processing and marketing of they obtain foods such as fruit and oil, as well as needed NTFPs. It works with the village groups in a livelihoods items for the home, such as bidi, brooms, baskets, context. A legal defense fund is planned to assist the mats, rope, home-made toothbrushes, leaf plates, and tribal population in defending its rights. Sources: IFAD 2006; see also http://cjtdp.nic.in. THEMATIC NOTE 1: FORESTS AS SAFETY NETS: GENDER, STRENGTHENING RIGHTS,AND REDUCING VULNERABILITY 655 Box 15.7 China: Household Forestry and Farmers' Self-Help Organizations Historically,Huoshan County in China's eastern province economic and social environment for farmers and of Anhui has been one of the country's poorest areas. their families. By empowering farmers to manage The county has abundant natural resources, such as their farms according to their own livelihood prefer- bamboo, tea, mulberry, and medicinal plants. The area ences, their dependence on the government will is best suited for forestry development because the hopefully be reduced. Women and men farmers are mountainous topography is generally unsuitable for free to join or drop out of any organization they agriculture. It is not surprising that 75 percent of farm- choose. Each self-help organization has its own rules ers' income is currently derived from forests. and regulations, and the farmers themselves elect the The Sino-Dutch Forestry Program focuses on management committee. household forestry, farmers' self-help organizations, Xu Jiaqi, a community development specialist for demonstration households, and training in participa- the project, explained that "everyone is involved in tory concepts and forestry techniques. It has three basic project activities. Each person is allowed to share his or principles: participatory approaches, gender conscious- her ideas during meetings and discussions. A decision ness, and environmental protection awareness. is made by the group by the end of the day. Women Groups created at the village level are subse- are given importance in all activities. In fact, in some quently federated into larger networks of groups groups such as the Bamboo Farmers' Association, most according to their primary purpose: "farmers' profes- of the members are women (70 percent) are women." sional associations," "community development fund More than 16,000 households have participated in management organizations," and "forest products the forestry activities. As a result, the forest cover of the processing associations." The primary aim of the county increased from 59 percent in 1989 to 70 percent farmers' self-help organizations is to improve the in 2002. Source: Chunguian 2005. third parties such as NGOs, which may, for instance, Support for and creation of women's CBOs or subgroups publicize their situation and concerns to a wider audience. in community-based organizations are not panaceas to main- Successful community-based organizations have been streaming gender in livelihood-oriented forestry programs. shown to be those that have taken the lead themselves, as Women's groups themselves often have many problems in they best know the complexities and nuances of the management, corruption, and elite capture such that poor conflict situation and the strengths and weaknesses and women are marginalized by wealthier, more articulate, and history of the various stakeholders involved. The El more educated women in the community. Poor women often Balcón, Mexico, case presented in box 15.8 illustrates the have less time, further distances to travel, and fewer resources significance of different players and the complexities of with which to engage in group activities (see also Thematic developing a governable situation around communal Note 4, Module 2). However, if women are not organized into forests.Yet it demonstrates how negotiation over confronta- entities that represent their needs and rights in forest resource tion, knowledge and employment over exclusion, and qual- access and use, their voices will not be heard. Local organiza- ity leadership, and transparency have reduced conflict and tion is the first step to strengthening rights and reducing secured livelihoods. vulnerabilities of marginalized women. 656 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY Box 15.8 El Balcón, Mexico: Building Peace and Governability around Communal Forests The Ejido el Balcón is located in the highlands of the From satellite images or by simply traveling through sierra, close to the Pacific Ocean in the region called high parts of the sierra, one can readily observe the Costa Grande in the Mexican state of Guerrero. The deterioration of the forests, which constantly suffer Ejido el Balcón was formed in 1966 when the Mexican from fires and illegal logging. El Balcón is the excep- government granted collective property rights to 136 tion. Its lands are covered with well-preserved forests, family heads of over 2,400 hectares. In 1974 another and its forest management was certified under the For- 19,150 hectares of forestland were given to the ejido est Stewardship Council in 2003. (Bray and Merino 2003). This was a time of permanent The most important achievement of El Balcón is the confrontations over the land. In the initial days of the climate of agreement, governability, and peace that it ejido, nearly 20 percent of El Balcón's community has built amid a region that has fallen victim to illegal members were widows under 30. logging and drug trafficking. A number of factors may Within the context of Guerrero and rural Mexico, the be attributable for the extraordinary institutional case of El Balcón is remarkable for several reasons. The development of El Balcón: the quality of its leaders, ejido has built a forest enterprise that uses modern tech- their preference for negotiation over confrontation in nology to produce certified timber for export. The dealing with internal problems as well as with neigh- enterprise employs all ejido members who want to work boring ejidos, their insistence on the importance of for it. Profits have largely been invested in the social issues such as regulated forest management, trans- welfare of the nearly 600 people living in the ejido parency of the ejido's business, and association with (health care, education, and public infrastructure). other forest ejidos of the region. Source: Merino 2005. THEMATIC NOTE 1: FORESTS AS SAFETY NETS: GENDER, STRENGTHENING RIGHTS,AND REDUCING VULNERABILITY 657 T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Agroforestry Landscapes: Gendered Space, Knowledge, and Practice rees play a crucial role in almost all farming T respect to trees and forests. What emerged from their analysis systems and terrestrial ecosystems; they provide a was a picture of highly complex, often negotiable resource range of essential products and services and play a tenure regimes. Women's rights remained substantial, particularly pivotal role wherever people depend on fragile although frequently tenuous and under pressure from a ecosystems for survival and sustenance. Integrating trees variety of changes in land use, family composition, and into agricultural landscapes provides a number of environ- household structure (box 15.9). In some cases, evolving cus- mental services, some of which are essential. Trees maintain tomary practices served to maintain women's access to soil health and regenerate land that has been cleared of nat- resources and warranted protecting, enhancing, or reconfig- ural vegetation. They provide nutritious foods for human uring customary law into more robust, equitable statutory consumption and fodder for livestock, as well as timber, law and administrative procedures. Resource tenure was also fuelwood, gums, resins, latex, and medicinal substances. clarified when researchers realized that even within seemingly Agroforestry is a system of natural resources management unitary blocks of private household property, complex struc- that integrates trees on farms and in the agricultural land- tures and processes governed how resources were divided and scape to diversify and sustain production. Farmers through- shared by gender. These complex, gendered systems of tree out the world have practiced agroforestry for millennia. By use, access, responsibility, and control require the attention of World Bank estimates, over 1.2 billion people derive their field workers, planners, and policy makers. livelihoods from agroforestry systems. Owing to its capacity Interventions in community forestry management, farm to enhance multiple functions in agriculture, agroforestry forestry, and agroforestry frequently invest all access rights will become increasingly important in land-use practices in a single "owner," in part for the sake of project imple- around the world (World Agroforestry Centre 2008). mentation simplicity and efficiency, in part on the assump- Women's knowledge of trees and of tree genetic diversity tion that such "owners" need exclusive rights to manage is extensive, and their roles as both suppliers and users of their land effectively. This is an erroneous assumption. The tree germplasm and genetic resources make them critical nested rights to trees and tree products within tenure agents in scaling up agroforestry practices to improve liveli- domains need to be considered (box 15.10). Agroforestry hoods. This is knowledge that is all too often neglected. and forestry projects and programs can better protect Women are important to agroforestry, but agroforestry is women's access rights by allowing for multiple uses of spe- also very important to them. Farm niches such as dairy cific spaces and resources by multiple users. These projects fodder and domesticated indigenous fruit trees in home and programs can also prioritize renewable uses, such as the compounds are typically managed by women, and their gathering of fruits and harvesting of fallen wood, prunings, engagement in these agroforestry activities provides them coppiced wood, and leaf fodder, which do not preclude with access to the products of these activities. most other uses (Rocheleau and Edmunds 1997) Women's rights are often negotiated and may, therefore, not be best GENDEREDTREETENURE AND ACCESSTO AND served by formal titling of land, which often vests ownership DISPOSAL OF AGROFORESTRYTREE PRODUCTS in a single head of household. Designers of agroforestry interventions should be prepared In 1997 Rocheleau and Edmunds analyzed the gendered to disaggregate agroforestry products that are controlled by nature of resource use, access, control, and responsibility with 658 Box 15.9 Ethiopia and Niger: Nested Rights to Trees and Tree Products in Gendered Tenure Regimes Ethiopia: Gender Impacts of No-Free-Grazing Niger: Gender and Customary Tenure in Agroforestry Trial in Tigray Parklands in Maradi In the late 1990s a university department undertook an The village head allocates land to households periodi- initiative to reduce soil erosion on arable land and to cally, and the allocations may change every 5 to 20 years create vegetated soil conservation structures through or so. Changes depend on the needs of the village resi- controlled village-wide trials, which would require the dents and on the number of households requesting to animals that normally grazed on open land near vil- farm on land belonging to the village or village chief. lagers' homesteads to be moved to the low hills sur- From the allocation, the head of household (usually rounding the village. The impact on some of the men) then allocates a portion of that land, usually households was unexpected. One widow had previously nearer the homestead, to his wife for the production of used dung from the animals she kept close to her house domestic food crops and other portions of land to the for cooking and repairing the walls of her compound. production of his crops. The wife has a right to plant Now she had to use the same dung as payment to a trees on her portion of land, but then only the right to wealthier household near the hills where her cattle gather the fruits, leaves, and firewood as by-products, grazed at night. She was now also obliged to walk six not to harvest the whole tree. She has no right to plant kilometers a day to collect fuelwood from those hills. trees on her husband's land. She may, however, have No complete gender and wealth analysis of space, access to certain tree products such as fuelwood or tenure, agricultural, and forest product access and use fruits from his land. If, during her married life, she has had been undertaken before the trial. planted a fruit-bearing tree in the family compound or on her land, she has the right to harvest the fruits from those trees, even after divorce. Source: Author. men and by women.Attention to customary practices can also biodiversity, sequestering carbon, and providing valuable inform analysis of how men and women benefit from the public and private goods. With their ecological similarities to products of the resources they use. Men often control and natural forest ecosystems, they provide insurance against pest benefit from the products that women are responsible for pro- and diseases outbreaks. They also provide a variety of goods ducing. This is sometimes the case when women are involved and services that people may otherwise rely on forests for and in community reforestation projects, caring for nurseries and thus serve as a buffer against pressures on natural forests. transplanting seedlings of trees that men ultimately use for Home gardens are a prominent form of land use in tradi- poles. Project and policy interventions can make explicit refer- tionally matrilineal societies such as Kerala, central Java, and ence to who disposes of tree products and can help women west Sumatra. They have remained engines of growth over avoid situations in which their labor is exploited largely for the long periods in these highly populated lowlands. Their pro- benefit of others. ductivity is modest compared to intensive monocultures, but they are a far more diversified source of production and income. Planting and maintaining home gardens also reflect GENDERED KNOWLEDGE AND HOME the culture and status of the household, and especially GARDENS INTHE SUBHUMIDTROPICS OF women, in local society. In many places women play a vital SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA role in the design and management of these land-use systems. Home gardening is a time-tested example of sustainable, Growing and harvesting vegetables, fruits, nuts, medicinal multispecies, agroforestry land use practiced as a subset of plants, and fuel, and rearing animals are often the domain of farming systems, predominantly in lowland humid tropics. women, especially in smaller gardens. The possibility of gen- Home gardens contain a vast number of plants, with which der equality for participating in garden management and the members of the household constantly interact, conserving sharing of benefits is perhaps one of the major stimuli for THEMATIC NOTE 2:AGROFORESTRY LANDSCAPES: GENDERED SPACE, KNOWLEDGE,AND PRACTICE 659 been reported lost during a 60-year period. Although Box 15.10 Frequency of Trees on Women's precise data are not available, the forest diversity of home Fields in Agroforestry Parklands gardens in most parts of the world appears to have declined. The challenge is now to tie in conversion of the genetic Trees located on women's fields generally belong to wealth with the formation of economic wealth. The femi- the men who lend them the piece of land but who nization of poverty will continue unabated if the role of may, however, concede women the right of access to women as managers of biological resources is ignored. them. In central Mali women have the right to trim Women's knowledge in, and conservation of, genetic branches and gather fruit and deadwood without material could assist in identifying and promoting species permission from the landowner. Women are also usually responsible for the processing and commer- adaptability and domestication to face the challenges posed cialization of parkland products. Tree protection is by the adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. as common in women's fields as it is in men's. Trees act as reservoirs and potential sources of carbon. The In Thiogou in southern Burkino Faso, the den- role of tropical forest ecosystems in carbon storage and sity of naturally regenerating trees was found to be release is quantified in the global context and recognized in significantly higher in women's fields, at 35 trees the regulation of atmospheric carbon. According to the per hectare, than in the fields of men household Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, carbon fixa- heads, at 24 trees per hectare. Women in the area tion from forest regeneration, intensified planting and had long-term land loans. Various vegetables and agroforestry, and reduced deforestation could equal 12­15 spices as well as some cereals are grown in women's percent of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels from 1995 to fields, whereas family fields are more exclusively 2050. Unruh, Houghton, and Lefebvre (1993) estimated the oriented toward staple cereal production. With amount of stored carbon in aboveground and under- fields of similar species richness but about one- third the size of fields managed by family heads, ground biomass in 21 different agroforestry systems in sub- the number of tree species per unit was twice as Sahelian regions. They concluded that the environmental high in women's fields. role of agroforestry in terms of retaining organic matter in the soil and reducing deforestation (and thereby reducing Source: FAO 1999. CO2 emissions) is more important than its straightforward effect of carbon sequestration (FAO 2002). continued household security enjoyed by home gardeners for GENDER, AGROFORESTRYTECHNOLOGY generations. Nutritional security and income generation are ADAPTATION, AND ADOPTION other factors (Kumar and Nair 2004). In Sri Lanka women played a key role in diversifying the Studies are regularly made on the adoption, adaptation, and food and nutritional base by using their knowledge of forest- impact of introduced agroforestry practices. This section based resources. Women's home gardens are best described gives results of studies that have considered gender aspects as "genetic gardens."Women have made a significant contri- to the adoption of agroforestry practices that have been bution to the genetic improvement of crop plants and other designed and tested to address soil fertility (box 15.11). economically important plants by a continuous selection process. They have also been responsible for domesticating Improved fallows and biomass transfer food and medicinal plants that are now found in every in Kenya and Zambia home garden (FAO 1999). However, with the transition of Sri Lankan agriculture In 1999 Franzel and others (2001) surveyed 108 farmers in from one based on home needs to one catering to markets, Kenya and Zambia who had first planted improved fallows women have increasingly been relegated to unskilled work. in 1994 and 1995 to assess their experiences in managing the This is particularly true in the plantation crop sector. technology. Over time, the farmers had managed to increase Species losses from home gardens are said to be occurring at the land area devoted to fallows from an average of 0.04 to an unprecedented rate. In Kerala many local varieties of 0.07 hectare between first and third plantings. Neither tree mango and jackfruit and other traditional horticultural planting nor cutting seemed to be a problem, and the crops that were once abundant in home gardens have now improved fallow system as a whole required 11 percent less become extinct. In West Java 27 varieties of mango have labor than a continuous unfertilized maize alternative. 660 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY Box 15.11 Agroforestry Technologies Developed to Enhance Soil Fertility Throughout eastern and southern Africa, farmers cite popular. In eastern Zambia, Sesbania, the preferred soil fertility as an important constraint. The World species, is established in a raised bed nursery and then Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and its partners transplanted to the target field. In both countries the responded by undertaking research into agroforestry- tree fallows are cut and the leaves incorporated into related options for soil fertility. Many agroforestry sys- the soil during land preparation. tems were tested, and the more promising systems have Biomass transfer systems in Kenya involve the grow- been tested in farmer-managed conditions. ing of trees or shrubs alongside boundaries or contours Improved fallows are the enrichment of natural on farms--or the collection of the same from off-farm fallows with trees. In Kenya most farmers plant niches, such as roadsides--and applying the leaves on improved fallow trees into an existing crop, whereas the field at planting time and sometimes later in the in Zambia most farmers establish them in an unculti- season. In western Kenya, Tithonia diversifolia became vated field. The dominant crop for which fallows are the farmers' preferred species. This has been tested on used is maize in Zambia and maize and beans in maize, kale, French beans, and tomatoes. Given the Kenya. In western Kenya farmers direct-seed or broad- small size of farms in Kenya, farmers generally utilize cast at high density one or more of several species; Cro- the green manure on smaller plots, often preferring talaria grahamiana and Tephrosia vogelii are the most those plots producing higher-value vegetables. Source: Place and others 2002. Cutting the fallows generally took less time than planting, to be feasible and acceptable to farmers, at least at the could be done by women, and took place during a slack modest levels at which they are initially used. Economic labor period. Analysis of the effects of the gender of house- analysis also found the systems to be profitable to farmers in hold heads on household wealth in four pilot villages found terms of return to land and labor. Unlike other soil fertility little difference in the use of fallows between men and options, improved fallows and biomass transfer appear to be women; the percentages were 32 and 24 percent, respectively. used by large numbers of women farmers. They are also The use of fallows was higher among wealthier households, used by poor households more than other agroforestry and who appeared to lead the process of trial and adaptation. soil fertility practices. Fifty-three percent of the wealthier farmers examined used improved fallows, compared to just 16 percent of the very Agroforestry practices particularly adapted poor households (Place and others 2002). to farm niches managed by women Two studies investigated the household characteristics associated with the use of biomass transfer among 747 farm- Some innovative agroforestry practices are adapted by ers in the villages of Siaya and Vihiga in western Kenya. In women and customized to fit the farm niches and products Vihiga, 43 percent of the men-headed households examined over which they tend to have greater control. In the two continued to use the technology following extension services examples in box 15.12, an estimated 60 percent of farmers compared to just 14 percent of households in which the prin- using the technologies are women. cipal decision maker was a woman. Farming households that used biomass transfer were more likely to have a larger num- Gender and agroforestry germplasm supply ber of family members. The frequency of farmers' contact with extension agents was also revealed to be a significant Improvement of livelihoods for smallholder farmers relationship, whereas age, education, and reliance on non- involves bringing more trees onto farms and into the agri- farm activities were not related (Place and others 2002). cultural landscape. This will require that efficient seed and Improved fallows and biomass transfer have been avail- seedling production and distribution systems reach larger able to farmers for only a few years. Place and his colleagues numbers of scattered and relatively isolated small-scale farm- (2002) found improved fallow and biomass transfer systems ers. A well-functioning seed system is one that combines THEMATIC NOTE 2:AGROFORESTRY LANDSCAPES: GENDERED SPACE, KNOWLEDGE,AND PRACTICE 661 Box 15.12 Women Are 60 Percent of Farmers Piloting Innovative Agroforestry Technologies Gender and tree fodder production for small-scale zero others 2001). Other benefits of fodder trees and shrubs grazing. The low quality and quantity of feed resources are the provision of bee forage, fuelwood, stakes and are major constraints to dairy farming in central Kenya, poles, fencing, and shade. parts of Tanzania, and Uganda. In highland areas of Gender and the domestication of indigenous fruits. Kenya, farm sizes average one or two hectares, and Many rural households rely on indigenous fruit trees as about 80 percent of households own one or two dairy sources of cash and subsistence in the Southern African cows. Most farmers grow Napier grass (Pennisetum Development Community. purpureum) as fodder (cut and fed to the cows). Milk Using participatory research to examine domestica- yields are low because Napier grass is low in protein. tion, product development, and commercialization, the Commercial dairy meal is available, but farmers con- ICRAF identified a number of priority tree species in sider it expensive and most do not use it. In the early each country, including Uapaca kirkiana, Strychnos coc- 1990s the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) collabo- culoides, Parinari curatellifolia, and Sclerocarya birrea. rated with the Kenya Forestry Research Institute and The goal of domesticating these trees is to increase their the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute to test a num- quantity, availability, and productivity and to create ber of fodder shrubs near the town of Embu. Most of opportunities for marketing their products. An impact the trials were farmer designed and managed. Callian- analysis indicated that a robust domestication program dra calothyrsus emerged as the best-performing fodder will create incentives for farmer-led investment in the shrub and the one most preferred by farmers. Farmers cultivation of indigenous fruit trees as an alternative to tested the feasibility of growing Calliandra in a range of collecting wild fruit. In Zimbabwe the returns to labor "neglected niches" on their farms. They found the by women and children in collecting wild fruits are two shrub could be successfully planted in hedges along to three times greater than other farming activities. In a internal and external boundaries, around the home- survey of roadside market vendors of the indigenous stead, along contours for controlling soil erosion, or fruit Uapaca kirkiana in Dedze, Malawi, the majority of intercropped with Napier grass (Franzel and others respondents were women or children under 19 years 2004). Subsequent to additional project support, it was old, and all of them had harvested the fruits from estimated that 86,450 farmers were planting fodder forests and communal lands in areas outside their shrubs in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania homesteads and fields (Kadzere and others 2006). (Franzel, 2005). About 60 percent of these farmers are Fruits enable women and children to contribute to women. In Kenya most dairy-related activities are household income and to assist the household during undertaken by women, and studies suggest that they seasonal periods of food insecurity. In the scaling-up have some control over income derived from these component of this program, 60 percent of the 13,000 activities. Cash income from a zero grazing enterprise farmers reached were women. They were trained in was found to contribute to improved household domesticating and propagating trees, establishing nurs- economies, including payment of school fees and pur- eries, and managing farms. Indigenous fruit tree chase of food and clothing. However, the control of seedlings have been tested by farmers in four countries. increased income associated with this technology Akinnifesi and colleagues (2006) found that 86 percent might change hands from women to men. Women will of the planting sites in Malawi and 98 percent in Zambia benefit more from commercial dairying under zero were located on homesteads. Women were the principal grazing if they are better educated and if they have managers of these sites and were likely to benefit the most more access to land for planting forages and fodder. from production.Women were the principal recipients of Access to credit will enable women to purchase training in the local production of fruit concentrates, improved dairy breeds and the feed supplements jam, juice, and other products in Malawi, Tanzania, Zam- needed for a profitable dairy enterprise (Lauwo and bia, and Zimbabwe (Ham and others 2008). 662 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY formal and informal, market and nonmarket channels to employment opportunities, also have a role to play in the stimulate and efficiently meet farmers' evolving demand for seed supply system. However, the greatest leverage in terms quality seeds. The Improved Seed Systems for Agroforestry of quality seed supply and the quality of trees planted on in African Countries project in Burkina Faso, Malawi, and farmland will be in finding mechanisms to train and mobilize Uganda was introduced to facilitate access to tree the efforts of CBOs, particularly women's groups. These local germplasm by men and women farmers.1 The project grassroots institutions already exist. entailed considerable analysis of the constraints and oppor- tunities people experience in getting access to germplasm LESSONS LEARNED AND GUIDELINES supply for agroforestry. A number of practical lessons from FOR PRACTITIONERS the project experience are discussed by Brandi-Hansen and others (2007): The division of landscapes, farm niches, and products between men and women makes the issue of germplasm Centralized seed supply systems have not provided access and preference a deeply gendered one. Under the mis- rural communities with agroforestry tree seed or with conception that men are the principal, or only, decision messages regarding the importance of seed quality or makers with regard to tree planting, management, and use, procedures for collecting quality seed. the basis of women's differentiated decision making is often NGOs may be providing agroforestry tree seed, but tree not recognized in farmers' trials and scaling-up activities. growing is often one among many activities undertaken Women require specific targeted information and training by an NGO, and their provision of seeds tends to lack the as well as access to credit and other services, adjusted to rigor required to ensure quality and adequate returns to their particular landscape niches and agroforestry product the farmers they supply. The majority of large NGOs do needs. Gender analysis should therefore be considered as not provide accurate and precise information with nothing less than an essential element of designing and regard to seed collection and handling. The focus tends planning agroforestry interventions and should be required to be on volume of seed handled, rather than on quality periodically throughout the life of an intervention.Women's and site matching. NGOs would appear to have limited roles in traditional complex agroforestry systems are connections to most grassroots CBOs. NGOs tend to acknowledged. Yet their knowledge and experience are not serve their own clientele, especially "their own" CBOs, being adequately garnered by policies that will guide the and seldom engage with or build on the capacities and future of traditional agroforestry systems. With the growing networks of existing CBOs. influence of the market economy, and the consequent focus A few specialized and highly focused NGOs are provid- on a narrow range of home garden species, a real risk exists ing lessons in quality seed procurement. that this gendered knowledge, and even certain plant The great majority of persons surveyed who deal in tree species, will not be passed onto future generations. With seed are women, and members of CBOs that collect tree regard to the development of innovative agroforestry seed locally,growing trees for their own use.2 These women practices, far greater efforts in considering the gender and their CBOs are not reached by any of the NGOs. implications of these developments are required. Recruiting Large multipurpose projects or NGOs are therefore not women farmers to participatory agroforestry practice the most appropriate targets of information dissemi- groups, farmer-managed trials, and farmer field schools nated about quality seeds. Improved germplasm and warrants strong priority. Numbers and categories of indi- information on how to use it should be disseminated vidual women and women's CBOs who practice innovative directly to women's CBOs, which lie at the heart of the agroforestry should be carefully documented, along with sustainable tree seed supply network. Rural women the adaptations they develop. should be placed at the center of any agroforestry tree Agroforestry parklands are widespread throughout seed supply system. much of semiarid Africa. The variety of different types of agroforestry parklands reflects the dynamic nature of these Establishing associations and networks of small-scale systems and the ability of farmers to adapt them to entrepreneurs is also recommended (Graudal and Lillesø changes in the natural and socioeconomic environment 2007). Yet most such entrepreneurs are men, and focusing (FAO 1999). The importance of these parklands as a liveli- on them would likely lead to women being excluded from hood buffer and as a pool of forest genetic diversity has training opportunities. Youth, who often lack other brought them to the attention of the policy makers and THEMATIC NOTE 2:AGROFORESTRY LANDSCAPES: GENDERED SPACE, KNOWLEDGE,AND PRACTICE 663 researchers in recent years. Research into biophysical of increasing women's access to land resources (including interactions upon which parkland productivity is based agroforestry tree germplasm and products), making credit can build on indigenous knowledge to provide manage- more affordable, improving access to markets, and making ment prescriptions more precisely attuned to the needs of labor more efficient by task sharing within the groups. different environments. Parkland agroforestry projects This Note focuses on women practitioners of agroforestry, could focus on promoting practices and technologies that although the importance of women's representation among require minimal labor and capital investments to produce professionals who engage in decision and policy making rapid returns, and on increasing opportunities involving that relates to agroforestry at local, regional, and national parkland tree products (FAO 1999). The promotion of levels should not be underestimated. Currently few women markets and improved processing for parkland products agroforestry field workers, scientists, and policy makers are will encourage farmers to invest in the further develop- available. Strategies to enhance gender-conscious imple- ment of their parkland systems. However, it has been mentation of agroforestry may be achieved through the reported that when products such as Vitellaria nuts have following steps: increased value as a cash crop, men have reduced women's access to the resource. A similar trend resulting from the Support to existing women's groups active in agro- introduction of domesticated materials or improved pro- forestry, including tree nursery groups, zero grazing and cessing technologies might develop to the detriment of dairy fodder groups, indigenous fruits marketing groups, women. Changes in tree tenure, therefore, need to be mon- and horticulture associations itored and consequences anticipated (FAO 1999). Posting of more women frontline staff by the relevant Finally, although formal credit may be a necessary step ministries and partner NGOs for women to adopt efficient forest-related technologies, More consciously gender-oriented research, outreach, insecurity of access to land resources currently limits avail- and scaling-up strategies ability to credit collateral. Building the capacity of existing Greater educational opportunities for women in land law social organizations such as women's groups may be a way and agricultural and forest sciences (box 15.13). Box 15.13 Examples of Gender Initiatives from Research and Education Institutions In science and research: Consultative Group on Interna- Integrating gender aspects in the design and imple- tional Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Gender and mentation of research proposals Diversity Program exists to help the CGIAR Centers Including women farmers in all phases of the leverage their rich staff diversity to increase research and outreach strategy management excellence. The program also has a men- Steadily increasing the number of women toring and sponsorship program (including a Women's professionals Post Doctoral Fellowship program at the World Agro- Promoting and facilitating the participation of forestry Centre) and is promoting the education and women in graduate education career of women agricultural scientists. Advancing the understanding of gender among In education and institutional capacity building: students (graduates and courses) Crucial among the strategies of the Centro Agronom- Developing understanding and implementation of ico Tropical de Investigacion y Enseñanza's (CATIE's) gender focus by CATIE's staff gender policy are the following: Improving CATIE's role in the exchange of knowl- edge, experience, and expertise. Sources: Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Enseñanza,"Gender Policy,"www.catie.ac.cr; World Agroforestry Centre 2008: 45. 664 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Enterprise Development Project: Protected Areas and Ecotourism "P rotected areas (PAs) are specific and unique natural Next to the protected area of the BINP are multiple-use habitats, where human encroachment is restricted zones in 13 of the 21 parishes (some 18 percent of the park in order to preserve biodiversity for present and area). However, less than 10 percent of the population of these future generations. In many protected areas around the parishes holds licenses to harvest honey, weaving materials, world, however, people with legitimate or historical land and medical products from the multiple-use zones. Based on ownership rights live within the established boundaries. the existing harvesting quotas of natural resources, multiple- Women's and men's relationships with the environment in use zones have limited scope for enterprise development, even the protected areas and their buffer zones, in the context of among current license holders. their respective gender roles, are crucial for the very survival Community-Based Enterprises for the Conservation of of these natural habitats. . . . Women and men have very dif- Biodiversity at Bwindi World Heritage Site in Uganda was a ferent approaches to managing the environment: addressing project carried out by the Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetra- these concrete differences will make people's relationship ble Forest Conservation Trust Fund from 2001 to 2004. The with the environment more sustainable" (IUCN 2003b: 1). project was funded by the United Nations Foundation and The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) covers FAO. It was intended to demonstrate that community-based 32,092 hectares in southwest Uganda. Its rare afromontane tree and forest product enterprises can contribute to both vegetation provides one of the richest habitats for birds, poverty alleviation and the conservation of biodiversity. butterflies, trees, and mammals in East Africa. Its mammal The project included gender disaggregation of baseline populations include chimpanzees and more than half of the data. During the participatory appraisal, particular attention world's remaining mountain gorillas--more than 300 indi- was devoted to identifying women-headed households and viduals. Sections of BNIP have been protected since 1932, to reviewing educational levels and household livelihood and the national park itself was established in 1991. Because strategies. This included sampling women's and men's daily of BINP's rare and wide biodiversity, United Nations time profiles. Focus group discussion examined differentials Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization accorded in education, access to training and employment, and access it the status of World Heritage Site in 1994. to information and communication. The project also exam- ined management of savings and credit funds by women's groups and identified women entrepreneurs, who were What's innovative? The project collected gender- purposefully included in project activities. disaggregated baseline data, which were incorpo- rated in its design, monitoring, and evaluation. Gender analysis and gender-sensitive framework FAO'S MARKETING ANALYSIS AND and criteria were adopted in its microenterprise DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY development component to ensure that priorities of women and other disadvantaged groups were The project employed the Market Analysis and Develop- properly taken into account. Women field staff and ment approach developed by FAO.1 This is a step-by-step women entrepreneurs were hired as mentors to iterative process that provides forest community members encourage more effective women's participation in with the capacity to identify and develop viable and suc- the project. cessful tree and forest product enterprises and to manage them independently. 665 The initial idea of the project was to use Market Analysis Box 15.14 Other Features of the Project's and Development to improve local livelihoods through the Gender Strategy development of income-generating tree and forest enter- prises, while protecting those resources. This idea proved to have limitations from the outset of the project because par- Gender disaggregation of project background ticipating communities enjoyed only very restricted access and baseline data. Special attention in the participatory appraisal to the park. The project, therefore, had to shift its focus away to identify women-headed households and to from "giving value to the forest--and thus protecting it--by review educational levels and household liveli- using its resources" and toward finding options for reducing hood strategies, including sampling of women's pressure on the park (FAO 2006a: 29). These included using and men's daily time profiles. products that depend on the biodiversity in the park but Focus group discussion examining education that do not come out of the park itself. differentials, access to training and employ- During the first two years of the project various products ment, access to information and communica- and services were identified, including community-based tion, and the structure of women's groups' tourism, support to a local campground, handicrafts, bee- management of savings and credit funds. keeping, and enterprises dealing with passion fruit, avoca- Recording of numbers of women's enterprises, dos, and mushrooms. Through these enterprises a significant women-headed households, women's saving proportion of the local community was able to participate in and credit groups, and women's forest user societies, and development of indicators for enterprises that were linked to the conservation of natural monitoring and evaluating the participation of resources within the park. women and disadvantaged groups. Identification and inclusion of women entre- GENDER STRATEGY preneurs in project activities (for example, as mentors to women's enterprises and making During the participatory appraisal undertaken in preparation presentations to encourage role modeling). for the project, particular attention was devoted to identifying women-headed households and the livelihood strategies they Source: FAO 2006a. employed. Planners reviewed education levels and used focus group discussions to examine differentials in education, and access to training, employment, and information and com- by women entrepreneurs depended on the support of the munication. They also examined the management of savings entire household. The project strived for gender balance and credit funds by women's groups. Women entrepreneurs rather than focusing exclusively on women or men and took were identified and included in project activities. steps to ensure that women and disadvantaged groups were A gender strategy was developed to ensure that benefits not excluded from extension, marketing, credit, and other are equitably shared and that those people with the least activities (box 15.14). access to education, training, and information were pro- Gender analysis was used as a tool during the initial sur- vided with opportunities to participate in the project. Hir- vey of potential economic opportunities. Both men and ing women as field staff was deemed crucial to maintaining women developed criteria; they then decided which enter- balanced gender participation. Planners developed a frame- prise to adopt. When community members were assessing work and criteria for microenterprise development to enterprises, the gender strategy ensured that the poorest ensure that the priorities of women and other disadvan- groups and women participated in the final selection. It was taged groups were properly taken into account, and they also necessary, however, to involve more educated and expe- applied during the life of the project. rienced community members to promote trade linkages Planners promoted the sustainability of the income from and ensure the proper accounting of finances. enterprises by building individuals' entrepreneurial capacity through a process that involved the local population in THE BUHOMAVILLAGE WALK: action research and participatory data gathering and analy- COMMUNITY-BASED ECOTOURISM sis. Business literacy and enterprise development stressed negotiating skills. Results of the initial phase of the project The Buhoma village walk was one of the initial community indicated that the success of business endeavors undertaken enterprises identified as a result of applying FAO's Market 666 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY Analysis and Development approach and the project's gender developed, technical and entrepreneur capacities were strategy. In total the enterprise development project worked improved, and pilot enterprise activities are up and running. with 304 entrepreneurs in a range of start-up businesses; 179 The Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Conserva- of these entrepreneurs were women, and 125 were men. tion Trust Fund is committed to continue giving support to The Buhoma village walk starts and ends at the Buhoma these enterprises, together with a number of local service Community Rest Camp located at the entrance of BNIP. It providers linked with the specific enterprise groups. Some passes through a typical African village with traditional of the enterprises and value-adding technologies that rural homesteads. The sites along the walk include a local emerged during product selection were of particular inter- women's handicraft center for a 15-minute craft-making est to women. Yet the support and involvement of the men demonstration, a waterfall, tea plantations, a local tradi- in their households were found to be critical by the project tional medicine healer, a school, bird watching in a commu- staff. The design and timing of the training workshops took nity woodlot, Batwa (pygmy) music and performance, and into account the availability of both men and women. brewing facilities for banana beer and a local gin called Gender balance was actively sought in market study tours waragi. The walk lasts approximately three hours. The enter- and other enterprise-related activities. All monitoring infor- prise is made up of eight guides from the local community mation was disaggregated by gender so that the impacts of and a representative for each of the households that manage the project for both men and women could be evaluated. sites along the route. It is registered under the Buhoma The project gave clear indications of the types of strategies Community Rest Camp Association (BCRCA) of Mukono necessary to ensure the full participation of women and parish, Kanungu district. The Culture and Tourism Devel- men (FAO 2006a). There was a common consensus among opment Committee of the BCRCA supervises its activities. the stakeholders in the project area that focusing on women The income earned is shared according to a breakdown that yielded better results. The overall attendance and participa- was agreed among all the stakeholders (FAO 2006b). tion of women in workshops was at least 40 percent. The aim was to attract an average of five tourist a day (half A gender-equitable perspective in the sustained manage- the people who visit the park), who would pay $7.50 each. ment of protected areas enables practitioners to recognize The monthly sales target was $750. Promotional strategies the following (see also box 15.15): included developing a brochure about the walk, listing the walk as one of Bwindi's tourist activities in the Uganda Communities are not homogeneous--consultation with Wildlife Authority (UWA) brochure, and marketing the walk a variety of stakeholders is necessary. by guides at local tourist lodges. The enterprise received 2,295 visitors between January 2003 and August 2005. In 2004 the village walk generated an extra $27 per month for each guide, Box 15.15 Maximizing Conservation in $17 per month for each site owner, and $74 per month for the Protected Areas: Guidelines for 11 Batwa households (45 households) that managed the sites. Gender Conservation This represents significant earnings for people who did not have any access to cash income before, such as the Batwa. Each site owner contributed $1.70 for trail maintenance every Conflicts between community interests and con- servation interventions in protected areas are month, which was carried out by Batwa community mem- common but not inevitable. Research shows that bers. All the site owners inspected the trail every fifth day of access to education and training can reduce such the month, when there is a general meeting. Site owners have conflicts. A gender-equitable perspective addition- formed a small committee to oversee maintenance of the ally asks if both women and men are in a position walk. The village walk guides attend regular training and to participate actively. The poor, who are often briefings with UWA rangers. A good working relationship women, need education to develop their capacity exists among UWA, the community, and the guides. to manage the environmental resources of pro- tected areas in ways that are sustainable for them and the environment. To invest in the environment LESSONS LEARNED AND ISSUES FOR WIDER is to invest in people. APPLICABILITY Source: IUCN 2003b. The project resulted in the establishment of 13 enterprise groups. For each enterprise group, a business plan was INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY PROFILE 1: BWINDI IMPENETRABLE NATIONAL PARK ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT 667 Men and women use and manage different natural 1. NWFPs consist of goods of biological origin other than resources in protected areas differently. wood, as well as services derived from forests and allied land The different interests, knowledge, and behavior of uses (FAO 1995). NTFPs are nontimber forest products women, men, and children have important ramifications (including wood not sold as timber, such as fuel wood/ for conservation initiatives. wood energy and wood-carving materials). 2. The miombo woodlands, recognized for their floristic Strategies to include and facilitate women in extension, richness and widespread occurrence of the genera Brachyste- entrepreneurial, managerial, and decision-making gia, Julbernadia, Isoberlinia, and their associates (Malaisse roles will enhance the sustainability of protected area 1978), form the dominant natural woodland type in southern management initiatives. Africa. They extend across about 2.7 million square kilome- ters of the African subhumid tropical zone from Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo in the north, through NOTES Zambia, Malawi, and eastern Angola, to Mozambique and Overview Zimbabwe. It is estimated that over 75 million people live within the miombo biome and that the woodlands directly This Overview was written by Christine Holding Anyonge support the livelihood of over 40 million people in this and Natalie Hufnagl (Consultants), with inputs from Sophie African region (Bradley and McNamara 1993; Dewees 1994). Grouwels, Simmone Rose, and Dieter Schoene (FAO) and 3. FAO, "Regional Wood Energy Development Programme Katuscia Fara (IFAD); and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande in Asia," Expert consultation in Gender and Wood Energy, and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); Deborah Rubin (Cul- http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/HC270799/RWEDP/rm tural Practice); Dan Rugabira (FAO); Ilaria Firmian, Maria 22.html. Hartl, and Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Diji Chan- 4. FAO (2006). drasekharan Behr and Eija Pehu (World Bank). 5. Thematic Note 4 on Gender, Self-Help Groups, and Farm- 1. See also Food and Agriculture Organization, "Gender ers' Organisations (Module 2) refers to six types and functions Analysis and Forestry Training Package," www.fao.org/ of women's groups in the agricultural sector: producers' asso- forestry/foris/pdf/gender/tr-e01/tr-e01.0.pdf. ciations and cooperatives, self-help groups, rotating savings 2. SAFE: The Interagency Standing Committee Task Force and credit associations,women's subgroups in village develop- on Safe Access to Firewood and Alternative Energy in ment associations, women's groups in watershed management Humanitarian Settings, Coordinated by the UN Women's associations, agricultural extension field schools, or farmer Commission for Refugee Women and Children. research groups. Terms used in other texts are "farmer's 3. This contrasts with the European report, which states professional associations," "community development fund that "the relatively low level of female representation--both management organizations," "forest products processing in terms of critical mass and levels of seniority/professional associations," and "agroforestry nursery entrepreneurs." In the roles--is in stark contrast to the feedback from responding context of this Note, the natures of the women's groups to countries that gender/equality is perceived as an important which we are referring are those focused on collective issue in society, [and furthermore] an `issue' within the for- action in relation to their livelihoods and forest resources est industries of the respective reporting countries" (FAO and may therefore be a range of these alternatives, includ- 2006b: 11­12). ing self-help groups and village development associations. 