Executed by: the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations

Funded by: the Government of Norway

This regional project aims to develop mechanisms for the implementation of gender-sensitive policies, programmes and participatory technology development for the in-situ conservation, sustainable use and management of agro-biodiversity for food security. These mechanisms will build on the local knowledge and skills of both women and men food providers and will take account of the environmental context which is shaped by natural resource degradation, national and international legislation, and economic policies for food, agriculture and the environment.

The project’s ambition is to leave behind stronger institutions and structures in the region which will have a better understanding of the capacity of local communities to preserve agro-biodiversity for national and global food security, and which will be better placed to argue for the recognition and further strengthening of supportive strategies in global forums.

In order to do this, the project will work at three levels - community, intermediate and policy - in pursuit of the following three objectives:

• increase men’s and women’s own sense of recognition and value of their own indigenous knowledge systems and apply this knowledge to strengthen their position as local food providers and managers of agro-biodiversity;

• increase development workers’ and policy makers’ capacity to (a) recognize and value men’s and women’s indigenous knowledge systems; (b) use participatory and gender responsive approaches in their work with the holders of this knowledge; and (c) apply this understanding and capability in planning, research, project management and policy development;

• overcome the political, legislative, socio-economic, and cultural barriers to the local management, conservation and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity.

Communications will be key to meeting these objectives. Thus much of the first phase will be dedicated to building capacity at both the community and intermediate level in the use of innovative communications approaches to give value to indigenous knowledge systems and to bring out and share that knowledge on all levels - among the people and communities themselves, with government departments, NGOs and others who interact with communities and with national and regional policy makers.

The project will be developed in a participatory manner with all the stakeholders to ensure that the mechanisms developed are sustainable. This implies that the project will evolve and change during its lifetime in response to the experiences and needs of the beneficiaries. A second phase will be prepared on the basis of the findings of the exploratory and capacity-building first phase which will reflect the needs and priorities for further technical assistance in this field.

The project is timely, as there is heightened awareness at national, regional and international levels of the need for distinguishing between, and building on, the wealth of women’s and men’s local knowledge for the in-situ conservation, utilisation and management of agro-biodiversity in ongoing processes such as the development of National Environment Action Plans and the Southern African Biodiversity Conservation Project.

Start up missions have already taken place in Zimbabwe and Tanzania and host institutions have been identified in these two countries. The project will be hosted in Zimbabwe by the Southern African Regional Network on Indigenous Knowledge Systems (SARNIKS) and in Tanzania by the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre. The first activities are scheduled to begin in September in both these countries. Start up missions to Mozambique and Swaziland will take place in the next 6 months.

Project activities will be planned and supervised by National Steering Committees and managed by a National Co-ordinator in each participating country. International Technical Advice and co-ordination will also be regularly made available from the FAO’s Women in Development Service, part of the Women and Population Division of the Sustainable Development Department at FAO’s headquarters in Rome.

Activities will be carried out through discrete contracts with participating partners. These can be NGOs; research, training and educational institutions; government agencies; women’s groups, and other relevant groups working on gender, indigenous knowledge and agro-biodiversity issues in the four countries.

The project will build on existing strengths and institutional expertise to:

• Use gender analysis and participatory research and communication for development methods to work with rural communities to understand and value their own knowledge systems and build their capacity to respond to and benefit from change,
• Document men’s and women’s distinct indigenous knowledge systems as well as lessons learned in using gender-sensitive and participatory approaches to promote the conservation of agro-biodiversity, and
• Share this information and lessons learned with those responsible for programme and policy formulation and implementation.

Country reviews undertaken in formulating this project revealed that while a few institutions are sensitive to local knowledge systems and to the importance of understanding and valuing gender roles in the management of food security and conservation of agro-biodiversity, many more are not. Even where good projects and programmes are being carried out, the wide range of sectors involved, the rigid boundaries between sectors and the hierarchical divisions between grassroots activists and decision makers, constrains the development of holistic approaches. On occasion, people are constrained by limited resources from implementing more gender responsive strategies. Often, highly skilled technical professionals do not have the background or the knowledge to be able to incorporate social and economic perspectives into their work. Also, many policy and decision makers simply do not know about or understand the complexities of natural resource management at community level. Even when descriptions of proposed new projects are sensitive to women's and men's local knowledge, the use of existing staff and unchanged systems, often means that implementation is carried out in a top down, information imparting way. Alleviating these constraints requires more flexible structures, improved accessibility to relevant information, training in social and gender analysis and participatory approaches, and an appreciation of indigenous practices.

