1. The Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project has the twin objectives of raising the incomes of families in the hills who are below the poverty line and contributing to improving the ecological conditions in the hills. This would be achieved through leasing blocks of degraded forest land to groups of poor households. The project's target group are farm families with less than 0.5 hectare (10 ropani) of private land and/or an annual per capita income of less than NRs. 2,500 (US$ 50). Female headed households and ethnic groups like Chepangs and Tamangs are especially targeted.
2. At present, the exploratory phase of the project (project year one to three) is under implementation in four contiguous hill districts in the Central Development Region of Nepal. It was tentatively estimated that the project should cover 12 districts in total in the full development phase from project year four to eight. Total project costs have been estimated at appraisal at US$ 20.41 million. About 63% is to be financed by a loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Government of the Netherlands provides a grant of US$ 2.53 million. The contribution of HMG (His Majesty's Government) is to amount to US$ 2.7 million (13% of project costs).
3. The project is being jointly implemented by the Department of Forest (DF), the Livestock Division of the Department of Agricultural Development (DAD), the Agricultural Development Bank of Nepal (ADBN) and the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC).
4. The Department of Forest is having prime responsibility for identifying blocks of land to be leased, processing the lease arrangements, assisting farmers in the formulation of their management plans for the leased land (together with the livestock staff) and providing technical support for forest development. The Livestock Division is being responsible for advising farmers on the incorporation of forage development into their management plans and on-farm forage production possibilities to meet animal nutrition requirements and for providing ongoing technical support on animal health, livestock husbandry and forage development. ADBN through the Small Farmers Development Project (SFDP) mechanism is responsible for identification of target group families, group formation, provision of credit and on-going support to project families. NARC is responsible for carrying out the applied research programme required under the project and providing important inputs such as grass and legume seed, rootstock and improved breeding stock.
5. In view of the innovative approaches to be pursued by the project, technical assistance is being provided to assist the project line agencies in the implementation of the project in the initial years. A technical assistance unit has been established within the Department of Forest. The areas in which the technical assistance component provides support to the project include, among others, the lease process, adaptive research, extension, training, input supply and monitoring and evaluation.
The current status of project implementation is depicted in Table 1.
Table 1: Data on Groups and Sites
(as per 31 August 1994)
number of sites identified |
number of groups farmed |
number of house- holds |
total area (in ha) |
number of operational plans prepared |
number of leases approved by MFSC |
number of sites handed over to groups |
104 |
65 |
473 |
413 |
62 |
54 |
54 |
Besides the above achievements, the project has conducted numerous workshops and trainings for both farmers and field staff. Considerable quantities of inputs in the form of seedlings and seed were delivered to each group. The project has developed extension materials. The credit programme has taken off on a modest scale. A total amount of NRs. 167,600 (US$ 3,408) has been disbursed for goat sheds, buffaloes, goats and land development during the 1993/94 fiscal year. Baseline studies and applied research are conducted. NGOs are currently being involved.
Sex describes the biological sex with which we are born. Sex does not change. Gender describes the socially constructed ways of being women and men, i.e. the gender division of labour, relationship between men and women, differences in roles, behaviour, expectations. Gender indicates the values and behavior attached to the concepts of masculine and feminine. It changes according to culture, class, time, place, etc.
Gender is an important concept within rural development. As development cooperation most often focuses on increasing equity, facilitating gender equity is one of its aims. Because men and women play different roles in society, they have different needs. In the past mostly men's needs have been addressed because men were making the decisions. To counter this bias towards men, women development projects were implemented. Isolating women in such a way often turned out to be not effective. Therefore, gender sensitive project implementation includes both genders: men and women. People's roles, rights, and tasks can be renegotiated according to people's needs, capabilities and values.
For example within forestry women often have an interest in fodder and fuelwood trees, while men have an interest in timber species. This is related to their different roles in the household and towards society. Women's domain encompasses most reproductive tasks (such as fuelwood collection) and productive tasks for subsistence (such as livestock raising). Men's domain encompasses commercial productive tasks. Such gender roles and subsequent needs are clearly determined by social and cultural values.
Regarding gender needs, two types can be distinguished: practical gender needs and strategic gender needs. Practical gender needs are identified by men and women to assist them to perform the tasks they are already doing. Examples are drinking water provision, health care, employment. Meeting these needs improves the quality of men's and women's lives. Women's practical gender needs are especially important to take into consideration because their workload is often highest, their diet is often poorest, and, in general, poverty is 'feminized': women are the poorest among the poorest of the poor.
Strategic gender needs or strategical interests are identified by men and women because of their subordinate position in relation to others in society. Examples are legal rights, equal wages, women's control over their bodies. Meeting these needs enables men and women to achieve greater equality. Because in Nepal women are often in a subordinate position towards their husbands, sons or male in-laws addressing women's strategic gender needs might include changes in existing gender roles. Yet, increasing the so-called strategical space of disadvantaged people goes beyond differences in gender. A key to successfully increasing people's space is to opt for a win-win-game: both men and women benefit from the changes. Through a process of "afno khuttama ubhinu parchha" (stand on your own feet) the village society moves towards an equitable community.
Regarding the issue of 'needs' it is important to find out people's needs as they express them. Outsiders might see a need for increased women's involvement, yet, if women themselves do not perceive it as a need, it will remain a futile effort from outsiders. It is, however, also important to distinguish between 'needs' and 'wants'. Need assessment is not only done by asking the people what they want, but is a proper mix of what insiders see as important and feasible, as well as what knowledgeable outsiders see as important and feasible.