4. Program on Forests, "Poverty and Forestry Linkages: A For the purposes of this Note, we will use the collective Synthesis of Six Case Studies," www.profor.info. term community-based organizations. 6. FAO marketing analysis and development methodology, IFAD program support to Phytotrade, and INBAR bamboo Thematic Note 1 and rattan field projects. See Elsie Yang and Yangjing Sucui- wei, "A Gender Assessment Study on Bamboo-Based Rural This Thematic Note was written by Christine Holding Any- Development and Utilization Activities--A Case Study in onge (Consultant), with inputs from Chitra Deshpande Yunnan, China," Working Paper 53, International Network and Alessandro Spairani (Consultants), Maria Hartl for Bamboo and Rattan, www.inbar. int/publication/txt/ (IFAD), and Sophie Grouwels and Miguel Trossero (FAO); INBAR_Working_Paper_No53.htm. and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa and Deborah Rubin (Consultants); Simmone Rose and Dan Rugabira (FAO); Thematic Note 2 Katuscia Fara, Ilaria Firmian, and Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Diji Chandrasekharan Behr and Eija Pehu This Thematic Note was written by Christine Holding (World Bank). Anyonge (Consultant), with inputs from Festus Akinnifesi, 668 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY Aichi Kitalyi, and Jens-Peter Barkenow Lilleso (ICRAF); and ------. 2007b. "Mainstreaming Gender in Forestry in reviewed by Chitra Deshpande, Catherine Ragasa, and Deb- Africa." Regional report, FAO, Rome. orah Rubin (Consultants); Michelle Gauthier, Sophie International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Grouwels, and Simmone Rose (FAO); Katuscia Fara, Ilaria 2003. "Maximizing Conservation in Protected Areas Firmian, Maria Hartl, and Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Guidelines for Gender Consideration." Policy Brief, Diji Chandrasekharan Behr and Eija Pehu (World Bank). IUCN-ORMA, San José, Costa Rica. 1. This is a collaboration between DANIDA Forest Seed Kaimowitz, David. 2005. "Forests and Violent Conflict." In Centre (now part of Forest and Landscape Denmark) and State of the Worlds Forests, 117­18. Rome: FAO. ICRAF, World Agroforestry Centre, and National Tree Seed Kumar, B. Mohan, and P. K. Ramachandran Nair. 2004."The Organisations in Burkino Faso, Malawi, and Uganda. Enigma of Tropical Home Gardens." Agroforestry Systems 2. In the Uganda study, 602 CBOs were identified, of which 61: 135­52. most were women's groups, with an average number of 30 Rocheleau,Dianne,and David Edmunds.1997."Women,Men members. Some had a small number of men as members. In and Trees: Gender, Power and Property in Forest and other words, this survey recorded in two districts of Uganda Agrarian Landscapes."World Development 25 (8): 1351­71. about 18,000 women as being active in tree seed systems. Rojas, Mary. 1993. "Integrating Gender Considerations into Most CBOs (82 percent) had no direct affiliation with any Forestry Projects." FAO, Rome. organizations, such as NGOs, but nevertheless demon- strated a remarkable level of activity (Brandi-Hansen and Shackleton, Sheona, Sarah Kaschula, Wayne Twine, Lori others 2007). Hunter, Christine Holding Anyonge, and Lisa Petheram. 2006. "Forests as Safety Nets for Mitigating the Impacts of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa." Forests and Liveli- Innovative Activity Profile 1 hoods Brief No. 4, Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia. This Innovative Activity Profile was written by Christine United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Holding Anyonge, with inputs from Sophie Grouwels (FAO); 2006. "Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic." The and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande, Catherine Ragasa, and Impact of AIDS on People and Societies, chapter 4. New Deborah Rubin (Consultants); Simmone Rose and Dan York: UN. Rugabira (FAO); Katuscia Fara, Ilaria Firmian, Maria Hartl, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2005. and Sheila Mwanundu (IFAD); and Eija Pehu (World Bank). Human Development Report 2005. New York: UNDP. 1. FAO's Market Analysis and Development approach: World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). 2008. Transforming www.fao.org/forestry/site/enterprises/en. Lives and Landscapes: The World Agroforestry Centre Strategy, 2008­2015. Nairobi: ICRAF. World Bank. 2002. Sustaining Forests: A Development Strategy. REFERENCES Washington, DC: World Bank. Overview Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1999."Sri Lankan Women and Men as Bioresource Managers."RAP Publica- Thematic Note 1 tion 1999/45, Gender and Bioresources research team of Bradley, P. N., and K. McNamara, eds. 1993. "Living with the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Sri Lanka. Trees: Policies for Forest Management in Zimbabwe." ------. 2005a. Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) World Bank Technical Paper No. 210, World Bank, 2005. Rome: FAO. Washington, DC. ______. 2005b. "Miombo Woodlands and HIV/AIDS Inter- Chunquian, Jiang. 2005."Forests of Huoshan County: A Path actions: Malawi Country Report." Forest Policy and towards Poverty Alleviation." In In Search of Excellence. Institutions Working Paper No. 6, FAO, Rome. Exemplary Forest Management in Asia and the Pacific, ed. ------. 2006a. Better Forestry, Less Poverty: A Practitioner's Patrick B. Durst, Chris Brown, Henrylito D. Tacio, and Guide. FAO Forestry Paper 149. Rome: FAO. Miyuki Ishikawa, 175­82. Bangkok: Food and Agriculture ------. 2006b."Time for Action: Changing the Gender Sit- Organization. uation in Forestry." Report of the UNECE/FAO team of Deseng, Hembil, and Michael Yirmeila. 2005. "Impact of specialists on Gender and Forestry, FAO, Rome. SHGs on Women's Quality of Life." West Garo Hills ------. 2007a. State of the World's Forests (SOFO). Rome: NERCAMP, International Fund for Agricultural Devel- FAO. opment, Rome. Also available at www.enrap.org. MODULE 15: REFERENCES 669 Dewees, P. A. 1994. "Social and Economic Aspects of Poor. A Field Study of 15 Forest Villages in India." Pro- Miombo Woodland Management in Southern Africa: ceedings of REFOFTC 2007, Poverty Reduction and Options and Opportunities for Research. CIFOR (Center Forests: Tenure, Markets and Policy Reforms, Bangkok, for International Forestry Research) Occasional Paper September 3­7, http://recoftc.org/site/index.php?id=445. No. 2, CIFOR, Bogor, Indonesia. Ndoye, Ousseynou, Manuel Ruiz-Perez, and Antoine Eyebe. Feldstein, Hilary S. and Susan Poats, eds. 1990. Working 1997. "The Markets of Non-Timber Forest Products in Together: Gender Analysis in Agriculture. Bloomfield, CT: the Humid Forest Zone of Cameroon." ODI Rural Devel- Kumarian Press. opment Forestry Network Paper No. 22c, Overseas Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1995. "Non- Development Institute, London. Wood Forest Products for Rural Income and Sustainable SAFE. 2007."UN Task Force on Safe Access to Firewood and Forestry." Non-Wood Forest Products publication series Alternative Energy in Humanitarian Settings." Informa- No. 7, FAO, Rome. tion Template: Agency Roles and Responsibilities Per ------. 2002."HIV/AIDS and the Forest Sector." Extension Issue Area. Geneva: Wood Based Energy. Information Leaflet, FAO, Forest Department, Rome. Schreckenberg, Kate, Elaine Marshall, and Dirk Willem Te ------. 2006. "Non-Wood Forest Product Community- Velde. 2006. "NTFP Commercialization and the Rural Based Enterprise Development: A Way for Livelihood Poor. More than a Safety Net?" In Commercialization of Improvement in Lao People's Democratic Republic." Non-Timber Forest Products: Factors Influencing Success. Forestry Policy and Institutions Working Paper Series Lessons Learned from Mexico and Bolivia and Policy Impli- No. 16, FAO, Rome. cations for Decision-Making, ed. Elaine Marshall, Kate ------. 2007. "Mainstreaming Gender in Forestry in Schreckenberg, and Adrian C. Newton, 71­76. Cambridge: Africa." Regional report, FAO, Rome. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Government of Malawi. 2007."Forestry Sector HIV and AIDS Shackleton, Sheona, Patricia Shanley, and Ousseynou Strategy 2007­2011." Department of Forestry, Lilongwe. Ndoye. 2007. "Invisible but Viable: Recognising Local Markets for Non-Timber Forest Products." International International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Forestry Review 9 (3): 697­712. 2006. North Eastern Region Community Resources Man- agement Project for Upland Areas Interim Evaluation Shanley, Patricia, Leda Luz, and Ian R. Swingland. 2002. Report no. 1730-IN. Rome: IFAD. "The Faint Promise of a Distant Market: A Survey of Belem's Trade in Non-Timber Forest Products." Biodiver- Kaimowitz, David. 2003. "Not Be Bread Alone . . . Forests sity and Conservation 11: 615­36. and Rural Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa."In Forestry in Poverty Reduction Strategies: Capturing the Potential, United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). ed. T. Oksanen, B. Pajari, and T. Toumasjukka, 45­64. EFI 2006."Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic." The Impact Proceedings No. 47. Joensuu, Finland: European Forest of AIDS on People and Societies, chapter 4. New York: Institute. United Nations. ------. 2005. "Forests and Armed Conflict." Editorial in Wollenberg, Eva, David Edmunds, Louise Buck, Jeff Fox, ETFRN News 43/44: Forests and Conflicts, 5­6. Wagenin- and Sonja Brodt. 2001. Social Learning in Community gen: ETFRN. Also available at www.etfrn.org. Forests. Bogor, Indonesia: CIFOR (Center for Interna- tional Forestry Research). Kayambazintu, Dennis, Marc Barany, Reginald Mumba, and Christine Holding Anyonge. 2005. "Miombo Woodlands and HIV/AIDS Interactions: Malawi Country Report." Forest Policy and Institutions Working Paper No. 6, Food Thematic Note 2 and Agriculture Organization, Rome. Akinnifesi, Festus K., Freddie Kwesiga, Jarret Mhango, Malaisse, F. 1978. "The Miombo Ecosystem." In "Tropical For- Thomson Chilanga, Alfred Mkonda, Caroline A. C. est Ecosystems." United Nations Educational,Scientific and Kadu, Irene Kadzere, Dagmar Mithofer, John D. K. Saka, Cultural Organization/United Nations Environment Pro- Gudeta Sileshi, Tunu Ramadhani, and Patient Dhliwayo. gramme/Food and Agriculture Organization Report, Paris. 2006."Towards the Development of Miombo Fruit Trees Merino, Leticia. 2005. "El Balcón, Mexico. "Building Peace as Commercial Tree Crops in Southern Africa." Forests, and Governability around Communal Forests." In Trees and Livelihoods 16: 103­21. ETFRN News 43/44: Forests and Conflicts, 79­80. Brandi-Hansen, E., Jens-Peter Barnekow Lillesø, S. Wageningen: ETFRN. Also available at www.etfrn.org. Moestrup, and J. K. Kisera. 2007."Do Organisations Pro- Mukherjee, Neela, Meera Jayaswal, and Madhumita Parihari. vide Quality Seed to Smallholders? A Study on Tree 2006."Forests as Safety Net: Listening to the Voices of the Planting in Uganda, by NGOs and CBOs." Development 670 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY and Environment No. 8-2007, Forest and Landscape Jama. 2002. "Agroforestry for Soil Fertility Replenish- Denmark, Copenhagen. ment: Evidence on Adoption Processes in Kenya and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1999. "Agro- Zambia." In Natural Resources Management in African forestry Parklands in Sub-Saharan Africa." FAO Conser- Agriculture, ed. Christopher. B. Barrett, Frank Place, vation Guide No. 34, FAO, Rome. and Abdillahi. A. Aboud, chapter 12. London: CAB ------. 2002. "Trees outside Forests--Towards Better International. Awareness."FAO Conservation Guide No. 35, FAO, Rome. Rocheleau, Dianne, and David Edmunds. 1997. "Women, Franzel, Steven. 2005. "The Adoption and Impact of Fodder Men and Trees: Gender, Power and Property in Forest Shrubs in East Africa. 3rd External Programme and and Agrarian Landscapes." World Development 25 (8): Management Review." World Agroforestry Centre, 1351­71. Nairobi, Kenya. Unruh, Jon D., Richard A. Houghton, and Paul A. Lefebvre. Franzel, Steven, Glenn L. Denning, Jens-Peter Barnekow 1993. "Carbon Storage in Agroforestry: An Estimate for Lillesø, and Agustin. R Mercado, Jr. 2004."Scaling Up the sub-Saharan Africa." Climate Research 3: 39­52. Impact of Agroforestry: Lessons from Three Sites in World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). 2008. Transforming Africa and Asia." Agroforestry Systems 61: 329­44. Lives and Landscapes, The World Agroforestry Centre Franzel, Steven, S. J. Scherr, R. Coe, P. Cooper, and Frank Strategy, 2008­2015 Nairobi: ICRAF. Place. 2001. "Assessing the Adoption Potential of Agro- forestry Practices: ICRAF's Experiences in Sub-Saharan Innovative Activity Profile 1 Africa." Agricultural Systems 69 (1­2): 37­62. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2006a. "Com- Graudal, Lars, and Jens-Peter Barnekow Lillesø. 2007. munity Based Enterprise Development for the Conserva- "Experiences and Future Prospects for Tree Seed Supply tion of Biodiversity in Bwindi World Heritage Site, in Agricultural Development Support-Based on Lessons Uganda." Forestry Policy and Institutions Working Paper Learnt in DANIDA Supported Programmes 1965­2005." No. 11, FAO, Rome. Working Paper, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Copenhagen. ------. 2006b. "Community Based Tourism: Income Gen- Ham, Cori, Festus K. Akinnifesi, Steven Franzel, D. du eration and Conservation in Bwindi World Heritage Site, P. S. Jordaan, Chris Hansmann, and Caroline de Kock. Uganda the Buhoma Village Walk Case Study." Forestry 2008. "Opportunities for Commercialization and Policy and Institutions Working Paper No. 12, FAO, Enterprise Development of Indigenous Fruits in Rome. Southern Africa." In Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Trop- International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization, 2003a. Gender Matters. Multimedia video. ed. Festus K. Akinnifesi, Roger R. B. Leakey, Oluyede Ajayi, Gudeta Sileshi, Zac Tchoundjeu, Patrick ------. 2003b. "Maximising Conservation in Protected Matakala, and Freddie R. Kwesiga, 254­72. Nairobi: Areas: Guidelines for Gender Consideration." Policy World Agroforestry Centre; Wallingford, U.K.: CAB Brief, IUCN-ORMA, San José, Costa Rica. International Publishing. Kadzere, Irene, Christopher B. Watkins, Ian A. Merwin, Fes- FURTHER READING tus K. Akinnifesi, John D. K. Daka, and Jarret Mhango. Overview 2006. "Harvesting and Post-Harvesting Handling Prac- tices and Characteristics of Uapaca kirkiana (Muell. Agr.) Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Fruits: A Survey of Roadside Markets in Malawi." Agro- Enseñanza/FAO (CATIE/FAO). 2007a. "Towards an forestry Systems 68 (2): 133­42. Enabling Environment for Small and Medium Forest Kumar, B. Mohan, and P. K. Ramachandran Nair. 2004."The Enterprise Development." Policy brief. Turrialba, Costa Enigma of Tropical Home Gardens." Agroforestry Systems Rica: CATIE; Rome: FAO. 61: 135­52. ------. 2007b. State of the World Forests. Rome: FAO. Avail- Lauwo, Apsama, William Mwebembezi, Karwitha Kiugu, able at www.fao.org/forestry/sofo/en. and Aichi Kitalyi. 2001. "Is Dairy Zero Grazing as an Lambrou, Yianna, and Grazia Piana. 2006. "Gender: The Enterprise in Smallholder Unit Economical? Experiences Missing Component of the Response to Climate in East Africa." RELMA (Regional Land Management Change." Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. Unit) working paper, Nairobi. Nair, P. K. Ramchandran, M. R. Rao, and Louise E. Buck, eds. Place, Frank, Steven Franzel, Judith DeWolf, Ralph Rom- 2004. New Vistas in Agroforestry. A Compendium for the 1st melse, Freddie Kwesiga, Amadou Niang, and Bashir World Congress of Agroforestry, 2004. Dordrecht: Kluwer. MODULE 15: FURTHER READING 671 Swedish University of Agricultural Science. 2006. Gender and Perspective." FAO Livelihood Support Programme Work- Forestry. Proceedings of a seminar on Gender and Forestry ing Paper 34, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. and IUFRO (Global Network for Forest Science Coopera- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2006. "Better tion) 6.08.01 workshop, Umea, Sweden, June 17­21. Forestry, Less Poverty: A Practitioner's Guide." FAO UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Forestry Paper 149, FAO, Rome. Climate Change). 2006. "Background Paper for the ------. 2006. "Methodology and Case Studies on Linkages Workshop on Reducing Emission from Deforestation in Between Poverty and Forestry: Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzs- Developing Countries." Working Paper 1 (a), August 17. tan and Turkey." FAO Livelihoods Support Programme World Bank. 2007. The World Bank Forest Strategy: Review of Working Paper 35, Access to Natural Resources Sub- Implementation. Washington, DC: World Bank. programme, FAO, Rome. PROFOR (Program on Forests). n.d. Forests-Poverty Link- Web sites ages Toolkit. PROFOR www.profor.info/content/liveli- FAO Forestry: www.fao.org/forestry/en. hood_poverty.html. FAO Forestry and Climate Change: www.fao.org/forestry/ Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and site/35955/en. the Pacific. 2007. "Poverty Reduction and Forests. FAO Gender and Development Plan of Action 2002­2007: Tenure, Markets and Policy Reforms." Proceedings of ftp://ftp.fao.org/sd/GADPoA-Factsheet-EN-Final.doc. Conference, Bangkok, September 3­7, http://recoftc.org/ site/index.php?id=445. FAO Gender and Food Security (Forestry): www.fao.org/ GEnder/en/fore-e.htm. Shepherd, Gill. 2006. "A Quick New Way of Assessing the Forest Dependence of the Poor: The PROFOR Forests-- International Fund for Agricultural Development Environ- Poverty Toolkit." Developed by ODI, IUCN, CIFOR, and ment and Natural Resource Management:"Rural Poverty Winrock In Regional Community Forestry Training Cen- Knowledge Base--A Learning Note": www.ifad.org/ ter for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC). 2007. "Poverty rural/learningnotes/pat/4.htm. Reduction and Forests. Tenure, Markets and Policy PROFOR (World Bank Programme for Forests): www.pro Reforms." Proceedings of Conference, Bangkok, Septem- for.info/content/livelihood_poverty.html. ber 3­7, http://recoftc.org/site/index.php?id=445. World Bank Forestry, key topics: http://web.worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTARD/EXTFORES TS/0,,contentMDK:20628545~menuPK:1605788~ Forests, gender, and livelihoods pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:985785,00.html. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1989. "House- World Bank Gender and Rural Development Groups hold Food Security and Forestry: An Analysis of Socio- Community of Practice: http://web.worldbank.org/ Economic Issues." FAO Technical Report, FAO, Rome. WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTARD/0,,contentMDK: ------. 1990. "The Major Significance of `Minor' Forest 20445312~menuPK:336688~pagePK:148956~piPK:21 Products: The Local Use and Value of Forests in the West 6618~theSitePK:336682,00.html. African Humid Forest Zone." Community Forestry Note 6, FAO, Rome. Thematic Note 1 Wilde, Vicki, and Arja Vaino-Mattila. 1995. Gender Analysis and Forestry. International Training Package. Rome: General Food and Agriculture Organization. Durst,Patrick B.,Chris Brown,Henrylito D.Tacio,and Miyuki Ishikawa, eds. 2005. "In Search of Excellence. Exemplary Forest Management in Asia and the Pacific." RAP Publica- Forests and HIV and AIDS tion 2005/02, Asia Pacific Forestry Commission, Bangkok. Barany, Marc, Christine Holding-Anyonge, Dennis Kayam- Feldstein, Hilary S., and Janice Jiggins, eds. 1994. Tools for bazinthu, and Almeida Sitoe. 2005. "Firewood, Food and the Field: Methodologies Handbook for Gender Analysis in Medicine: Interactions between Forests, Vulnerability Agriculture. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press. and Rural Responses to HIV/AIDs." In Proceedings from Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2007. State of the the IFPRI Conference: HIV/AIDS and Food and Nutri- Worlds Forests. Rome: FAO. tion Security, Durban, South Africa, April 14­16. European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN). Forests and poverty alleviation 2005. "HIV/AIDS and National Forest Programmes." Baumann, Pari. 2006."Forestry-Poverty Linkages in West and ETFRN News 41­42 (autumn 2004): 40­42. Wageningen: Central Asia: The Outlook from a Sustainable Livelihoods ETFRN. 672 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005. "Miombo Forestry Institute. Tropical Forestry Papers 31, CIFOR Woodlands and HIV/AIDS Interactions--Mozambique and OFI, Oxford, U.K. Country Report." Forest Policy and Institutions Working Wollenberg, Eva, and Andrew Ingles, eds. 1999. "Incomes Paper No. 2, FAO, Rome. from the Forest: Methods for the Development and Con- servation for Forest Products for Local Communities." Forests and conflicts Bogor, Indonesia: CIFOR. European Tropical Forest Research Network. 2007. "Forests and Conflicts." ETFRN News 43/44, www.etfrn.org/ ETFRN/sdfc/background/newsletter_articles.htm. Thematic Note 2 Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Enseñanza Forests, social learning, and adaptive (CATIE). n.d."Environmental Services in Coffee in Cen- collaborative management tral America, East Africa and India." Available at Buck, Louise, Eva Wollenberg, and David Edmunds. 2001. www.catie.ac.cr. "Social Learning in the Collaborative Management of Dawson, Ian, and James Were. 1997."Collecting Germplasm Community Forests: Lesson from the Field." In Social from Trees--Some Guidelines." Agroforestry Today 9 (2): Learning in Community Forests, ed. Eva Wollenberg, David 6­9. Edmunds, Louise E. Buck, Jeff Fox, and Sonja Brodt. Bogor, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1999. "Sri Indonesia: Center for International Forestry Research. Lankan Women and Men as Bioresource Managers."RAP Herline Hartanto, Ma, Cristina Lorenzo, Cecil Valmores, Lani Publication 1999/45, FAO, Bangkok. Arda-Minas, Erlinda M. Burton, and Ravi Prabu. 2003. Franzel, Steven, Peter Cooper, Glenn Denning, and Deborah Learning Together: Responding to Change and Complexity Eade, eds. 2002. Development and Agroforestry: Scaling to Improve Community Forests in the Philippines. Bogor, Up the Impacts of Research. Oxford: Oxfam. Indonesia: CIFOR. Gladwin, Christina H., Jennifer S. Peterson, Donald Phiri, Wollenberg, Eva, David Edmunds, Louise E. Buck, Jeff Fox, Robert Uttaro, and Deirdre Williams. 2002."Agroforestry and Sonja Brodt. 2001. Social Learning in Community Adoption Decisions, Structural Adjustment, and Gender Forests. Bogor, Indonesia: CIFOR. in Africa." In Natural Resource Management in African Agriculture: Understanding and Improving Current Forests, wood energy, and poverty Practices, ed. Christopher B. Barrett, Frank Place, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1990. "Guide- Abdillahi A. Aboud. London: CAB International. lines for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating Cook Kindt Roeland, Jens-Peter Barnekow Lillesø, Anne Mbora, Stove Programmes." Community Forestry Field Manual Jonathan Muriuki, Charles Wambugu, Will Frost, Jan 1, FAO, Rome. Beniest, Anand Aithal, Janet Awimbo, Sheila Rao, and ------. 2005. "WISDOM--East Africa. Wood fuel Inte- Christine Holding-Anyonge. 2006. Tree Seeds for Farm- grated Supply/Demand Overview Mapping (WISDOM) ers: a Toolkit and Reference Source. Nairobi: World Methodology. Spatial Wood Fuel Production and Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). Consumption Analysis of Selected African Countries." Kitalyi, Aichi, David M. Miano, Sandra Mwebaze, and Consultant Report, Forestry Department, Wood Energy, Charles Wambugu. 2005."More Forage, More Milk. For- FAO, Rome. age Production for Small-scale Zero Grazing Systems." ------. 2007. "Wood Energy Supply/Demand Scenarios in RELMA Technical Handbook 33, Nairobi. the Context of Poverty Mapping. A WISDOM Case Mercer, D. Evan. 2004. "Adoption of Agroforestry Innova- Study in Southeast Asia for the Years 2000 and 2015." tions in the Tropics: A Review." Agroforestry Systems 61: Environment and Natural Resources Working Paper No. 311­28. 27, FAO, Rome. Nair, P. K. Ramchandran, M. R. Rao, and Louise E. Buck, eds. 2004. New Vistas in Agroforestry. A Compendium for NWFP/NTFPS, livelihoods, and poverty the 1st World Congress of Agroforestry. Dordrecht: Kluwer Neumann, Roderick P., and Eric Hirsch. 2000. "Commer- Academic. cialisation of Non-Timber Forest Products: Review and Padmanabhan, Marina Aruna. 2005. "Institutional Inno- Analysis of Research." Bogor, Indonesia: Center for Inter- vations Towards Gender Equity in Agrobiodiversity national Forestry Research. Management: Collective Action in Kerala, South Townson, Ian M. 2005. "Forest Products and Household India." CGIAR Systemwide Program on Collective Incomes. A Review and Annotated Bibliography." Oxford Action and Property Rights (CAPRI) Working Paper MODULE 15: FURTHER READING 673 No. 39, International Food Policy Research Institute, Web sites Washington, DC. Trees, Agroforestry and Climate Change in Dryland Africa Verchot, Louis V., Meine Van Noordwijk, Serigne Kandji, (TACCDA), Hyytiala, Finland, June 30­July 4, 2003: Tom Tomich, Chin Ong, Alain Albrecht, Jens Mackensen, www.etfrn.org/etfrn/workshop/degradedlands/docu Cynthia Bantilan, K. V. Anupama, and Cheryl Palm. ments/TACsynthol5d.pdf. 2007. "Climate Change: Linking Adaptation and Mitiga- World Agroforestry Centre and Climate Change: www. tion through Agroforestry." Mitigation and Adaptation worldagroforestry.org/es/climate_change.asp. Strategies for Global Change 12 (5): 901­18. 674 MODULE 15: GENDER AND FORESTRY M O D U L E 1 6 Gender Issues in Monitoring and Evaluation Overview ommon sense tells us that if we do not consciously C What role do different genders play in agriculture, rural attempt to measure our progress in life, we will not development, and water management? Women are the key know whether we have achieved our planned agricultural workers in some countries but are not involved impact--in other words, "what gets measured, gets man- at all in others. In many southern African countries, women aged." Given the enormous amounts of money invested in provide most of the labor for agriculture and small livestock agricultural and rural development by national govern- production, yet in many cases they receive little benefit. In ments and international donors, monitoring and evaluation Asia different tasks in the agricultural cycle are carried out (M&E) are accepted as important steps for assessing by men or women. In most countries, large livestock such as progress toward specific outcomes and for measuring cattle are managed by men, although milking may be done impact. Although gender and social equity are commonly by women. Roles (and relative power) in production, pro- discussed priorities in agricultural and rural development, cessing, and marketing differ by gender--for example, men little progress has been made in measuring outcomes in commonly catch fish and women process or sell them these areas. This Module aims to address gender concerns in locally. Gender power relations, therefore, lie at the heart of designing agricultural and rural development projects and two critical development concerns: who gains access to to provide ideas for improving the M&E of outcomes and resources, and who benefits from projects? impacts. It addresses the question,"How will my agriculture When carrying out M&E, the overarching notion of "gen- projects improve if I track and measure gender?" der" must be unpacked to reveal the differences within cate- gories of "men" and "women," as neither men nor women form a homogeneous group. Participatory rural appraisal and REASONS WE SHOULD MONITOR GENDER gender analysis during planning should provide information Gender must be addressed in ongoing monitoring and in on different subgroups of men and women and help design evaluations for the same reasons we address other issues: appropriate activities and indicators. For instance, in an envi- in assessing whether an activity is achieving its objectives, ronmental administration project in Nepal, an assessment of we can consider what has been accomplished and what can gender and poverty issues related to industry was done to be learned and fed back into further efforts. Gender is a provide a baseline and better understand the impacts of cross-cutting issue within the development policies of planned activities on different groups (disaggregated by eth- most international donors and national governments. If nicity, caste, education, employment, rural or urban location, gender impacts are not evaluated, they are unlikely to be and other characteristics). M&E should provide feedback on given any attention. how a program's various activities affect different subgroups 675 of men and women. Any disparities in the distribution of "Monitoring" has been defined as the "continuous benefits must be known for corrective action to be taken. assessment of project implementation in relation to agreed Women are active in community decision making in schedules and use of inputs, infrastructure, and services by some countries, through councils and church groups (for project beneficiaries," and "evaluation" has been defined instance, in the Pacific), whereas elsewhere they are almost as the "periodic assessment of the relevance, performance, invisible to outsiders (such as in remote areas of efficiency, and impact (expected and unexpected) of the Afghanistan or Nepal). On the other hand, women may project in relation to stated objectives" (World Bank n.d.). have little time for such activities because of their concur- M&E are broadly viewed as a function of project manage- rent involvement in household activities and their heavy ment that is useful for validating ex ante analysis or for influ- agricultural work. Such commitments only add to the time encing adjustments to project implementation. constraint when planning for M&E and the inclusion of Traditionally many donors used the logical framework women in a given program, project, or activity. Box 16.1 lists ("logframe") as the basis for designing M&E. In 2003 the tools for gender-sensitive monitoring, which is discussed at World Bank began using a "results framework" (a simplified greater length in all of the Thematic Notes. logframe) in an effort to focus more on the immediate results of programs and projects. Practitioners now need to link Box 16.1 A Selection of Methods and performance with outcomes, with rigorous and credible Tools Available for Gender- assessments of progress toward (and achievement of) Sensitive Monitoring outcomes. At the "Activity" level in the results framework, "Output Indicators"are used to monitor progress.At the level Monitoring can be based on quantitative mea- sures, such as data issued by statistics offices or of "Project Development Objective" and "Components/ specifically collected by project staff. Results," "Outcome Indicators" are developed. "Outcomes" Qualitative monitoring can be done through reflect the quality of outputs produced and behavioral tools such as interviews, observation, and focus changes in target groups, as well as changes in institutional groups. performance following "adoption" of project outputs. How- Participation of intended beneficiaries in moni- ever, to look at the long-term sustainability of a program, toring is a means to ensure ownership and to the overall development goal should also be considered, and ensure that an activity is truly benefiting the for this purpose the logical framework remains important. participants. Progress toward higher-level goals can be considered in Participatory monitoring, on the other hand, is a evaluations by developing higher-level "Impact Indicators" means of involving stakeholders from the start in such activities as identifying activities and (FAO 2001). This topic is discussed in more detail in indicators that should be monitored, carrying Thematic Note 1. out the monitoring itself, and analyzing the results for improving future processes. INTEGRATING GENDER IN M&E: LESSONS FROM External monitoring or evaluation provides EXPERIENCE independent, external feedback on progress and outcomes. Many donors have observed that project monitoring, evalu- Impact evaluations determine whether a pro- ation, and reporting commonly focus on processes and gram had the desired effects and whether there inputs rather than outcomes and impacts, with the result were any unanticipated effects. that only limited learning is gained about any long-term Gender audits are distinct from regular evalua- changes a project may have occasioned in people's lives, tions in that they are based on self-assessments including any impacts on gender equity. In fact, M&E of any by a project, organization, or ministry of how gender issues are addressed in program portfo- kind are given insufficient attention. For example, a Sustain- lios and internal organizational processes. A able Agriculture Systems, Knowledge, and Institutions gender audit is not an external evaluation, but it (SASKI) Thematic Group review of agricultural research should be used to facilitate change and develop and extension projects found that only about 25 percent had action plans and monitoring systems. adequate M&E plans (cited in World Bank 2006b). Gender-sensitive monitoring garners even less attention, Source: Author. despite efforts by many donors to promote it and train people to do it (box 16.2). In cases where gender-sensitive indicators 676 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Box 16.2 Difficulties with Conducting Gender-Sensitive Monitoring and Evaluation Are Found Worldwide An assessment of project evaluations for the Swedish used gender criteria for assessing project/program International Development Cooperation Agency quality. (SIDA) (Peck 1998) probably still applies to most AusAID (2002) noted that the degree to which gen- donors. Although 65 percent of the SIDA evaluations der is monitored in AusAID-funded activities appears conducted during 1997­98 mentioned gender, the to be influenced by the following: quality of analysis was poor. Gender was usually dis- cussed briefly, most often with respect to implementa- The extent to which gender is specified in the design tion and not to project objectives or results. Rarely was documents, logframes, or gender strategies any link made between an intervention and possible The interest of program staff in gender principles changes that may have occurred in gender relation- and the extent to which they have a sound under- ships and the circumstances of the men and women standing of the importance of achieving gender and who were the intended beneficiaries. Most projects development outcomes lacked gender-disaggregated baseline and monitoring The degree to which gender issues and strategies data. have been articulated in the program, regional, or A recent review of development cooperation agen- sector strategy. cies (OECD 2007) found that only 41 percent used gender-sensitive logframes and noted that agencies Several World Bank reports emphasize that weak that had "come more recently to gender and develop- gender-disaggregated M&E systems in rural projects ment" had "yet to develop as full a range of monitoring have been a serious concern. In 2006, for instance, only and accountability mechanisms." On the positive side, a third of rural projects had gender-disaggregated however, 70 percent of the agencies surveyed said they M&E indicators (GENRD 2006, 2007) Sources: Author, based on AusAID 2002; GENRD 2006, 2007; OECD 2007. do exist, they are more commonly found at the output and of the importance of monitoring. Day-to-day monitoring outcome level and only rarely at the impact level. Conse- usually concentrates on project result areas rather than cross- quently, any assessments tend to be subjective. cutting issues such as gender, and staff may give gender- specific monitoring insufficient attention. Why gender disaggregation is often missing from In summary, gender is insufficiently considered in M&E M&E systems for several reasons, including the following: The Nordic Development Fund's Gender Equality Study (NDF 2004) found, "The most commonly cited. . . major M&E itself is given insufficient attention, and its useful- obstacles to women participating and benefiting from ness is little understood. Often it is regarded as a task development activities include (i) the lack of participation required by the donor, so the step of gender disaggrega- by women in design; (ii) poorly conducted needs analyses; tion is considered an addition to an already burdensome (iii) the lack of baseline data on key gender differences rele- task. vant to the specific project; (iv) the failure to address gender The leadership of agricultural and water projects and issues in project objectives; and, (v) poor monitoring programs may be gender blind. Program managers and efforts" (NDF 2004: 27). staff may not see gender as having any importance in Even when gender is emphasized at the project design achieving the program's results or its ultimate purpose. stage, it is sometimes lost in the daily grind of project imple- Field staff may view the work of M&E as gender neutral. mentation. The continued collection of gender-specific data Women's opinions may not be recorded, because women (or all monitoring data) can suffer as a result of various are often not present in meetings or are not confident to difficulties, mainly arising from the lack of time and funds, speak up (particularly if their native language is an insufficient follow-up, and poor understanding by local staff indigenous one). MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION 677 Gender-disaggregated quantitative data are not easily not just the completion of activities)" (OECD 1999: 24). available from local government sources but must often The guidelines indicate that it is vital to "support partner be collected separately for a program or project, which capacity to monitor and evaluate results achievement in can be costly and time consuming. By the time a project projects, programs, and institutions and to understand is under way and attention is turned to M&E, it may be the reasons for success or failure." SIDA's evaluation guide- too late to conduct a project-specific baseline study, lines (SIDA 2004) contain a good section on gender in which ideally is done before the work begins. evaluations, covering preparation, fieldwork, reporting, If gender has not been considered at the program design and dissemination and use. The World Bank's short stage, it may be forgotten during implementation. Inclu- toolkit, Gender Issues in Monitoring and Evaluation of Rural sion of gender-sensitive indicators in the logical frame- Development Projects (World Bank 2005), presents excellent, work or results framework is vital. simple--and unfortunately underused--guidelines. The Program implementers may consider that national most recent report on annual progress toward implement- women's unions or other groups that advocate on ing the World Bank's gender-mainstreaming strategy behalf of women are "taking care of the women's (World Bank 2006a) urges the Bank to "improve the moni- issues," even at the local level, so there is no need to toring and impact evaluation of gender integration into monitor gender. Bank policy and project lending," by investing in gathering External project supervisors and evaluators do not statistics disaggregated by gender, developing indicators to emphasize gender, so it is "forgotten." measure results and impacts with respect to gender, and ensuring that gender is included "as an independent vari- Despite this tendency for gender to remain invisible, able in scientific evaluations of the development impact of unacknowledged, or marginalized, much evidence sug- Bank operations." gests that gender is important to outcomes, and M&E plays a vital role in demonstrating these benefits. For Incentives: ensuring that it happens in practice instance, Bamberger (2002) used gender-disaggregated data from borrowers and nonborrowers to demonstrate Ideally, sufficient training in the purpose and objectives of that the impacts of microcredit in Bangladesh differ sub- gender-sensitive monitoring would ensure that the time, stantially based on whether the borrower is a woman or a funds, and human resources are committed to performing man and that the marginal impacts of borrowing are this task and that the results are used. Usually all stakehold- often greater for women than men. Such information is ers agree in planning meetings and program documents vital to building the case for considering gender in rural that gender is important and that the gender impacts of a development programs. given project should be monitored carefully. Experience has revealed, however, that both a carrot and stick may be needed for gender-sensitive M&E to occur in practice. Recent attempts to change gender M&E External evaluators or donor agency staff can follow up A number of recent efforts increase the prospects that gen- on the issue during monitoring visits: for example, per- der will be incorporated more explicitly in M&E. The FAO haps even requiring compliance with a plan for monitor- and other United Nations agencies have undertaken to ing gender (box 16.3). The performance evaluations of improve the availability of gender-disaggregated data technical advisers, project staff, or departmental staff (FAO 2003). Through these data, a much clearer picture might usefully include an assessment of compliance with should emerge of the relationships between gender the gender-monitoring plan. Providing publicity or pre- inequality and agriculture, rural development, and food senting an award might also offer some incentive to indi- security. viduals, projects, programs, or government ministries that At the project and program levels, numerous training take very positive action to promote successful gender materials, toolkits, and guidelines can help in implement- monitoring. Gender could also be included in the mile- ing gender-sensitive M&E. Most key donors have prepared stones or triggers for annual budget or loan tranche guidelines for gender mainstreaming. The OECD's guide- releases (for instance, "Government has recruited new lines "support partner efforts to formulate clear, measura- extension staff to reach a minimum of 30 percent women ble goals and expected results relating to gender equity and agricultural extension workers in at least 80 percent of women's empowerment (focusing on development impacts, districts by March 2008"). 678 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Box 16.3 Compliance with a Gender Action Plan Can Improve Gender-Sensitive Monitoring and Evaluation One means of ensuring that more attention is given to that Gender Action Plans "provided a road map for monitoring and evaluating a project's gender-equity project teams to ensure that women participated and outcomes is to require compliance with a Gender Action benefited from project activities." Compared with Plan. A good example comes from a project imple- another ADB project in Cambodia, the Northwestern mented by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Rural Development Project (with its high-quality Gen- Cambodia: the Northwestern Rural Development Proj- der Action Plan) was shown to have positive results ect (Hunt and Kheng 2006). When the loan was with respect to gender equity. However, the monitoring designed, a high-quality Gender Action Plan was pre- of participation and benefits still needed to improve, pared, stipulating that three requirements had to be met especially with regard to the collection, reporting, and for tranche releases to occur: (1) equal opportunity for analysis of gender-disaggregated data. The number of employing women in road construction; (2) the involve- gender-sensitive indicators and strategies was not suffi- ment of women in prioritizing, planning, implementing, cient, and insufficient information was collected to and monitoring village-based infrastructure; and (3) analyze women's participation, benefits, and progress women's participation in training and community- toward gender equity. Although the loan covenants based organizations to reach at least 30 percent. used in this project were useful for improving compli- The plan was based on systematic gender analysis, ance with gender-sensitive monitoring requirements, with targets and strategies for women's participation in greater leadership, commitment, and ownership of the each component. An assessment of the results showed Gender Action Plan were needed. Source: Hunt and Kheng 2006. QUESTIONSTO CONSIDER IN DESIGNING A involved in setting the indicators at the objective level, GENDER-SENSITIVE M&E COMPONENT providing access to statistical data, and dedicating the staff, budget, and tools to ensure that gender-sensitive Several questions emerge in designing a gender-sensitive monitoring can be done. M&E component for a project or program. Which levels of At various levels within the implementing organization-- participants--spanning the range from donors and recipient specifically, among the staff responsible for the hori- governments to management and field implementation--are zontal and vertical coordination of operations and involved? Which instruments are therefore involved? Should gender-specific and M&E components--participants gender be mainstreamed across the institution and all parts of should be involved in coordinating the work and setting the program,or should there be a specific gender component? indicators for different components, ensuring that How much participatory involvement is appropriate, and gender is considered. The terms of reference for all staff what must be remembered when scaling up programs to the working on different activities need to assign responsi- national level or moving to newer aid modalities? Is the focus bility for achieving gender objectives, strategies, and on short-term outcomes or longer-term impacts? How will outcomes. findings and experiences be shared? At the field level, participants need to ensure that access to budget, materials, and equipment is considered, as Levels of participants that need to consider well as timing. For example, the opinions of women and gender in project design and M&E men may not be considered fully during monitoring if To make it more likely that gender is considered in project meetings to collect their opinions are scheduled when design, monitoring, and evaluation, which participants most women are working in the fields, when women are need to consider which issues or actions? preparing the evening meal for their families, or when most men are out at sea fishing. Extra funds may be At the management level of the donor agency, implement- required to ensure that monitoring activities can take ing ministry, program, or project, participants should be place at appropriate locations and times. MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION 679 Mainstreaming versus establishing separate perpetuated" (Derbyshire 2002: 9). The drawbacks of this gender components approach are that the impact may be lost, outcomes are much Gender can be considered as a specific result area or com- harder to measure, and financial resource allocation by gender ponent and monitored as such. This traditional method of becomes increasingly difficult to track (box 16.4). Superficial treating gender has been used in many projects and is still mainstreaming--in which women are simply mentioned in used in some poverty reduction strategy programs (PRSPs) every project component, or in which gender-differentiated and other programmatic instruments. Often, however, this data are collected but not analyzed for program improve- approach meant that gender was ignored by many project ments--is also unfortunately too common. or program staff and stakeholders, as it was considered It is important to gain baseline information to ensure "taken care of." As an assessment of development coopera- that project or program activities do not increase problems tion funded by Finland reports, "Women are sometimes in target communities, such as gender-based violence. still seen as a separate sector so systematic work to elimi- Gender-mainstreaming activities tend to change gender nate gender inequalities is not undertaken within other sec- roles and relations. Unless change proceeds carefully and tors . . . In projects `gender mainstreaming' still usually with adequate awareness raising, domestic violence may means small and isolated components dealing with arise or worsen as men come to perceive that women's women" (MFA Finland 2003: 11). increased empowerment threatens their position as men Gender mainstreaming across all result areas and activities and heads of the household and community. is now the preferred means of ensuring that gender is consid- How successful has mainstreaming been, and how can we ered. "Gender mainstreaming" can be defined as "a commit- do things differently? Assessments that look at women's par- ment to ensure that women's as well as men's concerns and ticipation or benefits derived by women in isolation from the experiences are integral to the design, implementation, moni- overall project context may be inadequate and misleading. toring, and evaluation of all legislation, policies, and programs Comparisons between women and men in the target group so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not should be made across every project activity and component, Box 16.4 Mainstreaming Gender and the Implications for Monitoring and Evaluation The Development Assistance Committee of the stream reporting structure and evaluation processes Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel- rather than a separate system. opment considers that gender should be integral to all Develop and maintain statistical systems and project development assistance analyses that are undertaken. monitoring systems that provide gender-disaggre- Steps to carry out gender mainstreaming include the gated data. following: Ensure that gender equity is addressed in all training and staff development initiatives. Gender mainstreaming should be considered at all levels: Ensure that guides and procedural manuals incor- porate gender-equity considerations into the meth- At the project level, by designing appropriate gen- ods to be followed by staff, with priority given to der-sensitive indicators for monitoring and by promoting gender analysis at the initial stages of the considering gender at all stages of the project cycle, planning process. including reporting Ensure that the gender-equity objective is reflected At the program and policy levels, by carrying out in the development of procedures for results-based gender evaluations and using the results to guide management, including the specification of results further activities, through checklists and scorecards sought, indicators for monitoring achievements, In multilateral and bilateral development organiza- and evaluation criteria. tions, nongovernmental organizations, and govern- Ensure that gender equity and women's empower- ment organizations, by carrying out gender audits ment measures and indicators are part of the main- and self-assessments of their own organizations. Source: Mason 2007. 