In order for this situation to improve, three things need to happen:

1. First, local knowledge systems in agriculture and rural development must be recognized and valued by development researchers, specialists and officers at all levels, in order that strategies based on this recognition can be developed and redirected to secure sustainable livelihoods for rural communities, as well as to sustain the biological diversity of their environment. Critically, it must be recognized that men and women often have very different skills and knowledge, which together create a knowledge system specific to local conditions, needs and priorities.
2. Second, policy-makers and development specialists must also be sensitized in order to integrate these issues into the policies and practices for which they are responsible. In the long term, this integration will mean a revision of, in particular, environment, agriculture, land tenure and rural development policies, and a questioning of current strategies and market-driven systems currently in place which often devalue LinKS, agro-biodiversity and rural women's priorities. In essence, national capacity must be enhanced to redirect policies to incorporate the potential of local knowledge systems. While many individuals are increasingly aware that these issues are valuable, there are many sceptics who still find local knowledge "unscientific". At the same time, decision-makers need to understand and support the holistic nature of local knowledge systems. Development organizations and agricultural research institutions are increasingly realizing that "sector-specific" development efforts have often failed due to a lack of accounting for efforts, constraints, and potentials in different parts of an agricultural system. The growing of crops is not segregated from the raising of animals, the collection of wild foods, supply of fuel wood or the care of soils in many rural production systems, and all contribute essentially to the food security status of a household.
3. Third, there is a need for women and men in rural communities to be enabled to gain greater awareness of the external factors that shape their management of natural resources, in order that they can decide how, if at all, to increase their capacities to influence those factors. Policies developed and implemented over the next five years will critically affect their abilities to maintain agro-biodiversity at community level, and it is vital that they are aware of the issues and are involved in and able to contribute to the debates and discussions.

In essence, this project is about linkages. This includes understanding the linkages between:

• the crucial issues of local knowledge systems, gender roles and relationships, food provision and the conservation and management of agro-biodiversity; and
• those who hold the knowledge of use and conservation of agro-biodiversity and those people and forces which have an impact on men’s and women’s ability to manage and apply that knowledge.

And building linkages between:

• the major players in the debate over the use and management of plant and animal genetic resources, including farmers and their organizations, the private sector, NGOs, women's groups, research and educational institutions, government agencies, policy makers, legislators, etc. in each country; and
• national, regional and international players.

1. Men and women working with local knowledge systems and all those who depend on natural resources for their livelihood through their farming, fishing, forestry and herding activities.

2. Those working with local communities on indigenous knowledge and agro-biodiversity issues:

• External agents who interact with local communities (extension, community development, project staff, etc).
• Decentralized governmental structures (research, extension district/local committees, environmental programmes etc )
• Programmes and projects (bi-/multi-laterals, associations and NGO's, religious organizations, etc) especially those that allow representation by local people/interest groups.
• Those working in the environmental and agricultural/rural development sectors whose work impacts upon local communities and their capacities to conserve, use and manage genetic resources in a sustainable way:
• Policy and decision makers, development researchers and technical specialists (including those in the private sector).

3. A number of key resource persons and institutions at regional and national levels, including those in governmental bodies, non-governmental organizations, federations/associations and independent persons, which are working on agro-biodiversity and indigenous knowledge issues in the environment and agricultural sectors, especially those:

• Responsible for networks and resource centres
• Involved in key decision making fora/committees and in policy formulation.

The strategy of the project is guided by two important factors: firstly that there are existing projects and programmes in agriculture, health and nutrition, environment, and community development which are addressing issues of local knowledge, agro-biodiversity and gender, but which suffer from being carried out in isolation from, or ignorance of work which is going on in other sectors or at different levels, or from being implemented in a gender insensitive way. Even where gender responsive activities in agro-biodiversity or LinKS are being carried out, they are usually poorly documented, so useful information is not shared and lessons are not learned.

