The PREVINOBA case study shows that real development opportunities exist in Senegal thanks to a participatory approach open to gender issues, and sustainable, efficient and egalitarian rural development planning.
Rural forestry might be viewed a priori as a sector in which women do not play a determinant role because of the question of land ownership over which they have few rights. However, today, the field of forestry and natural resources is practically the preserve of women. To hide the importance and role of female actors in the planning and management of land and natural resources can lead in many cases to failure. The study "Impact of Forest projects on Women" notes that in 1995, in 8 projects in which data was broken down by sex, 81% of the beneficiaries were women.
In occupying land and introducing planning mechanisms, women have gained substantial benefits: income diversification, technical, management and literacy training, simplification of household chores, information/awareness-raising on current development issues, advancement of their power. Given the traditional Islamic environment in which they have grown up, these represent a significant step forward. However, in the initial stages, neither the dynamics of the project nor its strategy firmly aimed at participation did not take account of options open to gender issues. Gender analysis was not foreseen.
In PREVINOBA, as in the whole forest sector, clear needs for gender information and training remain unfulfilled if one aims at a systematic application of the GAD approach which will lead to planning more in tune with reality. Nevertheless, given the actual state of the social organization of village communities in Senegal, certain gender analysis tools, which would complete the participatory approach in terms of equality, can only be operationalized with difficulty. By way of example, most rural women do not pose men/women equality or the power of women as objectives. Others do not question, for the time being, the division and type of work according to gender which currently exists.
The outline of the action plan to integrate a GAD approach in the planning and management of natural resources produced after the days of reflection in March 1995 remains valid. This plan should be finalized to permit rapid application. The training initiatives that PREVINOBA has taken constitute the start of implementation.