680 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION and the conclusions about benefits or outcomes should be streams gender by integrating women's and men's concerns supported by data and analysis. A risk exists in external eval- in all policies and projects and supports specific activities uations that gender is considered only as a separate chapter, aimed at empowering women. It may be useful to monitor unless the terms of reference explicitly state otherwise. a targeted output specifically concerned with activities for It is also important that mainstreaming be understood to women, alongside overall mainstreaming (considering have the goal of increasing gender equity, not simply increasing outputs for men and women in every activity and result women's involvement. Increasing women's participation in area), in the hope that gender outcomes will improve. It is committees or in monitoring teams is not mainstreaming if imperative, however, not to isolate women's activities within women are not actively involved in improved gender one output with a very small claim on resources and no outcomes and impacts (the extra burden on rural women's influence on the rest of the policy or project. limited free time should always be considered). At every step, questions must be asked as to who will benefit from proposed Using gender analysis for monitoring activities. If "policy evaporation" occurs--that is, good policy is not followed through in practice--then gender main- Gender analysis considers women's roles in production, streaming may not have a real impact on gender equity. More- reproduction, and the management of community and over, the real impact may not seen because M&E procedures other activities. Changes in one aspect of women's lives fail to document what is occurring on the ground. may produce beneficial or detrimental effects in others. Box 16.5 presents two ways of treating gender at the Gender analysis helps to (1) identify gender-based differ- national level in PRSPs. One is from Mozambique (where it ences in access to resources to predict how different mem- is compartmentalized) and the other from Vietnam (where bers of households, groups, and societies will participate it is mainstreamed). in and be affected by planned development interventions; The U.K. Department for International Development (2) permit planners to achieve the goals of effectiveness, (DFID) has chosen to pursue a twin track in which it main- efficiency, equity, and empowerment through designing Box 16.5 Compartmentalization versus Mainstreaming of Gender in Poverty Reduction Strategy Programs Mozambique's second Action Plan for the Reduction of of infection, but when it comes to the targets and actions Absolute Poverty--known by its Portuguese acronym, to be taken, no further mention is made of women as a PARPA--treats gender as a separate component. Unfor- key target group. tunately this compartmentalization seems to have led By contrast, Vietnam's Comprehensive Poverty those working on the strategy to believe that they did not Reduction and Growth Strategy 2002 includes many need to consider gender outside the gender chapter. Gen- aspects of gender in its analysis of the causes of poverty der is not considered in analyzing the causes of poverty in and mainstreams gender considerations throughout Mozambique, nor is women's role in economic growth the document. A general instruction is given that mon- mentioned. The indicators for measuring progress itoring should employ indicators "developed in detail toward development objectives make almost no mention by regions, provinces, rural/urban areas, and genders." of gender. The causes of gender inequality are not dis- Even so, crucial omissions are present. The chapter on cussed, and few policy interventions are discussed for targets makes almost no mention of gender--only in addressing inequality.National data on school attendance the paragraphs specifically on gender equity--and the and early childhood growth always include gender, but general economic and social targets are not disaggre- any differences between boys and girls have vanished in gated by gender. The indicators provided for moni- the hands of the government authorities and committees toring the development objectives do include some producing the strategy. Gender is considered in the chap- gender disaggregation, however, and efforts are being ter on HIV and AIDS with regard to incidence and causes made to improve them. Source: Author's assessment. MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION 681 policy reform and supportive program strategies; and (3) further in Innovative Activity Profile 2 (available in the develop training packages to sensitize development staff online version of this Sourcebook). on gender issues and training strategies for beneficiaries, such as the World Bank's Participation Sourcebook (World Improved information sharing Bank 1996). Comprehensive gender studies are applied mostly in Most projects and programs collect much information developing policy or planning programs and projects. regularly from staff and beneficiaries, but it is not always Aspects of gender analysis may be applied, however, for shared effectively. Much of it is fed into the management intermittent monitoring of gender implications of project information system, which produces consolidated data activities or outcomes. Simple techniques are useful for and is used to report to government and donors. How- this purpose, such as direct observation, focus groups, ever, no point exists in collecting such information unless and time-use studies (for example, women's typical daily it is used to improve the program to benefit the people routine in terms of housework, income generation, and from whom it was collected. Different ways may be personal time). Performed consistently as part of project employed to interpret and use results to make decisions, M&E, gender analysis helps build a picture of women's modify or improve programming, and advocate to differ- growth as individuals and social beings (for instance, it ent audiences. Examples of changes in gender equity in a can assess changes in their standing in the household and practical sense should be collected regularly through in the community). Five major categories of information monitoring and shared with a wide range of stakeholders. are required for a comprehensive gender analysis: (1) needs Improved advocacy can have a very positive feedback assessment; (2) activity profile; (3) resources, access, and effect on the project. For example, an agricultural project control profile; (4) benefits and incentives analysis; and in South Africa focused on developing producer groups (5) institutional constraints and opportunities (World Bank (particularly women-led groups). As part of its qualitative 1996). evaluation, the project collected stories and lessons In monitoring and evaluating any benefits arising from a emerging from this process. These were eventually pub- project or program, the gender considerations include lished by a local agricultural magazine that was distrib- developing indicators that define and measure progress uted beyond the original beneficiary groups and reached in achieving benefits for men and women, ensuring that other departments of agriculture and farmers. gender-disaggregated data are collected to monitor impact with respect to gender, and considering ways of involving PARTICIPATORYTOOLS AND APPROACHES women in M&E (ADB n.d.). Gender-disaggregated data and parameters should be The World Bank places considerable emphasis on participa- included in M&E systems for all projects and presented in tory M&E, which is an important factor in promoting social all reports. Gender analysis is vital throughout all stages of sustainability. The Bank's Social Analysis Sourcebook (World the program cycle, from identification and design to imple- Bank 2003a: 49) cites participatory M&E as a "means to sys- mentation, monitoring, and evaluation. tematically evaluate progress and impact early in the project cycle by bringing the perspectives and insights of all stake- holders, beneficiaries as well as project implementers. All Impact assessments stakeholders identify issues, conduct research, analyze find- Most monitoring focuses on short-term occurrences, ings, make recommendations, and take responsibility for whereas the great challenge is to measure long-term necessary action." The focus is on the active engagement of change--the impacts that extend beyond increases in primary stakeholders and their shared control of the con- women's participation or incomes during the life of a proj- tent, process, and results of M&E. This kind of participation ect or program and that indicate real changes in the lives of is particularly effective because stakeholders, if they are poor men and women over the following five or more years. involved in identifying problems and solutions, develop Apart from the design and attribution difficulties, the fact ownership of the project and tend to be amenable if correc- remains that if a project or program has already finished, no tive actions eventually prove necessary. In other words, par- one may remain to perform the evaluation, and financing for ticipation can be both a means and an end. Because they live this activity may not be found. This difficulty is discussed with the results of a project, participants also have a greater 682 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION incentive to make changes in project activities and base Box 16.6 The Cost Implications of future interventions on the lessons they have learned. Trans- Participatory Monitoring and parency is enhanced because the intended beneficiaries are Evaluation: Three Examples involved in making decisions from the start and understand the funding issues. Participatory M&E may also highlight unexpected or unplanned changes, which may not be How much participation is enough, and what are noticed with traditional indicators and M&E systems. In a the costs of participation? Three projects funded by project in Vietnam, the gender-disaggregated results of the World Bank offer insight into these questions. interviews with village women through Most Significant In the Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project, the participation of more than 600,000 Change monitoring allowed problems with the location of a women's self-help groups, as well as a local non- new road to be raised and dealt with by management governmental organization, improved qualitative (World Bank 2007). process monitoring and revealed unexpected The cost implications (time, money, and other resources; outcomes, which made it possible to develop new box 16.6) and other considerations of participatory monitor- indicators. Participatory monitoring also signifi- ing must be taken into account. For example, it must not be cantly reduced project costs: When women's assumed that all women will automatically benefit from groups identified poor credit recovery rates, they efforts to involve some women in project design, halted disbursement until the rates improved. In implementation, and M&E. Men's and women's groups do the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan Com- not always have the same priorities and understanding of munity Infrastructure Project, participatory moni- impacts, nor are the opinions of all women the same. In addi- toring of subprojects reduced the number of tion, if women are expected to give up their time to partici- dropouts among community organizations, pro- duced a cost savings of 40 percent, and increased pate in monitoring an intervention, a clear means should be the quality of work (compared to work done by present by which their opinions can be fed back into improv- government-hired contractors). In Mongolia, on ing future activities. Consultation and true participation in the other hand, the full benefits of participatory decision making are different and should not be confused. monitoring in the Sustainable Livelihoods Project Participatory M&E can also be a useful tool to improve were inhibited by the sheer distances involved and gender equity, if women are able to take an active role, meet the difficulty of holding community meetings. The in groups, and build solidarity and confidence (a good exam- cost of ensuring full participation--in transport ple is quoted from Pakistan's Community Infrastructure and time--would have been enormous, so the level Project, World Bank 2003b). In many communities, only of participation was modified. women can visit other families. Men may not be permitted to speak directly with women who are not family members, so Sources: World Bank 2007 (for Andhra Pradesh), World Bank 2003c for Pakistan, and author for Mongolia men may not be able to gather essential information for (White 2007). M&E. What may be more difficult is for communities to meet in mixed-sex groups to monitor outcomes and openly discuss how to improve activities. Simple tools may be used Local to national, project to program to facilitate discussion--for instance, using different-colored voting cards for men and women or for different age or When programs are scaled up in size, either sectorally or ethnic groups, and then comparing different opinions on geographically, a need exists to scale up the monitoring. The topics--or holding separate meetings for different sexes, to focus on quantitative indicators tends to increase with scal- prevent men from dominating. ing up, because qualitative measurements such as interviews and focus groups are more difficult to carry out, record, and analyze on a large scale (box 16.7). One example of this SCALING UP INVESTMENTS problem is the selection of indicators for monitoring global Scaling up of investments usually implies reaching a larger progress in achieving the United Nations Millennium number of beneficiaries via increases in size, scope, and geo- Development Goals. Data on each indicator needed to be graphic spread of an activity. This has implications for the available from all countries and may not be too onerous to methods of financing, administering, and monitoring. collect and compare. MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION 683 cultures and develop change strategies that contribute to Box 16.7 Some Difficulties with Scaling gender equity. Up Monitoring Help partners examine the gender balance within their organizations and identify strategies to increase women's In its first phase, the Sustainable Livelihoods Proj- representation at policy- and decision-making levels. ect in Mongolia developed a participatory moni- Increase the availability of gender-disaggregated data by toring and evaluation system. The key issue was to supporting modifications in national and sectoral data find a balance between information required by collection systems. the World Bank and the project's national office, Support research on gender equity by sectoral institu- and information that would be useful to the com- munity and local project representatives. Planners tions, research organizations, and advocacy groups to also had to strike a balance between information increase the national resources of partners in this area. that would be good to have and information that was essential. Clearly a risk was present of collect- ing too much information that would not improve Monitoring gender in the new aid modalities participation. An additional consideration was To date, little consideration has been given to gender in that communication is very difficult in Mongolia monitoring PRSPs, sectorwide approaches (SWAPs), and because of the large distances and limited infra- budget support. This issue is discussed further in Thematic structure and equipment. Although experiences Note 2. Although development cooperation is moving away with the initial monitoring and evaluation system from projects and toward new aid modalities, the following were positive, scaling up to much greater national coverage in a later stage of the project has proven actions are still vital (OECD 1999): less successful and led to more direct monitoring by project staff. Strengthen links between the project and policy levels. Improved communication of lessons from the field can Source: Author. act as a reality check at the national level and ensure greater coherence among gender-equity policy objec- For large-scale programs, the gender disaggregation of tives, project-supported activities, and the resulting quantitative data should be a basic requirement, even if the impacts. softer M&E tools need to be used less often. For instance, Support partners' efforts to improve project-level moni- interviews and group work could take place in a few sample toring and impact assessment and gain a greater under- areas to supplement quantitative data from national moni- standing of how projects can contribute to gender-equity toring. It is increasingly important for large-scale projects objectives, how obstacles can be overcome, and how or programs to tie in with national census and living stan- project design can be improved. dards surveys rather than duplicate them. Analyze the comparative strengths and weaknesses of different interventions used in specific sectors to increase knowledge about strategies that have positive results and Adapting to reduced international technical are cost effective. assistance inputs As donors move toward funding larger-scale programs that Sample indicators for a range of agriculture and rural rely more heavily on national systems and staff and less on development investments specifically recruited international and national staff, local staff will need to build the capacity to incorporate gender Although it is not possible to devise sample indicators considerations into their work. Possibilities for increasing to match every situation and intervention, sample indi- this capacity include the following (OECD 1999): cators for output, outcome, and impact, as well as tools and proposed sources of verification, are provided for a Use donor-level gender advisers to regularly support and range of topics in "Social and Environmental Sustain- mentor local gender focal points. ability of Agriculture and Rural Development Investments: Give priority to initiatives that focus on partners' capac- A Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit" (Punkari and ity to analyze policies, programs, and institutional others 2007). 684 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION CONCLUSION and tools related to monitoring gender in the newer aid modalities, such as PRSPs, SWAPs, and budget support Several issues emerge from this overview. Despite the fact (Thematic Note 2); and issues related to setting high- that development interventions will be improved if we track quality indicators and the collection and use of data (The- and measure their implications with respect to gender, it is matic Note 3). Two Innovative Activity Profiles are also clear that M&E of gender issues has been done poorly included, describing methods and practical examples of recently, in projects as well as in the newer aid modalities. involving community members in monitoring (Innovative The following Thematic Notes focus on how to develop a Activity Profile 1) and conducting impact assessments sound M&E system and discuss other tools for supporting (Innovative Activity Profile 2), the latter in the online ver- project or program staff, such as gender policies, terms of sion of this Sourcebook (www.worldbank.org). reference, and training (Thematic Note 1); the experience MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION 685 T H E M AT I C N OT E 1 Design of Sound Gendered Monitoring and Evaluation Systems ender-sensitive M&E helps project staff, other G Ensure that guidelines and structures are present to sup- stakeholders, and beneficiaries themselves to port good gendered monitoring at national, local, and understand how project activities are really project levels. changing the lives of men and women. This kind of M&E Ensure that the goals, purposes, or objectives of the pro- enables continuous feedback on the status of project imple- gram or project explicitly refer to gender or reflect mentation, identifying specific problems as they arise. If women's needs and priorities as well as men's. Managers additional disaggregation is done, monitoring can also fol- need to formulate clear, measurable objectives and indi- low the impact on young and old, ethnic minorities, people cators and link them with available annual information with disabilities, remote residents, and other disadvantaged sources. M&E must be an integral part of project design, groups. If the full range of stakeholders has this important not added as an afterthought. information, they can use it to alter the project as needed to Establish M&E mechanisms that will record and track ensure maximum benefits and improve performance. The gender differences, and collect baseline data. lessons learned by the end of the project can be used to Measure benefits and adverse effects on men and women improve project design, change legislation as needed, or separately whenever possible, and check whether the change local systems. needs and interests of women and men are still consid- Obviously, a well-designed M&E system is needed to ered during implementation. carry out gender-sensitive monitoring, along with other Insist that project staff make specific and adequately supportive tools for staff of the project or program, such as detailed references to gender in supervision forms and proj- gender policies, term of reference, and training. This ect completion reports. Report any gender differences even Thematic Note discusses specific measures that should be when no mention was made of gender in project objectives. used and offers practical examples of good and bad design. Ensure that staff members obtain the training and tools to understand gender and the reasons for monitoring. BASIC STRUCTURES FOR MONITORING This list applies both to the logical framework and the GENDER results framework. The results framework has the following Women are major players in agriculture and rural develop- structure: (1) a project development objective and project ment. They are agricultural wage laborers as well as unpaid component statements, (2) indicators for the outcome of workers on family farms. Yet women, who form the major- the project development objective and for intermediate ity of rural poor, are usually not given equal consideration component outcomes, and (3) an explicit statement on how when agricultural programs are planned, implemented, or to use the outcome information. The results framework monitored. If steps are taken to involve all groups, including focuses chiefly on managing the outcomes of project inter- women, in such programs, improvement will be seen both ventions and does not necessarily link into higher-level sec- in project and program outcomes and in society as a whole. toral goals. However, the project document should describe The consideration of gender and involvement of women in how the project contributes to these higher-level objectives, M&E can empower women. Every project should meet the including gender objectives, as well as outline project following basic requirements: inputs, activities, outputs, and critical assumptions. 686 The application of a results-based framework may from lower-level indicators on inputs and outputs (such as unduly emphasize quantitative indicators for project out- the number of women trained) is useful but insufficient. It comes and outputs, thus limiting the representation of sus- must be possible to analyze at the outcome level, for exam- tainability concerns in the project M&E framework. This ple, whether the training has led women to be empowered limited representation argues for parallel use of the logical and use the training for greater agricultural production. framework in project design to complement the results- Critical reviews of progress and readjustment should be based framework, so that the intended links between project undertaken, based on information on local constraints-- outputs and outcomes (the project development objective) usually the annual work planning stage or midterm review and project impacts (the development goal) can be well are good moments. articulated (Punkari and others 2007). In the logical framework, the overall objective should PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES FOR INVESTING link gender outcomes at the project level to provincial or IN GENDER-SENSITIVE M&E national priorities for a given sector to ensure that the proj- Different activities are required at national (or interna- ect is not an isolated activity but part of the overall devel- tional), local government, and project levels to implement opment process for the sector (box 16.8). Indicators at this gender-sensitive M&E. level will measure change in the broad development goal to which the project contributes. National guidelines Qualitative as well as quantitative indicators and data are needed (these are discussed in more detail in Thematic Note Embassies, donor organization representatives, and national 3). The inclusion of gender-sensitive indicators is not representatives should ensure that gender is considered at enough, however. It is important that there is a means to use all stages of the planning, implementation, and M&E. the information gathered and to make changes if necessary National goals regarding the status and participation of to ensure that the outcomes will be equitable. Information women (for example, national gender strategies or specific Box 16.8 Linking Gender Outcomes with the Overall Objective The specific objective or purpose for a project could be: Percentage of women, men, disabled, and minority groups represented in management bodies To increase the efficiency and impact of existing Seventy-five percent of surveyed community livelihood, infrastructure, and administrative systems members rating their access to livelihood develop- on poverty reduction, economic growth, and equity in ment services as having improved during the life of project districts. the project. The corresponding indicators could be the following: But the overall objective could be: Percentage of the population below the poverty line Enhanced, equitable, pro-poor growth in X Province for income The corresponding indicators could be the following: Number of district-commune roads (percentage of communes covered) Implementation of the project resulting in an Number of commune-village roads (percentage of improvement in living conditions for at least 75 per- villages covered) cent of rural households Percentage of households with secure land-use cer- The number of acutely poor households in project tificates in both husband's and wife's names areas reduced by at least 25 percent by project end Number of villages having access to reliable market Percentage of women staff in management roles in information on relevant agricultural products provincial agricultural department increased Percentage of women, men, disabled, and minority Participatory approaches used in socioeconomic groups represented in decision-making bodies development planning by all departments. Source: Author. THEMATIC NOTE 1: DESIGN OF SOUND GENDERED MONITORING AND EVALUATION SYSTEMS 687 goals such as the percentage of women in management training and resources to support gender promotion committees) must be integrated into project and program nationally are vital actions. Also, including ministry-level planning. Unfortunately, the experience to date is not good. gender focal points in field visits to give them a good under- For instance, evaluations of DFID's Country Strategy Papers standing of grassroots issues should be done. Examples of note that they tend to see the whole community as poor and program- and policy-related questions that could be asked are less likely to differentiate specific subgroups that should are given in box 16.9. be included in program activities. General statements that gender will be mainstreamed throughout the country pro- Local guidelines gram are insufficient unless specific guidance is given. In addition, international conventions and agreements must Local authorities may need training; representatives of local be observed, such as the United Nations Convention on the government and civil society should be included in capac- Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against ity-building efforts on gender and M&E. Their inclusion Women. These national representatives should ensure that serves several purposes: it ensures that the work of the proj- quantitative and qualitative indicators to promote gender ect or program is well understood, it provides a broader equity are included in project and program documents base of understanding about gender issues and monitoring, (logical or results framework), and gender training is and it leads to a level of sustainability, by leaving behind a included in project or program work plans. Appointing trained cohort to continue the work. high-level professional women to gender positions in the In addition, ways of accessing information, the aims of ministry of agriculture and ensuring that they have the gender mainstreaming, and the benefits for agricultural Box 16.9 Examples of Program- and Policy-Related Questions Do national legislation and policies support gender Do agricultural extension services reach women and equity? For instance, in 2003 Vietnam passed a new men farmers equally, with information and services Land Law, which requires the names of husband and given at appropriate times and in culturally appro- wife to be included on all Land Tenure Certificates. priate forms? For instance, theoretical training pro- This legislation was a big advance, but strong follow- vided in the dominant national language at central up is needed to ensure that it is implemented at the locations is more likely to reach men than to reach local level. women who are members of ethnic minorities, who Are women's voices heard in planning and monitor- might be the persons responsible for putting the ing? Do representatives from women's unions, non- training into practice. governmental organizations, or other groups advo- Are the different roles of women and men farmers cating on behalf of women participate in national considered when new seed, crops, or technologies are committees? What is the gender of the decision researched and developed? In central Vietnam, for makers as well as staff of the finance and agriculture example, a seemingly promising larger and stronger ministries at the national level? rice variety was developed with higher seedling sur- Are there specific efforts to design and monitor vival and production rates, but it was not successful gender-sensitive indicators in national agriculture, in farmers' fields. Women are mainly responsible for transport, and water programs? transplanting rice seedlings, and their larger size Has gender-disaggregated baseline information meant a heavier load for them. Purely quantitative been collected prior to commencing program monitoring would not have discovered why the new activities, in monitoring national progress toward variety did not produce the expected higher yields. the Millennium Development Goals, or for under- Qualitative techniques were vital in this case. taking other tasks? Are gender-disaggregated data Is agricultural credit equally available to women and collected during monitoring. If so, how is this men farmers? Usually the answer to this question is information analyzed, reported, and used to adjust tied to the question of collateral: Do both women plans? and men farmers have access to land? Source: Author. 688 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION livelihoods all should be promoted in local media. The Box 16.10 Kyrgyz Republic: Gender appointment of women to provincial and district depart- Perspectives Reflected in an ments should be encouraged. Agricultural Development Project Project guidelines At the design stage of an agricultural area develop- Ensure that gender perspectives are incorporated into the ment project in the Kyrgyz Republic, rural women following documents and actions: were identified as a highly disadvantaged group. Particular attention was given to mainstreaming gender issues, and efforts were made to increase Terms of reference for all staff, particularly M&E officers the project's inclusiveness. The monitoring and Progress reports: For all components of the project or evaluation of benefits examined the project's program, report on progress by gender effects with respect to gender, including women's Staff recruitment: Encourage the recruitment of a gender- ownership of land, their access to and membership balanced staff, and if one group is particularly disadvan- in producer organizations, their participation in taged, consider recruiting a less-qualified person, but training and the types of training they were given, provide intensive training and support changes in women's incomes compared with The subcontracting of local organizations men's, and the relative social position of women- Activity monitoring headed households. Briefings of team members Source: Adapted by author from ADB Web site, Training www.adb.org, loan/TA case studies on gender. Annual plans Project redesign or review Project steering and coordinating committee meetings Box 16.10 gives an example of how some of these per- Project completion report and ex post evaluation report spectives might be incorporated into the design and moni- Lessons-learned database, disaggregated by gender toring of an agricultural development project. Project and program steering committees or other coor- dinating bodies that are monitoring the project, including Monitoring formats representatives of women's organizations and gender- equity authorities (ideally as full members). When monitoring results, it can be useful to set out the expected results in a who, what, when, where, and how sense, At the project level, the questions are more relevant to as in table 16.1 (modified from UNDP 2002). A monitoring household equality issues: planning worksheet can add another level of detail and enable the entire system to be visualized easily (table 16.2). Who participates in meetings, planning, and implemen- tation of activities at the community level? A simple gen- GOOD PRACTICE: HOWTO INTEGRATE GENDER der disaggregation of the data on meeting participants INTO MONITORING AND EVALUATION will provide some information but will not give the full Working through the following checklist is valuable when picture. Qualitative monitoring is needed to establish integrating gendered M&E, both in project planning stages how actively different groups are participating. and during implementation. What is the division of labor in the household and Stage 1-- Identification and preparation: community? Are there differences between men and women in the Ensure that the benchmark survey or baseline study is amounts of time spent on agricultural tasks, and who gender sensitive. makes decisions about the time spent? Conduct an initial stocktaking: Who are the stakehold- Who makes decisions on planting, marketing, and ers? What are their activities? What is their capacity? consuming crops and using water for agricultural or What are their roles and needs? domestic purposes? Undertake an initial gender study or analysis to identify What are the patterns of food allocation (sharing, quan- the potential negative impacts of project intervention on tity, quality, and so forth) among family members? women as well as men. THEMATIC NOTE 1: DESIGN OF SOUND GENDERED MONITORING AND EVALUATION SYSTEMS 689 Table 16.1 Monitoring Formats How is the information Type of result What is measured Indicators Who is measuring used Impact Effectiveness or Use of outcomes and Senior donor agency Blocks to positive results in terms of sustained positive management or change can be the effect of a development government authori- identified--for combination of change, such as the ties. Usually informa- instance, gender- outcome activities change in economic tion comes from an sensitive legislation that improve status of women in internal impact may be needed. development. a district over a evaluation, midterm five-year period. review, final or ex Conditions at a post evaluation, as national level, well as joint reviews disaggregated by of donor and gender. government staff. Outcome Effectiveness, or Use of outputs and Project and program Outcomes are fed results in terms of sustained produc- management and back into project or access, usage, and tion of benefits-- staff and local program design. stakeholder for example, the authorities; Unexpected nega- satisfaction from change in attitudes information from tive outcomes-- goods and services or understanding in quarterly and such as an increase generated by a local area regard- annual reports, in domestic vio- projects, programs, ing women's access discussions at the lence arising from partners, and soft to land over a steering committee changes in gender assistance, period, or the level, and visits by relationships in the disaggregated by change in number of donors. household once the gender. women beneficiaries woman has more accessing agricultural income--may extension services. indicate a need for training, awareness raising, or other adjustments. Output Effort or goods and Implementation of Project management If there is an services generated activities--for and staff, by means imbalance in the by projects and example, how many of day-to-day way that the means programs, (what percentage) monitoring and use are being used, then disaggregated by of beneficiaries, of management the project or gender. participants, or information system program activities extension staff are to verify progress, can be redesigned women and their as well as field visits to achieve more satisfaction levels and reports and gender balance. with the project. information received from project management. Source: Author, adapted from UNDP 2002. Identify gender-related goals and priorities based on Plan for developing capacity to address gender issues and available information and consultation with stakeholders. to monitor and evaluate progress and outcomes. Conduct a gender-sensitive social analysis or assessment. Set up an M&E system. Adopt and "engender" the logical Assess the institutional capacity for integrating gender framework or the results framework as included in the into development activities. project appraisal document, design gender-sensitive indicators, and develop or select the "best" data collec- Stage 2--Design and appraisal: tion methods. Decide how to organize reporting and feedback processes. Clearly identify who will collect and Ensure that gender is integrated into goals and objectives, analyze information, who will receive it, and how it will and set clear targets. be used to guide implementation. 690 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Table 16.2 Sample Monitoring Planning Worksheet Planning worksheet THEMA Data collection Data analysis and use TIC Baseline How How How Project Information data Who is Tools and often often Who is information Who gets NO objective Indicators sources needed involved methods needed used involved is to be used information TE Cost- Women make Minutes; None if the Project Observation Four times Four times M&E officer Fed into annual Project 1: effective, up at least accounts of committees engineers, of user each each and project planning; management; DESIGN gravity-fed one-third of management are new M&E group year year, and management disseminated shared with upland membership committees officer meetings; especially unit in bulletins to all user irrigation of irrigation minutes of annual beneficiaries groups OF projects user manage- meetings report SOUND functioning ment commit- tees. Women and ethnic GENDERED minorities participate actively in decision making on MONIT water use and ORING production planning AND Source: Author. EV ALU ATION SY STEMS 691 Stage 3-- Implementation: impacts on men and women participants. Ideally short- term inputs from a gender expert could be used to support Develop capacity to integrate, monitor, and evaluate a team in this situation. gender-related issues. Appointment of a gender focal point among staff can Collect gender-sensitive data based on the selected ensure that a trained person is available to answer questions, indicators. advise other staff, and prevent attention to gender from being Monitor progress against outcome targets set for the lost in everyday work. This person does not need to be a period under evaluation, and feed results back into the gender expert but should have a good understanding of system to allow for midterm corrections. gender issues and monitoring. A 2007 survey found that 58 Assess progress and make corrections if needed to obtain percent of projects supported by IFAD had a gender focal expected gender-related outcomes. point. Of these, 40 percent worked exclusively on gender issues and 60 percent worked on gender in addition to other Stage 4--Completion: duties (IFAD 2007). Assess the outcomes and impact of gender integration in the overall context of the project. Job descriptions, responsibilities, and terms of reference Assess outcomes and impact of project interventions on men and women. Gender mainstreaming should be an explicit requirement Include gender-differentiated results in reporting lessons in all job descriptions, job responsibilities, and terms of learned from implementation. reference for studies, consulting work, and training. Ide- ally, projects should aim for a gender balance among tech- nical advisers and field staff, particularly those involved in INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURESTO SUPPORT M&E. A reasonable representation of women among proj- MAINSTREAMING GENDERVIATHE ect or program staff gives credibility when the project asks MONITORING SYSTEM others to take gender into consideration. When employing Ideally a gender specialist in the donor agency, Ministry, or staff, preference should be given to candidates who not project team can provide a range of supportive actions, but only possess the necessary skills and experience but also in lieu of this the following range of steps can be taken to have a good working knowledge of gender issues and an support gender mainstreaming and improved M&E in proj- appropriate attitude. ects and programs. Job descriptions of all project staff should include gender- related tasks such as the following: Situations when no gender specialist is Participate in training to gain knowledge and skills, on the team where necessary, to be able to mainstream gender. Many programs, projects, or government departments have Actively support the inclusion of gender mainstreaming no gender expert. Although this situation might not be ideal, through adherence to the gender-mainstreaming guide- it does not mean that gender mainstreaming and gender- lines in all project or program activities. sensitive monitoring cannot happen. Ensuring that guide- lines and toolkits are available (those from donors and Specific job descriptions may also need modification to national departments, and those specially designed for the ensure that staff members consider gender in specific topics. program or project) and that skills development is a contin- For instance, the terms of reference of an agriculture pro- uing effort is more important. Newly hired and existing staff gram officer might include such tasks as the following need training in gender concepts and their application, and gender analysis training must be a regular feature of the staff Develop and introduce a sustainable extension service in development program. In addition, the steering committee crop husbandry (including plant protection) and and management team must take gender issues seriously forestry that is farmer-centered, market-oriented, and and ensure both vertical and horizontal integration of a financially feasible; works in close cooperation with gender approach, including the setting of indicators and other extension agencies; and meets the needs of both regular analysis of monitoring data and the project's women and men. 692 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION The job description of the M&E officer should also include Ensure that study visits and training opportunities made gender-specific descriptions such as working in close coop- using project funds include equal numbers of women eration with x staff to: and men as much as possible. Bring up issues connected with promoting the status of Specify quantitative and qualitative indicators at the women in visits to the field and hold discussions with objective, purpose, result, and subresult levels that are both women and men workers and intended project gender inclusive. beneficiaries. Carry out participatory M&E at the activity level and Always act in accordance with local laws as well as the through qualitative evaluations on a regular basis, ensur- gender policies of the donor. In their personal behavior, ing the active participation of women and men, boys and staff should try to promote the rights of women and men girls, and disadvantaged groups. and more equal relations between them. Assist the project management team in carrying out a participatory rural appraisal, baseline surveys, and other fact-finding activities, including appropriate gender GENDER CHECKLIST analyses. A gender checklist supports the planning, implementing, and M&E of projects and activities undertaken within a project or program to ensure that gender is mainstreamed Management contracts and that the outcome is equality of participation and bene- If the project or program has management contracts with fits for men and women. Box 16.11 provides key questions local partners, the requirement of gender mainstreaming that may be asked during the design, implementation, mon- should be made explicit. The project or program should itoring, or evaluation stage. support partners to access adequate technical assistance to help mainstream gender in programs and activities, as well as offer training for staff in partner organizations. The con- Setting times for analysis and encouraging feedback tracts should also require that gender considerations are Clearly a midterm review is a crucial externally imposed included in monitoring and reporting. time to assess progress and alter program or project activi- ties as necessary. Annual planning should also be used as an opportunity to review what occurred over the last year and Gender policies, guidelines, and action plans consider any differential gender impacts. Many societies To put gender-sensitive monitoring into practice in projects, have no tradition of giving realistic feedback, either positive gender policies and guidelines or action plans should be or negative. It is likely that many in the community, partic- developed, including at least the following instructions to ularly women and other disadvantaged groups (the very local and international staff: poor or those of low caste), feel constrained and reluctant to complain about problems with project activities. Even if Mainstream the promotion of gender equity in all plan- community members report dissatisfaction with an activity, ning and budgeting of project activities and in progress no follow-up discussion of the problem or action may be reports. In the project planning exercises, ensure that the taken. Both the community and the project or local govern- anticipated impacts on all groups are considered. ment authorities need to understand that criticism can be Provide gender-specific objectives and indicators for the positive, in the sense that it can lead to improvements in the logical framework of the project or program document future. Follow-up training and case studies (small-scale and annual work plans. gender analyses) of gender impacts may be useful to refresh Develop qualitative and quantitative indicators as measure- the minds of staff and potential beneficiaries about the ments of gender-equity promotion at the activity level. importance of the issue. Disaggregate data by gender in reports and in the infor- mation provided to all stakeholders. Management information system design and Ensure that project personnel receive gender training. use and reporting Ensure that the project personnel are informed of, and understand, the partner country's national plan for pro- The management information system (MIS) devised for moting gender equity. the program or project should integrate information flows THEMATIC NOTE 1: DESIGN OF SOUND GENDERED MONITORING AND EVALUATION SYSTEMS 693 project activities and outputs. An MIS can provide gender- Box 16.11 Key Questions to Be Asked in disaggregated data on stakeholders involved in various Project and Program Design, Implementation, Monitoring, and aspects of a project and on the indicators selected to mon- Evaluation itor change and impact. Both men and women stakehold- ers should be involved in identifying indicators to monitor change and impact, and both should be involved in pro- General questions: viding feedback. Does the project involve most stakeholders in The following information sets should be managed by monitoring and evaluating? Are there provi- the MIS: sions for women and men (disadvantaged tar- get groups) to participate systematically in the Monitoring of management and administration: Includes monitoring? data on staff and personnel (performance, time use, To what extent may disadvantaged groups be capability), vehicles (mileage, repairs), physical plant organized and empowered to take corrective (buildings, land, utilities), supplies (stocks, costs, qual- action in response to the discovery of weakness ity), and others. or failure during project implementation? Financial monitoring: Includes all information about Are mechanisms in place to ensure that intended project beneficiaries have the ability financial resources, such as budget, income, expenditures, to change the direction of the project? and cash flow. In reports, this information may be used to Are mechanisms in place to ensure that any compare income and expenditure over time, changes in negative impacts of the project can be averted? sources of revenue, or changes within the organization's expenditures (particularly with regard to gender). Questions related to indicators: Program and process monitoring: Looks at the manage- Will it be possible to assess whether women or ment approach, background information, inputs, men have been disadvantaged socially or eco- activities, outputs, and progress toward objectives and nomically? For example, will data be collected impact. on changes to the gender division of labor and on access to, and control of, resources (by SEAGA (FAO 2001) lists the key components of a moni- socioeconomic group)? toring, evaluation, and reporting system: Will it be possible to assess if women's or men's workload increased as a result of program A clearly defined purpose and focus inputs, and if women or men have control over Indicators for each activity, input, output, outcome, and income generated from their labor? impact Will women's (and men's) participation in the Data concerning the indicators project be monitored--for example, the extent to which women (compared to men) receive Analysis of data and presentation of the analysis in use- access to project resources? "Resources" include able ways for different people decision making and training. Easy access to the information for use in individuals' Will it be possible to assess if women's status (or work. men's) improved because of program inputs? A deficiency in many MIS designs is that they rely too much Source: Author. on quantitative data and find it difficult to incorporate information derived through qualitative and more partici- patory approaches (box 16.12). A key decision at the start is on inputs, outputs, impacts, and outcomes using quantita- to determine what information is needed (compared to tive and qualitative data. The MIS should produce a range what might be interesting). Collecting and recording irrele- of reports according to need--financial reports, time-based vant data will complicate the system and waste time. Infor- reports, monitoring of results or components, reports by mation should be recorded and entered into the system only socioeconomic groups of beneficiaries, and others. In a if it is going to be used. rural development setting, the MIS ideally should incor- Developing and testing computer programs are always porate a geographic information system that maps data on more difficult and time consuming than initially expected; 694 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Box 16.12 How Can Participation Be Measured and Reported Meaningfully? Participation is one of the most important factors to important. For example, criteria to judge "active par- ensure gender equity and thus one of the most impor- ticipation" may include the number of questions asked, tant to monitor, yet participation can be difficult and the number of comments given, the perseverance of time consuming to measure. Participation can range opinion giving in the face of opposition, and attempts from attending meetings to initiating empowered to sway others with argument. The answer choice for activity. Different kinds of participation are desirable the questions listed above can be quantified, and in different project activities. For each activity, a deci- change can be noted over time. Initially, for example, sion must be made as to the kind of participation that 15 percent of women attending meetings may have is desired--for instance, assessing not just the number participated "somewhat" and the remainder "not at of women attending meetings but whether they express all," whereas after a year of involvement in the pro- opinions and ask for more information. gram, 35 percent of women attending meetings may It is particularly difficult to assess program partici- have participated "a lot," 20 percent "somewhat," and pation and benefits at the community level and to the remainder "not at all." assess any effects on power relationships. Gender- Note that for the answers to these questions to have disaggregated data are not the only requirement. any meaning, clarifying how many women the answers Indicators must be identified so that meaningful refer to is important. Therefore, the questions above participation by men and women and real benefits need to be followed by another: accruing to them can be determined and any result- To what percentage or fraction of women present at ing power imbalances in the community can be the meeting does this apply? identified clearly. Accurate socioeconomic profiles, including gender analysis, of the target community A range of program impacts are often difficult should inform project activities and assess change. either to measure or attribute, such as changes in self- These analyses are not a one-off event but part of the confidence, skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Personal monitoring process. attribution is a valid means to gauge program Each of the following questions can be posed to gain impacts--in other words, a person or group believes a clearer or richer understanding of true participation that involvement in program activities has occasioned in meetings and training sessions: a change in their self-confidence, skills, knowledge, or attitude. Another method is to collect purely qualita- To what extent did women actively participate in the tive data using a consistent format and record it on an meeting? activity fact sheet. This allows effective monitoring To what extent did women contribute to the meeting and evaluation of project and program activities and outcomes? their impacts. The use of participatory rural appraisal To lessen the subjective nature of the answers, devel- or gender analysis techniques to monitor indicators is opment of criteria to form the basis of the answer is a helpful tool. Source: Author, adapted from unpublished project documents. final expenditures of three times the estimated cost are not bases) used to record monitoring data. Keep the quarterly uncommon. Standard codes can be used in different packages reporting as simple as possible and try to avoid reporting too or modules to link related physical activities in the various much numerical data at the activity level. The numerical databases or records to financial budgets.A better approach at detail may not add much information that is meaningful to the project level may be to rely on a standard, off-the-shelf other users of the report and complicates reporting (many accounting system, which can be customized with project numbers need to be reconciled and actual data reported codes to identify cost centers, components, and activities and against targets). More detail on results versus expected out- to use the same codes in any other packages (such as data- puts and outcomes can be included in the annual report. THEMATIC NOTE 1: DESIGN OF SOUND GENDERED MONITORING AND EVALUATION SYSTEMS 695 Operating budgets PRACTICALITIES OF M&E Sufficient funds need to be made available for gender- How much M&E is enough? The key is to remember that the related activities. For instance, funds are needed to pur- purpose of M&E is to guide implementation of a program chase gender training materials and to conduct specific or project, so a limit exists to the resources that should be studies on the socioeconomic situation of men and women used for M&E. The cost of collecting information will usu- in the project area (gender analysis). Collecting quantita- ally determine the methods selected and the scope of infor- tive data disaggregated by gender need not be more costly, mation collected. A balance must be found between using as but qualitative monitoring of projects, which will pick up few indicators as possible, for reasons of simplicity and cost, on changes in attitudes and changes in gender roles, will and using sufficient indicators to measure the breadth of require more time and money. The triangulation is impor- change and to cross-check results. tant, however, to ensure reliability. 