The second factor is that the context into which the project is being introduced is changing rapidly and the timing is critical: the international agreements and national legislation frameworks which are soon to be (or currently being) implemented (eg. Biodiversity Convention, National Environment Action Plans, Agricultural Policy Reviews), will impact significantly, possibly negatively, on men's and women's management at local level of natural resources for food security. However, plans, programmes and projects stimulated by these legislative agreements do not link the crucial issues of agro-biodiversity, production systems, gender issues and food provision.

The underlying strategy of the project is to generate and document information about local, indigenous knowledge systems (LinKS) and food provision, and to establish a mechanism whereby the information generated is taken up and used by communities, NGOs, research institutes and governments. The project links the different areas of expertise in different sectors, agro-ecological zones and levels of hierarchy in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique and Swaziland.

The project is executed by FAO, who provides overall coordination and direction, technical assistance, and monitoring and evaluation support during project implementation. The aim is to develop effective collaboration with and between governmental and non governmental institutions working on biodiversity, LinKS and gender nationally and regionally. This will enable the project to provide support to, build on, and strengthen what groups are already doing and avoid duplication of efforts. Co-ordination of work, advice on strategic priorities and sharing of experiences is to be ensured by a National Advisory Team in each country, comprising representatives of key institutions and/or organizations contracted to carry out activities under the guidance of the project.

Technical backstopping is provided through FAO, in particular the Women in Development Service. An International Technical Adviser, consultant, recruited by FAO is to conduct regular missions to provide technical advice and supervision and to strengthen linkages with the Sustainable Development Department and other Technical Divisions.

The project is to be managed by National Coordinators (NC), who will implement programmes in each country. The National Co-ordinators are advised and supported in each country by National Advisory Teams (NATs). These should be flexible groupings of national/regional resource persons, organizations, and experts who are involved with the co-ordination and implementation of project activities.

The project's approach builds on existing strengths and institutional expertise, whilst strengthening managerial, coordination and technical capacities and improving the quality of projects and programmes. Given the wide range of areas covered and projects and programmes already being undertaken, it is more cost effective to concentrate on facilitating linkages and improving communication between different areas of existing competence. Therefore the project is not intended to create an institution or separate body, but rather to complement the work and broaden the scope of the institution within which it is based, and of those with which it interacts.

The selection criteria for institutions with which to work include at least one of the following:

• an involvement in LinKS/environment/gender or agro-biodiversity work;
• a philosophy which reflects the importance of grassroots knowledge and skills;
• the use of participatory approaches in implementing research and practical work;
• a commitment to sharing rather than extracting information;
• and a commitment to reflect the needs of communities rather than the needs of the institution;
• capacity to influence policy/decision makers, recognition within the development community, and quality of work.

Throughout the life of the project, contracts are to be made with local and regional institutions and experts to stimulate, encourage or promote activities in the following three areas:

1. the gathering and documentation of useful unpublished material; the production and/or repackaging of information materials in formats that make them appropriate for sharing with a range of audiences, from men and women at local level, NGOs, extension agents, local council officials, technical officers, to national and international policy and decision makers, particularly those working on issues of food security, sustainable agriculture, environment and agro-biodiversity;
2. the stimulation of further activities through documentation and sharing of existing good examples, careful targeting of small grants and research, and specific support to institutional structures (eg training, gender sensitization);
3. advocacy work at all levels - policy and decision makers, UN agencies, NGOs, national and local government officials and community groups - in order to improve people's own abilities to maintain their biodiverse environments and practise sustainable agriculture, and to create an enabling policy environment.

Initially, the focus will be on identification of expertise across different sectors and production systems regionally and nationally. With the assistance of FAO, essential networks, key persons and institutions will be identified in each country, and links established. An information base will be set up to collect and make available case studies of activities, approaches, methodologies and innovative communication methods. The case studies will be gender sensitive, and will derive from different sectors. There will also be a fund to document previously unrecorded examples of good practice.

During the work, gaps in information relevant to the aims of the project will be identified. Research will be commissioned to learn from experience and processes and identify limiting factors in production systems, in order to guide strategic interventions and improve capacities of smallholder farmers to practice agro-biodiversity for food security.

It is hoped that the research will include sensitive socioeconomic analysis that will begin to highlight the true value and benefits of conserving local resources. Further studies will be commissioned on the national and regional implications of the implementation at different levels of international conventions and legislation, which will then be repackaged and disseminated for different audiences.