In many cases the needs of different genders are not conflicting. Care should be taken not to frame all needs in terms of men's versus women's needs. Furthermore, gender needs are often only part of wider social needs. Not all men have the same needs. Not all women have. Divisions in caste and class also structure needs. A holistic, yet gender sensitive view is required.
Gender analysis is a primarily practically oriented and qualitative planning tool. It has three components: (I) an analysis of the developmental context and institutional setting from the gender perspective, (II) an analysis of the gender relations in the project area, and (III) an analysis of the project idea or proposal. These components form the basis of the gender analysis framework. The framework is a standard format into which specific information is fitted to arrive at a gender sensitive analysis of a development situation. The framework has four steps or profiles.
CONTEXT PROFILE | |
CONSTRAINTS |
SUPPORTS |
The context profile examines the environmental, social, economic, and institutional factors which make up the development context in a specific area, answering the question "what is getting better, what is getting worse?"
ACTIVITY PROFILE | |||
LOCATION |
ACTIVITIES |
GENDER |
TIME |
The activity profile examines the gender-based division of labour for productive and reproductive activities, answering the question "who does what?"
RESOURCES PROFILE | |||
RESOURCES |
ACCESS BY GENDER |
CONTROL |
BENEFITS |
The resources profile examines the resources women and men each utilize to carry out their activities and the benefits they derive from them, answering the questions "who has what?" and "who needs what?". Together with the activity profile it provides a picture on women's and men's roles as well as needs in relation to the identified intervention sectors. The activity and resources profile constitute the analysis of gender relations in the project area.
PROGRAMME ACTION PROFILE | ||
PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES & ACTIVITIES |
GENDER CONSIDERATIONS |
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROGRAMME ACTION |
The programme action profile examines the interrelationships among the other three profiles and their relevance to the objectives and activities of a specific forestry development effort, answering the question "how do we close the gaps between what women and men need and what development delivers?" It includes an analysis of perceptions and ideas from both project staff and beneficiaries (male and female). These are subsequently matched in a participatory exercise to explore options or scenario's. Based on expected effects for amongst others on gender relations, decision making and planning is started.
The gender analysis itself is not a goal for the project. Gender issues are easily confined to the realms of paperwork, seminar talks, or wishful thinking if not operationalized into a strategy. The analysis being a rather static activity should result in the empowerment of poor, discriminated, and oppressed people, which is a rather dynamic process.
For facilitating empowerment several strategies can be pursued. One strategy is to increase women's involvement, be it through forest-based income generating activities linking women with the mainstream economy, or enhancing their participation in forest user committees. In this integration strategy we often fall into the trap that 'they' (the rural women) are participating in 'our' project or process. Obviously, this is not empowerment in the sense of changing underlying power relations which structure gender relations. Women participating in committees are usually merely attending the meetings, not bargaining for decision-making power. The very act of formalizing forest management and institutionalizing a committee is in practice transferring power from the realm of women (informal forest management) to the realm of men (formal decision making).
Another strategy is to opt for an autonomy strategy by forming all-women groups and committees. The trap is that through this strategy the women often end up with the worst forest land. The women's low status in society is inextricably linked with the rights over access and ownership they can get. These rights are social constructions based on underlying power relations. Initial forestry successes on the degraded land can be established. Empowerment may result already within a short period of time, with women readily expressing themselves in public. But whether this is consolidated through a process of socio-cultural change is questionable. In several cases within community forestry, the all-female forest committee is very active in protection and tree production, but as soon as it comes to distribution and marketing of the products, it is done by men.
The way out of these traps is to facilitate both genders in a process of redefining gender roles, renegotiation of gender positions and explicit bargaining over gender interests. The empowerment process is not a game with winners and losers but one with winners only. The increase of control of poor people, women or discriminated ethnic groups is not at the cost of those in power, but is rather for the benefit of overall development. It is not a matter of control over one each other, but rather control of people's own opportunities and lives. The participation of men in this process is essential and up to the present rather neglected. It proved fruitful to approach men first and ask their consent to work with and organize women. It is equally fruitful to approach men for redefining their position towards women.
Such an empowerment process should be initiated from within, but can be assisted by outside agencies as long as the insiders remain in control. However, women are unlikely to respond to unfamiliar ideas from outsiders they don't trust, particularly if not sanctioned by men (Hughes, 1993). The insiders should build a trust in themselves and in external agencies' Here lies the key for successful gender sensitive outside interventions. The outsiders can contribute to trust building, not by advising, teaching or convincing, but by encouraging testing of technologies, learning from the insiders' indigenous knowledge, practices and organizations, and by praising their capabilities.
Outsiders can also contribute to forming trust relationships. Essential is to see the insiders as actors engaged in their development process or clients to be served rather than passive targets or beneficiaries to whom the outsiders should deliver inputs. By engaging in personal rather than formal contact, by employing sensitive staff rather than influential people the outsiders build up trust relations with the insiders.
Only when personal relations are built at the level of individuals, issues at group and community level can be tackled. For this it is necessary to identify the locus of authority in the community, and to explore its margins or room to manoeuvre. This implies institutional analysis. Based on a wealth and gender inequity, an empowering and even powerful intervention might be necessary to change existing relations obstructing efficient forest management (Hobley, 1985). Examples of successful interventions can be found in the Koshi Hills (Loughhead et al., 1994). Especially for those cases where all-women user groups or committees face problems due to the fact that the improved status of their forest resource is no longer in line with their low social status, intervention strategies should be developed and applied.