696 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION T H E M AT I C N OT E 2 Gender in High-Level Programs, Policies, and Newer Aid Modalities: How Should We Monitor It? he discourse on aid effectiveness has focused T KEY ISSUES RELATEDTO MONITORING on which modality of aid--project or program GENDER INTHE NEWER AID MODALITIES modalities, in their various forms--has the great- The attention given to gender within these larger initiatives, est impact on poverty reduction and economic growth. unfortunately, is not good. Although SWAPs and budget Arguments in favor of the project approach include the support have many advantages with regard to impact, they ability to make and monitor change at the local level, to can cause gender equity to receive even less priority, unless control the work and use of funds closely, and to provide deliberate steps are taken to monitor gender impacts. good opportunities for capacity building. The opposing Gender-sensitive M&E in more traditional projects, arguments are that delivering aid through projects leads to although perhaps not done well in practice, is usually better a proliferation of parallel management systems within or understood in theory. The monitoring of gender issues outside the public administration, which hamper coordi- within PRSPs, budget support, and SWAPs, on the other nation, planning, and budgeting and result in heavy trans- hand, is more problematic, to both plan and implement. It action costs and insufficient impact. The current paradigm is difficult to link and track the diagnosis of priorities to in development thinking, agreed to by many donors in the plans, budgets, expenditures, and outcomes, and they are Paris Declaration on Harmonization of Aid, is to move very often gender blind. Developing countries usually lack toward programmatic aid, supporting local governments the organizations and technical capacity for accurately to run activities directly. The increasing emphasis on har- monitoring how the funds are spent and what gender out- monization and alignment means that all donors are faced comes are achieved. Although the newer aid modalities have with the dilemma of finding an appropriate balance the potential to mainstream gender equity at a national between their own policy objectives and country-led level, experience to date has shown that gender has not been approaches to development. given much consideration. It is rarely considered to be an Some of the "new" modalities include the following: independent sector, nor is it effectively mainstreamed, and if equity has improved, this happens usually by accident Program support rather than design. Poverty reduction strategy programs/national develop- Gender equity is not explicitly addressed in the Paris Dec- ment plans laration. There is a risk that as the influence of donors on Budget support (general or targeted/sectoral) resources diminishes under new aid modalities, their ability Public financial management to encourage partners to pursue gender-sensitive strategies Sectorwide approaches and carry out M&E will diminish. In addition, SWAPs and Joint assistance strategies budget support tend to be implemented from capital cities, Basket funds (usually a precursor to SWAPs). in meetings, rather than at the grassroots level. This context may be far away--in distance and perceptions--from what These newer modalities require the implementation of is actually happening on the ground. Competing priorities, monitoring measures on a scale that differs to a great extent discussed by societal leaders (generally men), usually are from those applied in projects, because in most cases an found, as well as a diminished scope for gender equity. The entire country is covered. demands from donors and local government for time and 697 human resources to hold regular working group meetings EXPERIENCE AND ACHIEVEMENTS and joint reviews are enormous. If field visits take place dur- As noted, the experience of gender-sensitive monitoring of ing joint reviews, they often consist of convoys of cars and the newer aid modalities has been somewhat weak. The fol- many visitors sweeping into small villages, with the participa- lowing sections look at monitoring of MDGs, PRSPs, SWAPs, tion of local leaders and the presence of police for security. and joint reviews--both experiences to date and possible Under these circumstances, it is unlikely that the reviewers improvements. can collect good qualitative information, and certainly cross- cutting issues or negative results are unlikely to be mentioned. The Development Assistance Committee review of Experience with PRSPs and SWAPs development cooperation agencies (OECD 2007: 15) found In these early stages of working with new aid modalities, an that "a number of respondents believe that the new aid emphasis is given to measuring management processes, mea- modalities have hampered gender-equity actions. Over half suring the consistency of aid flow, and tracking finances and of the mature agencies say the new aid modalities have economic performance, rather than measuring progress on made gender mainstreaming more difficult--and none say achieving development priorities, including gender priorities. that they have made it less difficult." In addition, problems The World Bank's PRSP Sourcebook (World Bank 2002) of attribution often arise when monitoring results at the notes that men and women experience poverty differently budget support or SWAP level: did the support of one par- and that poverty reduction strategies (PRSs) often do not ticular agency make the difference for women in the partner take these differences into account: country, or was it a combination of many actions? A full understanding of the gender dimensions of poverty can significantly change the definition of priority policy and pro- REASONSTO MONITOR GENDER SPECIFICALLY gram interventions supported by the PRS. Evidence is growing INTHE NEW MODALITIES that gender-sensitive development strategies contribute signifi- The Gender Action Partnership (GAP) Web site in Vietnam cantly to economic growth as well as to equity objectives by states, "Experience shows that if Poverty Reduction Strate- ensuring that all groups of the poor share in program benefits. gies do not comprehensively address the gender dimension Yet differences between men's and women's needs are often not fully recognized in poverty analysis and participatory planning of poverty throughout the strategy, then it is most likely that and are frequently not taken into consideration in the selection the impact of the strategy on poverty reduction and eco- and design of PRSs. nomic growth will be insufficient, inequitable, and less suc- World Bank (2002: 335) cessful (than it could have been had gender been main- streamed). The responsiveness of income poverty to growth National statistical data are often insufficient. Normally reduction increases significantly as inequality is lowered-- data on early childhood growth or schooling will record the that is,`more equal societies will be more efficient transformers gender of survey participants, yet this level of detail often of growth into poverty reduction.'"1 disappears by the time the information is summarized in Effective gender mainstreaming and gender-sensitive background documents for PRSPs or SWAPs. In addition, monitoring in the context of budget support can take place household-level income or consumption surveys will not only if the national poverty reduction strategy has captured usually indicate gender, unless women-headed households poverty, vulnerability, and the causes of poverty as gender- are recorded. Intermediaries processing raw data may make specific phenomena and outlined effective measures and a decision regarding the importance of gender and delete interventions to overcome them. Establishing a framework to important data for monitoring. Qualitative monitoring and manage for results that incorporates gender equity requires attempts to improve participation have been made using agreement that gender-equity targets are appropriate and that participatory poverty assessments and civil society consul- their monitoring is worth the investment. However, this com- tations, and the resulting information used to develop mitment is not always carried through into action. PRSPs, but experience has shown that consultations were The connection between policies, spending commitments, usually limited and rushed, at least in the first round of and actual implementation will be strengthened if well- PRSPs. It is also difficult to integrate statistical data with the functioning monitoring systems track the introduction of participatory poverty assessment unless specific examples gender-sensitive performance measures and incentives in the are presented to support particular topics. Consequently, public sector and if community organizations lobby for them. the recommendations did not appear in the final documents. 698 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Another difficulty faced when working with sectoral the Paris Declaration do not monitor gender and social basket funding or budget support involving multiple donors equity. Box 16.13 (below) describes some difficulties is that checklists and monitoring requirements may overlap encountered in monitoring the PRSP of Mozambique. or even be contradictory, despite the harmonization princi- Fong, reviewing SWAPs for agriculture implemented ple endorsed in the Paris Agreement. As a consequence, between 1989 and 1998, identified SWAPs that successfully some recipient governments have tried to develop their integrated a number of gender characteristics, specifically own harmonized guidelines and request that donors use "capacity building on gender in the ministry; using gender them. The Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines objectives to reinforce overall SWAP objectives; a participa- of the Philippines (NEDA 2004) are a good example, but tory approach with special attention to women stakehold- not all recipient governments are strong enough to take a ers; mainstreaming gender throughout the program; and similar action. strong support of donors." The review also found increasing Typically PRSPs have had a poor record of including recognition of the need to address gender issues in agricul- women's organizations in their planning and have lacked a tural programs: "Fifteen of the 24 SWAPs made efforts to sound gender analysis. Moser and others (2004) identified address gender or women in development issues. Analysis of three types of difficulties in following gender issues in gender issues was undertaken in twice as many SWAPs in PRSPs: evaporation,"invisibilization," and resistance."Evap- the second five-year period as in the first, so there was oration" means that although commitments and general progress."2 Although gender needs were recognized in many statements are made regarding the importance of women SWAPs, real action, such as developing activities or ear- in, for example, subsistence agriculture or nutrition, these marking budgets, was limited. The contradiction between words do not progress to action. Even if factors exacerbating the lack of gender considerations in the main document of women's poverty and vulnerability are recognized, plans the Mozambican agricultural SWAP and the practical and objectives may not be developed to counteract them. instructions given for gender-sensitive monitoring is pro- "Invisibilization" occurs when gender is not monitored or vided in box 16.14. reported, because baseline and monitoring data have not been recorded or passed up to decision makers, because Experience with monitoring gender progress in the women were not consulted and their perspectives are missing, Millennium Development Goals or because gender information was filtered out as "unimpor- tant." Issues with clear gender dimensions may also become The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) developed at invisible when they are discussed in gender-neutral terms. the Millennium Summit in 2000 consist of a set of eight "Resistance" is the refusal to take problems on board and is goals, 18 targets, and 48 indicators for monitoring socioeco- perhaps the more traditional obstacle in projects. nomic and environmental change by 2015 (box 16.15). One difficulty in a PRSP is the sheer amount of informa- Although improvements in gender equity and the status of tion to be gathered. Too many indicators can overwhelm the women are vital for achieving all of the MDGs, gender main- abilities of national governments to collect and analyze the streaming of the MDGs has not been particularly strong. It information. For instance, although the initial PRSP in has been assumed that if the goals are achieved, progress Bolivia contained 157 national-level indicators, a subsequent, would occur in social areas at the same time. An analysis of pared-down draft had 17 (Kusek and Rist 2004). Experience the indicators for monitoring progress shows very little indicates, however, that any data pruning is liable to drop emphasis on gender, other than goal 3. Rather than main- indicators linked to gender. streaming gender, the goals have seemingly circumscribed it In the new aid modalities (for instance, in PRSPs or the within goals 3 and 5. frameworks for targeted budget support), conscious efforts The indicators for goal 3 are the ratio of girls'to boys'enroll- are needed to mainstream gender and to include gendered ment in primary, secondary, and tertiary education; the indicators. National stakeholders should then collect gen- ratio of literate women to men among 15­24-year-olds; the der-disaggregated data through national statistics offices share of women in wage employment in the nonagricultural and surveys as well as qualitative surveys, to monitor imple- sector; and the proportion of seats held by women in national mentation and outcomes. Performance assessment frame- parliaments. Clearly, these indicators reflect only a limited works should consist of a set of indicators that monitor subset of activity in education, nonagricultural employment, progress against national development strategies and sector and political representation. They do not reflect agricultural programs. However, most assessment tools identified within and rural livelihoods adequately, especially disparities in THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER IN HIGH-LEVEL PROGRAMS, POLICIES,AND NEWER AID MODALITIES: HOW SHOULD WE MONITOR IT? 699 Box 16.13 Mozambique: Strengths and Weaknesses of Gender Monitoring in the Second Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty Mozambique's second Action Plan for the Reduction of The capacity for stakeholders to conduct gender Absolute Poverty (known by its acronym in Por- analyses is low. No strategic approach or results tuguese, which is PARPA) shows some improvement in orientation is present. Agriculture has a separate gender monitoring over the first, although many issues strategy on gender equity, but the substance is remain to be resolved. weak. Progress has been made in institutionalizing gen- Improvements: der-mainstreaming mechanisms, such as gender units and the appointment of gender focal points, The second version of PARPA has more considera- but their true capacity, resources, and motivation tion of gender than the first. remain unclear. Specific progress has been made in some areas: a bill Women's advocacy within government is weak in on domestic violence is in the pipeline, a Family human resources and authority. Law has been passed, and a National Gender Policy In general, the motivation among government offi- is under development. cials to discuss gender issues seems low. Many con- A Gender Coordination Group--with representatives sider gender-equity strategies to be imposed by from government, donor agencies, United Nations donors and feel resistant. agencies, and civil society--chaired by the United Much gender training has occurred, yet staff cannot Nations Population Fund, has considered gender apply the theory in practice. issues in the agriculture meetings, although the group Some sectors collect gender-disaggregated data; has not functioned very well in the joint reviews. some do not. Room for improvement exists in all sectors. Unresolved issues: Gender issues are treated in an ad hoc way, not based on analysis. A systematic approach for gender Key documents focus very little attention on mainstreaming is missing. women's economic empowerment. No systematic attention is given to women's rights or to the appli- Clearly, much work remains to be done, and incen- cation of a rights-based approach in general. tives must be found to mainstream gender in PARPA. Source: Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland, internal memo, May 29, 2007. access to productive resources such as land, credit, and tech- has improved the list of indicators, and various groups have nology. These indicators are also only quantitative in nature reviewed country reports to assess the quality of gender and measure equality of access to those areas. They do not mainstreaming. measure whether women receive good education or are In 2006 in a paper for the Development Assistance Com- empowered (World Bank 2007). mittee Network on Gender Equality, Gaynor (2006) noted Many of the MDGs have a gender dimension. For that gender was not reflected as a cross-cutting issue in any instance, gender-sensitive activities in agriculture can con- of the 13 MDG country reports reviewed in 2003, and goal tribute to goal 3 directly by empowering women farmers 3 (on gender equality) was the only one consistently address- and indirectly by reducing women's time burden for domes- ing gender issues across countries. The World Bank reported tic tasks. Experience at the project level, however, teaches that"data on all six official indicators of MDG3 are available that if we do not measure the impacts on gender, we cannot for only 59 out of 154 developing countries (for 2000­05), assume that benefits will flow equally to women and men. and even fewer countries have time-series data that would Consequently, various agencies have attempted to strengthen allow tracking over time for both the official and expanded the monitoring. Ideally, at least one gender-sensitive indica- list of indicators. . . . [O]nly 41 countries have current tor should be used within each MDG. For instance, the (2000­05) information. This lack of data limits consider- United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) ably the ability to monitor progress, learn from success, and, 700 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Box 16.14 Mozambique: Monitoring Gender in Box 16.15 Millennium Development Goals a Sector-Wide Agriculture Program 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. ProAgri, a sectoral program implemented by 2. Achieve universal primary education. Mozambique's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural 3. Promote gender equality and empower women. Development (MADER), receives financial sup- 4. Reduce child mortality. port from some 20 donors. Its objective is to pro- 5. Improve maternal health. tect, conserve, and use agriculture, forestry, and 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. wildlife resources in a sustainable way. The sec- 7. Ensure environmental sustainability. ond-phase strategy document for ProAgri empha- 8. Develop a global partnership for development. sized that continued blindness to gender differ- Source: United Nations, www.un.org/millenniumgoals. ences in agricultural planning could undermine the program, resulting in poor production, food insecurity, and increased rural poverty. Proposals were made for improved gender-sensitive moni- toring and technical support to MADER to and AIDS and malaria specifically on agriculture and rural develop and apply gender-sensitive socioeconomic development are manifested primarily as the loss of labor participatory methodologies. Interestingly, the tar- and on- and off-farm income. Gender inequality, which is at gets and milestones listed in this same document the core of the epidemic's spread, is one of the main deter- make no reference to gender, although the chapter mining factors associated with vulnerability to HIV and on M&E presents a useful recommendation on AIDS. In the case of goal 7, gender differences in the way including gender concerns in M&E mechanisms, natural resources are used are important to outcomes. If especially the necessity of the following: women in the boundary zone of a protected area collect nontimber forest products for household use, no point can Including explicit and feasible instructions for be seen in monitoring only the forest products sold by men analyzing equity issues to generate useful data at the local market. for planning The indicators for many of the MDGs should be Specifying results and relevant indicators, and ensuring that equity goals are reflected in the expanded, but this task is not simple because data are not definition and selection of impact and process available in all countries. Many countries lack basic, gender- indicators and evaluation criteria disaggregated data on productive assets, including land, Documenting best practices to build up models. livestock, house ownership, ownership of other property, credit, and business ownership. Information on land Source: Strategy Document, ProAgri II, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mozambique, tenure by gender is included in agricultural censuses or www.pwg.gov.mz. surveys, but it is not usually possible to get national data disaggregated by gender on access to credit (formal and informal) and business ownership; it is necessary to rely ultimately, to make informed decisions regarding scaling up on smaller, targeted surveys. Without these data, progress investments (World Bank 2007: 106). The report strongly cannot be monitored. recommended that the collection and analysis of gender- The Ministry of Women's Affairs of Cambodia provides disaggregated data be significantly scaled up to permit more a good example of how the monitoring of goal 3 can be accurate and full measurement of progress toward goal 3. improved. The Ministry improved the collection and han- Access to land has considerable influence on progress dling of statistics and expanded the official indicators for toward goals 1, 3, and 7 (and others as well, given the links goal 3 to strengthen the focus on gender. It added indicators between access to land and access to credit). Gender-sensitive of gender equity in (1) literacy rates for 25­44-year-olds, to data referring to land rights and security of tenure would cover women in their prime child-bearing and working provide good information for monitoring progress toward years; (2) wage employment in agriculture, industry, and ser- these goals. Links are also present in goals 1, 3, and 6 with vices, to monitor sex segregation within sectors (women are respect to the impact of HIV and AIDS on rural households underrepresented in the service sector); and (3) all elected and gender issues in agriculture. The adverse effects of HIV bodies (National Assembly, Senate, and commune councils) THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER IN HIGH-LEVEL PROGRAMS, POLICIES,AND NEWER AID MODALITIES: HOW SHOULD WE MONITOR IT? 701 and government positions. In addition, it added a new tar- Box 16.16 Summary: Gender Indicators,Tools, get focused on reducing all forms of violence against and Methods for the New Aid women and children (World Bank 2007). Modalities PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES FOR ACTION In dealing with the new aid modalities, a number of indicators, tools, and methods may be useful for With development cooperation increasingly dependent on reflecting gender outcomes and impacts. PRSs, sectorwide strategies, and other country-generated Conduct gender analysis, including gender- development plans, drawing up gender-equity objectives for oriented analyses of PRSPs and other development these plans and strategies is vital. To minimize policy evapo- plans, to track the extent to which partner- ration, linking policy and strategies with clearly identifiable country development plans incorporate a gender inputs, outputs, resource allocations, expected outcomes, dimension. and their relationship to policy goals is important.A number Conduct participatory assessments, including of indicators, tools, and methods that can support this poverty and social impact analyses and needs process are summarized in box 16.16 and discussed in the assessments. sections that follow. Use gender-responsive public financial manage- ment tools, such as gender budgeting or gender- disaggregated benefit incidence. MONITORING PRSPS Include gender indicators as milestones or even The PRSP Sourcebook (World Bank 2002) recommends three triggers for disbursement. steps for gender-sensitive monitoring of PRSPs: Ensure that gender is considered when prepar- ing terms of reference for joint reviews or mon- 1. Integrate a gender dimension into the outcome monitor- itoring visits. Use gender audits, peer review, and gender- ing system. equity markers and indices to study progress. 2. Integrate a gender dimension into the PRS evaluation Include activities to mainstream gender through- strategy, and use gender monitoring and impact evalua- out all levels. Embed gender equity in national tion results. monitoring and accountability frameworks and 3. Build institutional capacity for gender-responsive M&E. mechanisms. Formulate clear, measurable objectives and When selecting indicators, tools, and methods to reflect indicators, and link them with annual informa- gender outcomes and impacts in PRSPs, PRS managers tion sources. should consider the following: Promote capacity building (also for civil society) to contribute to the monitoring process. Select only a few critical goals, outcomes, and indicators Conduct ex ante assessments of the gender from the PRS for monitoring and evaluating gender out- impact of proposed development actions, which in principle identify gender-biased outcomes comes and impacts. In the selection process, consider and permit mitigating actions to be built into a how the information is to be used, and by whom, and assess program or project. these needs in light of budgetary and time constraints. Disseminate good practice and experience Ensure that the data are collected. locally and internationally. Data collection methods are determined by the kinds of information and data needed to monitor change and Source: Author. progress. Optimum results are obtained when traditional and participatory approaches to M&E are used to com- Three countries--Mozambique, Uganda, and Vietnam-- plement one another. offer examples of practical steps for monitoring gender in Collecting new data on gender is not always necessary. poverty reduction strategy programs, and these are described Assess the availability of gender-responsive data before in box 16.17. considering the need to collect new data. Gender M&E is Poverty and social impact analysis reveals the distribu- frequently done by disaggregating data already being col- tional impact of policy reforms on the well-being or welfare lected and using other available sources of information. of different stakeholder groups, with a particular focus on 702 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Box 16.17 Practical Steps Taken in Three Countries to Monitor Gender in Poverty Reduction Strategy Programs Mozambique Sanitation Sector Working Group, sector perfor- mance thematic team). Monitoring for Mozambique's Action Plan for the Sector Strategic Monitoring monitors results for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (PARPA) is being inte- sector using 10 key "golden indicators," including grated into the regular system of quarterly and annual gender. These indicators are identified by all stake- government reports to parliament. A special annual holders at the start. Various studies also support poverty report will also be prepared, based on quanti- monitoring, such as national surveys, tracking stud- tative and qualitative data. The PARPA does not specify ies, expenditure analysis, and equity studies. the form of the poverty report, but ideally it should Sector Implementation Monitoring monitors proj- include monitoring at three levels: sectoral perfor- ect/program inputs and outputs through quarterly mance, execution of program expenditures and rev- progress reports, performance assessment frame- enues, and changes in welfare as measured by poverty work, monitoring reports, and others. and social indicators. The main quantitative data sources will be administrative data produced by the Some of the lessons learned from this process line ministries and annual household surveys of key include the importance of agreeing on definitions, data welfare indicators (through the Core Welfare Indica- sources, and data collection methods from the outset tors Questionnaires). and agreeing on annual indicator targets for assessing The indicator table in PARPA's monitoring section performance changes over time. Linking SIMS to bud- represents an initial attempt to focus on a smaller geting and resource allocation within the sector is still a number of key targets and indicators for each priority significant challenge, and putting monitoring findings area, with a clearer distinction between intermediate and recommendations into action is still difficult. and outcome indicators. However, some of these mea- sures are provisional, because in some cases the precise Vietnam quantities still need to be established and the relevant Vietnam has included two gender targets in its data sources defined. Targets and indicators are best Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strat- specified in those sectors that have sectorwide egy. First, 40 percent of newly created jobs should go approaches in place. As reporting on the PARPA to women; second, land tenure certificates should be becomes more institutionalized, further refinement of issued in the names of both women and men. To meet its indicators may be expected, and the link to poverty the first target, targets are being created for different outcomes should be strengthened (ideally with more organizations, gender indicators will be included into gender consideration). the national targeted program on job creation, coordi- nation will take place with concerned agencies, and Uganda monitoring and evaluation indicators and processes Uganda developed a detailed sectoral information and will be identified. For the second target, the Land monitoring system (SIMS) for a water and sanitation Administration will set targets for every year, and the program, which includes the monitoring of gender. number of certificates to be issued or reissued will be The system features the following: specified. Instructions will be given to district cadas- tral officers, budget and staff will be allocated, and Sector Management Arrangements--the institutional reporting and evaluation formats established. The framework or system that guides the development, concerned ministries and the Women's Union will oversight, and coordination of SIMS (Water and monitor progress. Sources: IMF/IDA 2001; Disan Ssozi, "Sector Information and Monitoring System (Uganda Case Study)," www.worldwater week.org; Thi Minh Chanh, "Hanoi Action Plan Review," www.unifem-ecogov-apas.org. THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER IN HIGH-LEVEL PROGRAMS, POLICIES,AND NEWER AID MODALITIES: HOW SHOULD WE MONITOR IT? 703 the poor and vulnerable (see box 16.18 for an example from also be used right up to the level of national bodies or Vietnam). Poverty and social impact analysis also addresses internationally. The Economic Commission for Latin sustainability and the risks to policy reform and helps to America and the Caribbean undertook a needs assessment monitor poverty and social outcomes and impacts of policy of economic planning units in four Caribbean countries to changes. It can inform national poverty reduction strategies, evaluate their capacity to integrate gender into macro- specific reform programs, and development bank lending, economic planning processes (for instance, to carry out as well as strengthen evidence-based decision making gender-sensitive budget analysis of both revenues and (World Bank 2004). expenditures).3 The study assessed the extent to which the Needs assessments can be used to collect information, countries sought to integrate gender into macroeconomic raise awareness, and understand the priority needs of planning, as well as the institutional, human resource women based on their different tasks, concerns, and respon- capacity, and attitudinal factors that facilitated or hindered sibilities. They can divide practical gender needs and such integration. It included interviews with Finance and strategic needs (which contribute to transforming subor- Planning Department staff, NGOs, women's organiza- dinate relationships between women and men). A needs tions, and training bodies. Current policies and practices assessment might be done at the community level but can were examined as well. The needs assessment formed the basis for designing and implementing subregional training workshops aimed at increasing the capacity of regional Box 16.18 Examples of How Gender Analysis Is Used economic planners in gender analysis and gender plan- ning. It was a very useful baseline to support gender-sensitive budget analysis in those countries and analyze the con- Gender Analysis in a Sectorwide Program: Kenya straints to monitoring government commitments to gen- Between 1996 and 1998, Kenya's Ministry of Agri- der equity. culture led a study of gender relations in agriculture Gender integration in SWAPs should have a number of in three regions, which brought to light constraints characteristics to be successful:4 and challenges regarding equitable agricultural development, along with institutional inhibitions to Capacity building on gender in the ministry: For example, change. As a result, a separate objective for gender Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture has given extensive equity was added to Kenya's Agricultural Sector emphasis to building capacity for integrating gender at Investment Program. The objective received a sepa- the ministry, regional, and community levels during rate budget line, ensuring funding of activities to improve women's economic security. Responsibili- SWAp preparation and implementation. ties were clearly set for monitoring at each level, and Using gender objectives to reinforce overall SWAP objec- capacities were built. tives: Enhancing attention to gender will increase the likelihood of reaching overall objectives, such as poverty Gender Analysis of Structural Reforms: Vietnam alleviation and enhanced food security (see box 16.18 for an example from Kenya). An analysis of the gender dimensions of Vietnam's structural reforms focused on links between reform, A participatory approach, with special attention to gender gender equity, economic growth, and women's stakeholders: To ensure good coverage of ideas and atten- welfare in Vietnam during the 1990s. The gender tion to gender issues and increased ownership of the dimensions of key reform policies received special process, groups that do not otherwise participate in the attention. The analysis found that women on the planning or monitoring will need to be tapped at whole are better off as a result of the reforms, but national, regional, and community levels, including a the gains are not evenly distributed across income range of government ministries, NGOs, universities, groups, regions, and ethnic groups. Household women entrepreneurs, and women farmers, among oth- and enterprise survey data presented mixed results ers. Practical steps may need to be taken to ensure that regarding gendered outcomes and formed the women have good access to planning meetings (such as basis for recommendations to enable women to ensuring proper timing, providing child care, and identi- improve their economic and social welfare. fying a suitable location). Sources: OECD 2002; Packard 2006. Mainstreaming gender throughout the program: Gender should not be isolated within a separate task force. All 704 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION groups involved in program preparation and monitoring full and sustained gender mainstreaming in the budget must consider gender as a cross-cutting issue. process. A range of tools are available (table 16.3). Strong donor support. Strong donor support may be One difficulty with GBIs is that results for a given year important to the success, for example, of gender focal are usually available only after the following year's budget points in ministries or of including specific, gender- has been planned, so a lag of one year tends to occur before sensitive M&E in the program. findings can lead to change. Linkages with advocacy, research, and training are vital Gender budget analysis tools are used to review general or for moving the results of GBIs forward into the develop- mainstream budget expenditures (for instance, within the ment of improved programs. These roles may be carried out annual budget of a nation or of a specific sectoral program) by government, but this is unusual. More commonly, gov- or to review expenditures specifically targeted to groups of ernmental "women's machinery" (women's unions, NGOs, women or men to meet prioritized needs or promote equal and other groups that advocate on behalf of women) may opportunities. Gender budget initiatives (GBIs) can be defined work together with NGOs and university institutions to as "diverse efforts aimed at breaking down the government's lobby politicians and raise awareness among the general budget in order to analyze its impact on women, men, girls, public. The Tanzania Gender Networking Program, a non- and boys, as well as on other axes of social differentiation governmental agency, pioneered the use of gender budget- (such as race, ethnicity, class, and caste). Their main purpose ing (Muro 2007). The gender budgeting process (1997­2000) is to examine whether public expenditures are allocated in an focused primarily on collecting information, conducting equitable way, and hence promote gender equality"(Balmori research, disseminating results, lobbying and advocacy, 2003: 15). They can also help to reshape government policy establishing links and recognition, and building capacity of goals and resource allocation. partners and resource persons. Major achievements have Local organizations have used GBIs to analyze expendi- been the following: tures and link policies to actual spending commitments to women and the poor (for example, in India and Tanzania). Gender budgeting has been institutionalized. It is now a This information has been channeled back to governments requirement in the government budget process. to promote gender-responsive budgeting. The rationale is There has been a trend of increased budget to social sec- to establish a process in partner countries whereby the dif- tors such as health and water. ferential effects on men and women of particular budget Gender is now a Public Expenditure Review Working decisions are understood and biases are corrected. The Sector Committee. most commonly used method takes the government's pol- The Tanzania Gender Networking Program is a resource icy framework and examines it sector by sector, exploring organization for gender budgeting and is called to sup- how budget expenditures are used and identifying the port other countries that wish to implement it. longer-term impacts on men and women. Public and media engagement in policy debates has In Morocco a gender-sensitive Economic and Financial increased, along with involvement in GBI campaigns on Report accompanied the 2006 finance bill and provided a HIV and AIDS, water, and gender-based violence. baseline for measuring progress on gender issues in budgets and outcomes in several ministries, including agriculture In Kenya, experience has shown that at least three years (for details, see the Web site of the Ministry of Finance and of capacity building and financial and technical support are Privatization, www.finances.gov.ma, or the UNIFEM Web needed to ensure that gender-mainstreaming concepts are site, www.gender-budgets.org). Many examples of gender embedded in national organizations and in strategic and budget initiatives in other countries are given in World Bank budget frameworks (GTZ 2005). (2007), which identifies the key steps in implementing The performance assessment framework (PAF) is a com- budget initiatives as upgrading the technical skills of budget monly agreed-to matrix or consolidated list of priority pol- officials and gender experts and strengthening government icy reforms, measures, and indicators against which progress agencies, raising public awareness of gender issues to ensure is monitored and reported on by the government. The PAF the sustainability of the initiatives, and supporting well- is used as the main point of reference for making disburse- informed coalitions of NGOs for advocacy. The key chal- ment decisions. If donors wish to use the PAF as a tool, lenge for gender-informed budget analysis and policy indicators that measure progress in gender equity and are making is to move beyond gender-targeted interventions to gender disaggregated could be inserted (although usually a THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER IN HIGH-LEVEL PROGRAMS, POLICIES,AND NEWER AID MODALITIES: HOW SHOULD WE MONITOR IT? 705 Table 16.3 Seven Tools for Gender Budget Initiatives and Examples of Their Use Tool Application Gender-aware policy appraisal Designed to analyze policies and programs from a gender perspective and identify how these policies and the resources allocated to them are likely to reduce or increase gender inequalities. Gender-disaggregated beneficiary assessment Implemented to evaluate the extent to which programs or services meet the needs of actual or potential beneficiaries, as identified and expressed by the beneficiaries. Gender-disaggregated public expenditure benefit incidence analysis Used to evaluate the distribution of budget resources among women and men, girls and boys, by estimating the unit costs of a certain service and calculating the extent to which this service is being used by each group. Gender-disaggregated analysis of the impact of the budget on time use Designed to establish a link between budget allocations, the services provided through them, and the way in which different members within a household spend their time. Gender-aware medium-term economic policy framework Designed to incorporate a gender perspective into the medium- term frameworks of policy development, planning, and budgetary allocations, such as by disaggregating variables by gender, combining national income accounts and household income accounts, and highlighting and challenging gender-blind, underlying assumptions about how the economy works. Gender-aware budget statement Generated by government agencies for use in reports on the implications of their expenditures on gender-equity objectives. Disaggregated tax-incidence analysis Used to assess the differential impacts of taxation on women and men, as well as to evaluate the level of revenue raised in relation to the needs and demands for public expenditure. Source: Balmori 2003. reluctance to make the indicators too complicated is ministries). If reliable data can be collected on the outcomes encountered). Progress on gender indicators could then be of the support, this information will prove very useful for used as a means of conditionality, with disbursement taking addressing positive or negative trends in indicators and dis- place only if agreed-to steps have taken place or if agreed-to cussing the reasons at the highest level with all major stake- results have been achieved. Unfortunately, to date gender holders. The development of alliances of donors and local has usually not been considered, and much more emphasis organizations can also be supported and used to promote has been placed on issues of financial management. gender equity by lobbying government decision makers. JOINT MONITORING MISSIONS EXAMINING GENDER ACTIVITIES OF DONORS Programmatic, sectoral, and budget support is usually mon- Peer review is a tool developed by the Development Assis- itored via regular missions (for instance, six-monthly or tance Committee of the OECD (OECD/DAC) in which a annual missions), often consisting of one or many donors panel of peers assesses a multilateral agency's evaluation sys- and government representatives (joint review missions). To tems and processes. This tool can be applied equally well to ensure that gender-sensitive monitoring takes place, atten- evaluate whether gender is being considered in evaluations. tion must be given to inserting it in the terms of reference for OECD/DAC has also developed a gender-equity marker joint reviews (box 16.19). Guidelines should be established to allow donors to record whether activities have the explicit for the review process and missions to ensure that gender- goal of achieving gender equity. The marker has been used equity issues are included. Meetings with local women's mainly in social policy areas but not yet in productive areas, advocacy groups and other relevant persons or agencies which, of course, are highly relevant in agricultural liveli- should be required as part of data collection. Gender focal hoods. Its use has been limited largely to measuring the pol- points should participate in and support the joint review in icy objectives of a program. The next step is to start using their sectors (for example, the focal points in agriculture this tool in evaluations, in which it might give some idea of 706 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Box 16.19 Examples of Gender-Specific Topics to Include in Terms of Reference for Joint Review Missions Poverty and institutional analysis: previous year? What actions were taken to increase women's land ownership? Are gender and other equity, disparity, or human What is the percentage increase in women having rights issues included in the performance assess- access to credit? What is their average interest rate ment framework reporting instructions and have and loan amount compared to those for men? How guidelines been made for the sectors? do women's and men's loans and repayment rates Did government approve any significant new gen- compare? der legislation or policies during the period in What is the number and position of women in agri- question? Were legal instruments that discriminate cultural production and marketing associations? against women revised? Has the institutionaliza- What developments have occurred in household tion of gender policy and strategy improved in line food security and nutrition indicators (under-five ministries? malnutrition, wasting, and stunting)? Have any studies been carried out providing new In related sectors, such as water or transport, in information on the income, consumption, or other which prices and affordability of services produced dimensions of poverty from a gender perspective? by gender have been analyzed, can women afford to With what results? pay for transport, energy, and water? What are the What progress has been made, and what measures utilization rates by gender? have been taken to improve the production and use of gender analysis and disaggregated data, com- Entrepreneurship and economic development: pared with the previous year? Does the analysis consider linkages between sec- What is women's share of the benefits provided? tors, such as links between nutrition and water and Examples include the number of women in training sanitation? courses, as beneficiaries of credit and other funds, as project beneficiaries, and as participants in national Agriculture and nutrition: and international marketing events. What is women's access to capital, credit, and formal How many women in comparison to men were banking services? reached with extension or new technology services, How has the number of micro-, small, or medium seed, tools, and fertilizer support? enterprises owned by women developed? How What is the percentage increase of women having many are registered under women's names, com- official title to land in comparison with men and the pared with the previous year? Source: Adapted from the Gender Checklist for the Joint Budget Review, Mozambique, unpublished. how gender equity has been affected. The gender-equity Mainstreaming of gender equity in all mainstream poli- index represents another effort to measure progress or regres- cies and creating requirements for gender-sensitive M&E sion in gender equity internationally as a result of new aid systems modalities.5 The index uses a set of indicators for which Human resources, including issues such as gender equity data are available in most countries. in recruitment Gender audits have been used increasingly as a self- Technical capacity of staff in gender issues and internal assessment tool for measuring gender equity among institu- capacity building tions, including development agencies and NGOs. Moser Allocation of financial resources to gender-mainstream- (2007: 17) lists the issues that might be considered: ing efforts or women-focused initiatives Organizational culture, including a culture of participa- Analysis of gender issues within organizations in relation tion and consultation. to, for example, flexible working hours for both women and men, child care provision, and policies that encour- The DFID's internal gender audit of its staff in Malawi age more flexible gender roles found that most of them had limited knowledge of gender THEMATIC NOTE 2: GENDER IN HIGH-LEVEL PROGRAMS, POLICIES,AND NEWER AID MODALITIES: HOW SHOULD WE MONITOR IT? 707 mainstreaming and very few realized that DFID even had a CONCLUSION gender strategy.6 If staff members are unaware of the impor- Evaluation is a much more complex task under the newer tance of gender in projects and programs, they are not likely aid modalities than in projects because of the greater num- to ensure gender-sensitive monitoring. It can be extrapolated ber of stakeholders, broader geographic coverage, and lack that local project and government staff will be even less likely of clear logical frameworks. Tools are gradually being devel- to focus on gender in monitoring, if the donor does not oped for M&E in this new context, however, and their use actively encourage it. Other NGOs and bilateral and multi- will be vital for ensuring that gender-equity priorities do lateral funding institutions have audited the extent to which not become lost in a myriad of other considerations. gender has been incorporated into their field activities. 