The project began in March 1995. As one of its first activities, a steering committee was established 18 September 1995. It included members from the Planning Commission, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, and FAO. The Ministries of Community Development, and Women's Affairs and Children were not represented, nor was the Office of the Prime Minister. The National Coordinator from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives on Tanzania Mainland joined the project in October 1995, and the National Coordinator from Zanzibar joined in February 1996. The acting- Commissioner of Planning in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives served as the overall project coordinator. A PRA trainer and a gender analysis trainer also were contracted.
The goal of both the training and field-work was to analyse the actual situation of women and men in the specified villages. The PRA tools were chosen after a field trial at the FAO-assisted project "Women in Irrigated Agriculture" GCP/URT/103/NET, conducted at Igurusi's Utengule-Usangu Basin in Mbeya.
The training consisted of five to eight days in the classroom to introduce the theoretical and methodological aspects of PRA and Gender Analysis, and eight to ten days in the field with practical exercise and application of the chosen tools in selected village communities. The location of the field exercise was selected jointly by regional and district staff. Village leaders and residents were responsible for selecting the villages where the PRA clinic was to be concentrated. Field exercises included community meetings between villagers and the visiting PRA team, determination of the preferred location, wealth ranking and household interviews, focus group interviews, problem identification, and designing of community action plans.
The PRA process itself, and how it was reflected at regional and national levels, is best seen in Diagram 1 below.
Three training events (Mbeya, Dodoma and Zanzibar North) and three field PRAs (Ileje District, Dodoma Rural District and Zanzibar North District) were held (see the table below and map in Annex 2). In all, 49 government staff were trained including 17 women. The objective of the training was to increase efficiency and gender responsiveness in rural development policies and programmes through identification, targeting and representation of the women and men farmers as well as increasing knowledge of and analysing the needs of the beneficiaries.
S.N. |
Village |
District |
Region |
Agro-ecological Zone |
1. |
Izuba |
Ileje |
Mbeya |
Southern/Western Highlands |
2. |
Isongole |
" |
" |
|
3. |
Ilule |
" |
" |
|
4. |
Pwani Mchangani |
Zanzibar North |
Zanzibar/Unguja North |
Coastal Zone |
5. |
Kinyasini |
" |
" |
|
6. |
Misufini/Bumbwini |
" |
" |
|
7. |
Handali |
Dodoma -Rural |
Dodoma |
Semi-arid |
8. |
Ilolo |
" |
" |
The objective was to train ministerial staff, policy-makers and planners in the agricultural and rural development sectors on the value of (1) gender analysis and participatory approaches for addressing the needs of rural women, and (2) mainstreaming gender issues into agricultural and rural policies, planning and programme development. The training exercises aimed at integrating gender issues into the planning process, as well as the policies, programmes and projects of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Specifically, the PRA-collected information was used to:
· identify the gender-based division of labour in household and agricultural production, focusing on workload and access to/control over resources that constrain or enable women's participation in farming;
· assess the institutional situation and linkages and study the differences between women's and men's perceptions of different institutions; and
· analyse men's and women's different needs, constraints and opportunities.
The PRAs also showed participants the value of using gender analysis and PRA techniques to collect gender-disaggregated information at the community level. It was hoped that this experience would enable them to carry out similar gender-sensitive participatory rural appraisal (GA-PRA) exercises in their work and understand how to make agricultural planning more gender-responsive. It also was hoped that the PRAs would enhance farmers' capacities to share their knowledge about farming, rural life, and local development problems and opportunities with the agricultural staff participating in the project.
Regional Workshops
Three regional technical workshops were held to disseminate findings of the PRA and Gender Analysis research and fieldwork. Regional and district government staff, NGOs and representatives from rural women associations were invited.
The workshops provided a platform for discussing issues arising from the GA/PRA research, and to exchange views on ways to make agricultural programmes and projects at the regional and district levels more responsive to rural women's needs and constraints. They also provided an opportunity to formulate recommendations on gender-sensitive changes in agricultural policies and programmes. The recommendations of the regional workshops were divided into three categories: research, data collection and dissemination methods; gender sensitisation and training; and policy reform and coordination.
Research, data collection and dissemination methods
· Write case studies on socio-cultural causes of gender imbalances in farming.
· Create gender-disaggregated data banks that will enable policy-makers and planners to make resources available to farmers on the basis of gender roles and specific gender needs.
· Establish appropriate data collection mechanisms which make effective use of multi-disciplinary teams in data collection, by promoting PRA in combination with other research methodologies.
· Study human labour requirements for agricultural and household activities in order to create appropriate technological solutions.
· Assess gender-specific differences in the utilisation of traditional and modern agricultural technologies.
