News@Participation Website

Gender sensitive participatory approaches to building producer organizations

Français Español Newsletter n. 21, December 2011

Dear reader,

We wish to inform you that this is the last issue of the FAO's Participation Website newsletter. After 12 years of intense collaboration and knowledge sharing on participatory methodologies, approaches and tools it is now time to make room to new initiatives, in a spirit of innovation that builds on the existing knowledge and brings new challenges.

We would like to thank all FAO colleagues and the experts from other research and development organizations all over the world, who contributed to the development of the FAO's Participation Website, making it possible to gather on one shared platform a comprehensive and valuable corpus of knowledge, theoretical concepts and and many practical experiences for making Participation in Development a reality.

Please note that current resources of the FAO's Participation Website (the on-line Library, the Tools and Methodologies database, the Lessons Learned collection and the Newsletters archive) will also remain accessible at: www.fao.org/Participation.

Should you be interested in receiving a free copy of the FAO's Resource CD on Participatory Approaches, Methods and Tools "Participation: Sharing our resources, please place your order prior to the 30th of April 2012.

Clarissa Ruggieri and Bernd Seiffert

________________

Introduction

Main findings of the Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook (2009) and other recent publications confirm that women continue to face inequality in the agriculture sector and expose the dire need to address gender gaps while mainstreaming a gender perspective in any planned action aimed at promoting sustainable development. Women lag far behind men in access to land, credit and decent jobs and their economic opportunities and empowerment remain severely [...]

Key definitions __________________

Glossary on Gender in Farmers'Organizations

Lessons learned_________________

Not without men. Creation of the women’s wing of the Federation of Farmers' Organizations of Andhra Pradesh (FFA-AP) in India

by Coby Meyboom, Ira Stam and Géke Appeldoorn

The process of the creation of a Women’s Wing within the Federation of Farmers' Organizations of Andhra Pradesh (FFA-AP) started in 2008, when the board made the official decision to establish a special Women’s Wing within the structure of the federation. In this process three [...]

Gender mainstreaming in value chain development: Experience of gender action learning system in Uganda

by Linda Mayoux, Janet Biira, Paineto Baluku and Thies Reemer

GALS is a structured community-led empowerment methodology aiming at ‘constructive economic, social and political transformation’. GALS originated in a generic methodology for livelihood development: Participatory Action Learning System (PALS) developed by Linda Mayoux. It which started [...]

SEWA’s organizational model: empowering small-scale women farmers

by Denis Herbel and Reema Nanavaty

Indian agriculture employs almost 60% of the population. The female share in agriculture exceeds those of males, as 72.8 % of women are involved in agriculture activities compared to 48.9% of men . Small and marginal farmers account for about 82% of total farmers in the country. For small-scale [...]

Positive experiences of working women trade unionists of the Banana Unions and the Agro-industrial sector Coordination COLSIBA

by Iris Munguia

It was in early 1905 that the banana industry was settled in Honduras, created by Samuel Semurra. The first companies belonged to the Zemurray Hubbard Company; later, towards the beginning of the first world war, the United Fruit Company acquired 35% of the shares of the second [...]

Promising Practices: How cooperatives work for working women in Africa

by ILO CoopAfrica

In Africa, cooperatives can and do work for working women. Regardless of the sector they belong to or the types of cooperative they represent – whether marketing, financial, workers’, or housing, for instance - cooperatives are powerful vehicles of social inclusion and political and [...]

Gender equity in Rural Producers' Organizations (RPOs)

by Mauro Bottaro

Women make essential contributions to agriculture and rural economic activities in all developing countries. The vast majority of food production attributable to women makes them the principle agents of food security and household welfare in rural areas. Yet, despite their central role in the [...]

Selected documents from FAO

Rural Organizations: A sustainable basis for rural women’s empowerment and participation (draft), FAO; IFAD, IFAD/FAO Grant Programme for Regional Gender Capacity and Knowledge Briefs, 2011, EN, 5 p.

Rural women’s entrepreneurship is “good business”!, FAO; IFAD; ILO; Gender and Rural Employment Policy Brief 3/2010, EN, SP, FR, 4 p.

Agricultural value chain development: Threat or opportunity for women’s employment?, FAO; IFAD; ILO; Gender and Rural Employment Policy Brief 4/2010, EN, SP, FR, 4 p.

Agricultural cooperatives: Paving the way for food security and rural development, FAO; WFP; IFAD, 2011, EN, 4 p.

Aquaculture farmer organizations and cluster management. Concepts and experiences, Kassam, L.; Subasinghe, R.; Phillips, M., FAO; WorldFish Center, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No. 563, 2011, EN, 90 p.

Producer organisations: Reclaiming opportunities for development, FAO (RAF), 2010, EN, 10 p.

Gender in agriculture sourcebook, IBRD, FAO Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Div.; IFAD, Agriculture and Rural Development Series (IBRD), 2009, EN, 764 p.

Livelihood and micro-enterprise development opportunities for women in coastal fishing communities in India – Case studies of Orissa and Maharashtra, Tietze, U.; Siar, S.; Upare, S. M.; Upare, M.A, FAO Fisheries Circulars C1021 , 2007, EN, 69 p.

Promoting farmer entrepreneurship through producer organizations in Central and Eastern Europe, Millns, J.; Juhasz, J., The Institutions for Rural Development Series n. 6 - Working Paper, 2006, EN, 66 p.

Milk producer Group Resource Book: a practical guide to assist milk producer groups, Draaijer, J., 2002, EN, FR, ES, 94p.

Promoting rural women’s cooperative businesses in Thailand. A training kit, Premchander, S; Prameela, V.; Polman, W., 2004, EN, 220 p.

SEAGA, Socioeconomic and Gender Analysis Programme. Field handbook, Wilde, V.L., FAO Women and Population Div., 2001, EN, FR, ES, 194 p.

SEAGA, Socioeconomic and Gender Analysis Programme. Intermediate-level handbook, Huisinga Norem, R., FAO Women and Population Div, 2001, EN, FR, ES, 109 p.

Women groups leadership development and management training, Bhusunde Khola watershed (Nepal), 13 - 28 April 1995, FAO, Rome (Italy). Forestry Dept., Inter- Regional Project for Participatory Upland Conservation and Development, Field document 2/95, INT/542/ITA, 1995, EN, 24 p.

The group promoter's resource book. A practical guide to building rural self-help groups, Groverman, V.; Cook,J. (ed); Thomas, G. (ed), FAO Economic and Social Policy Dept.,1994, EN, FR, ES , 115 p.

Go to: FAO's Participation Website Library

Tools and Methods_______________

Effective /democratic decision making between household and producer organization

Gender Action Learning System (GALS)