708 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION T H E M AT I C N OT E 3 Setting Gender-Sensitive Indicators and Collecting Gender-Disaggregated Data I f we are to measure progress in gender-related targets, importance of designing gender-sensitive indicators to we need gender-sensitive indicators. Indicators are the monitor the gender impacts of programs and projects. Ini- building blocks of an effective M&E system, but they tially the impact on women was emphasized, but now the are highly context specific and uniquely representative of emphasis is on gender as it is broadly defined. a particular program or project. This Thematic Note examines how to set high-quality indicators and collect the data. Practical examples for projects and programs are REASONS FOR USING GENDER-SENSITIVE provided. INDICATORS Despite making up half of the population, women are often GENDER-SENSITIVE INDICATORS invisible in society because of their low sociocultural and economic status. Women's invisibility is particularly acute A gender-sensitive indicator can be defined as "an indicator in agriculture, despite the fact that they often do much of that captures gender-related changes in society over time" the work related to farming. Counting the participation of (Beck 2000: 7). The DFID Gender Manual (Derbyshire 2002) women and other disadvantaged groups in every activity is defines gender-sensitive indicators as follows: a simple way to make them visible to all stakeholders. Even Gender-sensitive indicators allow measurement of benefits if women are absent, their absence should be mentioned to women and men and include the impact/effectiveness of and recorded, and the reasons explained in reports. Because activities targeted to do the following (Derbyshire 2002: 28): indicators show changes, they can demonstrate that women are participating more or less in project activities over time, Address women's or men's practical needs, such as new and they can prompt discussion among stakeholders as to skills, resources, opportunities, or services in the context the reasons. of their existing gender roles Gender indicators should show how and if gender equity Increase gender equality of opportunity, influence, or is being reached, and if the approaches used are effective. benefit, such as targeted actions to increase women's role They should answer the following questions: in decision making, opening up new opportunities for women and men in nontraditional skill areas Is the gap between women and men decreasing in terms Develop gender awareness and skills among policy mak- of access, income, and power? ing, management, and implementation staff Are project activities the most appropriate and effective Promote greater gender equity within the staffing and activities for achieving an improvement in gender equity? organizational culture of development organizations, Could the project or program do more to benefit differ- such as, the impact of affirmative action policy. ent disadvantaged groups? How have women and men benefited directly from the During the 1970s and 1980s, more emphasis was given to activities? quantitative general (and particularly economic) indicators. Are the direct or indirect impacts of the project or pro- Since the 1990s, however, realization has grown of the gram having an adverse effect on the gender situation 709 (including the socioeconomic position of women and a good set for project management as well as sector-specific the power relationships between women and men)? monitoring indicators for gender and development. How do the women and men themselves assess the impact on their lives, and would their situation have been differ- ent without the project? GUIDELINES IN DESIGNING GENDER-SPECIFIC INDICATORS AND FINDING SOURCES OF VERIFICATION EXPERIENCE AND ACHIEVEMENTS Many guides for designing appropriate indicators are avail- Most projects tend to collect only basic disaggregated data. able. This section provides only a brief overview and some Gender-specific monitoring, like monitoring in general, tends specific examples. to be lost in the day-to-day pressures of implementation. A survey by the IFAD revealed that the weakest areas for Types of indicators gender-disaggregated data collection are the composition of project-related committees and decision-making bodies, Indicators can be distinguished in a number of ways. beneficiaries of extension and technical assistance, and ben- Input indicators specify the means and resources required eficiaries of microcredit (IFAD 2007). Given the critical for an action. Input indicators are normally part of the proj- nature of these issues for gender, project monitoring sys- ect or program document and reporting system, and they tems are probably missing gender differences. describe what is being physically done--for example, how The FAO is collaborating with other United Nations agen- many hours of training are provided to men and women,how cies to collect and provide gender-specific data that will help much money is spent, or the quantity of fruit trees planted. mainstream gender across the organization. It is hoped that Process indicators ensure the effective and efficient use of such data will more clearly illustrate gender inequalities in means and resources for implementing an action. Process agriculture, rural development, and food security. This effort indicators are of particular importance for participatory mon- includes the incorporation of gender-specific demographic itoring to ensure that all (primary) stakeholders, disaggregated data into FAOSTAT (FAO's statistical databases; FAO 2003). by gender, have knowledge of and, if appropriate, participate Through technical assistance to many national institutions in, progress being made, obstacles encountered, solutions pre- in charge of data collection, FAO has also raised awareness sented, and decisions made, from start to finish. of the importance of gathering gender-disaggregated data Output indicators measure the achievement of intended through the national agricultural census. The FAO has sup- outputs and determine whether project goals are being ported pilot studies to develop a methodology for collecting achieved. Outcome indicators measure the immediate gender-disaggregated data for countries in transition in impacts produced by the outputs. Typically, output and out- Central and Eastern Europe, and it has developed and field- come indicators are used as internal monitoring or evalua- tested sets of gender-sensitive indicators on natural tion tools. Generally, these are defined prior to the project, resources management and socioeconomics. Other projects but ideally they should be modified in the early stages of have supported training of FAO field staff in conducting implementation to reflect changes that may have taken place gender-sensitive household surveys and using community and to be certain that data will be available to verify them appraisal methods. Even so, the FAO progress report noted from baseline and other sources. When output indicators that "more work is needed in technical units compiling and are analyzed, it is essential to consider the influence of gen- analyzing statistics,such as from national agricultural censuses der roles and relations on the distribution of benefits. What and surveys, to assist FAO Members to generate gender- measures can verify whether project benefits accrue to disaggregated data, produce surveys on the gendered nature women as well as men and identify the different types of of work, and provide detailed gender analysis of statistical women engaged in or affected by the project? Output indi- material and information on data and on data collection cators might include the number of people trained or the methodologies" (FAO 2003: para. 49). number of rural women and men accessing a Web site with The Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines of agricultural information. An example of an outcome indi- the government of the Philippines (NEDA 2004) is an cator might be the percentage increase in average crop yield attempt to ensure that gender is mainstreamed across all among men and women farmers included in the project activities and levels of management. The guidelines include over the project period. 710 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Impact indicators measure a project's medium- or long- Quantitative indicators sometimes do not capture the term impacts on poverty and livelihoods among the pri- true impacts of a project or program. For this reason, qual- mary stakeholders. Impact indicators describe the actual itative indicators should be used to complement quantita- change in conditions as a result of a program or project tive ones. In a rural development project in Mongolia, for activity, such as changed attitudes of men and women as a example, data showed that increased problems were reported result of training, changed practices, or a decrease in the in infrastructure construction. Further questioning revealed number of households living in poverty over five years. Ide- that the problems had not increased but that community ally, indicators for expected local impacts should be estab- members' involvement in a participatory monitoring lished in a participatory manner for any subprojects. process caused more problems to be reported and acted on. If quantitative data alone were considered, they would give an erroneous impression of the project's success. This expe- Qualitative versus quantitative indicators rience is common, and project and program staff should Quantitative indicators are measures of quantity (total num- always question whether increased reporting of a finding bers, percentages, and others) that show the degree to which a really means increased incidence or if it is actually the result goal or an objective has been attained. Sources of quantitative of increased awareness or improved consultation. If moni- indicators are data systems and records in which informa- toring by local women in a protected area produces new tion is presented in a gender-disaggregated manner. They reports of illegal hunting, it may be that such hunting has could be project-specific collection systems (specific surveys always taken place but that only women who collect fire- targeting data related to project outcomes) or existing wood in the forest see it happening. records, such as the census, agricultural production records, Likewise, when recording women's participation in or transport ministry statistics. Traditionally quantitative training events or resource management committees, gen- indicators have been favored because they are more objec- der-disaggregated quantitative data are insufficient. Finding tive and can be verified using data from government records ways to record whether women participate actively in dis- or project-established monitoring systems. In addition, they cussions and are heard (and which group of women), or are easier to incorporate into a management information whether women simply participate to make up the numbers system and track in reporting. By nature, quantitative indi- and comply with donor demands. cators may be the simplest means of demonstrating gender differences (and tracking changes) for all audiences. Exam- The power of triangulation ples include the number of women participants in technology testing and on-farm trials, gender-disaggregated adoption of If qualitative data are used to triangulate quantitative new technologies, yields of women's crops, increased results, a powerful and multifaceted case can be built. For incomes for women from cropping, labor time changes by instance, direct quotes from participants can be used in gender, the percentage or number of men and women (or reports and explanations provided for quantitative changes. young and old, or ethnic minority women, or members of Triangulation is also important to ensure that cultural other groups) receiving training, or the proportion of biases do not affect the results. For instance, in some cul- women farmers adopting new technologies or crops. tures a woman may not give a truthful answer to a question Qualitative indicators can be defined as recording peo- if it might imply criticism of her husband. In this case, con- ple's judgments and perceptions about a given subject. They sultation with independent sources is important to confirm are useful for understanding processes: Who is participating the data. Triangulation makes it possible to reduce the sam- in decision making? Who benefits? What are the local per- ple size and at the same time increase the reliability and ceptions of successes and failures? Qualitative indicators are validity of the data. harder to measure because they involve processes and use Capacity building is an area that in particular requires categories of classification, such as those based on percep- qualitative indicators. The interest here lies not only in the tions. Qualitative indicators might relate to levels of partic- number of women trained but also in the extent to which ipation of women, men, and other groups in meetings, the capacity building has increased the social capital of satisfaction levels of different users of a service, or attitudi- women farmers, extension workers, and the poor, such as nal changes. Examples of data sources include interviews, access to market information, increased confidence of the focus groups, user surveys, participant observation, and poor in their skills, and access to local agricultural exten- participatory appraisals. sion staff. THEMATIC NOTE 3: SETTING GENDER-SENSITIVE INDICATORS AND COLLECTING GENDER-DISAGGREGATED DATA 711 Designing indicators over two successive planting seasons by the target group of men and women farmers." Two acronyms have been used to describe sound perfor- Validity: The information that indicators provide must mance indicators: be close to the reality they are measuring. Ways to ensure this TQQ: Time (time-bound accomplishment), quantity include (1) common sense, (2) whether the indicator reflects (numerically measurable), and quality (what level of similar findings in different situations, and (3) whether dif- quality or degree of achievement is desired). ferent survey instruments yield or uncover the same indica- SMARTS: Simple and easily defined, measurable, attribut- tors. In general, the validity of an indicator can be enhanced able, realistic, targeted, and specific. Consideration should by triangulation or by using multiple sources of informa- be given to whether the indicators selected are relevant tion and data. (do they provide the necessary information for making Reliability: Reliability means that indicators must be decisions?), understandable and meaningful for relevant accurate and consistent. For example, an indicator is reliable stakeholders, and feasible (do project staff or stakehold- if multiple uses of the same instrument (such as an inter- ers have the time, skills, and means to monitor it?). view or a survey) yield the same or similar results. No data are absolutely reliable, but reliability checks should be made: In designing indicators, many issues must be considered. for example, census findings should be compared to find- Comparison to a norm: The use of gender-sensitive indi- ings from microlevel studies for accuracy. cators should involve comparison to a norm (for example, Measurability: Indicators must be about items that are "the situation of women in a program compared to the sit- measurable. Concepts such as "women's empowerment" or uation of men in the program" or "compared to women in "gender equity" may be difficult to define and measure. the country as a whole"). In this way, the indicator can focus Proxy indicators may have to stand in for less precise con- on questions of gender equity rather than only on the status cepts: for instance, "the percentage of women enrolling in of women. Examples would include "the percentage of agricultural training in x province before and after the proj- women actively participating as members of natural resource ect intervention" is easier to measure than "the number of management committees" or "numbers of women and men women motivated to pursue agricultural training as a result with land certificates in the project province compared with of project empowerment." a neighboring province." What is being measured? Indicators should be relevant to Disaggregation: Data should be disaggregated by gender. the level: Is a project's impact being measured, or the output In an ideal situation (and especially on a larger scale), indi- of a particular activity? At the output level, "the number of cators should also be disaggregated by age, caste, socioeco- women and men that participated in x training course" is nomic grouping, and by national or regional origin (for relevant, but at a higher level, it would be better to measure instance, "graduates from training course, disaggregated by the result of that training, such as "the number of women sex and caste"). This level of detail will allow a broader and men confidently providing extension advice to farmers" analysis of which social forces within a society have shaped or "the percentage of surveyed women in the target group the particular status of women and men in that society. For who rate their access to land titling processes as having instance, in Nepal, high-caste city women are likely to be in improved during the period of the program or project." a considerably better socioeconomic situation than low- Sensitivity and time span: The time covered by the indi- caste rural men. cator should be specified--for example, "over the imple- Ease of access and clarity: Indicators should be phrased in mentation period of the program," or "three years after the easily understandable language and developed at a level rel- project has ended." It is also worth considering the sensitiv- evant to the institutional capabilities of the country con- ity of indicators; in other words, will the indicator demon- cerned. They must not be ambiguous. An indicator should strate a short-, medium-, or long-term change? Although be understood in the same way by all the project staff carry- demonstrating a long-term change may be useful for stake- ing out M&E. A potentially ambiguous term can be defined holders, a project time scale of only a few years needs according to an existing definition, or a more precise defini- shorter-term indicators if changes are to be recorded and tion can be formulated until there is no ambiguity whatso- activities fine-tuned as necessary: for example, measurable ever. For instance, rather than "the adoption of a new tech- positive changes are unlikely to be seen in national forest nique by the target group of men and women farmers," a cover during a three-year project (no matter how laudable more precise indicator might be "the use of a new technique the goal). 712 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Feasibility of indicators: An indicator makes it possible to Changes in equality of opportunity or decision-making focus and structure data collection but serves no purpose as opportunities long as the data do not exist. To ensure the feasibility of an The impact or effectiveness of activities targeted to address indicator, it is necessary to indicate the source of the informa- women's or men's practical needs, such as new skills, tion to use, for example, land administration office records of knowledge, resources, opportunities, or services land title issuance or questionnaire surveys to be carried out Changes in human resources devoted to the project (for by the project, using specially employed enumerators. example, the number of women or men among project If no source is available or feasible, the indicator should staff or the number of women extension staff) be changed. If no feasible indicator can be found, then the The impact and effectiveness of activities targeting question may need to be excluded. improved gender awareness among staff and beneficiaries Simplicity: There should not be too many indicators. Met or unmet practical and strategic needs of women and Relying upon several indicators allows for cross-checking men (compared with expressed needs) and strengthens the evidence base for answering a question, Changes in project budget allocation toward gender at but an excessive number of indicators will increase the data this level collection workload and cost and may not necessarily Emergence of new gender issues in a project or as a result improve the soundness of the answer. As a rough guide, only of a project. six indicators per component/output or project objective should be used. The Canadian International Development Agency, in its Be realistic: Make sure that the indicators at the goal Guide to Gender Sensitive Indicators (CIDA 1997), gives use- and purpose level are realistic and measure achievable ful examples of how to design gender-sensitive indicators benefits. For example, do not anticipate an unrealistic for agriculture. (over 25 percent) increase in household incomes during a Indicators at the program or sectoral level will usually short period or do not expect training of women legal have a longer time frame and cover a larger geographical advisers to change women's access to land dramatically area and target group (table 16.5). They might be designed (use measures of staff capability to measure the benefit of to measure the following: the training instead). Changes in the capacity of staff in government partner organizations, NGOs, and international donor agencies Setting up the system in projects and programs to deal with gender issues Baseline and targets: An outcome indicator has two compo- Development and use of tools and procedures to main- nents--a baseline and a target. The baseline is the situation stream gender equity: before a program or activity begins. It is the starting point ­ Changes in recruitment practices relating to equal for monitoring results. The target is the expected situation at opportunities the end of a program or activity. (Output indicators rarely ­ Changes in budget allocation toward gender and require a baseline, because outputs are being newly produced related outcomes and the baseline is that they do not exist [UNDP 2002]). Project versus program indicators: Indicators at the project Whether subprojects carry out gender-sensitive moni- level are usually limited to the time frame in which a project toring is implemented (or a set period after completion, for mea- Whether gender-disaggregated data are collected from suring impact). They encompass only the limited geograph- the field and used at the national level ical and target group focus of a project (for an example, see How resources are being transferred to the field level and table 16.4). They usually measure the following: then spent How effective the expenditure on gender-related outputs Expected or unexpected project outcomes for women has been in meeting agricultural program goals. and men (compared with project objectives) Participation (quantity or quality) of women and men in Gender-sensitive outcomes may include a range of project activities agriculture-related as well as other sectoral indicators, Access to decision making, project resources, and project depending on the particular constraints identified in the services by women and men institutional analysis and the baseline gender analysis. THEMATIC NOTE 3: SETTING GENDER-SENSITIVE INDICATORS AND COLLECTING GENDER-DISAGGREGATED DATA 713 Table 16.4 Indicators from a Rural Development Project in Central Vietnam, at the Result Area Level Expected result Indicators Data sources Result 1: Improved agricultural extension · By project end, all participating · Commune records service system communes have at least one trained · Community interviews commune-level extensionist, and a · Observation minimum of 20 percent are women · Training records · Extension staff carry out their jobs in a confident and competent manner · Provincial and district extension officers in project areas actively support fieldwork at the community level · Willingness to pay is demonstrated: farmers pay 10 percent of the costs of commune extensionists · Women and men farmers are satisfied with their access to quality extension services Result 2: Diversified and strengthened · Both women farmers and poor farmers · Extension service records farming systems leading to improved are included as beneficiaries · Project records income generation for men and women · By the end of the project, income per farmers hectare has increased by 15 percent from productivity gains · More productive and diverse production models are applied and replicated by men and women farmers in project areas · New species or technology does not cause adverse environmental impacts (environ- mental impact assessed before use) · x number of new models for crop and animal diversification are in use, based on the preferences of men and women farmers Result 3: Cost-effective, gravity-fed upland · By project end, at least 50 upland · Commissioning records irrigation schemes completed irrigation schemes are completed · Infrastructure bidding and contracting · Irrigation users have an improved records understanding of the importance of · Irrigation user agreements watershed protection and the potential · Minutes and accounts of management impact on water quantity and quality committees · Schemes are self-managed, with revenue collection systems covering the operational and maintenance costs · Women and ethnic minorities participate actively in making decisions regarding water use and in production planning · Women make up at least one-third of the membership of irrigation user management committees Source: Adapted from an unpublished program document for the Thua Thien Hue Rural Development Program, Vietnam, 2004. Designing milestones and triggers for loan process thus far, but it would be one means to encourage the disbursement consideration of gender in monitoring (box 16.20). When development banks are preparing country loans, a set As in designing indicators, specificity--meaning clarity, of conditions, triggers, and milestones are developed that not excessive detail--is a key attribute of good conditions, are used in clarifying, implementing, and monitoring the triggers, and milestones. Poorly specified conditions or trig- overall reform program supported by the development gers may give rise to disputes about whether the key ele- policy operation. Gender has not figured highly in this ments of the reform program are on track. 714 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Table 16.5 Gender-Sensitive Indicators in an Agricultural Sector Program (continued) Development objective Impact indicators Targets Higher and increasingly equal standard of Level of income generated from Men: Increase by 15 percent;Women: living in program target areas agricultural activities for both men- and Increase by 20 percent In Project Year women-controlled crops (PY) 15 Difference in income level between Decrease by 20 percent in PY 15 woman- and man-headed households Nutritional status for women and men n.a. (targets will be broken down into further detail after preliminary surveys) Distribution of workload: working hours Reduced by 5 percent in PY 15 of rural women Immediate objectives Outcome indicators Targets Rights: Increased women's control over income Percentage of women who have control Increased by 15 percent in PY 10 and agricultural products or joint control over family income and farm products Number of lawsuits concerning women's Increased by 20 percent by PY 8 access to land under new Land Act Resources: Increased productivity of women- Productivity of agricultural products Increased by 10 percent by PY 15 controlled cash and noncash crops Poultry and vegetable production Poultry increased by 40 tons, vegetables by 100 tons in PY 8 Marginalized men livestock producers Percentage of marginalized livestock Increased by 30 percent by PY 15 having found new viable sources of producers who have created a viable income source of income as crop producers, agricultural and industrial workers, and so on Outputs Output indicators Targets Rights: Increased awareness among men and Percentage of target population who are Increased by 30 percent by PY 5 women farmers of gender equity in aware of women's rights to control regard to control over income and income and agricultural products products Increased awareness of women's and Percentage of target population who know Increased by 60 percent by PY 5 men's rights to land basic facts about their rights Resources: Government officials practicing gender- Percentage of spot checks in which Increased by 80 percent by PY 8 sensitive extension methodologies and extension is found to be gender promoting gender-sensitive technologies sensitive Increased homestead gardening Number of households producing Increased by 20 percent by PY 10 vegetables for own consumption Improved loan access for marginalized Number of loans given to former livestock Increased by 20 percent by PY 10 livestock producers producers Cross-cutting issues: Improved monitoring of gender issues in Gender-sensitive evaluations and annual Three reports per year from PY 3 the agricultural sector and semiannual progress reports, including gender-sensitive indicators and monitoring tools, produced Lessons learned from monitoring fed back Minimum of two lessons learned from into the planning system PY 3 Gender-sensitive databases established One database by PY 3 (Table continues on the following page) THEMATIC NOTE 3: SETTING GENDER-SENSITIVE INDICATORS AND COLLECTING GENDER-DISAGGREGATED DATA 715 Table 16.5 Gender-Sensitive Indicators in an Agricultural Sector Program (continued) Outputs Output indicators Targets Improved gender-sensitive planning in the Number of measurable gender-sensitive At least two targets per plan by PY 2 agricultural sector targets formulated in annual work plans at all levels by PY 2 Strategies concerning woman-headed Percentage of all extension officers aware 80 percent by PY 5 households implemented of and practicing the strategy's central elements Activities Process indicators Targets Rights: Pilot projects to increase women's control Number of pilot projects approved Four projects approved over agricultural products identified Formulation of gender strategy for the Strategy has been approved One approval agricultural sector at national, regional, and local levels Formulation of women's rights in new Act has been approved and includes One approval Land Act women's inheritance and ownership of land Implement information campaigns on Number of men and women farmers Men: 100,000; Women: 100,000 women's improved rights concerning reached by the campaign access to and control over land Source: Adapted from DANIDA 2006. Don't set too many triggers or conditions, only those of Box 16.20 Designing Conditions, Triggers, and highest priority, as there is a risk for disbursement and Milestones progress if they are not met. Don't use outcomes (that is, monitorable effects of Conditions are the actions deemed critical to actions) as conditions or triggers unless their realization achieving the outcomes of the program supported is largely under the control of the government. by the development policy operation and Do indicate what actions are to be done, by which agency included in the operation documents as legal con- of the government, and approximately when. ditions for disbursements under a World Bank Do include intermediate outcomes and monitor them loan, credit, or grant. Triggers, as used in the context of program- carefully. matic development policy operations, are the Do use quantitative indicators, including baselines and planned actions in the second or later year of a targets, whenever possible. program that are deemed critical to achieving the outcomes of the program and that will be the Good examples: basis for establishing the prior actions for later Condition for first loan: "Parliament has adopted legisla- operations. In other words, triggers are the expected prior actions for a subsequent loan, tion to ensure land certificates are issued to both hus- credit, or grant. band and wife." Milestones mark the progress in implementing Trigger for second disbursement: "Increase allocation in the program. A milestone can be an action or an the 2008 Budget for recruitment of women staff in the outcome that is expected to be realized during the agriculture ministry nationwide by at least 10 percent implementation period rather than at the end of over the allocation in the 2007 budget." the operation. Milestones are not legal conditions for disbursement or triggers. A bad example: Source: World Bank and OPCS 2004. As a milestone, "improved social indicators" is too vague to be useful. 716 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Practicalities of monitoring and evaluation the System of National Accounts of the country in question (comprising data from different administrative units), and How much monitoring is enough? The key issue to consider sample surveys of the population, such as official living is that the purpose of M&E is to guide implementation of a standards surveys. Programs and projects usually rely on project or program, so there is a limit to the resources that these systems for baseline and monitoring information, par- should be used for M&E. The collection of information has ticularly for quantitative data, in addition to developing a cost, and that cost will usually determine the methods their own program- or project-specific indicators. In addi- used and the scope of information collection. Collecting tion, country-level social assessments, such as the Country primary data in the field is more expensive than using cen- Social Analysis and Country Gender Assessments, are sus data. important references for developing relevant indicators. Limitations face planners in using statistical information. Modification of indicators The accuracy of the data generated from censuses may be As a program or project is implemented, it sometimes subject to various problems, including infrequent collection, becomes necessary to modify the logical framework or gender bias, poor enumeration, and imprecise definition of results framework in light of experience or changed circum- key terms. For instance, women's economic activity is under- stances, then it also becomes important to modify the indi- represented in most censuses and national surveys, because cators. Modifying the indicators does not mean lowering the women often work outside of the formal job market, and the targets to meet the expected outcomes (although this some- contribution of women to economic development is difficult times occurs in national planning systems during the annual to measure. In many developing countries, statistical data are cycle). Instead, the types of indicators need to be modified. outdated or inaccurate, and the capacity to collect, analyze, For example, if a project was implementing activities to disseminate, and store data is often inadequate. encourage local communities to support the concept of Gender-sensitive quantitative indicators cannot be used women obtaining legal tenure together with their husbands alone. They must be complemented by gender analysis and or as single landowners, the indicators might be "the per- qualitative monitoring to understand any changes they may centage of certificates including a woman's name, out of the demonstrate. As well as designing specific indicators and total number of land certificates issued in the district during collecting information, projects and programs may also find 2007." However, if the national government changes the law it useful to access data from other organizations, such as to require that women's names are included, then the aware- information gathered by the World Bank in participatory ness-raising activities may no longer be required and there- poverty analyses or international crop or forestry data from fore would probably not be monitored. FAO. For high-level data, the UN Human Development Report may contain useful national information. As noted earlier, a general lack of gender-specific data GENDER-DISAGGREGATED DATA AVAILABILITY exists relevant to agriculture. Most government agencies AND COLLECTION collect data based on households, products, or regions, In order to carry out gender-sensitive monitoring, disaggre- which usually means that gender is ignored. Even when dis- gated data are required. Ideally, for reasons of cost and scale, aggregated information is collected, it is often ignored or fil- existing data sources should be used. The following sections tered out of project or program planning. The FAO con- look at what is available, how useful it is, selecting data cluded that a number of fundamental issues were not sources, and improving their accuracy. addressed adequately in agricultural censuses and surveys, such as gender differentiation in land ownership and use, access to credit, training and extension services, technology, What data are available now, and how useful and income (FAO 1999). A study of agricultural census data are they? from Africa found that data collection methods were usually A prerequisite for establishing gender-sensitive indicators is inadequate.1 The authors identified a clear need for capacity the availability of statistical data disaggregated by gender building--first, among statisticians to perform gender- (and ideally age and ethnicity), as well as qualitative infor- explicit analyses of agricultural data, and second, among mation reflecting differences between women and men. development planners, so that they can better use census Three main data systems produce useful information for data in general development planning and use gender- monitoring, some of them gender sensitive: census surveys, disaggregated data in gender-specific planning. THEMATIC NOTE 3: SETTING GENDER-SENSITIVE INDICATORS AND COLLECTING GENDER-DISAGGREGATED DATA 717 Manasan and Villanueva (2005) tried to analyze how Box 16.21 Culturally Related Questions for economic contraction in the Philippines affected women's Monitoring benefits from government programs and noted the diffi- culty of obtaining gender-disaggregated agricultural data. Even when figures are provided for women and men, they Is land mainly under the control of men or women? What are the consequences for gender can be quite misleading because they tend to assume that relations, decisions about land sales, and cropping only the "household head"--usually recorded as being a patterns? man--is the farmer. Tempelman and Keita observe that, What are the inheritance practices in the coun- particularly in Africa, the oldest household member who is try concerning land? If women can legally inherit a man (whether usually present or not) is recorded auto- land, do they do this in practice? matically as the "household head."2 This tendency poten- If women own land, does this also mean that tially contributes to the underestimation of the number of they make key decisions concerning crop selection (sub)holdings run by women who manage their own sub- and marketing? production units within man-headed agricultural holdings. Has land reform benefited men and women Tempelman and Keita also report that since the 2000 round equally? of the World Census of Agriculture, several African coun- Do women have equal access to credit facilities? tries have tried to rectify this problem by adopting the con- Does such access translate into control over credit in terms of decision making? cept of "subholder." Defining the concept of "household" carefully is particularly important, as is, with societal norms Source: Author. in mind, to recognize the role played by many women as the main household provider. Economic activity may be defined or understood in varied ways (paid or unpaid work is an obvious difference). But is work on a family farm by a statistics offices. The FAO has developed gender-sensitive woman considered economic activity? What about house- indicators for the agricultural sector (Curry 2002) and pro- hold chores? If a nonfamily member is paid to thresh rice, posed that a gender focus incorporating both age and sex is cook, or clean, then this work is counted as economic activ- important for analysis of the agricultural sector, because ity, but if a family member does the work, it usually is not. women and children make important contributions to agri- Women themselves will often discount their own work cultural production and food security. Gender-sensitive (both paid and unpaid) as a contribution to the family data and indicators on the structure of land ownership, income. Data from censuses and surveys generally underre- access to and use of productive resources, and cropping and port women's paid employment. livestock production patterns are required to supplement Household surveys commonly consider the amount of available data on the age-sex composition of the labor force income spent on food per household per year but do not economically active in agriculture. In anticipation of stake- differentiate between food consumed by men and women holders' increased need for information, steps have been household members. If data are to be collected from house- taken to improve the indicators and gender sensitivity of hold surveys, and gender-specific information is required, data collected through national censuses or to supplement phrasing the questions so that this information is actually census data with data from other socioeconomic surveys. obtained is important. Examples include the concept of "plot manager," introduced Women's land ownership rights differ from country to in the national censuses of Guinea, Senegal, and Togo; the country, but land is often under ownership and control of collection of gender-disaggregated labor data, including men (box 16.21). Gender-sensitive indicators may be avail- data on unpaid family labor, in Burkina Faso; and the addi- able from agricultural censuses or land registration records tion of questions on specific topics, such as agroprocessing, to track land-tenure issues. Because access to credit often in Cape Verde. depends on access to land, the monitoring of credit activi- In its work with national governments, the DFID sup- ties should take land tenure into consideration. ports a stronger focus on generating evidence, statistics, and The FAO's Gender and Population Division is working indicators.3 For example, the DFID supported Cambodian with its Statistics Division as well as member countries to efforts to integrate gender indicators into the monitoring build capacity through training and technical support in framework for the national poverty plan, and in Nepal it will gender and statistics for Ministries of Agriculture and central support the development of a national poverty monitoring 718 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION and analysis system using inclusive and disaggregated indi- direct observation, focus group discussions, interviews, cators. These efforts should increase the availability, routine and meetings. collection, and reporting of gender-disaggregated data from In policy and national program monitoring, secondary national statistical systems (including more specific data on, data sources will be most important, supplemented by field for example, income, employment, and access to services) visits to cross-check their validity against local circum- and foster greater use of such data in national monitoring stances. In project monitoring, primary data sources are systems. They will also increase the use of gender-disaggre- important, because they respond to the specific project indi- gated data in the monitoring sections of national develop- cators. An inventory of available data should be made dur- ment strategies. ing planning. What and where are the data, and how can project/program leaders use them for M&E? What addi- tional data need to be collected to cover gaps? Selecting data sources for gender-sensitive In making decisions about data sources for indicators, monitoring consider these questions for each indicator: Secondary data are not produced specifically for monitoring and evaluation but can have direct and indirect links with a Is the information available from existing sources? project or program. Secondary data provide baseline infor- Is a new data collection effort required? mation and help monitor a project or program's overall goal How much data do we really need? and objectives, the form its inputs (investments) have taken, How much data can we really use? how it is carried out (activities), and its results (outcomes). What data sources are practical? The main sources of secondary data include official docu- Who will pay for data collection? ments such as country development sector plans, sociologi- Who will do data collection? cal and demographic research, reference documents for the How can staff and other stakeholders be involved in data project, activity reports, and situation analyses. collection? FAO maintains databases with information from the How will the data be analyzed? censuses of individual countries. These data are derived from periodic agricultural censuses and yearly surveys of For instance, in a rural development program in Vietnam, agricultural production, including forestry and fisheries. the plan outlined in the program document was to conduct a These data collection instruments are designed to monitor thorough baseline survey. However, analysis of existing data the inputs, outputs, and management of agricultural hold- available from the government demonstrated that it would be ings to formulate policy recommendations for sustainable adequate, supplemented by some qualitative and more local- development and reliable food production systems. ized information gathered from participatory rural appraisals The national statistics system in a country can normally and disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, and poverty. This provide the following: approach saved time and money during the program's busy start-up period. On the other hand, data collection can go too National statistics (census, household, and business sur- far. A review of the monitoring system of a large, donor- veys), usually gathered by the central statistics agency funded rural development project in the Philippines recom- with support from provincial statistics agencies mended that a reality check should be conducted about the Administrative data (from line ministries and local gov- amount of data collected, because the system was overloaded. ernments and services) Projects should make sure that collecting additional data is Other surveys and datasets (usually from academic and really worthwhile and should consider the implications of research institutes) each marginal addition to the data collection. For agricultural Qualitative data (these constitute a small but growing projects, recommendations suggest considering the benefits data component and include, for example, participatory of collecting detailed data on farm household incomes and poverty assessments). expenditures from a small sample (such as 10­20 farmers per zone or farming system) to back up broader secondary data. Primary data are collected specifically for monitoring Collected properly, such primary data can provide useful and evaluating a project or program. Data are collected insights into why farm families make the decisions they do, from all project stakeholders (involved directly and indi- especially when trying to examine the gender impacts. Mon- rectly, positively and negatively), using such tools as itoring data should include a record of how men and women THEMATIC NOTE 3: SETTING GENDER-SENSITIVE INDICATORS AND COLLECTING GENDER-DISAGGREGATED DATA 719 use time and money over the time frame of the program (to In recruiting enumerators, efforts should be made to determine whether and why they change with the implemen- achieve a gender balance. Issues of age, ethnicity, or caste tation of program interventions). may also be vital to consider in seeking to reduce bias. Interviews should be timed to maximize opportunities for meeting with women and men, the young and old-- Steps to improve the accuracy and gender in other words, with a cross-section of the community in sensitivity of survey data question. A numbers of steps can be taken to improve the accuracy Gathering data on the ages and genders of the head of the and gender sensitivity of data collected through surveys. agricultural holding and members of the holding's labor force will make it possible to construct extremely useful, Enumerators should be given gender training. For gender-sensitive indicators. instance, they could be trained to recognize that many activities done by women are part of general economic Recommendations for improving data collection activities. In the instructions to enumerators, special emphasis Development cooperation organizations should continue to should be given to gender issues. support capacity building in statistics offices, including Local political and cultural sensitivities may mean that training in gender sensitization, the development of gender- enumerators are reluctant to ask questions about "diffi- sensitive indicators, and interview training (for census cult" or "conflictive" issues. The importance of these workers). Support should also be provided to purchase questions should be explained, and enumerators encour- equipment that facilitates data handling. aged to ask them--otherwise the results may not be accu- The information collected by statistics offices and other rate. data collection agencies should be made available as needed, Instructions to enumerators should emphasize the need to provide field workers and government staff with data in to ask probing questions and not simply accept "yes" or various formats for monitoring programs and projects. "no" answers. 720 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION I N N OVAT I V E AC T I V I T Y P R O F I L E 1 Training Community Members to Carry Out Project Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation M any projects have trained members of participat- Experience with the Gemi Diriya Project demonstrates ing communities to carry out M&E. The World that building a network of trained community professionals Bank Social Analysis Sourcebook (World Bank or facilitators and involving them in all aspects of project 2003: 49) cites participatory M&E as a "means to systemati- implementation is an effective strategy to scale up in a sus- cally evaluate progress and impact early in the project cycle by tainable, cost-effective manner (www.gemidiriya.org; Mun- bringing the perspectives and insights of all stakeholders, shi, Hayward, and Verardo 2006). beneficiaries as well as project implementers. All stakeholders identify issues, conduct research, analyze findings, make rec- ommendations, and take responsibility for necessary action." PROJECT DESCRIPTION Levels of participation and the means of ensuring gender A Village Self-Help Learning Initiative was piloted in 1999 equity vary from project to project. This Innovative Activity in three villages in Sri Lanka's poor North Central Province. Profile discusses lessons from Sri Lanka's Community Its main objective was to introduce and test a model of par- Development and Livelihood Improvement Project--also ticipatory rural development that focused on empowering known as the Gemi Diriya ("village strength") Project-- local communities to find their own solutions to local devel- with some additional insights from Indonesia's Community opment problems. Key actions included mobilizing com- Empowerment for Rural Development Project. munities; building inclusive, accountable village organiza- One difficulty with participatory M&E is that commu- tions; and supporting their self-management. nity-driven development programs typically serve a large To scale up the self-help initiative, the World Bank number of small, widely dispersed communities, and man- financed the Gemi Diriya Project, starting in October 2004.1 aging such programs requires intense support, especially at The Bank has committed $181 million for 12 years to imple- start-up and in the early stages of implementation. Using ment the project, which, like the village self-help initiative on local NGOs, local government staff, and other local which it is modeled, focuses on self-management and learn- resources is not always successful because of high costs, large ing. To avoid the risk of exclusion of women, the project distances, and insufficient local capacity. rules specified at least 30 percent women's representation in decision-making roles and that at least 50 percent of the ben- efits must be received by women, including capacity building What's innovative? Training women as commu- and training. The project contracts external support organi- nity professionals or facilitators is a successful step zations, such as local NGOs, to carry out an initial informa- in building confidence and providing a good gen- tion campaign in villages, facilitate participatory planning der role model. Community facilitators can iden- and appraisals, support formation of village organizations, tify constraints and opportunities in their villages and offer preliminary training to its office holders. Once and are effective at instilling confidence and established, village organizations have access to a village mobilizing their communities. Women facilitators development fund that finances activities in three main have much better access to women and youth-- areas: capacity building, community infrastructure services key decision makers and beneficiaries. subprojects, and livelihood support. Continued support and guidance are needed to strengthen the village organizations, 721 but continued reliance on project staff would increase on women and youth as project decision makers and dependence and cost, so the idea of training and using com- intended beneficiaries. munity facilitators emerged. The community professionals In addition to providing specialized training to commu- and facilitators are trained in numerous ways, all supported nity facilitators, the project has had other impacts on by the project: through community peer trainers, Commu- improving gender equity, for example, the microfinance nity Professionals Learning and Training Centres, and a program, which provides loans exclusively for livelihood mobile capacity-building team, which trains, mentors, and improvement and income-generating projects. Within only monitors community facilitators in the field, building their two years of its implementation, the program has acquired capacity and confidence in a cost-effective way. 71,000 members, who have formed 11,762 small groups. Of Community professionals and facilitators have a number these, 80 percent of the beneficiaries are women. of advantages. They have a stake in their community's devel- Six key methods are used to monitor and evaluate the opment, are better suited to identifying the constraints and project: a self-monitoring system, a monitoring system opportunities in their villages, and are much more effective based on the project's management information system, than outsiders in instilling confidence and mobilizing their internal management reviews, an external process moni- communities. They also tend to be more accountable to toring system, impact evaluations, and social accountabil- their communities, because they live there and enjoy local ity monitoring. The village organization and its various legitimacy and trust. They provide a strong local input to committees continually assess their own performance Bank supervision missions and are a go-between for the against the locally developed indicators for capacity overall implementation team of the project. building, infrastructure development, livelihood support The formation of small groups is the foundation of the fund activities, and other activities. This self-monitoring village organizations; it is the small groups that achieve is the main tool for the community to learn from proj- the objectives of the development programs identified by ect implementation and build capacity to manage the community. Training for small group members is thus village development. one of the most important aspects of the project, and this Process monitoring evaluates how project activities lead training is provided by community professionals. to the required outputs, which ultimately produce the desired outcomes and benefits. More specifically, external process monitoring generates the information necessary for LINKING LEARNING, GENDER,AND M&E project management at all levels and for village organiza- The Community Professionals Learning and Training Cen- tions to perform their expected roles and responsibilities in tres are designed to provide comprehensive training for the most effective and efficient manner. community professionals in social mobilization skills, One monitoring tool that has proven effective is the M&E, and the Community Operational Manual used by Community Report Card, which gathers feedback from the the project, as well as overall social development processes. communities about the performance (quality, efficiency, Based on the knowledge, skills, and field experience gained and adequacy) of village organization office holders, com- through this training, facilitators can provide better ser- munity professionals, and project staff, among others. The vices to the project (and to other programs assisting with Report Card is a powerful tool for the community to exert community development) and gain economic benefits for social control on the performance of these teams and alert their work. They are paid via the Village Development them as to desired changes. Funds, but as their skills develop, they also can sell their Another community training scheme with a gender services on a commercial basis (for instance, to NGOs, focus was recently implemented in Indonesia and provides donors, or the government). A selection process and a sys- good comparisons to the one in Sri Lanka (box 16.22). tem of grading and promotion are in use. More than 60 percent of community professionals or facilitators are women, who focus on improving gender equity in their LESSONS LEARNED communities. Women and poor youth in particular, and poor families more generally, have found the Community Community facilitators are a powerful tool for social change Professional Learning and Training Centres to be a very and supporting development program activities. In particu- good source of income. The project has conducted a strong lar, gender, age, and ethnicity should be considered in the information campaign about its objectives and its emphasis selection of community trainers or facilitators (and, indeed, 722 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Box 16.22 Indonesia: Bringing a Gender Focus to Community Empowerment Between 2000 and 2006, the ADB-funded Community holds. Another reason to include women was to protect Empowerment for Rural Development Project sought to and develop women's economic interests in the project. raise the incomes of about 110,000 poor families in six Despite the fact that women played an important Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan and Sulawesi. The role in the village economy and community affairs, project supported the development of community- they often felt more constrained than men in partici- based savings and loan organizations and sought to pating in village forums. The project was designed to strengthen rural financial institutions'capacity to extend foster women's equitable participation in two ways: credit. The project's second major effort was to build capacity for decentralized development planning within It offered leadership training for women in the villages and within local and provincial levels of govern- operation of savings and loan organizations, the ment, with an emphasis on infrastructure development. workings of village planning forums, and the selec- The economic crisis in Indonesia in the late 1990s tion of village infrastructure projects. highlighted the need for a long-term strategy to It considered women's specific capacities, economic reduce poverty significantly by emphasizing social activities, and interests in designing and forming inclusion and skills development among the poor. The training programs, village organizations, and sav- Community Empowerment Project supported formal ings and loan organizations. and informal training and decision-making processes to give local communities and government the insti- Village planning forums were organized and social tutional capacity to direct resources more efficiently mobilization and human development training pro- to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life in vided to ensure that women's groups participated in their communities. the village development planning process. Aside from The project targeted women as members and deci- training community members in planning and moni- sion makers of both savings and loan organizations toring, government officers in the project's executing and village planning committees. The decision to agency received training on decentralized development encourage women's full participation in this project planning and gender and development. Gender-based was based on the fact that women in the project areas training targets were set to ensure that women govern- make major economic contributions to their house- ment staff received equitable training opportunities. Source: ADB Gender and Development Web site and specific project documents, Community Empowerment for Rural Development Project, www.adb.org. in all selection processes) to ensure access to the poorest sec- and Indira Ekanayake, Eija Pehu, and Riikka Rajalahti tions of the community. In Gemi Diriya, an ethical frame- (World Bank). work is applied--the "golden rules" of good governance, equity, transparency, and cost efficiency--when dealing Thematic Note 1 with the use of public finances. Information sharing and awareness raising have also proven to be vital in highlight- The Thematic Note was written by Pamela White (Consul- ing the role of all groups in the community, but particularly tant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande and Catherine Ragasa (Consultants); John Curry (FAO); Maria Hartl the key roles played by women and youth. (IFAD); and Indira Ekanayake, Eija Pehu, and Riikka Rajalahti (World Bank). NOTES Overview Thematic Note 2 The Overview was written by Pamela White (Consultant) The Thematic Note was written by Pamela White (Consul- and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande and Catherine Ragasa tant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande and Catherine (Consultants); John Curry (FAO); Maria Hartl (IFAD); Ragasa (Consultants); John Curry (FAO); Maria Hartl MODULE 16: NOTES 723 (IFAD); and Indira Ekanayake, Eija Pehu, and Riikka Bamberger, Michael. 