· Encourage NGOs and community-based organizations to participate in the collection and dissemination of gender-disaggregated information using means that are accessible to participants (e.g. broadcast and print media).
· Distribute documents to government officials (from village to national levels) on gender issues regarding agriculture and social issues.
· Encourage the activities of cultural and drama groups that sensitise communities to the need for including gender in all levels of development planning, and emphasise the consequences of neglecting gender concerns.
Gender sensitisation and training
· Make an inventory available experts in PRA and gender analysis who can train staff and community members at district and regional levels.
· Prepare training modules for in-service training of agricultural staff on using PRA methods in inter-disciplinary teams, as a tool to increase people's participation in the planning process.
· Develop training packages on socio-economic and gender analysis, with emphasis on tools for identification, generation, analysis and presentation of gender-disaggregated information.
· Refine agricultural policies in order to mainstream gender in the formulation and implementation of these policies.
· Emphasise the goal of achieving food security at household level through addressing existing gender imbalances.
· Encourage greater participation of women and men farmers in needs assessments during the formulation and implementation of project and programmes.
· Promote gender equity in ownership and control of agricultural production resources by reviewing and revising all laws which discriminate on the basis of gender, in order to mainstream gender concerns in agriculture or other sectors related to agriculture.
· Establish coordinating committees to encourage and supervise the mainstreaming of gender into agricultural plans and programmes.
Training and Sensitisation Material
The project has produced:
· PRA reports for the three GA/PRA areas
· Research reports for the three areas, including PRA results, available statistics and findings of other research studies
· One video for use in workshops and training
Gender Training for Senior Ministry Staff
Thirty one senior staff members, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources in Zanzibar, including policy-makers and managers, attended gender planning methodology training in December 1996. A similar training was organized on the mainland in May 1997, for 20 senior staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
The training brought together Ministry of Agriculture staff members, to sensitise them to the necessity of understanding gender needs of farmers when allocating resources to the agricultural sector-an understanding to be based on an analysis of differing gender roles in farming systems. It was necessary to obtain a common understanding of gender analysis, to offer information on the present gender status of selected Ministry of Agriculture project activities, and to introduce tools to analyse gender roles and gender needs in selected Ministry of Agriculture project activities.
The National Workshop
In July 1997, a national workshop was held in Dar es Salaam, opened by the Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives. Its main purpose was to prepare a National Action Plan for Gender-Sensitive Agricultural Planning and Programmes by outlining actions to be taken up to and beyond the year 2000.
After a presentation of the PRA and research findings, participants were divided into four working groups: Zanzibar and Mainland NGOs; Zanzibar agricultural staff; Tanzania Mainland agricultural staff; and Zanzibar and Mainland governmental staff. The groups were asked to prepare guidelines for integrating gender-sensitive planning into their respective activities. Discussions led to the identification of overall goals, objectives, strategies, actions, responsible agents/institutions and the time frame for achieving the planned measures. The following is a summary of the recommended measures.
_ Raise public awareness on gender issues, from grassroots level to the national level, in order to initiate gender-sensitive planning.
_ Review existing planning processes and guidelines and identify areas where gender-sensitive planning can be incorporated.
_ Collect, analyse and disseminate gender-disaggregated information, to increase understanding of existing gender gaps in different farming systems in order to target main stakeholders in agricultural development.
_ Encourage greater utilisation of gender-conscious research methodologies, such as PRA, especially in identification and analysis of gender needs in the communities.
_ Establish and strengthen gender resource centres for the documentation of gender-disaggregated information at all levels.
_ Promote training, study tours, seminars and workshops at the district and regional levels after an inventory of training needs.
_ Review, evaluate and monitor existing gender analysis programs at district and regional levels and strengthen the existing monitoring activities in the ministries.
_ Improve information on women's contributions to agriculture through the collaboration of NGOs and government agencies.
_ Place emphasis on reliable and adequate data, especially for gender-sensitive issues.
_ Identify NGO strategies and activities that will strengthen governmental development efforts, especially relating to gender analysis.
Summary of Project Events
Official start of the project Actual beginning of the project Official end of project |
March, 1995 October 1995 June 1997 |
Getting Started · First Central Steering Committee meeting: · National Coordinator Mainland appointed · National Coordinator Zanzibar appointed |
September 1995 October, 1995 February 1996 |
The PRA Process · GA-PRA orientation training, GA-PRA field-work and household surveys · Mbeya training and fieldwork · Zanzibar North training and fieldwork · Dodoma rural training and fieldwork · Regional workshops |
6-27 November 1995 18 November - 7 December 1996 12-18 January 1997 and 4-15 April 1997 |
Finalization of Outputs and National Workshop · Gender Training senior ministry staff Zanzibar · Gender Training senior ministry staff Mainland · National Workshop |
December, 1996 May, 1997 July 1997 |