2002."Impact Evaluations When Time Rajalahti (World Bank). and Money Are Limited: Lessons from International 1. United Nations (Vietnam), "Gender Action Partnership Development on the Design of Rapid and Economical, (GAP)," www.un.org.vn. but Methodologically Sound, Impact Evaluations." Paper 2. Monica Fong,"Gender in Sector-Wide Development Poli- presented at the American Evaluation Association Pro- cies and Programs," paper presented at the 3rd World Con- fessional Development Workshop, Impact Evaluation on gress of Rural Women, Madrid, October 1-4, www.oecd.org. a Shoestring, November 5. 3. See "Needs Assessment of Economic Planning Units in Derbyshire, Helen. 2002. Gender Manual: A Practical Guide Gender Analysis in Selected Caribbean Countries," for Development Policy Makers and Practitioners. London: www.cepa.org. Department for International Development. 4. See note 5 above. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2001. Project Cycle Management Technical Guide. Rome: SEAGA 5. See "Gender Equity Index 2007," www.socialwatch.org. Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis Programme, FAO. 6. Caroline Moser, "An Introduction to Gender Audit ------. 2003. Progress Report on Implementation of the FAO Methodology: Its Design and Implementation in DFID Gender and Development Plan of Action (2002­2007). Malawi," www.enterprise-impact.org.uk. Rome: FAO. Gender and Rural Development (GENRD). 2006. "FY05 Thematic Note 3 Gender Portfolio Review." Internal report, Agriculture and Rural Development, World Bank, Washington, DC. The Thematic Note was written by Pamela White (Consul- ------. 2007. "FY06 Gender Portfolio Review." Internal tant) and reviewed by Chitra Deshpande and Catherine report, Agriculture and Rural Development, World Bank, Ragasa (Consultants); John Curry (FAO); Maria Hartl Washington, DC. (IFAD); and Indira Ekanayake, Eija Pehu, and Riikka Rajalahti (World Bank). Hunt, Juliet, and Samvada Kheng. 2006. Gender Equality Results in ADB Projects: Cambodia Country Report. 1. Diana Tempelman and Naman Keita,"Gender Concerns Manila: Asian Development Bank. in Agricultural Census in Africa," paper presented at the 3rd International Conference on Agricultural Statistics, Measur- Mason, Karen Oppenheim. 2007. Gender Equality and Aid ing Sustainable Agricultural Indicators, Cancún, November Delivery: What Has Changed in Development Cooperation 2­4, www.fao.org. Agencies since 1999? Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2. Ibid. 3. "Gender Equality Action Plan 2007­2009," www.dfid. Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) Finland. 2003. Strategy gov.uk. and Action Plan for Promoting Gender Equality in Fin- land's Policy for Developing Countries, 2003­2007. Helsinki: MFA. Also available at http://formin.finland.fi. Innovative Activity Profile 1 Nordic Development Fund (NDF). 2004. Gender Equality Study: A Study on Addressing Gender Aspects in Projects Co- The Innovative Activity Profile was written by Pamela White Financed by NDF in Developing Countries. Final Report, (Consultant) and reviewed by Catherine Ragasa (Consul- March. Helsinki: NDF. Also available at www.ndf.fi. tant); and Natasha Hayward, Meena Munshi, and Eija Pehu Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (World Bank). (OECD). 1999. DAC Guidelines for Gender Equality and 1. See"Community Development and Livelihood Improve- Women's Empowerment in Development Cooperation. ment," Gemi Diriya project, www.worldbank.org. Paris: OECD. Also available at www.oecd.org. ------. 2007."Gender Equality and Aid Delivery: What Has REFERENCES Changed in Development Co-Operation Agencies since 1999?" Paris: OECD. Also available at www.oecd.org. Overview Peck, Lennart. 1998. "Evaluating Gender Equality--Policy Asian Development Bank (ADB). n.d. Gender Checklist: and Practise: An Assessment of Sida's Evaluations in Agriculture. Manila: ADB. 1997­1998." SIDA Studies in Evaluation 98/3, Swedish Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). Agency for Development Cooperation, Stockholm. 2002. Gender and Development: GAD Lessons and Chal- Punkari, Mikko, Marlene Fuentes, Pamela White, Riikka lenges for the Australian Aid Program. Canberra: AusAID. Rajalahti, and Eija Pehu. 2007."Social and Environmental 724 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Sustainability of Agriculture and Rural Development Punkari, Mikko, Marlene Fuentes, Pamela White, Riikkaa Investments: A Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit." Rajalahti, and Eija Pehu. 2007. "Social and Environmen- Agriculture and Rural Development, Discussion Paper tal Sustainability of Agriculture and Rural Development 31, World Bank, Washington, DC. Investments: A Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit." Swedish Agency for Development Cooperation (SIDA). Agriculture and Rural Development, Discussion Paper 2004. Looking Back, Moving Forward. SIDA Evaluation 31, World Bank, Washington, DC. Manual. Stockholm: SIDA. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2002. White, Pamela. 2007. "Participatory Monitoring and Evalu- "Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluation for Results." ation Component, Sustainable Livelihoods Project, Also available at www.undp.org. Mongolia."Final report, unpublished project documents. World Bank. n.d. World Bank Operational Manual. Wash- Thematic Note 2 ington, DC: World Bank. ------. 1996. The World Bank Participation Sourcebook. Balmori, Helena Hofbauer. 2003. "Gender and Budgets: Washington, DC: World Bank. Overview Report." BRIDGE (Development-Gender), Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, ------. 2003a. Social Analysis Sourcebook: Incorporating Brighton. Also available at www.bridge.ids.ac.uk. Social Dimensions into Bank-Supported Projects. Wash- ington, DC: World Bank. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). 2005."Kenya." Making Poverty Reduction Strate- ------. 2003b. Report on Social and Institutional Assess- gies Work, Good Practice Sheet, GTZ, Eschborn, Ger- ment: Pakistan: NWFP Community Infrastructure Project- many, October. II. Washington, DC: World Bank. Gaynor, Cathy. 2006. "Paris Declaration Commitments ------. 2003c. Implementation Completion Report: NWFP and Implications for Gender Equality and Women's Community Infrastructure and NHA Strengthening Proj- Empowerment." Paper for consideration by the OECD- ect. Washington, DC: World Bank. DAC Network on Gender Equality and the OECD- ------. 2005. Gender Issues in Monitoring and Evaluation of DAC Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, Organisation Rural Development Projects: A Tool Kit. Washington, DC: for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, World Bank. July 6­7. ------. 2006a. "Implementing the Bank's Gender Main- International Monetary Fund/International Development streaming Strategy: Annual Monitoring Report for FY04 Association (IMF/IDA). 2001. "Joint Staff Assessment of and FY05." Gender and Development Group, Poverty the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper." IMF and IDA, Reduction and Economic Management, World Bank, Washington, DC. Washington, DC, January 11. Kusek, Jody Zall, and Ray C. Rist. 2004. "Ten Steps to a ------. 2006b. "Monitoring and Evaluation: Measuring Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System." and Assessing Agricultural Development Programs." In Washington, DC: World Bank. Also available at Agriculture Investment Sourcebook, Module 12. Washing- www.wi.wur.nl. ton, DC: World Bank. Moser, Annalise. 2007. Gender and Indicators: Overview ------. 2007. "Process Monitoring in Andhra Pradesh: An Report." BRIDGE (Development-Gender), Institute of Award-Winning Innovation in Project Supervision." Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton. Agricultural and Rural Development Notes 22, World Also available at www.bridge.ids.ac.uk. Bank, Washington, DC, June. Moser, Caroline, Olivia M'Chaju-Liwewe, Annalise Moser, and Naomi Ngwira. 2004. "DFID Malawi Gender Audit: Thematic Note 1 Evaporated, Invisibilized or Resisted?" Department for Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2001. Intermedi- International Development, London, October. ate Level Handbook. Rome: Socio-Economic and Gender Muro, Asseny. 2007. Presentation on Tanzania Gender Net- Analysis Programme, FAO. working Program to a Seminar on New Aid Modalities of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Funding, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, 2007. "Exploring Gender Issues in Our Work: Main Helsinki, May 4. Findings from a Questionnaire Survey." Paper pre- National Economic and Development Authority, Philip- sented at Looking for New Directions: Gender Main- pines (NEDA). 2004. Harmonized Gender and Develop- streaming and Women's Empowerment Workshop, ment Guidelines for Project Development, Implementation, Rome, May 16­17. Monitoring and Evaluation. Manila: Asian Development MODULE 16: REFERENCES 725 Bank for NEDA and the National Commission on the ings from a Questionnaire Survey." Paper presented at Role of Filipino Women. Looking for New Directions: Gender Mainstreaming and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Women's Empowerment Workshop, Rome, May 16­17. (OECD). 2002. Gender Equality in Sector Wide Manasan, Rosario, and Eden Villanueva. 2005."The Impact Approaches--A Reference Guide. Paris: OECD. of Fiscal Restraint on Budgetary Allocations for ------. 2007. Gender Equality and Aid Delivery: What Has Women's Programs." Discussion Paper Series No. 2005- Changed in Development Co-Operation Agencies since 16. Philippine Institute for Development Studies, 1999? Paris: OECD. Makati City, August. Packard, Le Anh Tu. 2006. "Gender Dimensions of Viet Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (DANIDA). 2006. Nam's Comprehensive Macroeconomic and Structural "Gender-Sensitive Monitoring and Indicators." Technical Reform Policies," Occasional Paper 14, United Nations Note, DANIDA, Copenhagen. Also available at www. Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva. danidadevforum.um.dk. World Bank. 2002. PRSP Sourcebook. Washington, DC: National Economic and Development Authority, Philippines World Bank. (NEDA). 2004. Harmonized Gender and Development ------. 2004. "Using Poverty and Social Impact Analysis Guidelines for Project Development, Implementation, Mon- to Support Development Policy Operations." Good itoring and Evaluation. Manila: Asian Development Bank Practice in Development Policy Note 2, World Bank, for NEDA and the National Commission on the Role of Operations Policy and Country Services, World Bank, Filipino Women. Washington, DC. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2002. ------. 2007. "Promoting Gender Equality and Women's Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluating for Results. New Empowerment." In Global Monitoring Report 2007: Con- York: UNDP. fronting the Challenges of Gender Equality and Fragile World Bank and Operations Policy and Country Services States, chapter 3. Washington, DC: World Bank. (OPCS). 2004. "Designing Development Policy Opera- tions." Good Practice Note for Development Policy Lending 1, World Bank, Operations Policy and Country Thematic Note 3 Services, Washington, DC. Beck, Tony. 2000. Using Gender Sensitive Indicators: A Refer- ence Manual for Governments and Other Stakeholders. Innovative Activity Profile 1 London: Commonwealth Secretariat. Munshi, Meena, Natasha Hayward, and Barbara Verardo. Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). 1997. 2006. "A Story of Social and Economic Empowerment: Guide to Gender Sensitive Indicators. Minister of Public The Evolution of `Community Professionals' in Sri Works and Government Services Canada, Hull. Also Lanka." Social Funds Innovation Notes 4 (2), World available at www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/inet/images.nsf/vLUIm- Bank, Washington, DC. ages/Policy/$file/WID-GUID-E.pdf. World Bank. 2003. Social Analysis Sourcebook: Incorporating Curry, John. 2002. "Establishment of a Core Set of Gender- Social Dimensions into Bank-Supported Projects. Wash- Sensitive Indicators for the Agricultural Sector: A Prelim- ington, DC: World Bank. inary Proposal." Paper presented at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and Statistical Com- mission Conference of European Statisticians, Working FURTHER READING Session on Gender Statistics, Geneva, September 23­25. Thematic Note 1 Derbyshire, Helen. 2002. Gender Manual: A Practical Guide for Development Policy Makers and Practitioners. London: Derbyshire, Helen. 2003. "Progress Report on Implementa- Department for International Development. tion of the FAO Gender and Development Plan of Action Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1999. Filling the (2002­2007)." Rome: FAO. Available at www.fao.org. Data Gap: Gender-Sensitive Statistics for Agricultural IFAD. 2002. Managing for Impact in Rural Development: A Development. Rome: FAO. Guide for Project M&E. Rome: International Fund for ------. 2003. Progress Report on Implementation of the FAO Agricultural Development. Gender and Development Plan of Action (2002­2007). World Bank. 2002. PRSP Sourcebook. Washington, DC: Rome: FAO. World Bank. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). ------. World Bank. 2006. "Monitoring and Evaluation: 2007."Exploring Gender Issues in Our Work: Main Find- Measuring and Assessing Agricultural Development 726 MODULE 16: GENDER ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION Programs."In Agriculture Investment Sourcebook, Module Curry, John. 2004. Establishment of a Core Set of Gender- 12. Washington, DC: World Bank. Sensitive Indicators for the Agricultural Sector: A Prelimi- ------. 2007. Social and Environmental Sustainability of Agri- nary Proposal. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization. culture and Rural Development Investments: A Monitoring Curry, John, and Diana Tempelman. 2006. "Improving the and Evaluation Toolkit. Washington, DC: World Bank. Use of Gender and Population Factors in Agricultural The Asian Development Bank has an excellent Web site Statistics: A Review of FAO's Support to Member Coun- (www.adb.org/Gender/practices.asp) on "Projects tries in Gender Statistics." Paper presented at the Inter- Addressing Gender Concerns," with case studies. Agency and Expert Group Meeting on the Development of Gender Statistics, December 12­14, United Nations, New York. Available at http://unstats.un.org. Thematic Note 2 Economic Commission for Latin America and the Bamberger, Michael, Mark Blackden, Lucia Fort, and Vio- Caribbean. 2002. "Tools and Indicators for Gender letta Manoukian. 2002. "Gender." In A Sourcebook for Impact Analysis, Monitoring and Evaluation." Intera- Poverty Reduction Strategies, chapter 10. Washington, gency Network on Women and Gender Equality, New DC: World Bank. York, February 26­March 1. Available at www.un.org. Budlender, Debbie. 2007. "Financing for Development: Aid Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). n.d. Docu- Effectiveness and Gender-Responsive Budgets." Com- mentation on gender and statistics available at monwealth Secretariat, Eighth Commonwealth Women's http://unstats.un.org. Affairs Ministers Meeting Kampala, Uganda, June 11­14. ------. 2001. Gender Sensitive Indicators: A Key Tool for Department for International Development (DFID). 2006. Gender Mainstreaming. Rome: FAO. Evaluation of DFID'S Policy and Practice in Support of ------. 2003."Socio-Economic and Gender-Sensitive Indi- Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. Thematic cators in the Management of Natural Resources." Sus- Studies, vol. 3: "Gender and Budget Support," "Gender tainable Development Department, FAO, Rome. Avail- Equality through Justice and Rights-Based Policies and able at FAO's SD Dimensions Web site: www.fao.org. Programs," "DFID's Efforts to Address Gender Equality ------. 2005. Agricultural Censuses and Gender: Lessons Goals in International Partnerships," and "Summary of Learned in Africa. Rome: FAO. Research in Gender and DFID'S Support to Pro-Poor Growth." London: DFID, COWI Evaluation Team. Mayoux, Linda. 2002. "What Do We Want to Know? Select- ing Gender Indicators." Available at www.ids.ac.uk. Whitehead, Ann. 2003."Failing Women, Sustaining Poverty: Thematic Note 3 Gender in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers." Report Asian Development Bank (ADB). 2003. Gender and Devel- for the UK Gender and Development Network (GADN), opment: Our Framework Policies and Strategies. Manila: GADN and Christian Aid. Available at www.gadnet- ADB. Available at www.adb.org. work.org.uk. MODULE 16: FURTHER READING 727 INDEX Note: Boxes, figures, notes, and tables are indicated by b, f, n, and t, respectively. A Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (PARPA), AAU. See Association of American Universities (AAU) Mozambique, 681b16.5, 700b16.13, 703b16.17 abandonment, and land rights, 142, 166n4 active labor market programs (ALMPs), 324 accountability, 24, 25, 56­57, 509 ADB. See Asian Development Bank (ADB) of CDD projects, 61 administration, monitoring of, 694 and governance, 33 ADR. See alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms for, 69 advertising, to promote women's economic activity, accumulating savings and credit associations (ASCAs), 101, 120n6 86, 96, 120n1 advisory services, 265, 268, 269, 270t7.3, 271 ACEs. See civic extension associations (ACEs) advocacy, for women's voice in farmer organizations, 70 acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), 1, 2 AET. See agricultural extension and training (AET) and agricultural markets, 193 affinity groups, and value chains, 210b5.17 and child-headed households, 603, 635n7, 635n10 affirmative action strategies, 323, 324 contract clauses concerning, 380 Afghanistan, poultry farming, 204, 205b5.12 coping strategies for, 433, 434b10.5 Africa in fishing communities, 578 conservation in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, 665­68 and food security, 14 dairy farming, 662b15.12 and forestry sector, 651, 652b15.1, 654, 668n2 Gender and Rural Transport Initiative, 377, 377b9.1 impact of, 305, 310n1­2 Improved Seed Systems for Agroforestry in African Countries on MDGs, 645 project, 663 on rural households, 613 Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation, 534 and JFFLSs, 305­8, 310n107 rice farmers, 272 and labor rights, 337 unproductive soil in, 529, 529b12.4 and land and water degradation, 456 Africa Educational Trust, 393 and local knowledge systems, 461b10.14 African Conservation Tillage network (ACT), 303 and rural infrastructure, 368, 374 African Development Bank, 272 as safety risk for women in workforce, 321 African Highland Program, 277 Tanzania, 303 African Women Leaders in Agriculture and Environment and training programs, 197 (AWLAE), 286 workplace awareness campaigns, 326 Africa Travel and Transport Project, 379 See also health and health care Agence Nationale d'Appui au Développement Rural (ANADER), ACT. See African Conservation Tillage network (ACT) 74­76 ActionAid, 544 Agha Khan Rural Support Program, 66 729 AGRECOL, Bolivia, 393 ANADER. See Agence Nationale d'Appui au Développement agribusiness, regional opportunities and constraints in, Rural (ANADER) 174­75 analytical capacity, 38, 41­42, 44 Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant Products Andean region, participatory research in, 276­77 (ASNAPP), 205b5.11 Andes community, 298­301 agricultural extension and training (AET) Andhra Pradesh District Poverty Initiatives Project (APDPIP), good practices and lessons learned from, 283­87 India, 112­16, 121n1, 210b5.17 guidelines and recommendations for, 287­88 Andhra Pradesh Rice Credit Line Project, 17 overview, 280 Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project (APRPRP), women's participation in, 280­81 India, 112­16, 121n1, 203, 215­19, 223­24n1­3, 683b16.6 See also extension services; trainers and training Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited agricultural extension field schools, 63, 64b2.14 (APMARKFED), India, 217 agricultural fairs, 622 animal diseases, 611­16, 636n1, 636n5 agricultural innovation systems (AIS), 258­60, 263, 265 animal genetic resources, 435b10.6, 435b10.7, 437, 633­34 agricultural labor. See labor force animal health, 613­14, 628 agricultural markets animal health workers, 615 marketing extension tool, 211­14 animal husbandry, 603, 615, 629 supporting agricultural value-adding strategies, 206­10 animal production, 603 See also markets and marketing animal waste, 384, 385 agricultural production. See production Annan, Kofi, 23 agricultural sciences, study in, 280­81, 284, 284b7.12 Anthra, 613 agricultural services reforms, Côte d'Ivoire project, 74­76 APDPIP. See Andhra Pradesh District Poverty Initiatives Project agricultural support, versus food aid and sustenance of social (APDPIP), India capital, 507­12, 516n3­4 APMARKFED. See Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA), India, Federation Limited (APMARKFED), India 270­71 APRPRP. See Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project Agriculture for Development Policy Brief, 522 (APRPRP), India agriculture water management (AWM) aquaculture, 561­67, 593n1­5 gender mainstreaming in, 229­34 accessing and managing resources, 568­71, 593n1­3 groundwater development and management, 242­46 alternative livelihoods for fishing communities, 582­87, multiple-use water services, 235­41 594n1­2, 594n8 See also water services; water supply aquaculture extension project, 220­22, 224n1 agrobiodiversity, 15­16, 433b10.4, 440, 459­62, 468n1 associations for protecting livelihoods of fishers, processors, agroenterprises, 278 and traders, 577­81, 594n1 agroforestry, 211­14, 441, 643, 645 CARE Bangladesh, 591­93 designers of, 647­48 coral reef rehabilitation and management project, 588­90 domestication programs, 435 family-based systems in Asia, 572­76, 594n1­3 and home gardens, 645, 659­60 Aqua Finca, Honduras, 581 knowledge and practice in, 658­64, 669n2 aquifers, overexploitation of, 243 See also forests and forestry Aridity Index, 468n4 Agro-Innovation and Competitiveness Project (INCAGRO), armed conflicts. See conflicts and crises Peru, 261b7.3, 268, 269, 271 Armenia, Network and Capacity Building for Rural Women, 396 agroprocessing, 342, 374, 413n3 arsenic poisoning, 243, 243b6.4 aid modalities, 43 artichokes, 179, 180b5.3 examining gender activities of donors, 706­8 artisanal fisheries, 329, 580, 582, 594n1 experience and achievements in, 698­702 ASCAs. See accumulating savings and credit associations gender indicators, tools, and methods for, 702b16.16 Asia monitoring gender in, 684, 697­98 agricultural resource management, 456­57 monitoring PRSPs, 702­6 family-based aquaculture systems in, 572­76, 594n1­3 joint monitoring missions, 706, 707b16.19 wood energy in, 653 AIDS. See acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) Asian Development Bank (ADB), 568, 620, 621, 679b16.3, AIS. See agricultural innovation systems (AIS) 723b16.22 all-season roads, 378, 413n6 ASNAPP. See Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant ALMPs. See active labor market programs (ALMPs) Products (ASNAPP) ALs. See alternative livelihoods (ALs) assessments, gender sensitive, 511­12 alternative dispute resolution (ADR), 149 assets, 4­6 alternative fuels and energy, 293b7.17, 451 access to during crises, 480, 515n7 alternative livelihoods (ALs), 580, 582­87, 594n1­2, 594n8 in agriculture sector, 16f1.4 730 INDEX asset­sharing strategies, 490 biodiversity, 428, 432­34, 465n3­5 and GAL framework, 427 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, 665­68 link to technology development, 629 Convention on Biological Diversity, 434, 456 livestock sector, 605, 606b14.1 in dry lands, 454 structural barriers to, 480, 515n7 good practices and lessons learned from, 434­36 Association of American Universities (AAU), 286 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 436­37 ATMA. See Agricultural Technology Management Agency impact of intensive agriculture on, 521 (ATMA), India and LinKS project, 459­62, 468n1 ATMs. See automated teller machines (ATMs) management of, 262, 277 audits and auditing monitoring and evaluation of, 437 gender audits, 98­99, 120n4, 387, 707 overview of, 431­32 of projects, 509 policy and implementation issues of, 434, 435b10.6, 435b10.7, Australia Agency for International Development (AusAID), 466n8 677b16.2 trends in, 423, 424b10.1, 431b10.2 automated teller machines (ATMs), 96, 105 bioenergy, 421, 428­29 avian influenza, 611, 612, 614 definition, 467n11 AWARD program, 286 gender issues, 443­47, 467n1­6 AWLAE. See African Women Leaders in Agriculture production of, 445 and Environment (AWLAE) sources of, 443, 467n2 AWM. See agriculture water management (AWM) trends in, 423, 424b10.1 biofortified crops, 521, 554n3 B biofuels, 443, 444­45, 467n6, 467n11 Badia Livestock Extension Project, Jordan, 628b14.3 Biofuels Association of Zambia, 446 Bangladesh, 40b2.3, 296, 568 biomass CARE Bangladesh, 570­76, 591­93 definition, 467n11 Centre for Mass Education in Science, 330 transfer of, 660­61 crop selection, 535, 535b12.8 use of, 383­85, 414n3, 440, 443, 444, 653 cyclone in 1991, 449 Biorganika, 204 Empowerment of Coastal Fishing Communities for Sustainable biosecurity, in livestock sector, 611­16, 636n1, 636n5 Livelihoods Project, 585­86 biotechnology, 177 flooding in, 489­90 BLGWIP. See Bhairahawa Lumbini Groundwater Irrigation food security project, 197 Project (BLGWIP), Nepal governance issues in, 71­73 Bolivia Greater Noakhali Aquaculture Extension Project, adjusting local agriculture to loss of rural labor, 523b12.3 220­22, 224n1 AGRECOL, 393 Greater Options for Local Development through Aquaculture Noel Kempff Climate Action Project, 440 Project, 591 Bosnia and Herzegovina, rural producer organizations in, 201b5.9 Livelihood Empowerment and Agroforestry Project, 198, Botswana, labor-saving technologies for crops, 290b7.15 211­14 BRAC. See Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) Livestock Development Program, 620, 621 Brazil, 402, 403b9.8, 542b12.11 marketing extension tool, 211­14 breeding Meghna­Dhanagoda Command Area Development improvement of local breeds, 627­28 Project, 568­69 livestock, 461b10.13, 607, 633­35 NGOs in, 197 of plants, 262, 436, 437, 541, 543, 543b12.13 Oxbow Lakes project, 568­69 sheep, 631­32 Rural Roads and Market Project, 379, 379b9.3 brewing, 294 solar home systems, 388b9.5 bribery, attitudes about, 31b2.2 women in growth center markets, 191b5.7 B2B. See business to business (B2B) Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), budgets 296, 568 budget support, 684 BBC World Service Trust, 393 experience with PRSPs and SWAPs, 698­99 BCRCA. See Buhoma Community Rest Camp Association gender budget initiatives, 705, 706b16.3 (BCRCA) gender-responsive, 28b2.1, 37, 41, 44, 79n3, 405­6 Bhairahawa Lumbini Groundwater Irrigation Project (BLGWIP), in newer aid modalities, 697­98 Nepal, 244b6.5 operating, 696 bicycles, 378 reasons to monitor, 698 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 286 buffalo milk, 604 BINP. See Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) Buhoma Community Rest Camp Association (BCRCA), 667 INDEX 731 Buhoma village walk, 666­67 CATIE. See Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Burkina Faso, Centre for Low-Cost Drinking Water Supply and Ensenanza (CATIE) Sanitation, 402 cattle. See livestock sector Business Edge, 197 CBD. See community-based development (CBD); Convention on business environment, 184­91 Biological Diversity (CBD) business plans for CeCs, 412 CBDP. See community-based disaster preparedness (CBDP), gender equity in accessing rural energy enterprises, 387 India nontraditional business opportunities, 193 CBIK. See Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge business incubators, 198 (CBIK) business to business (B2B), 221, 224n2 CBNRM. See community-based natural resource management bus service, 351 (CBNRM) Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP), 665­68 CBOs. See community-based organizations (CBOs) CBRIP. See Community Based Rural Infrastructure Project C (CBRIP), Vietnam CA. See conservation agriculture (CA) CCMC. See community credit management committees Cafe Femenino, Peru, 203, 203b5.10 (CCMCs) Cage Aquaculture for Greater Economic Security (CAGES), 591 CDD. See community-driven development (CDD) Cambodia, 501­2, 679b16.3, 701­2 CDFs. See community development funds (CDFs) Cameroon, indigenous vegetables, 432b10.3 CeCs. See community e-centers (CeCs) Canadian International Development Agency, 713 CEDAW. See Convention on the Elimination of All Forms capacity building, 56 of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for agricultural services reforms, 75 cellular telephones, 390­91, 391, 464 in aquaculture, 572 CEM. See Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) in chain partnerships, 203 Ce-Mujer, 198 for control of animal diseases, 613 census data, 717 to cope with disasters, 451­52 Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge (CBIK), in fisheries, 580, 587 543b12.12 and livestock disease protection, 612 Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), 278 and MARENASS project, 300 Center for Tropical Agriculture, 277 and participatory research, 275b7.8 Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA), 175 rural roads project, 410 Central Asia, gender and agribusiness, 175 for small-scale women entrepreneurs, 192­99 Central Dry Area Smallholder and Community Services for social economic reintegration, 507, 508 Development Project, Kenya, 291, 292b7.16 and sustainable land management, 457 Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, 584 training for, 72 Centre for Low-Cost Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation capital (CREPA), Burkina Faso, 402 and land acquisition, 138 Centre for Marketing Information and Advisory Services for and veterinary services, 618 Fishery Products in Latin America and the Caribbean capital requirements, 216b5.18 (INFOPESCA), 581 capture fisheries. See fish and fisheries Centre for Mass Education in Science, 330 carbon emissions, 440­41, 643, 660 Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), 230 carbon sequestration, 441, 467n3 Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza CARE Bangladesh, 570­76, 591­93 (CATIE), 664b15.13 Care International, 490 CGAs. See country gender assessments (CGAs) Cargill, 338, 350­52 CGIAR. See Consultative Group on International Agricultural The Caribbean, 346t8.11, 581 Research (CGIAR) gender and agribusiness, 174 chain mapping, 178­79 women entrepreneurs in, 195 chain partnerships, 203, 204, 205b5.11 Carnegie Corporation, 286 Chari River, 580 case law, 337 chemical fertilizers, 530, 531­32, 533b12.5 cash crops, 18, 425 chemicals jatropha oil, 446 exposure to, 338, 345­46, 552, 553 views of, 523­25 reducing access to hazardous chemicals, 552­53 cash payments, by procurement centers, 218 See also pesticides caste, 370 Chiapas, Mexico, 604­5, 631­32 casualization of labor, 317­18, 337­38 Chiapas sheep, 604­5, 631­32 casual wage laborers, 328­29 child labor, 319, 352n3, 352n5, 593n2 catarrhal fever, 613 in export crop production systems, 346 732 INDEX and gender, 322 commodities and working conditions, 341 commodity exchanges, 219 children, exposure to natural disasters, 449 revenues from, 341 Chile and working conditions on plantations, 341­42 informal workers in horticulture, 346, 346t8.11 common property, 140 producer organization for marketing, 266b7.6 communicable diseases, and forestry sector, 651, 652b15.1, China 654, 668n2 alternative fuels for domestic cooking, 291b7.17 Communication for Development, 390, 390b9.7 forestry and farmers' self-help groups, 656b15.7 communications seed fairs, 543b12.12 in Hills Leasehold Project, 160 women's access to resources, 619b14.2 and LinKS project, 461 Wulin mountains minority-areas development project, 457 in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 400­402 CIAL-CIAT. See Community Agricultural Research Groups and seed systems, 543­44 (CIAL-CIAT) social processes of, 264­65 CIARA Foundation, 271 for women, 59 CIAT. See International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) communities CIFOR. See Center for International Forestry Research alternative livelihoods for fishing communities, 582­87, (CIFOR) 594n1­2, 594n8 citizens animal health workers in, 614 citizen report cards, 26 community-managed procurement centers, 215­19, as customers, 29 223­24n1­3 civic extension associations (ACEs), 271 Community Professionals Learning and Training Centres, 722 civil service reform, 29­30 community seed fairs, 541, 542b12.11 civil society competition between, 299­300 civil society organizations, 579­80 and ecotourism, 666­67 and governance, 25 empowerment of, 487 and reforms, 30 financial systems in, 112­16, 121n1 civil status, and land rights, 155 forestry programs, 159­61, 167n2, 645, 650 Civil Supplies Corporation, 218 gender issues Clean Development Mechanism, 441, 442b10.9 building community assets and opportunities, 278 climate change, 421, 428 community-based water programs, 291­94 and disaster mitigation, 486 and decision making, 400, 426 gender dimensions of, 438­42, 466n1­6, 466n10­11, to enhance women's participation in community projects, 466­67n13 404, 405t9.7 impact of desertification on, 454 forest management, 645, 650 impact on forests, 643­44 IKP project, 112­16, 121n1 negative impacts of, 438, 439b10.8 and land dispute mechanisms, 148­49 and risk management, 489 and natural resources management, 426 and rural infrastructure, 368­69 in watershed development project, 463­65 trends in, 423, 424b10.1 women representation in community organizations, coastal storms, 448 265­66 codes of conduct, 323 identifying and strengthening community organizations, 587 in agricultural labor, 343­44 initiatives to reduce disaster risk-factors, 490 expansion of, 349 and land rights, 136­37, 151, 166n2 fisheries, 578, 579­80, 581 postcrisis assistance in, 507, 508 Guatemala, 339 preventing elite capture of programs, 134 importance of, 346­47, 353n2 rural poverty reduction projects, 215­19, 223­24n1­3 coffee, 203, 203b5.10, 341­42 and seed production, 544­45 COHRE. See Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) self-help groups in, 584 Collaborative Research Programs, 274 training of to carry out project planning, monitoring, and Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP), 276b7.9 evaluation, 721­23 collective association, 185 Community Agricultural Research Groups (CIAL-CIAT), 262 collective bargaining, 318, 336 community-based development (CBD), 53b2.9, 465n4 collective economic action, in agricultural markets, 200­205 community-based disaster preparedness (CBDP), India, 487, commercial crops, 532 487b11.5 commercialization, 177, 433 Community-Based Enterprises for the Conservation of Biodiversity Commission for the Verification of Corporate Codes of Conduct, at Bwindi World Heritage Site, Uganda, 665, 667 Guatemala, 339 community-based natural disaster management, Nepal, 451 INDEX 733 community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), 139, impact on forest products, 646 166n7, 568, 569 See also natural disasters community-based organizations (CBOs), 251, 508 Congo, Democratic Republic of, rape as weapon in conflict, and agroforestry-related issues, 663, 669n2 652b15.3 and aquaculture extension project, 221 Conradie v. Hanekom and Another, 339 and forestry-related issues, 655­56 consensual unions, 156­57 and gender-sensitive assessments, 511­12 conservation agriculture, 530 and marketing extension process, 211­14 Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Agriculture and sanitation, hygiene, and potable water issues, 402, 403b9.8 Development Project, 291 See also rural producer organizations (RPOs) conservation agriculture (CA), 302­4 Community Based Rural Infrastructure Project (CBRIP), conservation areas, perceptions about women working in, Vietnam, 56, 57b2.11 573, 573t13.3 community credit management committees (CCMCs), 248, 253n1 conservation of natural resources, 298­301 Community Development Carbon Fund, 446 conservation of protected areas, 665­68 community development funds (CDFs), 52, 55 conservation tillage, 533 community-driven development (CDD) constitutions, and land rights, 503 approaches of, 53, 54b2.9 consultations definition, 32, 53b2.9 involving communities, 508 gender issues, 53­55 and land policies, 505 challenges for, 61­62 Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research gender-responsive actions in, 55­56 (CGIAR), 541 good practices and lessons learned concerning, 56­60 and IPM, 549b12.16 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 60­61 research initiatives, 262, 274, 277, 664b15.13 and governance, 31, 32­33 consumers overview, 52­53 consumer protection, 111 in Sri Lanka, 77­79 and livestock technologies, 629 community e-centers (CeCs), 411­13, 415n1 contract labor, 318 Community Empowerment for Rural Development Project, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 434, 456 Indonesia, 723b16.22 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Community Link Workers, 628 against Women (CEDAW), 334, 335t8.8, 339, 503b11.7, Community Professionals Learning and Training Centres, 722 602, 635n5 community seed banks, 541, 542b12.11 cool chain distribution, 328­29 community seed fairs, 434­35 cooperative organizations, 67 Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy 2002, COPRAUL. See Regional Cooperative of United Farmers Ltd. Vietnam, 681b16.5, 703b16.17 (COPRAUL) conflict resolution, 489 Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program conflicts and crises (COREMAP), Indonesia, 569, 588­90 and access to food, 17 coral resources, 588­90 countries involved in armed conflicts in forested regions, COREMAP. See Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management 652b15.2 Program (COREMAP), Indonesia gender issues corn, 467n4 agriculture during crises, 475­76, 479­81 corporate social responsibility (CSR), 323, 342, 343t8.9 conceptual framework for agricultural programming in corporations, and working conditions, 352 crises, 481­82 corruption, reforms to reduce, 30­31 food aid versus agricultural support and sustenance of social Costa Rica capital, 507­12, 516n3­4 Payment for Environmental Services Programme, 440­41, forestry sector, 647, 651, 652b15.2, 652b15.3, 655­56 466­67n13 integrating gender perspectives in, 482­83 solar-powered cookers, 447 and JFFLS approach, 310n3 costs link between food aid and agriculture in emergencies, 492­98 associated with sustainable land reform, 501 managing land and promoting recovery postcrisis, 499­506 of biosecurity measures, 615­16 monitoring and evaluation of, 483, 484t11.1 of conservation agriculture implements, 303­4 multidimensional issues of agriculture in times of crises, of human resource programs, 351 477­79 for multiple-use water services, 238 overview, 475 of occupational segregation, 192 strategies for, 485­91, 515n2 Côte d'Ivoire, gender in agricultural services reforms, 74­76 women entrepreneurs in war zones, 195­96 cotton growers, 552b12.17 impact of natural disasters on, 448 Country Economic Memorandum (CEM), 41 734 INDEX country gender assessments (CGAs), 41­42, 717 customary law, 336­37 Country Social Analysis, 717 customary systems cover crops, 534, 535b12.7 for access and ownership of land, 127­31, 134­35, 136­40, craftswomen, 396 165n708, 165­66n10, 166n1­4, 166n6­7 credit, 103, 104­7 agroforestry in Niger, 659b15.9 access to, 80n3, 189b5.5, 190b5.6, 380, 502 dispute management, 148­50, 166n5 as barrier for women entrepreneurs, 186 invalidation of, 144 fishing sector, 583­85 postcrisis issues, 501 forest-related technologies, 664 and resource availability, 477 historical perspective, 96­97 and women's access to knowledge skills, 574 link to land rights, 153 and women's property rights, 141­46, 166n2, 166n4­5 livestock sector, 620 CWANA. See Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) postcrisis issues, 502 See also loans D credit market, 153­54 dairy farming, 207, 603, 617, 618f14.1, 626, 662b15.12 CREPA. See Centre for Low-Cost Drinking Water Supply and Danish International Development Assistance, 568 Sanitation (CREPA), Burkina Faso Darfur, 448, 466n6 crises. See conflicts and crises data Critical Rating Index, 113, 121n1 availability and collection of gender-disaggregated data, 717­20 crop agriculture, 513, 554n1 census, 717 areas for intervention, 526­27 employment, 326 crop varieties, 539b12.10 experience and achievements using gender-sensitive development strategies and trends, 519­20, 520­21, 554n3 indicators, 710 monitoring and evaluation of, 527­28 guidelines in designing gender-specific indicators and policy and implementation issues, 549­53 verification sources, 710­17 selection of crops, 534­36 reasons for using gender-sensitive indicators, 709­10 and soil productivity management, 529­37 recommendation for improving collection of, 720 technologies for processing, 290b7.15 decentralization, 25, 53­55, 71 versus livestock production, 455 of decision making, 66 women as vital components of, 521­23 definition, 53b2.9 crop management practices, 524­25, 529, 532­34 gender-responsive actions in, 55­56 crop protection, 523­26, 548­49 good practices and lessons learned concerning, 56­60 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 554 and governance, 31­32 overview, 547­48, 555n1 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 60­61 strategies for, 526 and multiple-use water services, 239­40 cross-border exchanges, 620 overview, 52­53 cross-breeding interventions, 31 Decent Work for All, 336 CRSP. See Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) decent work for women in agricultural labor, 334­40 CSR. See corporate social responsibility (CSR) decision making culture decentralization of, 66 and agrobiodiversity, 468n1 gender issues cultural relativism, 503 in agricultural resource management, 456­57 culture-bound assumptions in Peru, 276b7.9 concerning resources, 569 and discriminatory attitudes against women, 186 energy issues, 313n4, 385, 386t9.4 and entrepreneurial skills programs, 198­99 ensuring women participation in, 570­71 and formal law, 127 gender equity, 364 and insurance products, 109 Indian carbon sequestration project, 441 and interventions during crises, 496­97 livestock sector, 602­3, 612, 613, 622 and land rights, 155­58 postdisasters, 450 monitoring culturally-related questions, 718b16.21 raising gender awareness in rural transport, 377 Noel Kempff Climate Action Project, 440 in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 400 as obstacle to knowledge sharing, 489 in watershed development project, 464 postcrisis issues, 500 women as decision makers, 37­38, 57, 78­79, 79n4, 88, 299 and use of long-handled hoes, 289­90, 295 on infrastructure services, 361 curricula participatory, 67 agricultural education, 627 deep tubewell (DTW) development, 244b6.5, 245 animal health, 614 deforestation, 369, 448, 455, 466n10, 476b11.1 revision and modernization of, 282­83, 284, 285b7.13 degradation, INDEX 735 of environment, 476, 476b11.1 diseases of land, 429, 454­58, 468n4, 476b11.1 communicable, 651, 652b15.1, 654, 668n2 of natural resources, 448 livestock, 607, 611­16, 636n1, 636n5 of water, 429, 454­58, 468n4 water borne, 249 demand-driven mechanisms, 60 See also acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); health demand-oriented approaches, and energy issues, 388 and health care demand-side strategies, 24­26 displacement, 499 Democratic Republic of Congo, 493, 652 displaced persons, 494, 504b11.8, 651 demographics, in agricultural labor force, 317, 318t8.1, 319t8.2, internally displaced persons, 477, 482, 499, 501, 502 321t8.4 and rural infrastructure, 368 Department for International Development (DFID), United by transport infrastructure, 375 Kingdom, 179, 520b12.1, 536, 580 dispute resolution, and land rights, 133t4.1, 147­52, 166n1, 166n3 conceptual framework for gender equity in sustainable dissemination, of labor-savings technologies, 294­96 livelihoods, 4­6 distance education, 394, 411 gender audits, 707­8 distributional gains, mapping of, 180b5.3 gender mainstreaming, 681 District Poverty Initiatives Project (DPIP), Andhra Pradesh, integration of gender-specific indicators into monitoring, 718­19 India, 112­16, 210b5.17 research in poverty in fishing industry, 180b5.2 diversification, in agriculture, 433­45, 526 role of agriculture in poverty reduction, 520b12.1 Division for Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA), 488 Department of Forests (DOF), Nepal, 159­61, 167n2 divisions of labor Department of Livestock Services (DLS), Nepal, 621 in agriculture, 524­25 desertification, 429, 466n6 in fisheries, 562, 582­83, 593n2 gender issues of, 454­58, 468n4 gender issues in, 230­31 trends in, 423, 424b10.1 and natural resource management, 425 design of projects and risk recovery, 490 in agricultural labor, 322­26, 353n8 and water management, 455 gender-sensitive M&E component, 679­82 within households, 291 ground water development and management, 245­46 divorce, and land rights, 142, 166n4 LADEP project, 251 DLS. See Department of Livestock Services (DLS), Nepal multiple-use water services, 240­41 DOF. See Department of Forests (DOF), Nepal with national extension programs, 269­72 domestic animals, and local knowledge, 603 rural roads projects, 409­10 domestic energy, 383­85 for self-help groups, 68­69 domestic markets development, 2 for food, 176 development cooperation strategies, 44 growth of, 175 East Asia Region CDD operations, 56, 57, 57b2.12 domestic relations, 90 interventions for women, 68 domestic violence, 161 strategies and plans for, 36, 79n1 domestic water supplies, 235­37 development agencies, and energy assistance programs, 383, 413n1 donor agencies, 53, 79n1, 287, 410, 502 Development Assistance Committee (DAC), 43, 680b16.4, for CeCs, 412 698, 700, 706 donor policy-lending instruments, 42 development cooperation agencies, 677b16.2, 678, 698 examining gender activities of donors, 706­8 Development Credit Agreement, 508 Downsizing Options Simulation Exercise tool, 41 DEWA. See Division for Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) DPIP. See District Poverty Initiatives Project (DPIP), DFID. See Department for International Development (DFID), Andhra Pradesh, India United Kingdom droughts, 618 dietary diversity, 18, 174­75 drug trafficking, 476 Digital Broadcast Initiative, 394 drylands, definition, 454, 468n4 Dimitra Project, 395 DTW. See deep tubewell (DTW) development disaster management, 452­53 dump pickers' project, 402b9.8 disaster risk reduction, 449 discrimination against women, 89 E and access to financial services, 87 EALA. See East African Legislature Assembly (EALA) and disaster recovery, 496 early warning systems, 487­88, 494 as entrepreneurs, 185 earnings and gender equality strategies, 482 gender gaps in, 329 and governance, 25 from informal work, 332 discrimination in education, 282 See also income 736 INDEX East African Legislature Assembly (EALA), 38 el Balcon, Mexico, communal forests in, 657b15.8 East Asia, and agribusiness, 174­75 electric power, 385, 443, 467n6 East Asia Region CDD Flagship Report, 56, 57, 58b2.12 elite capture, 165n8 eBario project, 412, 415n1 challenges of, 32 ECLAC. see Economic Commission of Latin America and the of community programs, 134 Caribbean (ECLAC) definition, 636n4 economic access, 125­26 of land, 158 economic and sector work (ESW), 38, 42, 310n3 monitoring of, 630 Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean risk of, 56 (ECLAC), 346t8.11 El Niño, 488 economic development, terms for joint review missions of, El Salvador, 490 707b16.19 e-mails, 393 economic empowerment, 361­62 emergencies gender equity in rural infrastructure, 365­66 emergency kits, 489, 515n2 and livestock production, 604 emergency responses to crises, 480­91 and market access, 580 emergency transport, 367, 374, 375, 380 and rural transport, 375 and food banks in Niger, 513­15 in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 402­3 link between food aid and agriculture in emergencies, and watershed development, 464 492­98 economic growth, 375 employment, 365 and food security, 16 access to, 337 and women's access to financial services, 87­88 for AET graduates, 286­87 ecosystems, 421, 466n10 conditions of, 579 coral reefs, 588­90, 594n8 crop production as source of, 522­23 destruction of, 477 employee benefits, 351­52 impact of intensive agriculture on, 521 in fisheries, 562­66 mangrove, 594n8 in forest industry, 645 role of trees in, 660 generation at local level, 217 See also biodiversity increasing opportunities rural areas, 324 ecotourism, 665­68 link to migration, 619­20 education, 76 rural opportunities, 323, 324 access to, 262, 367 seasonal, 324, 328­29, 332, 337, 346 addressing imbalances in, 394­95 share by sector, 317, 318t8.1, 318t8.2, 321t8.4 agroforestry, 664b15.13 temporary, 337, 346, 347 animal health practices, 614 in transport enterprises, 374, 379­80 curricula, 282­83, 284, 285b7.13, 614, 627 empowerment of women, 13, 60, 65, 90, 173 financial assistance for, 351 and access to financial services, 88 higher, 280­82 in agriculture organizations, 63­65 impact of disasters on school attendance, 450 in COREMAP project, 588­90 interventions for women, 283, 283b7.11 during crises, 480­81 JFFLS approach to, 306 in financial sector, 91­92 and labor-saving technologies, 289­97 and innovations in financial product development, 111 and land rights, 505 and insurance, 108­9 management of for disaster mitigation, 488­89, 515n2 Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh Tribal Development Project and occupational choices, 325 in India, 655 in participatory research, 274­79 organizational models and strategies for, 96­102, 120n1 in pesticide management, 548 practices that increase commitment to, 265 Radio Teacher, 393 and remittance transfer services, 103, 104, 110, 111b3.10 and rural transport, 375­76 and rural finance, 104, 105b3.6, 121n2 in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 400­402 savings and pensions issues, 107­8 women's enrollment in AET, 280 through group action, 160­61 See also agricultural extension and training (AET); trainers and through self-managed microfinance associations, 117­20 training versus sustainability, 98, 99b3.3, 120n3 efficiency, and women's access to financial services, 87­88 Empowerment of Women in Irrigation and Water Resources EFTA. See European Fair-Trade Association (EFTA) Management for Improved Food Security, Nutrition and e-government projects, 395 Health (WIN project), 13 Egypt, Matruh Resources Management Project, 457 ENAM. See Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source e-Lanka Development Project, 394­95 Food Management (ENAM) INDEX 737 ENERGIA, 387 overview, 341 energy sector, 367, 368 plantation agriculture, 341­42 gender issues, 383­87, 414n4 exports gender equity in accessing, 385 crops, 523­25 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 387­89 export value chains, 177 overview, 383, 413n1 markets for, 318 and modern biofuels, 445, 467n6 timber, 657b15.8 source for ICT access, 391 extension agents and workers, 26, 196, 310n6 wood as source of energy, 644, 653 extension services, 72, 264, 280, 607, 611­12 enforcement Badia Livestock Extension Project, 628b14.3 of land rights, 127, 144­45, 146 definition, 265 of laws against exposure to hazardous chemicals, 552­53 demand for, 257 Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source Food gender issues, 261­62, 268­73, 273b7.7 Management (ENAM), 620 Ghana, 533b12.5 Enterprises, 395 for rural farmers, 215 and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, 665­68 staff and postcrises issues, 502 gender equity in business creation, 365 and technologies under CDM, 442b10.9 small-scale seed enterprises, 544­45 and technology transfer, 282 entrepreneurs types of, 268­69 terms for joint review missions, 707b16.19 external factors, gendered impacts on, 481­82 women in forestry sector, 654 women in livestock, 622 F environmental issues facilitators, 306­7, 310n5­6, 722 and bioenergy, 443­44, 467n5 FACs. See farmer advisory committees (FACs) degradation of environment, 368­69, 476 factory workers, 577­81 environmentally sustainable practices in livestock FAESIS. See Food and Agriculture Education Information System technology, 627 (FAESIS) impact of natural disasters on, 448 fair trade, 319, 352n3 role of trees in, 660 Fair Trade and Ethical Trading Initiatives, 323, 346, 347, 348b8.11 water for livestock, 236 fair trade cooperatives, 201 See also deforestation; desertification Fair-Trade Labelling Organisations (FLO) International, 342, 343, environmental services, 440­41, 466­67n13 344b8.8 epidemiological services, 612 Fair Trade Organization (FTO), 348b8.11 eSourcebook, 411­12 fair trade organizations, 342­43, 348b8.11 ESW. See economic and sector work (ESW) fallows, 660­61 ethanol, 467n4 families ethical operational principles, 581 family approaches to aquaculture, 572­76, 591­93, 594n1­3 Ethical Trading Initiative Impact Assessment, 348b8.10 family farms, 321 Ethiopia family law, 145, 184, 337 Household Food Security and Nutrition Project, 17 FAO. See Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) links of food aid and conflict, 493 FAOSTAT, 710 no-free-grazing project, 659b15.9 FARC. See Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) PARIMA project, 620 FARM. See Farmer-Centered Agricultural Resource Management Seed Systems Development Project, 543 (FARM) program soil fertility management in, 534, 534b12.6 farm animal genetic resources management, 436 ethnicity, 370 farmer advisory committees (FACs), 270­71 ethnobotanical knowledge, 436 Farmer-Centered Agricultural Resource Management (FARM) ethnoveterinary applications, 611, 612 program, 456­57, 620 Europe, women in forestry, 644 farmer field schools (FFSs), 219, 260, 262, 274, 306 European Commission, 395 and conservation agriculture, 302­3 European Fair-Trade Association (EFTA), 343, 344b8.8 and knowledge of hazardous chemicals, 553 excreta disposal facilities. See sanitation and participatory research, 275­76 expenditure patterns, 90 and pest management project, 550 export agriculture, 344­46 Farmer Life Schools (FLSs), 306 agroprocessing industries, 342 farmers and farming, 291, 436, 622, 634 good practices and lessons learned from, 346­47, 353n2 in drylands, 454­58 governance structures, 342­43 farm equipment and tools, 289­91, 295, 303­4 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 347­49 farmer interest groups, 270­71 738 INDEX farmer research groups, 63, 64b2.14 financial sector, 88, 198 farmers' rights, 434, 435b10.7 community financial systems, 112­16, 121n1 farmer-to-farmer training, 299 financing for light and power, 388b9.5 gender issues financing of agricultural advisory services, 269, 270t 7.3 agricultural resource management, 456­57 financing of CDD projects, 60 agroforestry technologies, 660­62 gender equity in accessing markets, 366 and climate change, 439­40 gender mainstreaming in, 91­92 farm tools and equipment, 289­91 and ICTs relevant to rural women, 393 food security, 522 IKP project, 112­16, 121n1 management of gender-based farmer groups, 592 KRC project, 117­20 as pathway out of poverty, 519­28, 554n1 monitoring of, 694 self-help organizations in China, 656b15.7 overview, 85­86 social biases in labor force, 175 postcrisis recovery, 502­3 in watershed development project, 463­65 and rural development, 96­98 women as trainers for, 196 savings and pensions, 103, 104, 107­8, 121n2 women's view of, 523 speculative financial activities link to food crises, 476 increasing farm power, 289­91 women's access to, 89­90 Integrated Rural Resource Management, 275b7.8 See also rural finance junior farmer field and life schools, 305­8, 310n1­7 Finca Village Banking, 87 and landmines, 500 FINE criteria, 343, 344b8.8 off-farm activities, 293­94, 323 firewood collection, 652b15.1 on-farm activities, 289, 317, 323 First Mile Project, 295, 309n4, 393­94, 396, 397 postharvest processing and storage, 186­87, 190, 190b5.6 fish and fisheries, 19, 294b7.18, 329, 488 procurement centers for, 215­19, 223­24n1­3 access to, 580­81 rice farmers, 272 alternative livelihoods for fishing communities, 582­87, use of ICTs, 393 594n1­2, 594n8 and use of liquid biofuels, 445 CARE Bangladesh, 591­93 wholesale and assembly market, 187, 190 decline in fish stocks, 577 See also livestock sector; seeds fish-for-sex, 564, 565, 577 farmers' organizations, 193, 266, 266b7.6 fish health inspections, 580­81 experience, impacts, and benefits from gender-responsive fish processors, 562 actions of, 65­66, 80n1 gender issues, 561­67, 593n1­5 as extension service, 269 for accessing and managing resources, 568­71, 593n1­3 and GAL framework, 427 associations for protecting livelihoods of fishers, processors, good practices and lessons learned from, 67­69, 80n3 and traders, 577­81, 594n1 group functions, advantages, and disadvantages, 63­65 Bangladesh, 568­69, 591­93 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, coral reef rehabilitation and management project, 588­90 69­70 gendered nature of fishing communities, 178 overview, 63 as livelihood for women in Ghana, 180b5.2 policy and implementation issues of, 66­67 Honduras, 208, 209b5.16 and rice projects, 272 Fish Farming Groups (FFGs), 571 farmers' rights, and seed systems, 545b12.15 FishPHOM, 180b5.2 farmer training demonstrations (FTDs), 248 FLGs. See functional literacy groups (FLGs) FEDEV. See Femmes et Développement (FEDEV) FLO. See Fair-Trade Labelling Organisations (FLO) International fee-for-service programs, 268, 269 floods, 452 feminization flower industries, 344 of agriculture, 526 FLSs. See Farmer Life Schools (FLSs) of labor markets, 317 fodder, 662b15.12 Femmes et Développement (FEDEV), 66 FONAFIFO. See National Fund for Forestry Finance fertilizers, 529 (FONAFIFO) chemical, 530, 531­32, 533b12.5 food use of, 536 availability of, 14­17 FFGs. See Fish Farming Groups (FFGs) food banks, 513­15 FFS. See farmer field schools (FFSs) increase in prices of, 443, 467n4 FIAS. See Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) processing of, 294, 294b7.18 Fiji, Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises and production of, 533b12.5 Development, 395 support for women as producers of, 395­96 financial planning, 111 utilization of, 14, 18­19 INDEX 739 food aid, 17 as safety net, 650­57, 668n1­2, 668n5 development oriented, 493 See also agroforestry link between food aid and agriculture in emergencies, 492­98 Forests and Poverty Linkages Toolkit, 646­47 versus agricultural support and sustenance of social capital, formal sector, as provider of financial services, 86, 97b3.2 507­12, 516n3­4 forums, 452, 723b16.22 Food and Agriculture Education Information System fossil fuels, replacements for, 443 (FAESIS), 286­87 Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises in Development Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 287, 396, 710 (FRIEND), Fiji, 395 and agriculture workforce, 230 franchise services, 217 animal genetic diversity, 632 FRIEND. See Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises in community seed fairs, 434­35 Development (FRIEND), Fiji and extension programs, 257 fruits and forestry, 643, 644, 665­68 domestication of, 662b15.12 Gender and Population Division, 718 production of, 441, 536 and gender mainstreaming, 3 FSVGD. See Food Security for Vulnerable Group Development gender-specific units in, 28­29 Women and Their Dependents (FSVGD), Bangladesh and Hills Leasehold project, 159­61, 167n2 FTD. See farmer training demonstrations (FTDs) land policy and administration, 125, 165n1 FTO. See Fair Trade Organization (FTO) and livestock management, 436 fuelwood, 291­92, 293, 445, 645, 653 and nonwood forest products, 653­54 collection of, 425, 444, 659b15.9 role of agriculture in poverty reduction, 520b12.1 safe access to, 451 Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis Programme, 488 as source of energy, 384 and work with vulnerable youth and orphans, 305­6 supply of, 368 Food Bank Project, Niger, 17 functional literacy groups (FLGs), 248, 249 food insecurity, 476 food security, 177, 185, 306, 480, 521­22 G in Afghanistan, 205b5.12 GAL. See gender in agricultural livelihoods (GAL) framework and agricultural water management, 229­34 The Gambia, 569, 570b13.1 conclusion concerning, 19 irrigation program, 457 definition, 11, 14 Lowlands Agricultural Development Programme, 15, 139, elements in achieving, 12, 13f1.2 166n6, 250­52 IASC guidelines on, 497­98 GAP. See Gender Action Partnerships (GAP) impact of HIV on, 305 garden/pond/animal husbandry, 572, 594n1 link to agriculture, 11­12 Gates Foundation, 286 link to seed security, 538 Gaza, access to water in, 477b11.2 and LinKS project, 459­62, 468n1 GBIs. See gender budget initiatives (GBIs) and livestock sector, 611, 625 GDP. See gross domestic product (GDP) monitoring and of, 19, 20t1.1 GEF. See Global Environment Facility (GEF) overview, 11, 12f1.1 Gemidiriya Community Development and Livelihood pillars of, 14­19 Improvement Project, Sri Lanka, 77­79, 721­23 and seed systems, 543­44 Gender Action Partnerships (GAP), 698 and soil productivity, 530 Gender Action Plan, 679b16.3 Sri Lanka, 478­79 gender and growth assessments (GGAs), 189, 189b5.5, 338 and women farmers, 522 Gender and Rural Transport Initiative (GRTI), Africa, 377, women's role in, 12­14, 14­19 377b9.1 Food Security for Vulnerable Group Development Women and gender-assessment tools, 388­89 Their Dependents (FSVGD), Bangladesh, 197 gender audits, 98­99, 120n4, 387, 707 Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS), 189b5.5 gender budget initiatives (GBIs), 705, 706b16.3 forest land gender consultants, 408, 409, 413­14n5­6 leasehold of, 139 gender-disaggregated data, availability and collection of, 717­20 user rights to, 159­61 gender equality forests and forestry, 644­46 definition, 2 changes and trends in forestry livelihoods, 643­46, 668n2­3 gender-sensitive rural transport results indicators, 380, 381b9.4 conservation in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, 665­68 importance of in agriculture, 2­3 development and management in Mexico, 657b15.8 of opportunity for financial services, 91 gender-responsive policies of, 646­47 promotion of, 26, 28­29 innovative approaches to gender barriers in, 647­48 and women's access to financial services, 88 monitoring and evaluation of, 648­49 Gender Equality Study, 677 740 INDEX gender equity, 125, 681 genetic diversity, 431­32, 433 in accessing markets, 365­66 genetic erosion, 433, 465n5 in economic empowerment, 365­66 genetic resource management, 277 gender-equity markers, 706­7 geographical sourcing of products, 613 and implementation of staff gender policies, 99­101, 120n6 geographic information system (GIS), 378b9.2 and land policy, 126­30 German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), 446 in management of services, 365 Germidiriya Community Development and Livelihood in newer aid modalities, 697­98 Improvement Project, Sri Lanka, 77­79 in planning and decision making, 364 germplasm supply, 661, 663, 669n2 promotion of through FJJLS, 306­7 GGAs. See gender and growth assessments (GGAs) in road maintenance, 408­9, 415n7 Ghana gender in agricultural livelihoods (GAL) framework, 426­28 Grains Development Project, 533b12.5 Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook Land Conservation and Smallholder Rehabilitation Project, considerations in creation of, 6­7 232, 247­49, 253n1 lessons learned and ways forward, 8­9 maize production in, 524 overview, 3­4 Volta River Estates, Ltd., 348b8.11 process of, 8­9 and women entrepreneurs, 189b5.5 structure of, 7­8, 9n7 women's role in fishing industry, 180b5.2 and sustainable livelihoods through a gender lens, 4­5 GIS. See geographic information system (GIS) gender inequalities global business environment, 184­85, 187­88 challenges and opportunities for in crises, 496­97 Global Environment Facility (GEF), 435b10.6, 441 in fisheries, 565, 593n4 Global Forest Resource Assessment, 643 and food security, 11 GLOBALGAP standards, 174 in labor markets, 315 globalization, 1­2, 200, 281­82, 372 and women's work, 561, 593n1 Global Plans of Action, 434, 435b10.6 Gender Issues in Monitoring and Evaluation of Rural Development Global Positioning System (GPS), 378b9.2 Projects toolkit, 678 global warming, 438, 466n2, 466n11 gender mainstreaming GM. See genetically modified (GM) crops at agency level, 405­6 GNAEP. See Greater Noakhali Aquaculture Extension Project in agricultural water management, 229­34 (GNAEP), Bangladesh in agriculture sector, 45­51, 76, 80n1­2, 522 GNI. See gross national income (GNI) CARE Bangladesh, 591­93 goats, 607, 611 definition, 45, 80n1 GOLDA. See Greater Options for Local Development through in financial sector for pro-poor development, 91­92 Aquaculture (GOLDA) project, Bangladesh Gemidiriya project, 77­79 Gopal Mitras, 464 implications for M&E, 680­81, 692­93 GoSL. See government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) irrigation project in Sri Lanka, 510 governance, 48 livestock sector, 603­5, 635n9­10 and CDD, 52­62 of MDGs, 699 conceptual framework for reforms, 24­27 models and strategies for, 96­102, 120n1, 120n3, 120n8 and decentralization, 31­32, 52­62 and national machineries, 45, 46­47 definition, 23 perspectives in, 6, 9n6 and farmer organizations, 63­70 and policy making, 38 Gemidiriya project, 77­79 in producer organizations, 74­75 global governance, 33­34 and public administration, 28­31 in labor-intensive export agriculture, 342­43 gender mapping, 575, 594n3 and land rights, 125­26 gender pyramid, 579 in local government, 71­73 Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiatives (GRBIs), 79 overview, 23­24 gender-sensitive indicators, 709 policy processes for, 27­28 accuracy of, 720 and public administration and public sector reform, 28­31 in agricultural sector program, 715­16t16.5 reforms in, 45 experience and achievements using, 710 and risk management and preventive action, 486­87 guidelines in designing and verification sources, 710­17 and rural transport issues, 376­77 reasons for using, 709­10 and self-help groups, 63­70 selecting data sources for, 719­20 strengthening of, 409 gender specialists, 692 See also policies gender units, 46, 47­48, 49b2.7 government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), 507, 508 genetically modified (GM) crops, 521, 541, 548, 551 See also Sri Lanka INDEX 741 GOWE. See Growth Oriented Women Enterprise (GOWE) occupational safety and health, 321, 332, 336, 345 program, Kenya and use of solar cookers, 447 Grains Development Project, Ghana, 533b12.5 water-borne diseases, 249 Grameen Bank, 87, 96, 111, 620 See also acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) grants, to promote AET for women, 286 Health Unlimited, 394 GRBIs. See Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiatives (GRBIs) Heifer Project International, 607 Greater Noakhali Aquaculture Extension Project (GNAEP), Heifer Zambia, 604 Bangladesh, 220­22, 224n1 heterogeneity Greater Options for Local Development through Aquaculture of rural infrastructure and services, 363­64 (GOLDA) project, Bangladesh, 591 of women's social class, 68 greenhouse gas emissions, 441, 442b10.9, 466n2­3, 466n11 higher education reduction of, 438, 440, 447 challenges for, 280­81 variations of, 467n5 opportunities for women in, 281­82 Green Revolution technologies, 520­21 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), 611, 612, 614 gross domestic product (GDP), 16, 341 high-value products, 205b5.11, 317, 341 gross national income (GNI), and food security, 17 demand for, 176 groundwater, development and management of, 242­46, 489 informal labor in, 344 group action programs, 262 and labor unions, 346 growth center markets, 191b5.7 women's access to, 366 Growth Oriented Women Enterprise (GOWE) program, high-yield crops, 433, 465n5, 524 Kenya, 198 Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project GRTI. See Gender and Rural Transport Initiative (GRTI), Africa (HLFFDP), Nepal, 159­61, 167n2 GTZ. See German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) HIV. See human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Guatemala HLFFDP. See Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Commission for the Verification of Corporate Codes of Project (HLFFDP), Nepal Conduct, 339 hoes, long-handled, 289­90, 295 Maria Eugenia Morales de Sierra v. Guatemala, 337 home-based work, 332, 333b8.6 working conditions in, 326b8.3 home gardens, 645, 659­60 Guide to Gender-Sensitive Indicators, 713 HomeNet, 332, 333b8.6 homestead land purchase program, India, 139­40 H Honduras Habitat Agenda, 503b11.7 ethical fish processing, 581 handbooks, for humanitarian action, 490 improving marketing abilities in, 208, 209b5.16 hand washing, 399 Land Access Pilot Project (PACTA), 162­65, 167n2 Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines, 699, 710 titling systems, 145 healers, 612 horticulture, 322, 326, 346, 347b8.9, 535­36 health and health care household arrangements and chemical exposures, 338, 345­46, 552, 553 informal conjugal unions, 156 as factor in food security, 13, 14 and PACTA, 163­64 gender issues See also marriage practices access to, 367 Household Food Security and Nutrition Project, Ethiopia, 17 in agricultural labor, 321­22 household resource management, 283, 285b7.13 and climate change, 439 households and exposure to pesticides, 553 child-headed households, 603, 635n7, 635n10 in forestry sector, 652b15.1 composition of in rural areas, 1 ICTs to deliver services to poor, 394 division of labor within, 293 impact for women agricultural workers, 326 domestic chores, 291, 292, 293b7.17 lessons learned and guidelines for practitioners, 403­6 and domestic energy, 383­85 and natural disasters, 449­50 food security, 12­13 and use of traditional bioenergy, 444 househead, 718 and water quality, 243, 243b6.4 identifying by type, 332 impact of multiple-use water services on, 217 impact of IKP project on, 115 informal sector, 331, 332 and invisible economies of, 373 and insurance products, 109 link of resources to land rights, 126 link to domestic energy, 384 resource poor, 530 link to income, 18 women's responsibility for, 89 link to sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 399 household surveys, 718 livestock sector, 612­13 house ownership, 165­66n10 742 INDEX HPAI. See highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) ICT. See information and communications technologies (ICTs) human capital, 103, 602 ICT-enabled procurement centers, 219 access to, 612 IDA. See International Development Association (IDA) impact of MARENASS project on, 300 IDPs. See internally displaced persons (IDPs) and livestock sector, 608 IDRC See International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and rural infrastructure, 361­62 IFAD. See International Fund for Agricultural Development and rural transport, 375 (IFAD) human development, 366­67 IFAT. See International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT) human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), 1, 2 IFC. See International Finance Corporation (IFC) and agricultural markets, 193 IFPRI. See International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and child-headed households, 603, 635n7, 635n10 IGAs. See income-generating activities (IGAs) contract clauses on, 380 IIM. See Indian Institute of Management (IIM) coping strategies for, 433, 434b10.5 IK. See indigenous knowledge (IK) in fishing communities, 578 Ikirezi Natural Products Project, 205b5.11 and food security, 14 IKP. See Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP), India and forestry sector, 651, 652b15.1, 654, 668n2 illiteracy, 157, 393­94 impact of, 305, 310n1­2 ILO. See International Labour Organization (ILO) on MDGs, 645 IMF. See International Monetary Fund (IMF) on rural households, 613 impact indicators, 711 and junior farmer field and life schools, 305­8, 310n107 implementation and labor rights, 337 gender issues and land and water degradation, 456 and access to land and property, 138­39 and local knowledge systems, 461b10.14 and biodiversity, 434, 435b10.6, 435b10.7, 466n8 and rural infrastructure, 368, 374 and bioenergy, 445, 447 as safety risk for women in workforce, 321 and choice of director for gender strategies, 76 Tanzania, 303 crop protection, 549­53 and training programs, 197 and desertification, 456 workplace awareness campaigns, 326 family-based aquaculture systems, 574­75 See also health and health care and farmer organizations, 66­67 humanitarian assistance, 451, 478, 480, 490, 493 for fishers, processors, and traders, 579­80 guidelines for, 494 of forestry-related programs, 652­54 See also relief efforts land dispute resolution, 148­50, 166n1, 166n3 human resource management, 350 and land rights, 143­45 hunger, 529, 650 livestock sector, 419­20, 604, 608, 613­14, 619­20, 621, Hurricane Mitch, 500 626­27, 636n5 husbandry, 457­58 marketing sector, 619­20, 621 hybrid seeds, 538 of multiple-use water services, 238­39 hygiene, 400­403 and natural disasters, 450­51 monitoring and evaluation of, 405 and postcrises land issues, 505 overview, 399 in rural transport, 376­77 Hyogo Framework, 488 seed production and distribution, 540­41, 545­46 and self-help groups, 66­67 I and titling of land, 154­55 IADB. See Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) partnerships in, 287­88 IAP. See indoor air pollution (IAP) of water services, 232­33 IASC. See Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), United Improved Seed Systems for Agroforestry in African Countries Nations project, 663 ICARDA. See International Center for Research in the Dry Areas IMT. See irrigation management transfer (IMT) (ICARDA) IMTs. See intermediate means of transport (IMTs) ICECD. See International Centre for Entrepreneurship and INCAGRO. See Agro-Innovation and Competitiveness Project Career Development (ICECD), India (INCAGRO), Peru ICESCR. See International Covenant on Economic, Social and incentives, to ensure monitoring and evaluation, 676­77 Cultural Rights (ICESCR) income ICICI Bank, India, 96, 97b3.2 in Afghanistan, 205 ICM. See integrated crop management (ICM) in agriculture sector, 17 ICP. See internally displaced persons (IDP) fishing sector, 583­84 ICRAF. See World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) households with business income, 388f 9.2 ICRC. See International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and insurance, 109, 487b11.4 INDEX 743 link to contribution of financial services, 90 indigenous people, 407, 436 link to nutrition and health, 18 Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation (ISWC), Africa, 534 link to proximity of procurement centers, 217 indigenous vegetables, 432b10.3 loss of due to resettlement and displacement, 368 indigenous women, sheep improvement research, 631­32 marginalization of low-income groups, 651 Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP), India, 92, 112­16 nonfarm income opportunities, 372 individual rights, 147 in rural transport, 374 Indonesia and watershed development project, 464 Community Empowerment for Rural Development Project, for women farmers, 522 723b16.22 See also wages Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program, 588­90 income-generating activities (IGAs), 464 Kecamatan Development Program, 54b2.10, 55 India indoor air pollution (IAP), 364, 367, 384, 385, 425, 444 Agricultural Technology Management Agency, 270­71 industrialization of agriculture, 317 Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project, 112­16, 203, INFOPESCA. See Centre for Marketing Information and 215­19, 223­24n1­3, 683b16.6 Advisory Services for Fishery Products in Latin America biofuel production, 447 and the Caribbean (INFOPESCA) carbon sequestration project, 441 informal economy, 328, 331, 353n1 community seed bank, 542b12.11 informal organizations, and women's access to information and disaster recovery, 487b11.5 services, 263­64 District Poverty Initiatives Project, 112, 210b5.17 informal sector labor, 328­33, 353n1 gender-related responsibilities, 384t9.3 information, 4­6, 59 health insurance for unorganized labor force, 332b8.5 access to, 257­58, 263­64, 367, 480, 525­26 homestead land purchase program in, 139­40 on animal disease control, 614 ICECD, 198 exchange of, 264, 265, 393 ICIC Bank, 96, 97b3.2 farmers exchange of, 393 impact of HIV and AIDS on, 613 and GAL framework, 427 Indian Institute of Management, 196b5.8 increasing of, 103 Indira Kranthi Patham, 92, 112­16 information divide, 397 insurance for low-income workers, 487b11.4 as key to services of projects, 119 Integrated Pest Management Program for Cotton, 552b12.17 lack of, 295 Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh Tribal Development Program, 655 livestock sector, 607, 620 Karnataka Watershed Development Project, 463­65 and natural resources management, 426 market prices in, 264b7.5 promotion of safe pesticides, 551­52 National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 400­402 Sector, 331b8.4 seed sources, 539­40, 555n2 National Development Dairy Cooperative, 330 social processes of information exchange, 264­65 resource management project, 654­55 soil productivity, 531 rice credit line project, 17 information and communications technologies (ICTs), sanitation and hygiene issues, 403, 404b9.9 26, 264, 265 self-help groups in, 65b2.15 and First Mile Project, 295, 309n4 SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre, 396 gender perspectives to improve ICT policies and projects, type of workers by gender, 329, 330t8.7 391­92 Vishaka v. Rajasthan and Others, 339 good practices and lessons learned in, 393­96 Warana Wired Village Project, India guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 397­98 women-managed community financial system, 112­16, 121n1 ICTs relevant to rural women, 392­93 women willing to use clean fuels, 387, 387b9.5 for informal workers, 330 Working Women's Forum, 66 livestock sector, 628 Indian Institute of Management (IIM), 196b5.8 overview, 390­91, 414ne indicators product market information concerning, 366 design of, 712­13 role in rural areas, 366, 367 modification of, 717 for transport, 380 qualitative versus quantitative, 711 women entrepreneurs, 198 from rural development project in Vietnam, 714t16.4 information technology (IT), 218, 330 setting up systems in projects and programs, 713 infrastructure, 55 types of, 10­11 dimensions for services, 362, 362f 9.1 indigenous fruit, 662b15.12 energy, 391, 414n3 indigenous knowledge (IK), 264, 436, 543b12.12 to prevent livestock diseases, 613 LinKS Project, 16, 434­35, 459­62, 461n1, 633­35 and rural transport technologies, 292­93 744 INDEX sequencing of interventions in, 364 and livestock sector, 614, 615, 628 Vietnam's CBRIP project, 56, 57b2.11 social, 331 See also rural infrastructure INTAN. See Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN), Malaysia inheritance practices, 128­30, 165­66n10­11 Integrated crop management (ICM), 276f 7.2 and land administration programs, 130­34 integrated pest management (IPM), 275­76, 549­52 and livestock, 617 integrated production and pest management (IPPM), 276f 7.2 Rwanda, 504 Integrated Pest Management Program for Cotton, 552b12.17 innovations Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRAD), 384 in design of loan products, 105, 106b3.7 Integrated Rice and Fish, 591 gender issues, 260­63 integrated rural accessibility planning (IRAP), 378 approaches to overcome gender barriers, 647­48 Integrated Rural Resource Management, 275, 275b7.8 conservation agriculture for sustainable development, 302­4 intellectual property rights (IPR), 436 emerging trends affecting gender roles in agriculture, intelligence-gathering strategies for disease, 615 263­67 Interagency Gender and Development Group (INGAD), 40b2.3 extension organizations, 268­73 Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), United Nations, framework for AIS, 258­60 490, 497 labor-saving technologies, 289­97 Inter-American Commission, 337 overview, 280 Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), 407 in participatory research, 274­79 Intercooperation, 211­14 trends in access to information and technology, 257­58 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 438, 466n1, womens' role in innovation in Africa, 294b7.18 466n3­4 in IKP project, 113 intermediate means of transport (IMTs), 378, 388b9.2 in soil fertility management, 533­34 internally displaced persons (IDPs), 477, 482, 499 inorganic fertilizers, 531 location and resettlement of, 502 input indicators, 710 postcrisis issues, 501 institutions international agreements, 34, 434, 435b10.6 capacity building, 664b15.13 International Bioenergy Platform, 445 definition, 6 International Center for Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), 178 and empowerment versus sustainability, 98, 99b3.3, 120n3 International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), 262, 278 framework for JFFLS, 308, 310n7 International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career and GAL framework, 428 Development (ICECD), India, 198 gender issues International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 508 for access and ownership of land, 126­31, 134­35, 165n7­8, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 165­66n10 (ICESCR), 334, 335t8.8 for accessing and managing resources, 568­71, 593n1­3 International Development Association (IDA), 478, 507 and agriculture sector, 45­51, 80n1­2, 325, 525 International Development Research Centre (IDRC), 436 culture of and empowerment of women, 98­99 International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT), and gender equality, 54­55 343, 344b8.8 for groundwater development and management, 242­46 International Finance Corporation (IFC), 189b5.5 and land dispute mechanisms, 148­49 International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 3, 38 livestock sector, 608 International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), promoting women's role in, 340 654­55, 710 provision of goods and services to women, 58­59 and agroforestry domestication, 435 impact of IKP project on, 115 and extension programs, 257 institutional analysis gender mainstreaming, 3, 55 at community level, 61 gender-specific units in, 28­29 for terms for joint review missions, 707b16.19 HLFFDP project, 159­61, 167n2 and policies, 5f 0.1 land policy and administration, 125, 165n1 political processes leading to reform of, 37 lessons learned from, 41­42 rural financial services, 86 North Eastern Region Community Resource Management rural transport institutional arrangement, 376 Project in India, 65b2.15 strengthening of to support rural livelihoods, 495 role of agriculture in poverty reduction, 520b12.1 Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN), Malaysia, 411 International Institute for Environment and Development, INSTRAW. See International Research and Training Institute for United Kingdom, 536 the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) international labor conventions, 323 insurance, 103, 104 International Labour Organization (ILO), 325, 334­36, good practices and innovations in, 108­9 353n1, 461 insurance for low-income workers, 487b11.4 gender-sensitive value chain model, 622­23 INDEX 745 International Land Coalition, Women's Resource Access J Programme (WRAP), 160 jatropha oil, 446 international law, 334­36, 502 JFFLS. See junior farmer field and life schools (JFFLS) International Livestock Research Institute, 276 Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh Tribal Development Program, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and PRSCs, 42 India, 655 International Research and Training Institute for the job markets, for ACT graduates, 285­86 Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), 110 joint ownership, of housing, 452 International Research Centre for Agroforestry, 436 joint property rights, and PACTA, 162­65 International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), 290 joint staff assessments (JSAs), 41 International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources, 3, 434 joint titling of land, 156­57 International Union for Conservation of Nature, 644 Jordan International Water Management Institute, 236b6.1 Badia Livestock Extension Project, 628b14.3 Internet, 411 value chain analysis in, 178 Internet access, 264­65 Journal of International Agricultural Research and Extension, 268 interventions JSAs. See joint staff assessments (JSAs) agroforestry-related, 658­59 judicial systems in crop agriculture, 526­27, 535 and land dispute mechanisms, 148, 149­50, 166n1 principles for effective intervention, 481b11.3 See also legal framework for pro-poor development, 85 junior farmer field and life schools (JFFLS), 305­8, 310n1­7 reduction of time spent on domestic chores, 291 seed systems, 541­45 K investments Kabarole Research and Resource Centre (KRC), Uganda, 92, in agriculture, 2 117­20 in boats and fishing gear, 562 Kapitbisig Laban Sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated in fisheries, 565 Delivery of Social Services Project (KALAE-CIDSS), to improve governance, 23, 24t2.1 Philippines, 54b2.10, 55 in infrastructure, 55 KARI. See Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and multiple-use water services, 235­36 Karnataka Watershed Development Project (KWDP), India, in research and advisory services, 265 463­65 in roads, 372 The Keita Project, Niger, 457­58 in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 399 Kenya scaling up of investments, 683­86 agroforestry technologies, 660­61 in soil productivity, 531 Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Agriculture invisibility factors, and crop agriculture, 521 Development Project, 291 invisible economies, 373 dairy market chains, 617, 618f14.1 IPCC. See Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gender analysis in sectorwide program, 704b16.18 (IPCC) GOWE program, 198 IPM. See integrated pest management (IPM) PARIMA project, 620 IRAD. See Integrated Research and Action for Development women and community-based water programs, 291, 292b7.16 (IRAD) and women entrepreneurs, 189b5.5 IRAP. See integrated rural accessibility planning (IRAP) Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), 303 IRRI. See International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Kerala mariculture project, 584­85 irrigation management transfer (IMT), 230 knowledge, 4­6, 258b7.1 irrigation systems agroforestry landscapes, 658­64, 669n2 access to, 230 differences in agricultural knowledge, 525 and agricultural water management, 229­34 ethnobotanical, 436 community-focused project to develop, 507­12, livestock sector, 625­26 516n3­4 Maasai knowledge of cattle breeding, 633­35 The Gambia, 457 management of for disaster mitigation, 488­89, 515n2 and groundwater issues, 243b6.3, 455 pesticide risks, 549 labor contribution to, 230 sharing of, 393­94 LACOSREP project, 232, 247­49, 253n1 women's access to, 574 Sri Lanka, 478­79 See also indigenous knowledge (IK) irrigation tanks, 507, 516n3 KRC. See Kabarole Research and Resource Centre (KRC), Uganda Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 499 KWDP. See Karnataka Watershed Development Project (KWDP), ISWC. See Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation (ISWC), India Africa Kyoto Protocol, 441, 442b10.9 IT. See information technology (IT) Kyrgyz Republic, 150, 689b16.10 746 INDEX L and dispute resolution, 133t4.1, 147­52, 166n1, 166n3 labor contracts, 323 land improvement programs, 137­38, 457 labor force, 319­22, 352n5 landless systems, 619­20 agroprocessing industries, 342 managing land and promoting recovery postcrisis, 499­506 and conservation agriculture, 303­4 market in, 153­54 considerations for program and project design, 322­26, 353n8 ownership issues, 142­43, 166n2, 232, 252, 271, 496 definitions of agricultural labor, 316­19 reform programs, 137, 166n3, 501­2 exploitation of, 579 tenure systems, 126­27, 229­31, 531, 537, 602 in export agriculture, 344­46 Land Access Pilot Project (PACTA), Honduras, 162­65 in forestry, 644 land administration. See land policy and administration good practices and lessons learned from, 346­47, 353n2 Land Claims Court (LCC), South Africa, 339 governance structures, 342­43 Land Conservation and Smallholder Rehabilitation Project guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 347­49 (LACOSREP), Ghana, 232, 247­49, 253n1 informal sector, 328­33, 353n1 land husbandry, 534 labor improvement program in Thailand, 250­52 landless systems, 619­20 labor laws, 334­40 land policy and administration monitoring and evaluation of, 326­27 gender issues, 126­30 overview, 315­16, 341 and dispute resolution, 133t4.1, 147­52, 166n1, 166n3 participation in by gender, 175 future of, 134­35 plantation agriculture, 341­42 gendered access to land and property, 136­40, 166nn6­7, protection of in processing factories, 578 166n1­4 trends in, 317­19, 352n3 gender-responsive titling, 153­58 labor force participation (LFP), 315, 316f 8.2 implementation of land administration programs, 130­34 labor-intensive export agriculture, 344­46 importance of gender-sensitive policy, 125­26 agroprocessing industries, 342 legal reforms and women's property rights, 141­46, 166n2, good practices and lessons learned from, 346­47, 353n2 166n4­5 governance structures in, 342­43 overview, 125, 165n1­3 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 347­49 land reclamation, and LADEP project, 250­52 overview, 341 land rights, 602, 635n5, 718 plantation agriculture, 341­42 Africa, 339 labor-intensive industries, and low wages and skills, 350­52 as economic and social access, 125­26 labor law, 337­38, 352 enforcement of, 144­45, 146 and customary law, 336­37 and food availability, 15 governing informal sector, 329­30 impact of disasters on, 449 international law, 334­36 importance of, 125 lessons learned and guidelines for practitioners, 338­40 link to water rights, 242­43 and women agricultural laborers, 334­40 and natural resources management, 426 See also legal framework and postcrisis issues, 500 labor markets and sociocultural issues, 130 flexibility in, 620 tenure systems for, 126­27, 229­31, 531, 537, 602, 688 gender equity in access to, 366 Land Tenure Certificates, 688 gender inequalities in, 315 land use systems, 445, 457­58 labor-saving technologies, 379 Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), land titling, credit, and gender issues, 262­63, 289­91 gender, 153, 154b4.1, 156, 157, 287, 653­54 good practices and lessons learned, 294­97, 309n4 LARC. See Legal Assistance to Rural Citizens (LARC), Kyrgyz guidelines and recommendations for, 297 Republic low-cost water techniques, 291­94 Las Hermanas coffee, Nicaragua, 203, 203b5.10 overview, 289 Latin America, 581 LACOSREP. See Land Conservation and Smallholder and fertilizer use, 532 Rehabilitation Project (LACOSREP), Ghana gender and agribusiness, 174 LADEP. See Lowlands Agricultural Development Programme women entrepreneurs in, 195 (LADEP), The Gambia Lawler, John, 350 Lake Chad, 580 LCC. See Land Claims Court (LCC), South Africa Lake Fishing Teams (LFTs), 571 LDW. See local development window (LDW) land leadership training, 723b16.22 access to land, 136­40, 166n1­4, 166n6­7, 531 LEAF. See Livelihood Empowerment and Agroforestry common property, 140 (LEAF) Project degradation of, 429, 454­58, 468n4, 476b11.1 Learning for Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), Sudan, 109 INDEX 747 leasehold forestry, 159­61, 167n2 livestock production, 617, 636n1 leasing arrangements, 103, 104, 143 livestock sector, 513, 601­3, 635n7 legal aid, 145 access to water for, 236b6.1 Legal Assistance to Rural Citizens (LARC), Kyrgyz Republic, and biofuel production, 445 150­51 characteristics of, 601, 602b14.1 legal framework disease control and biosecurity, 611­16, 636n1, 636n5 and access to hazardous chemicals, 552­53 knowledge on breeding and selection, 461b10.13, 633­35 and access to information, 26 Maasai knowledge of, 633­35 and biodiversity, 434, 435b10.6, 435b10.7, 466n8 mainstreaming gender, 603­5, 635n9­10 and business environment, 185­87, 188, 191 management of, 436 crop protection, 549­53 marketing, 617­24, 636n1 in fisheries and aquaculture, 579 monitoring and evaluation of, 608­10 forest law, 653­54 SL framework for, 605­8 to govern informal sector employment, 329­30 technologies to improve agricultural livelihoods, 625­30, 635 involved with land, 126­30, 131­35, 153­58, 499­500 and value chains, 617­24, 636n1 and land dispute resolution, 133t4.1, 147­52, 166n1, 166n3 value of global agricultural output, 636n1 multiple-use water services, 238­39 versus crop production, 455 postcrisis recovery, 502­4 living infrastructure, 363 and risk management, 486­87 loans, 103 seed systems, 540­51 application process, 99b3.3, 120n3 for women agricultural workers, 323­24, 334­40 design of, 105, 106b3.7 women's property rights, 141­46, 166n2, 166n4­5 and product design issues, 104, 105b3.6, 121n2 See also labor law provided in IKP project, 112 legal pluralism, and land dispute resolution, 149­50, 166n3 triggers for loan disbursement, 714, 716, 716b16.20 legal services, 146, 339­40 women as borrowers, 89, 120n6 legumes, 534, 535b12.7 to women who complete training in business development, 101 leisure, access to, 367 See also credit Lesotho, mapping mobility and access in rural areas, 378b9.2 local authorities, and land rights, 127, 165n7­8 less conservation areas, perceptions about women working in, local councils, and land rights, 145 573, 573t13.3 local development window (LDW), 407, 408, 409, 410, 414n3 LFP. See labor force participation (LFP) local government, gender and governance in, 71­73 LFTs. See Lake Fishing Teams (LFTs) local indigenous knowledge systems (LinKS) project, 16, 434­35, liberalization of trade, 184­85 459­62, 468n1, 633­35 Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), Sri Lanka, 507, 508 local knowledge, 432, 433b10.4, 435b10.7, 465n3 LIFE. See Locally Intensified Farming Enterprises (LIFE) project and biodiversity, 436, 468n1 life skills, teaching of, 305­8 cattle breeding, 633­35 LinKS. See local indigenous knowledge systems (LinKS) project custodians of, 603 liquid biofuels, 445, 446 of farmers, 525 liquid propane gas (LPG), 293b7.17 of livestock diseases, 612­13 literacy, 89, 622 and management of drylands, 455 among women, 271 on value of timber, 644 digital, 394 See also indigenous knowledge (IK) financial, 111 Locally Intensified Farming Enterprises (LIFE) project, 139, as goal of self-help groups, 65b2.15 166n7, 591 impact of bicycles on literacy program, 378 Local Road Institute, 409 and land rights, 151, 502 long-term use rights to land, 143 and Radio Teacher, 393 low-external-input technologies, 533 rural indigenous women, 407, 414n4 Lowlands Agricultural Development Programme (LADEP), The and traditional bioenergy, 444 Gambia, 15, 139, 166n6, 250­52 women farmers, 500 LPG. See liquid propane gas livelihood diversification. See alternative livelihoods LSA. See livelihood support activities (LSA) Livelihood Empowerment and Agroforestry (LEAF) Project, 198, LTTE. See Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), Sri Lanka 211­14 livelihood strategies, 4­6 M livelihood support activities (LSA), and irrigation project, 508­11 Maasai livestock keepers, 460, 461b10.13, 633­35 Livestock Development Program, Bangladesh, 620, 621 Macallinka Raddiyaha, 393 livestock genetic diversity, 454 MACEMP. See Marine and Coastal Environment Management Livestock Guru, 628 Project (MACEMP) 748 INDEX machineries, for advancement of women, 26, 28­29, 45, 46­47 capacity development for small-scale women entrepreneurs, MADER. See Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development 192­99 (MADER), Mozambique collective action and market linkages, 200­205, 218 Madhya Pradesh, India, 269 entry points of gender integration, 181­82 magic boxes, 264b7.5 for fishers, processors, and traders, 577­78, 594n1 Mainstreaming Hazard Risk Management in Rural Projects, and GAL framework, 427 494, 496 impact of changes in, 176­77 maize production, 533b12.5 infrastructure, 186­87, 190 Malawi land market programs, 143 Department of Forestry, 654 livestock sector, 605­7, 617­24, 636n1 and forestry studies, 651, 652b15.1, 654 marketing extension tool, 211­14 rural travel and transport in, 377b9.1 market intelligence, 198 Smallholder Seed Development Project, 544­45 market orientation, 520 WorldFish, 577 for milk, 201b5.9 Malaysia, community e-centers, 411­13, 415n1 monitoring and evaluation indicators, 182­83 Mali, 43b2.5, 433b10.4, 446 overview, 173­74 Mali Economic Management Credit, 43b2.5 producer organizations for, 266b7.6 Mali Folke Center, 446 regional opportunities and constraints in agribusiness, 174­75 malnutrition, 14, 17 research in, 111 MAMS. See Maquette for MDG Simulations (MAMS) and transport issues, 18 management authority, devolvement to user groups, 30 women's role in local markets and seed enterprises, 540 management boards, 30 See also agricultural markets; women entrepreneurs management committees, 513­14 marriage practices management contracts, 693 and agroforestry, 659b15.9 management information system (MIS), 693­94 and land inheritance, 129, 166n11 management systems, 193­94 and land titling, 142, 155, 156­59, 166n4 gender equity in, 365 maternity protection, 337 monitoring of, 694 matrilineal communities for sheep husbandry, 631­32 and inheritance practices, 128­30, 165­66n10­11 mandal samakhyas (MS), 112, 114t3.3 and land rights, 156, 166n5 mapping, 378, 378b9.2 Mauritius, sustainable land management, 457 Maquette for MDG Simulations (MAMS), 41 MBFOs. See membership-based financial organizations (MBFOs) MARENASS project, 298­301 MDGs. See Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) marginalization ME. See marketing extension (ME) process of low-income groups, 651 M&E. See monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of women, 480 MEA. See Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) Maria Elena Cuadro Women's Movement, Nicaragua, 339 mechanical energy, 384­85 Maria Eugenia Morales de Sierra v. Guatemala, 337 mediation, 489 mariculture projects, 584­85 Meghna-Dhanagoda Command Area Development Project, marine conservation, 586, 594n8 Bangladesh, 568­69 Marine and Coastal Environment Management Project membership-based financial organizations (MBFOs), 86, 96­98 (MACEMP), 584b13.2 mentoring, 272, 286 marital property, 156, 157 Mexico, communal forests in, 657b15.8 market economies MFAs. See microfinance associations (MFAs) and inheritance practices, 129, 130 MFIs. See microfinance institutions (MFIs) and property rights, 157­58 Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Conservation Trust marketing cooperatives, 269 Fund, 665, 667 marketing extension (ME) process, Bangladesh, 211­14 microcredit, 65, 66, 78 market-oriented smallholders, 7 microenterprises, 185­86, 190, 666 markets and marketing microfinance associations (MFAs), 117­20 access to, 4­6, 80n3, 103­4, 175­77, 365­66, 480, 515n7, Micro-Finance Associations Program, 117 525­26 microfinance institutions (MFIs), 96­98, 108­9, 120n3, 120n8 agroenterprises, 278 microfinance organizations, 111 agroforestry, 663­64 microfinance programs, 86, 96, 113 for allocation of land, 138, 166n4 in IKP project, 112­16, 121n1 analysis of value chains in, 178 women's participation in, 87, 88, 89­90 in aquaculture, 573­74 microinsurance, 108­9, 614, 615 and biodiversity, 433, 465n4 Middle East, and women entrepreneurs, 194 INDEX 749 MIGEPROFE. See Ministry of Gender and Promotion of Women animal disease control, 616 (MIGEPROFE), Rwanda and biodiversity, 437 migrants and migration, 1 and bioenergy projects, 447 and agricultural labor, 317 and climate change, 442 link to employment, 619­20 for crisis, 483, 484t11.1 as livelihood diversification strategy, 586 in crop agriculture, 527­28 and remittance transfer services, 110, 111b3.10 design of gender-sensitive M&E component of projects, milestones, designing of, 714, 716, 716b16.20 679­82 milk ecotourism in BINP, 667 milk collection networks, 201b5.9 emergency operations during natural disasters, 453 procurement of, 217 examining gender activities of donors, 706­8 Millennium Challenge Corporation, 42 family-based systems, 576 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), 1 fisheries and aquaculture, 566­67, 571, 576, 587 and agriculture sector, 3 and food security, 19, 20t1.1 energy services, 367 in forestry, 648­49 and gender equality strategies, 482 gender checklist, 693­96 and gender mainstreaming, 45 gender integration in SWAPs, 704 hunger, 529 gender-sensitive assessments, 511­12 impact of HIV and AIDS on, 645 and governance, 34­35 impact of natural disasters on, 448 implementation of gender strategies, 76 list, 701b16.15 indicators for, 91, 94­95t3.1 and MAMS, 41 integrating gender into M&E, 676­79, 687­89, 689­93 monitoring of, 683, 699­702 involvement of women in innovation systems, 266­67 and rural energy, 383 in irrigation projects, 233, 234t6.1 and water resource management, 237, 239 and land administration programs, 132­34 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), 424, 468n4, 521 land and water degradation, 458 MINECOFIN. See Ministry of Economics and Finance livestock sector, 604, 608­10, 616, 620­21, 623­24, 629­30, (MINECOFIN), Rwanda 635n9, 636n4 Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, 494 monitoring PRSPs, 702­6 Ministries of Agriculture (MOAs), 48, 50, 701b16.14 in natural resources management, 429­30 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADER), PARPA project, 681b16.5, 700b16.13 Mozambique, 701b16.14 participatory research, 279 Ministry of Economics and Finance (MINECOFIN), Rwanda, and postcrises land issues, 505 40b2.4 reasons to monitor gender, 675­76, 698 Ministry of Gender and Promotion of Women (MIGEPROFE), and risk management, 487­88 Rwanda, 40b2.4 rural energy, 387­89 miombo woodlands, 645, 651, 652b15.1, 668n2 in rural infrastructure, 370­71 MIS. See management information system (MIS) rural transport, 377, 380­82 MOAs. See Ministries of Agriculture (MOAs) in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water issues, 406 mobility scaling up of investments, 683­86 constraints of, 519 soil productivity management, 537 and disaster exposure, 449 tools for gender-sensitive monitoring, 676b16.1 gender restrictions on, 89 joint monitoring missions, 706, 707b16.19 as livelihood diversification strategy, 586 marketing extension process, 212 and rural transport, 372, 374 of MDGs, 683, 699­702 models, for organizations gender mainstreaming, 96­102, 120n1 practicalities of, 696, 717 modern bioenergy, definition, 467n11 training communities to carry out project planning, monetization process, 492 monitoring, and evaluation, 721­23 Mongolia, Sustainable Livelihoods Project, 683b16.6, 684b16.7 See also gender-disaggregated data; gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation (M&E) indicators of CDD projects, 61 monocultural farming systems and plantations, 445, 465n2 codes of conduct, 347, 353n2 monolingual rural indigenous women, 414n4 dropout records, 283 Monterrey Consensus, 45 gender issues, 409, 410, 686­87, 697­98 morbidity, and forestry sector, 651, 652b15.1 AET graduates, 286­87 Morocco, olive oil production, 207b5.13 in agriculture sector, 182­83, 326­27, 483, 484b11.1, 700, mortality 527­28, 701b16.14 and forestry sector, 651, 652b15.1 alternative livelihoods, 587 rates of during crises, 479 750 INDEX Mozambique multidimensional issues of agriculture in times of crises, Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty, 681b16.5, 477­79 700b16.13, 703b16.17 strategies for, 485­91, 515n2 ProAgri, 701b16.14 trends in, 423, 424b10.1 Rural Roads and Bridges project, 380 See also conflicts and crises MS. See mandal smakhyas (MS) natural resources M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, India, 295 access to, 136­37, 425­26 multidisciplinary teams, establishing and training of, 197­98 and agriculture sector, 15­16, 479­81 multimedia presentations, 393 changes in availability of, 13 multiple use water services, 232­33, 235­41 conservation of, 298­301 municipality-level gender committees, 66 degradation of, 448 Muslim inheritance, 129, 130 exploitation of, 586, 594n8 mutual financial mechanisms, 86 impact of crises on, 475­76 link to poverty, 643 N rights to, 126, 425­26 NAADS. See National Agricultural Advisory Service (NAADS), scarcity of, 529 Uganda See also resources NABARD. See National Bank for Agriculture and Rural natural resources management (NRM), 130­31, 134, 140, 425­26, Development (NABARD) 569, 658 name registration, 409, 415n8 agricultural livelihoods framework, 426­28 Namibia, community-based natural resource management in, benefits from gender-responsive actions, 428­29 139, 166n7 and bioenergy, 443­47, 467n1­6 NARO. See National Agriculture Research Organization and climate change, 438­42, 466n1­6, 466n10­11, 466­67n13 (NARO), Uganda forest management, 644 National Agency for Rural Development, 74 gender and biodiversity, 431­37, 465n1­5, 466n8, 466n12 National Agricultural Advisory Service (NAADS), Uganda, 268, Karnataka Watershed Development Project, 463­65 269, 271 key issues in natural resources management, 423­25 National Agricultural Research Organization, 275, 275b7.8 land and water degradation and desertification, 454­58, 468n4 National Agricultural Services Agency, 74 and LinKS project, 459­62, 468n1 National Agricultural Services Project, 75 monitoring and evaluation of, 429­30 National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO), Uganda, 298 and natural disasters, 448­53, 467­68n1­4 National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development overview, 423 (NABARD), 113, 116, 121n1 resource management in India, 654­55 national business environment, 185­86, 188­90 natural resources managers, 395­96 National Center for Agricultural Research and Technology NCAFW. See National Committee for the Advancement of Transfer (NCARTT), Jordan, 178 Women (NCAFW) National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector NCARTT. See National Center for Agricultural Research and (NCEUS), India, 331b8.4 Technology Transfer (NCARTT), Jordan National Committee for the Advancement of Women (NCAFW), NCEUS. See National Commission for Enterprises in the 40b2.3 Unorganized Sector (NCEUS), India national coordination units (NCUs), 589 NCUs. See national coordination units (NCUs) National Development Dairy Cooperative, India, 330 needs assessments, 497 National Fund for Forestry Finance (FONAFIFO), 441 Nepal National Gender Service, 75 asset-sharing strategies in, 490 national legal systems, 336 biogas program, 446 National Mission on Biofuels, India, 447 community-based disaster management, 451 National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), 330t8.7, 332, 719 Department of Livestock Services, 621 national project implementation units (NPIUs), 589 gender and governance issues in, 71­73 natural disasters, 429, 448­53, 467­68n1­4 groundwater irrigation project, 244b6.5 disaster recovery, 487, 487b11.5 Hills Leasehold Project, 159­61, 167n2 droughts, 618 labor-saving technologies for crops, 290b7.15 economic issues from, 448, 4467n1 leasehold of forest land, 139 food aid versus agricultural support, 492­98, 507­12, 516n3­4 Women's Empowerment Program, 65­66 food banks in Niger, 513­15 NEPC. See North East Provincial Council (NEPC), Sri Lanka forestry sector, 492­98, 646, 651, 652b15.2, 652b15.3 NERICA. See New Rice for Africa (NERICA) project impact of, 475, 646 Network and Capacity Building for Rural Women, Armenia, 396 managing land and promoting recovery postcrisis, 499­506, Network of European World Shops (NEWS), 343, 344b8.8 499­506 Network of Groups of Rural Women, Uruguay, 396 INDEX 751 networks and networking, 59, 88 nontimber forest products (NTFPs), 650­51, 668n1 agroforestry, 663 nonwood forest products (NWFP), 644, 645, 650­51, 653­54, among rural people, 264 668n1 Dimitra Project, 395 NOPEST. See New Options for Pest Management extended family, 264 (NOPEST) financial, 90 Nordic Development Fund, 677 and GAL framework, 427 North Africa and gender units, 49 gender and agribusiness, 175 in Hills Leasehold Project, 160 and women entrepreneurs, 194 informal workers, 332, 333b8.6 North East Provincial Council (NEPC), Sri Lanka, 509 microfinance, 96 Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project, Vietnam, milk collection networks, 201b5.9 58, 59b2.13 and natural disasters, 450 Northwestern Rural Development Project, Cambodia, NEWS, 343, 344b8.8 679b16.3 and PACTA, 163 Novartis Foundation, 552 for RPOs, 202­3 NPIUs. See national project implementation units (NPIUs) social, 67, 501, 514 NPM. See New Public Management (NPM) Uruguay, 396 NRM. See natural resources management (NRM) Women's World Banking, 87 NSSO. See National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) new aid modalities. See aid modalities NTFPs. See nontimber forest products (NTFPs) Newcastle Disease Programme, South Africa, 514 nutrient management in soils, 530 New Options for Pest Management (NOPEST), 573, 591 nutrition and nutritional security, 12, 13f1.2, 14, 480 New Public Management (NPM), 29 link to income, 18 New Rice for Africa (NERICA) project, 272, 551 nutrition education, 307 NEWS. See Network of European World Shops (NEWS) terms for joint review missions, 707b16.19 NGOs. See nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and utilization of food, 14, 18­19 Nicaragua women's role in, 12­14 Las Hermanas coffee, 203, 203b5.10 NWFP. See nonwood forest products (NWFP) Maria Elena Cuadro Women's Movement, 339 working conditions in, 326b8.3 O Niger obstetric fistula, 374, 413n2 agroforestry parklands in, 659b15.9 occupational safety and health, 321, 332, 336, 345 credit approaches for women, 190b5.6 occupational segregation, 192, 321, 325, 344­45 Food Bank Project, 17 occupations Keita Project, 457­58 choices in, 325 preventive action with food banks, 513­15 hazardous, 547 Noel Kempff Climate Action Project, Bolivia, 440 Occupied Palestinian Territories, 515n7 nonfarm income opportunities, 372 OECD. See Organisation for Economic Co-operation and nonfinancial services, 101 Development (OECD) checklist for integration in institutional culture, 99, 100b3.5 off-farm activities, 293­94, 323 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), 488 oil imports, 443 agroforestry-related issues, 663, 669n2 Olifants Basin, 237b6.2 Anthra, 613 olive oil production, 207b5.13 and aquaculture support, 573­74 on-farm activities, 289, 317, 323 Centre for Mass Education in Science, 330 organic farming, 536, 551 and extension services, 268­69 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and financial services, 86, 96­98, 120n8 (OECD), 324, 579, 636n5 and governance in local government, 72­73 Development Assistance Committee, 43, 680b16.4, 698, 706 Heifer Zambia, 604 on emergency responses, 493 monitoring of working conditions, 339, 347 orphans, empowerment of through junior farmer field and life and multiple-use water services, 239 schools, 305­8, 310n1­7 Pattan, 451­52 outcome indicators, 710 promotion of ecological agriculture, 536 out-migration, and natural disasters, 450 and reforms, 30 output indicators, 710 role in labor rights, 338 outreach, for AET graduates, 285 role in land dispute resolution, 151 outsourcing, 30, 31, 217 training programs for women, 197 Oxbow Lakes Small-Scale Fishermen's Project, Bangladesh, Women for Sustainable Development, 441 568­69 752 INDEX P participatory rapid appraisals (PRAs), 251, 406t9.8 PAs. See protected areas (PAs) Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (PRGA) Program, Pacha Mama Raymi, 298­99 261­62 Pacific Island countries, 175 Participatory Technology Development (PTD), 274, 279 alternative livelihoods in, 583 partnerships and gender and agribusiness, 174­75 and AET, 280­81, 285 and trade agreement, 188b5.4 building and managing of, 278 PACTA. See Land Access Pilot Project (PACTA), Honduras chain partnerships, 204, 205b5.11 paddy cultivation, 575 creation of, 196 PAF. See performance assessment framework (PAF) for development of community e-centers, 412 Pakistan in fisheries and aquaculture, 579 access to water for livestock watering, 236b6.1 institutional, 287 building capacity to cope with disasters, 451­52 role in monitoring projects, 509 Community Infrastructure Project, 683b16.6 rural roads project, 410 gender and governance in, 71­73 and seed enterprises, 539 and gender integration, 40b2.3 pastoralist communities, impact of droughts on, 618 Palestinians, access to water, 477b11.2 pastoralists, 454­58, 460, 461b10.13, 608, 613­14, 618 PALSs. See Participatory Action Learning Systems (PALSs) Pastoral Risk Management on East African Rangelands PARIMA. See Pastoral Risk Management on East African (PARIMA), 620 Rangelands (PARIMA) patriarchal systems, values in, 127 Paris Declaration on Harmonization of Aid, 697 patrilineal kinship, 128­30, 143, 156 parkland agroforestry projects, 663­64 patrilocal societies, and land rights, 143 parkland products, 660b15.10 Pattan Dehi Tanzeems (PDT), 452 PARPA. See Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty Patuakhali Barguna Aquaculture Extension Project (PBAEP), 570 (PARPA), Mozambique PCUWA. See Policy Coordinating Unit for Women in Agriculture Participatory Action Learning Systems (PALSs), 118­19 (PCUWA), Egypt Participatory and Action Research Project, 278 PDR. See Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) participatory approaches PDT. See Pattan Dehi Tanzeems (PDT) for access to land, 138­39 peace-building processes, 488, 489, 503 and alternative livelihood projects, 586­87 peanut butter processing, 208b5.15 assessments of, 389 peer reviews, 706­8 in community-level groups, 67 pensions, 103 gender issues, 56­58 performance appraisals, 351 of agriculture groups, 64 performance assessment framework (PAF), 705­6 CARE project, 592 performance indicators, 711 challenges for women in local government, 71 periurban areas, water use in, 235, 236 forest management, 645, 650 PERs. See public expenditure reviews (PERs) guidelines for increasing women's presence in, 272­73 Peru land dispute resolution, 148 Agro-Innovation and Competitiveness Project, 261b7.3, 268, LinKS project, 459­62, 468n1 269, 271 monitoring and evaluation of, 683b16.6 Cafe Femenino, 203, 203b5.10 participatory research, 274­79 culture issues, 276b7.9 in project design and in M&E, 679, 682­83, 694­95 Natural Resource Management in Southern Highlands, in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water issues, 404, 405t 9.7 290­301 soil improvement projects, 537 Rural Infrastructure Program, 364­65, 375 in watershed development project, 463­65 Rural Roads Project, 407­10, 414­15n1­7 women in NAADS processes, 270 value chain for artichokes, 179, 180b5.3 women participating in groups, 569, 570, 570b13.1 pesticides, 526, 547 and governance, 26, 71­73 definition, 555n1 and information concerning pesticides, 554 elimination of, 591 to land rights, 126 pesticide poisoning, 547, 552b12.17 middle-class effect of, 67, 68 reduction in, 592 PALSs, 118­19 women's exposure to, 546 to plant breeding initiatives, 543, 543b12.13 pest management, 575 in RPOs, 202­3 petroleum-based fuels, 467n6 and technical farming concept, 302­3 PFI. See Promoting Farmer Innovations (PFI) See also women in politics Philippines, 710 Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB-PRGA), 262 developing new products for, 208b5.14 INDEX 753 households with business income, 388f9.2 sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 403, 404b9.9 indigenous knowledge systems, 436 seed systems, 540­41, 545, 546 KALAE-CIDDS project, 54b2.10, 55 soil productivity management, 531 PHLAAT. See Post-Harvest Livelihoods Analysis Tool (PHLAT) and titling of land, 154­55 photovoltaic pump project, 385 women as policy makers, 37­38, 79n4 physical infrastructure, 361 for women's groups, 66­67 pigs, 619b14.2 women's involvement in innovation systems, 263 plantations, 341­42, 445 and institutions, 5f 0.1 health and safety of workers, 345 on local and traditional crops, 177 for jatropha oil, 446 to promote governance, 23 plant breeding, 262, 436, 437, 541, 543 types of processes for, 27­28 plant genetic resources, 435b10.6, 435b10.7, 437 See also land policy and administration; public administration plant varieties, 545b12.15 Policy Coordinating Unit for Women in Agriculture (PCUWA), PMUs. See project management units (PMUs) Egypt, 50b2.8 PNASA. See Project National d'Appui aux Services Agricoles Policy Research Report, 125 (PNASA) political economy, 44 POKMAS, 589 political institutions policies and policy making representation of women in, 37­39, 43­44, 79n4­5 and access to food, 11­12 See also women in politics definition, 6 politics enabling policy environments, 61 and commitment to gender mainstreaming, 49 and GAL framework, 428 and food aid, 493 gender issues, 68, 75 and governance, 25, 27 and access to land and property, 138­39 and institutional reforms, 37 to address climate change, 439, 441 and land titling, 158 agricultural water management programs, 233, 234t 6.1 and public sector reforms, 29­30 analytical work in, 38 See also women in politics and biodiversity, 434, 435b10.6, 435b10.7, 466n8 pollution and bioenergy, 445 of domestic water supply, 236­37 crop protection, 549­53 indoor air pollution, 364, 367, 384, 385, 425, 444 and desertification, 456 polygamy energy issues, 385, 386t9.4, 414n4 and adult illness, 652b15.1 family-based aquaculture systems, 574­75 and land rights, 142, 155, 166n4 for fishers, processors, and traders, 579­80 pond polyculture, 220­22, 224n1 forestry-related, 646­47, 648, 653­55 POs. See producer organizations (POs) gender in different policy processes, 36­37, 79n1­3 postcrisis issues for gender-sensitive monitoring, 693 link between food aid and agriculture in emergencies, 492­98 good practices and lessons learned from, 38­43 managing land and promoting recovery in, 499­506 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 43­44 Post-Harvest Livelihoods Analysis Tool (PHLAT), 180b5.2 implementation of staff gender policies, 99­101, 120n6 potable water, 366­67, 369, 399, 400­406 implemented by Thai government, 350 potatoes, 277 to improve ICT policies and projects, 391­92 poultry industry, 329, 455, 585b13.3, 620 informal sector employment, 329­32 Afghanistan, 204, 205b5.12 land dispute resolution, 148­50, 166n1, 166n3 chicken feed costs, 467n4 livestock sector, 608, 613­14, 619­20, 621, 626­27, chicken production and supply chain, 623f 14.2 629, 636n5 control of, 612 multiple-use water services, 238­39 permanent workers in, 344 and natural disasters, 450­51 Thailand, 347 overview, 36 value chain in, 607 participatory research, 277 women's control of, 602, 603 in policy instruments, 42­43 working conditions, 338 questions concerning gender-specific issues, 688 poverty, 2­3, 64 and risk management, 486­87 and access to food, 17­18 and role in women in agriculture, 522 and banking in India, 112­16, 121n1 role of gender units in, 48 and bioenergy, 443 rural energy, 387­89 as driver of food insecurity, 13­14 and rural infrastructure, 369­70 effective interventions for, 481b11.3 in rural transport, 376­77, 381 and fishing, 562 754 INDEX and forestry-related programs, 646­67, 652­54 of biological resources, 465n4 gender and poverty analysis, 404b9.10 of land and land rights, 137, 138 and identification of poorest women, 60­61 PRMT. See Poverty Resource Monitoring and Tracking model impact of desertification on, 454­55 (PRMT) impact of PACTA on, 162­63 process indicators, 710 inclusion of the poorest in CDD, 56­58 processing factories, protecting workers in, 578 and insurance products, 109 processors of fish and fish products, associations for protecting link to natural resources, 299, 643 livelihoods of, 577­81, 594n1 and marketing extension tool, 211­14 procurement centers, for rural farmers, 215­19 role of crop agriculture in, 519­28, 554n1 producer associations and cooperatives, 63, 64b2.14 role of NGOs in, 120n8 producer organizations (POs), 69, 74­76 rural roads projects, 407­10, 414­15n1­7 product design and soil fertility management in, 534, 534b12.6 and gender issues, 104, 105b3.6, 121n2 terms for joint review missions, 707b16.19 in savings programs, 107, 108b3.8 poverty reduction, 698 See also design of projects and climate change, 438 product development, innovations in, 111 community-managed rural poverty initiatives projects, 215­19, production, 11­12, 289, 375 223­24n1­3 dependence on natural resources, 15­16 and compartmentalization versus mainstreaming gender in, gender in, 153, 154b4.1 681b16.5 impact of food banks on, 514 and multiple-use water services, 235­41 mechanization in, 564 Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project, 58, 59b2.13 multiple roles women play in, 258 Philippines, 54b2.10 technologies for, 277, 277b7.10 and rural transport, 375 production groups, facilitating, 571, 593n3 views of agriculture as driver of, 519, 520b12.1 production systems, 522 and women's access to financial services, 88 product markets, gender equity in accessing of, 365­66 poverty reduction strategies (PRSs), 698, 703b16.17 Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), 65, 67 Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), 27, 684 professional women development strategies and plans, 36, 79n1 interventions to promote AET for, 283, 283b7.11 gender dimensions of, 39­41, 681, 681b16.5 representation in extension services, 272­73 gender-sensitive monitoring of, 698­99, 702­6 visibility of, 263, 264, 272­73 Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs), 42, 43b2.5 profitability, and marketing tool, 212 Poverty Resource Monitoring and Tracking model (PRMT), PROFOR, 646­47 119 PROFOUND, Vietnam, 570, 574­76, 594n3 power and light services, 388b9.5 project management units (PMUs), 509, 589, 590t13.4 PPB-PRGA. See Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB-PRGA) Project National d'Appui aux Services Agricoles (PNASA), 74­75 PRADAN. See Professional Assistance for Development Action Promoting Farmer Innovations (PFI), 534 (PRADAN) propagation techniques, 435 PRAs. See participatory rapid appraisals (PRAs) property grabbing, 456 prawn markets, 220­22, 224n1 property rights, 89, 499­500 preventive action impact of HIV on, 305 for crises, 494 promotion of, 629 with food banks in Niger, 513­15 See also land rights strategies for, 485­91, 515n2 pro-poor development, gender mainstreaming in financial sector PRGA. See Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (PRGA) for, 91­92 Program protected areas (PAs), 665­68 prices Provias Descentralizado, 408, 409 of food, 476 PRSCs. See Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs) increase in market prices, 217 PRSPs. See Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) market prices in India, 264b7.5 PRSs. See poverty reduction strategies (PRSs) private extension services, 268, 269 PTD. See Participatory Technology Development (PTD) private sector, 352 public administration, 26, 28­31 financial services in, 86 public expenditure management, 28b2.1 and food aid, 493 public expenditure reviews (PERs), 41 reform in, 30 public extension services, 268, 269 seed enterprises, 540 public health, 500 Private Sector Development Programme, Noakhali, 221, 224n2 public policy, implementation of, 28 privatization, 30, 31 public-private partnerships, 30 INDEX 755 public sector, seed enterprises, 540 regulatory framework public sector reform, 28­31 conditions for unorganized wage workers, 331b8.4 public service, 66 standards for livestock disease control, 613, 636n5 public works programs, 324 relief efforts, 480 link between food aid and agriculture in emergencies, 492­98 Q See also emergencies qualitative data, 717 remittance transfer services, 103, 104, 110, 111b3.10 qualitative indicators, 711 RENATRE. See registry of agricultural workers and employers quantitative indicators, 711 (RENATRE) Quechua women farmers, 177­78 representative bureaucracies, 29­30 questionnaires, 389, 389b9.6 research quinoa processing, 523b12.3 agroforestry, 664b15.13 quotas for women in cattle breeding, 633­35 on board seats, 232 Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, to ensure leadership positions, 70 549b12.16 and legislative reforms, 71 informal research methods, 634­35 in local government, 73 investment in diverse forms of, 265 in producer organizations, 69, 80n3 livestock technologies, 626, 627, 628b14.3, 629 representation on councils, 145 on local and traditional crops, 177 in water management organizations, 244, 245 on multiple-use water services, 239 participatory research, 261­62, 274­79 R and postcrises land issues, 505 radio, 367 in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water issues, 403­4 to disseminate information relevant to women, 393­94 in sheep improvement research for indigenous women, 631­32 FAO programs, 396 training women in technology research, 626, 627, 628b14.3 satellite, 394 value chain analysis, 178­81 Radio Teacher, 393 Réseau des Organisations Paysannes et des Producteurs Agricoles rape, as weapon in conflicts, 652b15.3 de l'Afrique de l'ouest (ROPPA), 69 rate of return, 414n2 resettlement, 138, 499 RCUs. See regional coordination units (RCUs) of refugees and IDPs, 502 RDI. See Rural Development Institute (RDI) and rural infrastructure, 368 RDSs. See rural development societies (RDSs) and transport infrastructure, 375 reconstruction, postdisaster, 451, 495­96 resource persons, for agricultural marketing, 217, 223­24n3 recycling, 402 resources redistributive land reform, 137, 166n3 access to, 568­71, 573, 593n1­3, 619b14.2 redistributive water allocation reform, 237b6.2 control of, 185 reforestation, 384 inequity in distribution of, 477, 477b11.2 reforms and livestock production, 626­27 civil service reform, 29­30 management of, 457, 489 conceptual framework for reform governance, 24­27 seed sources, 539­40 to improve agricultural livelihood, 23­24 See also natural resources and labor rights, 338 resource tenure, 658, 660b15.10 in land rights, 149, 501 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), 476 public sector reforms, 29­30 revolving savings associations, 107 to reduce corruption, 30­31 rice culture, CARE Bangladesh, 591­93 women's property rights, 141­46, 166n2, 166n4­5 rice farmers, 272 See also agricultural services reforms rice-fish culture, 591 refugees, 305­6, 310n3, 482 rice production, 15, 139, 166n6, 250­52 location and resettlement of, 502 and land titling, 154b4.1 and natural disasters, 450 rice seeds, 290 postcrisis issues, 501 risks and risk management, 4­6 return of, 477, 499 for disaster management, 452­53 Regional Cooperative of United Farmers Ltd. (COPRAUL), during crisis or natural disasters, 449­50, 479, 481, 494, 515n2 163 exclusion from marketing processes, 214 regional coordination units (RCUs), 589, 590t13.4 and GAL framework, 427­28 registration procedures, 144, 155­56, 501, 504 livestock sector, 606­7b14.1, 607­8, 614, 615 registry of agricultural workers and employers (RENATRE), and microinsurance, 614, 615 325b8.2 pesticides, 548 756 INDEX reduction of through insurance programs, 628 rural development societies (RDSs), 509­10 in rural infrastructure, 362, 367­69 rural energy. See energy sector in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 402­3 rural finance strategies for, 485­91, 515n2 access to types of, 91 road maintenance, gender equity in, 408­9, 415n7 benefits from gender-responsive action, 87­88 roads, 372 challenges of, 86­87, 88­91, 120n6 rural roads projects, 380, 407­10, 414­15n1­7 gender indicators and checklist, 93­95 See also rural infrastructure and gender mainstreaming, 91­92, 96­102, 120n1, 120n3 Rockefeller Foundation, 286 innovations in product development, 111 Rodrigues, sustainable land management in, 457 insurance, 108­9 ROPPA. See Réseau des Organisations Paysannes et des introduction, 85­87 Producteurs Agricoles de l'Afrique de l'ouest (ROPPA) KRC, 117­20 rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs), 63, 64b2.144, MFAs, 117­20 86, 96, 120n1 overview, 103­4, 105b3.6, 121n2 RPOs. See rural producer organizations (RPOs) and pro-poor development, 91­92 RTT. See Rural Travel and Transport (RTT) range of products, 86 Rural Access Index, 378, 413n6 and remittance transfer services, 103, 104, 110, 111b3.10 rural areas savings and pensions, 107­8 and control of land, 138­39 women-managed community financial system, employment 112­16, 121n1 opportunities in, 323, 324 See also financial sector by sector of activity, 15f 1.3 rural infrastructure gender issues community e-centers, 411­13, 415n1 access to land dispute mechanisms, 148­49, 150­51 framework for sustainable rural infrastructure, 361­64 in agribusiness, 174 gender equitable economic empowerment, 365­66 and desertification, 455­56 gender equitable human development, 366­67 empowering fisherwomen, 585­86 monitoring and evaluation, 370­71 empowerment of rural communities, 278­79 overview, 361, 413n1 enabling rural innovation, 277­78 in policies, programs, and projects, 369­70 factors regarding gender differences in, 391, 392t 9.2 risk and vulnerabilities, 367­69 goals for innovation in livestock technologies, 627­28 rural roads projects, 407­10, 414­15n1­7 ICTs relevant to rural women, 392­93 social empowerment, 364­65 impact of forestry on, 645 sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 399­406 improving access to information, 394 See also information and communications technologies informal work in agriculture, 328­29 (ICTs) labor-saving technologies, 289­91 Rural Infrastructure Development Project, Bangladesh, and Land Access Pilot Project, 162­65 191b5.7 land administration policies, 125, 165n1 rural markets, 379, 379b9.3 and land rights, 156, 157­58 Rural Outreach Programme, Uganda, 395 and multiple-use water services in, 235­41 rural producer organizations (RPOs), 200­205 in policy processes, 36 Rural Roads and Bridges Project, Mozambique, 380 rural transport technologies, 292­93 Rural Roads and Market Project, Bangladesh, 379, 379b9.3 unemployment of women, 319 Rural Roads Project, Peru, 407­10, 414­15n1­7 heterogeneity of rural poor, 7 rural transport, 372­75, 413n1­2 household tasks in, 285b9.13 Bangladesh project, 379, 379b9.3 impact of infrastructure services on, 363t9.1 benefits of gender-responsive action, 375­76 labor opportunities in, 315 good practices and lessons learned in, 377­80, 413n5­6 and land rights, 139­40 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, poverty reduction projects, 215­19, 223­24n1­3 380­82 resource management, 275b7.8 overview, 372 rural-urban divide, 368 policy and implementation issues, 376­77 social protection for informal sector in, 331 overview, 372 and technologies, 111 Rural Travel and Transport (RTT), 377b9.1 rural development, views of agriculture as driver of, 519, 520b12.1 Rwanda, 479, 493, 496 Rural Development Institute (RDI), 505 and chain partnerships, 204, 205b5.11 rural development programs, 2­3 gender integration, 40b2.4 and financial services, 86, 684 inheritance laws, 504 indicators from, 714t16.4 Rwanda Economic Recovery Credit, 43b2.5 INDEX 757 S self-help groups (SHGs), 593n1 SACEP. See South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme for community organizations, 584 (SACEP) in financial sector, 113, 114t3.3 SADC. See South African Development Community (SADC) forestry-related, 655­56 Safe Access to Firewood and Alternative Energy (SAFE), 646, 668n2 gender issues safety experience, impacts, and benefits from gender-responsive in rural transport, 374 actions, 65­66, 80n1 in the workplace, 326 good practices and lessons learned, 67­69, 80n3 safety nets, 266, 650­57, 668n1­2, 668n5 group functions, advantages, and disadvantages, 63­65 sanitation, 400­403, 454 guidelines and recommendations for practitioners, 69­70 lessons learned and guidelines for practitioners, 403­6 overview, 63 monitoring and evaluation of, 405 policy and implementation issues, 66­67 overview, 399 POKMAS, 589 SARD. See Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development and poverty reduction, 215, 223n2 (SARD) initiative and procurement centers, 218 SARI. See Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Tanzania resource management in India, 654­55 SASKI. See Sustainable Agriculture Systems, Knowledge, and to sustain watershed management, 463­64 Institutions (SASKI) Uruguay, 396 savings, 103, 104, 107­8, 121n2 and value chains, 210b5.17 scholarships, to promote AET for women, 286 Self-Help Learning Initiative, 60 schools self-targeting, 58­59 hygiene promotion in, 402 Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Tanzania, 303 impact of disasters on attendance, 450 service cooperatives, 30 See also education service delivery, 394 SDC. See Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) services and service providers, 26­27 seafood export processing industries, 564 capacity building for women in, 197 SEAGA. See Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis (SEAGA) for marketing extension process, 213 Programme to prevent livestock diseases, 613 seasonal employment, 324, 328­29, 332, 337, 346 women's access to, 263­64 Bolivia, 523b12.3 Servicios Integrales a Mujeres Emprendedoras (SIEMBRA), 111 and labor allocations, 525 SEWA. See Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) seaweed farming, 584b13.2 SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre (STFC), India, 396 sectoral information and monitoring system (SIMS), 703b16.17 sex discrimination, 336, 337 sectorwide approaches (SWAPs), monitoring of, 684, 698­99, sex-for-fish exchanges, 564, 565, 577 704, 704b16.18 sexual favors for job security, 321 security sexual harassment, 321, 326, 337, 338, 345­46, 578 in conflict areas, 494 sexual services, and corruption, 31b2.2 enhanced by rural infrastructure, 368 sexual violence, during crises, 479 in postconflict settings, 500 SFLP. See Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLSP) and rural transport, 374 sheep seed banks, 541, 542b12.11 Chiapas sheep, 604­5 seed dressing, 552, 553b12.18 research in sheep improvement for indigenous women, 631­32 seeds shearing of, 277b7.10 community seed fairs, 434­35 shepherds, 631­32 Ethiopia, 543 short message system (SMS), 393 germplasm supply, 661, 663, 669n2 shrimp farmers association, 580 importance of, 538 shrimp production, 562­63, 564f 13.1, 593n2­3 improvement of seed systems, 663 SIDA. See Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) production and distribution of, 538­46, 555n2 SIEMBRA. See Servicios Integrales a Mujeres Emprendedoras seed aid programs, 495 (SIEMBRA) traditional seed system in Tanzania, 461b10.12 SIMS. See sectoral information and monitoring system (SIMS) varieties of, 544 Sino-Dutch Forestry Program, 656b15.7 Seed Systems Development Project (SSDP), Ethiopia, 543 site management committees (SMCs), 250­51 SEI. See Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) skills, 70 Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), 66, 111, 333b8.6 identifying and addressing gaps in, 193 and insurance for low-income workers in India, 487b11.4 for informal workers, 330 Trade Facilitation Centre, 396 or women entrepreneurs, 198­99 self-employment, in agriculture, 15f 1.3 See also trainers and training 758 INDEX SLA. See Sri Lanka Army (SLA); Sustainable Livelihoods soil fertility, 17, 526, 529­30, 660, 661b15.11 Approach (SLA) gender-responsive approaches to, 530 SLs. See sustainable livelihoods (SLs) management of, 533 small cooperative groups, 593n1 soil productivity, 526, 529­37 Smallholder Seed Development Project, Malawi, 544­45 soil rehabilitation, 455 small-scale aquaculture, 572­76, 594n1­3 Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania, 285­86 small-scale fisheries, 562, 580, 583, 593n3 solar energy systems, 294, 388b9.5, 447 small-scale seed enterprises, 544­45 solid waste collection, 402, 403b9.8 smart cards, 332b8.5, 393 Somalia, Radio Teacher, 393 SMCs. See site management committees (SMCs) SOPPEXCCA. See Sociedad de Pequeños Productores SMS. See short message system (SMS) Exportadoras y Compradores de Café SA (SOPPEXCCA) social access, role of land in, 125­26 South Africa Social Analysis Sourcebook, 682, 721 Conradie v. Hanekom and Another, 339 social assessments, and land titling, 158 financing value addition, 208b5.15 social capital, 603 inequitable water distribution in, 237b6.2 enhancement of gender equity in, 364 informal workers in horticulture, 346, 346t8.11 and food aid, 507­12, 516n3­4 Land Claims Court, 339 and livestock sector, 608, 611 Newcastle Disease Programme, 514 strengthening of, 278­79 Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association, 349 social class, heterogeneity of , 68 South African Development Community (SADC), 436 social control, 89 South Asia, 594n8 social costs, of biosecurity measures, 615­16 and gender and agribusiness, 174­75 social empowerment, 362 home gardens, 659­60 and livestock production, 604 roles of women in, 2 and market access, 580 South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme and rural infrastructure, 364­65 (SACEP), 594n8 social insurance, 331 Southeast Asia social justice, 69 home gardens, 659­60 social marketing, 404­5 and women entrepreneurs, 195 social mobilization, 73 South India social networks, 67, 501, 514 plant variety protection, 545b12.15 social protection, 18 seed and crop diversity in, 539b12.10 definition, 353n8 specialty markets, 342 in fisheries, 565, 593n5 species genetic diversity, 454 improvement of for agricultural workers, 325­26, 353n8 Sphere Humanitarian Charter, 494 for informal sector, 331, 346­47 spillover effects, 179, 323 livestock sector, 604 Sri Lanka social security, 325b8.2, 331 food aid versus agricultural support and sustenance of social social services, gender equity in accessing, 366 capital, 507­12, 516n3­4 social systems, 264, 500­503 Gemidiriya Community Development and Livelihood social training, in CARE project, 592 Improvement Project, 77­79, 721­23 Sociedad de Pequeños Productores Exportadoras y Compradores and gender integration, 40b2.3 de Café SA (SOPPEXCCA), 203, 203b5.10 irrigation systems project, 478­79 society-forest relationships, 644 women's concerns and the peace, 503, 504b11.8 sociocultural issues, 203 women's knowledge of forest-based resources, 660 and access to ICT, 391 Sri Lanka Army (SLA), 508 and access to land, 136­37, 166n2 SSA. See sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and land rights, 130 SSDP. See Seed Systems Development Project (SSDP), and land titling, 154 Ethiopia Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis (SEAGA) Programme, standards of living, 159 310n6, 457, 694 staple crops, 519, 532 socioeconomics, 67, 310n2 state governments and alternative pest control technologies, 548­49 and allocation of land, 137 and delivery of ICT programs, 391 and land titling, 156 sources of and access to seeds, 539­40, 555n2 statistics socioeconomic status, strengthening of, 570 concerning natural disasters, 449, 468n4 socioeconomic surveys, 389 FAOSTAT, 710, 718 soil erosion, 521, 659b15.9 gender-sensitive, 287 INDEX 759 insufficiency of, 698 Sustaining Forests, 643, 644­45 labor data, 326 Swanson, Burton, 268 national statistics systems, 719 SWAPs. See sectorwide approaches (SWAPs) on women's role in agriculture, 522­23 Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), 43, 677b16.2, status of women, 42, 79n9, 593n1 678 stereotyping of gender roles, 321 Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), 211­14 STFC. See SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre (STFC), India SWOT. See strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats analysis Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), 402 (SWOT) stone bunds, 533 stoves, 291­92, 293b7.17, 384 T fuel-efficient, 451 TA. See technical assistance (TA) and use of traditional biomass, 444 talking maps, 299­300 strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats analysis Tamil Nadu Empowerment and Poverty Reduction project, 202 (SWOT), 179 Tanzania subcontracting, 344 biofuel production, 446 Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme, 279 community seed fairs, 434­35 sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 279 conservation agriculture for sustainable development project, agriculture sector, 2, 3, 174 291, 302­4 crop cultivation in, 522 MACEMP, 584b13.2 fertilizer use in, 532 pesticide problems, 552, 553b12.18 impact of food aid on, 492 SARI, 303 roles of women in SSA, 2 Sokoine University of Agriculture, 285­86 and women entrepreneurs, 194­95 strengthening technical and marketing assistance in, subsidies 584b13.2 and biogas program, 446 traditional seed systems, 461b10.12 for fertilizers, 531, 533b12.5 and women entrepreneurs, 189b5.5 subsistence crops, 18, 513 targeted projects, 6, 9n6 views of, 523­25 to end discrimination against women, 482­83 and women as smallholders, 522 irrigation project in Sri Lanka, 511 subsistence production, 434b10.5 targeting mechanisms, development of, 332 Sudan technical assistance (TA), 50, 621 alternative fuels for domestic cooking, 291b7.17 in documenting ethnobotanical knowledge, 436 environmental degradation as cause of conflicts in, 476, fishing sector, 583­85 476b11.1 gender-related documents of, 38 gender units in, 49b2.7 and PACTA, 163 LEAP, 109 reduced international inputs of, 684 links of food aid and conflict, 493 rural roads project, 408 Sun Valley Foods, Thailand, 338, 350­52 technologies, 262 supermarkets, 176 agroforestry-related, 660­63 supply and demand, for agricultural products, for crop production, 521, 526 176­77 and domestic water supplies, 236­37 supply chain management, 217 and food security, 16 supply-side strategies, 24, 26, 60 fuel-efficient, 444­45 Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) and GOLDA project, 591 initiative, 302 in livestock sector, 604­5, 625­30, 635, 635n10 Sustainable Agriculture Systems, Knowledge, and Institutions low-cost, 217 (SASKI), 676 low-external-input technologies, 533 sustainable development, and conservation agriculture, for multiple-use water services, 238, 240 302­4 and natural resources management, 426 Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP), for pest control, 548­49 562, 565, 580 and production control, 277, 277b7.10 sustainable land management, 457 and rural areas, 111 Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA), 4­6 trends in access to, 257­58 gender issues, livestock sector, 601, 602, 605­8 women's need for, 626 sustainable livelihoods (SLs) See also information and communications technologies (ICTs); in forestry, 644, 647 labor-saving technologies Mongolia, 683b16.6, 684b16.7 technology transfer, 274, 575 sustainable use, definition, 465n1 and agricultural production, 16 760 INDEX and aquaculture extension project, 220­22, 224n1 complementary support for, 198, 199 and extension services, 282 farmer-to-farmer, 299 telecenters, 394­95 in forest-related industries, 647 telecommunications, 411­13, 415n1 gender issues, 307, 436, 592­93 temporary employment, 337, 346, 347 access to, 262 tenure systems addressing imbalances in, 394­95 insecurity of, 6, 455 animal health workers, 615 and land rights, 126­27, 229­31, 531, 537, 602 in COREMAP project, 589, 590t13.4 shared tenure, 142 fishing communities, 585b13.3 and water rights, 229­30 and leadership, 160, 161 Thailand livestock technologies, 628 Cargill's labor improvement program, 338, 350­52 loans to women who complete training, 101 chicken production, 623b14.2 and natural resources management, 426 time promotion of safe pesticides, 551­52 access to leisure time, 367 rural roads project, 408, 413­14n5­6 addressing of, 369 in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 400­402 availability and use of by women, 12­13, 319 technology research and development, 626 and climate change, 439 under PACTA, 163­64 competing claims on, 373 in watershed development project, 464 as economic factor, 362­63 and women's land rights, 145 as factor in postcrisis issues, 500 informal workers, 332 link to labor-saving technology, 379 in land dispute resolution, 151 spent on collecting wood and water, 384, 444, 455 leadership training, 160, 161, 723b16.22 spent on domestic chores, 291 manuals for, 460 time allocation studies, 524 marketing skills, 208, 209b5.16 and use of modern fuels, 385, 414n4 in peace building, 489 titling systems, 130­32, 134­35, 502 peer trainers, 722 gender-responsive, 153­58 promotion of training markets, 283 Honduras, 145 selection of, 196 legal framework for, 143­45 training-of-trainer programs, 550, 572 policies to guarantee women's access to, 263b7.4 on vegetative propagation, 435 and polygamy, 142 for women, 76 tracer studies, 285, 286 See also agricultural extension and training (AET); education trade training and visit extension (T&V), 257 in agricultural commodities, 341 transboundary animal diseases, 611, 613, 615, 636n1 fair trade cooperatives, 201 Transfer of Technology model of extension, 274 livestock sector, 605­7, 619 transformative programs, 6, 9n6 negotiations on global level, 184­85 crises recovery, 495­96, 500­503 trade agreements, 184­85, 322b8.1 to end discrimination against women, 483 trade associations, 349 irrigation project in Sr. Lanka, 510 Trade Facilitation Centre (STFC), India, 396 postdisaster land and recovery issues, 500­503 Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), transparency, 509 433, 465n4 and gender budgeting, 28b2.1 traders, associations for protecting livelihoods of, 577­81, 594n1 in transactions, 216 trade unions, 325b8.2, 346 transport, 292­93 traditional bioenergy, 444 access to, 373­74, 413n2 traditional practices of agricultural products, 187, 190 as obstacle to knowledge sharing, 489 emergency, 367, 374, 375, 380 and postcrisis issues, 502 gender inequality in transport burdens, 373, 413n1 trainers and training link to markets, 18 in agricultural development projects, 287 rural roads projects, 407­10, 414­15n1­7 in aquaculture, 572­73 See also rural transport to become service providers, 213­14 trees for capacity building, 72 access to and disposal of agroforestry tree products, 658­59 to carry out project planning, monitoring, and evaluation, importance of, 658 721­23 located on women's fields, 660b15.10 in community e-centers, 411, 412 rights and responsibilities concerning, 444 on company values, 351 tree domestication program, 435 INDEX 761 tree genetic variety, 658 United Nations wood and nonwood forest products, 644, 645, 650­61, 668n1 Inter-Agency Standing Committee, 490 See also agroforestry; forests and forestry International Research and Training Institute for the triangulation, power of, 711 Advancement of Women, 110 triggers for loan disbursement, 714, 716, 716b16.20 and labor rights, 334 TRIPS. See Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Security Council Resolution 1325, 503b11.7 (TRIPS) Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and tubewells, 244b6.5, 245 Protection of Minorities, 503b11.7 Turkey, social security schemes, 325b8.2 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), 310n5 T&V. See training and visit extension (T&V) United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Tzotzil shepherds, 631­32 (UNCCD), 456 United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), U 28b2.1, 326 UER. See Upper East Region (UER) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 23, 436, 488 Uganda, 434b10.5 United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, 665­68 (UNDAW), 46 Code of Practice for the Horticulture Sector, 347b8.9 United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and indigenous vegetables, 432b10.3 the Pacific (UNESCAP), 411 Kabarole Research and Resource Centre, 92, 117­20 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, 644 National Agricultural Advisory Service, 268, 269, 271 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization National Agriculture Research Organization, 298 (UNESCO), 280, 281 Rural Outreach Programme, 395 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 456, 476, sectoral information and monitoring system, 703b16.17 476b11.1 Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), 667 United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), 646 UNCCD. See United Nations Convention to Combat United Nations Foundation, 665­68 Desertification (UNCCD) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of (UNFCCC), 441 Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 40b2.3 United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), 508 UNDAW. See United Nations Division for the Advancement of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Women (UNDAW) 197, 198 undernourished, estimates of, 11, 12f 1.1 olive oil project, 207, 207b5.13 UNDHR. See Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UNDHR) seed dressing project, 552, 553b12.18 UNDP. See United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) United Nations Population Fund (UNPF), 700 unemployment, 319, 324, 515n7 Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UNDHR), 19, 334, UNEP. See United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 335t8.8, 493 UNESCAP. See United Nations Economic and Social Commission Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), 412 for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) unorganized sectors, 331­32 UNESCO. See United Nations Educational, Scientific and UNPF. See United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Upper East Region (UER), 232, 247­49, 253n1 UNFCCC. See United Nations Framework Convention on urban areas Climate Change (UNFCCC) and land rights, 157­58 UNFF. See United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) rural-urban divide, 368 UNHCR. See United Nations High Commission for Refugees urban agriculture, 554n1 (UNHCR) urban finance, 86 UNICEF. See United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Uruguay, Network of Groups of Rural Women, 396 UNIDO. See United Nations Industrial Development U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID), 139, 145, Organization (UNIDO) 166n7, 620 UNIFEM. See United Nations Development Fund for Women user rights, 66 (UNIFEM) UWA. See Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) UNIMAS. See Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) United Kingdom V Department for International Development, 4­6, 179, VAC. See vuong/ao/chuong (VAC) 180b5.2, 580, 681, 707­8 vaccination campaigns, 615 integration of gender-specific indicators into monitoring, value added 718­19 calculation of, 179­81 role of agriculture in poverty reduction, 520b12.1 strategies to support in agricultural markets, 206­10 International Institute for Environment and Development, to women's associations, 203 536 value chains, 177­81 762 INDEX in agriculture sector, 173­74, 206­10 in fish processing factories, 578 analysis of, 178­81 and food aid, 493 entry points of gender integration, 181f 5.1 forestry sector, 650­57, 651, 668n1­2, 668n5 export, 177 and GAL framework, 427­28 in fisheries and aquaculture, 562­64, 593n3 livestock sector, 606­7b14.1, 607­8 ILO gender-sensitive value chain model, 622­23 and natural disasters, 448­50, 468n2­4, 479, 481 in livestock sector, 603, 604, 611, 613, 617­24, 636n1 postdisaster, 449­50, 451 localizing of, 216 reduction of, 103 opportunities for, 206­7 of resource-poor households, 530 partnerships in, 201­5 in rural infrastructure, 362, 367­69 for Peru's thornless artichokes, 179, 180b5.3 in sanitation, hygiene, and potable water, 402­3 poultry, 607 social, 449, 468n3 women's place in, 89 vuong/ao/chuong (VAC), 572, 594n1 VDCs. See village development committees (VDCs) VWU. See Vietnamese Women's Union (VWU) VDs. See village development associations (VDs) veterinary services, 464, 603, 607, 611­12, 627, 628 W VFFP. See Village and Farm Forestry Project (VFFP) wage laborers, 328­29 Vietnam in agriculture, 317­18, 319t8.2 Community Based Rural Infrastructure Project, 56, 57b2.11 unorganized, 331b8.4 Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy 2002, wages 681b16.5, 703b16.17 discrimination in, 344­45 gender analysis of structural reforms in, 704b16.18 gaps in, 319­21, 325, 329 and gender integration, 40b2.3 See also income households with business income, 388f9.2 Warana Wired Village Project, India, 391 indicators from rural development project in, 714t16.4 warrantage, 190b5.6 Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project, 58, 59b2.13 war zones, and women entrepreneurs, 195­96 PROFOUND, 570, 574­76, 594n3 water-borne diseases, 249 VAC system, 572, 594n1 water degradation, 429, 454­58, 468n4 Vietnam Poverty Reduction Support Credit, 43b2.5 water management associations, 456 Work Improvement in Neighborhood Development (WIND), 331 water management projects, 229­34 Vietnamese Women's Union (VWU), 575 water quality, 243, 243b6.4 Village and Farm Forestry Project (VFFP), 211­14 water resources, South Africa, 237b6.2 Village Business Incubator program, 198 water rights, 229­30, 242­43 village by-laws committees, 278 water services village development associations (VDs), 63, 64b2.14 groundwater development and management, 242­46 village development committees (VDCs), 72­73, 250, 251 LACOSREP project, 232, 247­49, 253n1 village organizations (VOs) multiple use water services, 232­33, 235­41 Bangladesh, 585b13.3 water-based water programs, 291, 292b7.16 India, 112­16 See also agriculture water management (AWM); irrigation systems Sri Lanka, 77­79 watershed management associations, 63, 64b2.14 Village Self-Help Learning Initiative (VSHLI), 77, 721 watersheds, Karnataka Watershed Development Project, 463­65 violence water supply, 368 against women, 321 access to in Gaza, 477, 477b11.2 during crises, 479 and climate change, 439, 466n6 impact of natural disasters on women, 450 decline of, 454 Vishaka v. Rajasthan and Others, 339 and natural disasters, 449, 450 visibility, of professional women, 263, 264, 272­73, 299 potable water, 366­67, 369, 399, 400­406 Volta River Estates, Ltd. (VREL), Ghana, 348b8.11 transport of, 376 VOs. See village organizations (VOs) water user groups (WUGs), 244, 244b6.5, 245 VREL. See Volta River Estates, Ltd. (VREL), Ghana water users associations (WUAs), 230, 232, 233, 247­49 VSHLI. See Village Self-Help Learning Initiative (VSHLI) welfare funds, 331­32 vulnerabilities, 4­6 welfare programs, 18 addressing causes of, 495 Well Women Media Project, 394 and biodiversity, 436, 466n12 West Africa and climate change, 439 Sustainable fisheries Livelihoods Programme, 562, 565 classification of, 513­14 women's role in innovation, 294b7.18 during crisis or natural disaster, 479 West Asia, gender and agribusiness, 175 empowerment of vulnerable groups, 515 wetlands, 466n10 INDEX 763 WFP. See World Food Programme (WFP) violence in, 321 WHO. See World Health Organization (WHO) workshops, 408, 436 WID. See Women in Development (WID) World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), 661b15.11, 662b15.12 WIEGO. See Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and World Bank, 3 Organizing (WIEGO) Africa Travel and Transport Project, 379 WIETA. See Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association (WIETA), Agriculture and Rural Development Division, 298 South Africa aquaculture in Asia, 572 WIND. See Work Improvement in Neighborhood Development and conflict analysis, 488 (WIND), Vietnam and extension programs, 257 Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association (WIETA), South Africa, 349 forest strategy, 643, 644­45 WIN project. See Empowerment of Women in Irrigation and Gemi Diriya Project, 77­79, 721­73 Water Resources Management for Improved Food Security, Gender Issues in Monitoring and Evaluation Nutrition and Health (WIN project) of Rural Development Projects, 678 Winrock International, 286 Interagency Gender and Development Group, 40b2.3 women entrepreneurs, 184­91 Land Administration Project, 153, 154b4.1, 156, 157, 287 capacity development for, 192­99 land policy and administration, 125, 165n1 and financial sector, 198 Land Titling Projects, 143 livestock sector, 622 Mainstreaming Hazard Risk Management regionally specific features of, 194­96 in Rural Projects, 494, 496 in war zones, 195­96 Mozambique Rural Roads and Bridges Project, 380 Women for Sustainable Development (WSD), 441 and participatory research, 274­75 Women in Development (WID), 74­75 and PRSCs, 42­43 Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing PRSP Sourcebook, 698 (WIEGO), 332, 333b8.6 Rural Access Index, 378, 413n6 women in politics rural roads projects, 407­10, 414­15n1­7 and governance issues, 25­26 Social Analysis Sourcebook, 682, 721 local government, approaches to, 71­73 and women entrepreneurs, 189b5.5 as policy makers, 37­39, 43­44, 79n4­5 WorldFish, Malawi, 577 Women in Rice Farming Systems, 208 World Food Programme (WFP), 193, 306, 310n5 Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), 295 and food aid, 492, 493 women producers, 69, 80n3, 273 and women trainers, 196 Women's Empowerment Program, Nepal, 65­66 World Health Organization (WHO), 238, 384 Women's Resource Access Programme (WRAP), 160 World Heritage Site, 665 women's rights, 502 World Relief Rwanda, 205b5.11 and agroforestry, 658, 660b15.10 World Satellite Radio, 394 and forestry, 647 World Wildlife Fund (WWF), 139, 166n7 forests as safety net, 650­57, 668n1­2, 668n5 WOUGNET. See Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) recognition of, 147 WRAP. See Women's Resource Access Programme (WRAP) Sri Lanka, 503, 504b11.8 WRDS. See women's rural development societies (WRDS) and use of ICT, 395 WSD. See Women for Sustainable Development (WSD) women's rural development societies (WRDS), 508­11, 516n4 WUAs. See water users associations (WUAs) Women's World Banking, 87 WUGs. See water user groups (WUGs) Women Waging Peace, 505 Wulin Mountains Minority Areas Development Project, 293b7.17 wood and nonwood forest products, 644, 645, 650­61, 668n1 WWF. See World Wildlife Fund (WWF) See also fuelwood wood energy, 653 Y wool production, 604 Yemen, women and water crisis in, 243b6.3 Work for Water programs, 324 youth Work Improvement in Neighborhood Development (WIND), empowerment of through junior farmer field and life schools, Vietnam, 331 305­8, 310n1­7 working conditions, 339, 350­51 skills training for, 330 employee benefits, 351­52 in fisheries, 578, 581 Z information concerning, 326b8.3 Zambia on plantations, 341­42 agroforestry technologies, 660­61 Working Women's Forum, India, 66 pesticide problems, 552, 553b12.18 workplace production of liquid biofuels, 446 health, security and safety in, 326, 338 zoonotic diseases, 611 764 INDEX ECO-AUDIT Environmental Benefits Statement The World Bank is committed to preserving Saved: endangered forests and natural resources. The · 57 trees Office of the Publisher has chosen to print · 40 million BTUs of Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook on recy- total energy cled paper with 30 percent post-consumer · 5,042 lbs. of CO2 waste, in accordance with the recommended equivalent of green- standards for paper usage set by the Green house gases Press Initiative, a nonprofit program support- · 20,928 gallons of ing publishers in using fiber that is not wastewater sourced from endangered forests. For more · 2,687 lb. of information, visit www.greenpressinitiative. solid waste org. The Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook provides an up-to-date understanding of gender issues and a rich compilation of compelling evidence of good practices and lessons learned to guide practitioners in integrating gender dimensions into agricultural projects and programs. The Sourcebook is a joint product of the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and contributions from more than 100 writers and reviewers. " The Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook is a timely and extremely important document as the criticality of increased agricultural investment is never more as clear as today with the potential crisis facing the world's poor with soaring food prices." Nata Duvvury, former Director of Gender, Violence and Rights, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) " The Sourcebook authors have integrated gender issues in meaningful ways into specific sectors within agriculture." Mary Hill Rojas, former Senior Manager of the Women in Development Project Management Unit, Chemonics International " This book is an important step towards revitalizing attention to gender equality in the agricultural sector. This Sourcebook is a new compilation of ideas and examples that will guide practitioners in ensuring that new attention to agriculture is infused with up-to-date knowledge on gender issues." Deborah Rubin, Director, Cultural Practice " This is a very important contribution. I hope that it is widely read by all involved in land tenure policy (not just those who are interested in gender). There is sound analysis and advice on how to ensure that land administration programs can strengthen women's property rights." Ruth Meizen-Dick, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy and Research Institute (IFPRI) ISBN 978-0-8213-7587-7 SKU 17587