Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

Here are two reasons that some technical solutions that promote economic development for women in poverty do not succeed.

1) People in extreme poverty need to make money immediately.

2) People in extreme poverty do not have a large amount of investment funds.

The microloan industry has identified how women in extreme poverty hope to increase their income. AEAS needs to develop ideas that will help these women. For example, I particularly like the idea of AEAS preparing YouTube videos that provide vocational training for rural women living in poverty.

Here are examples of YouTube vocational training videos that might be needed by people who want to increase the income of extremely poor women who raise pigs in a tropical lowland or arid land environment.

What do successful pig farmers do differently that other farmers should do?

What is the best way for extremely poor women in a tropical lowland or arid land environment to provide food security and nutrition for pigs and chickens?

What is the best way to build a pigsty in an arid or lowland tropical environment?

Given commonly available food, what should extremely poor women be feeding their pigs so that they thrive?

Given common diseases of pigs in an arid lowland tropical environment, what preventive measures should be extremely poor women be taking for pigs?

Here are examples of YouTube vocational training videos that might be needed by a person who wants to increase the income of extremely poor women who raise chickens in a tropical lowland or arid land environment.

http://www.accessagriculture.org/making-business-home-raised-chicks

http://www.accessagriculture.org/working-together-healthy-chicks

http://www.accessagriculture.org/taking-care-local-chicken

http://www.accessagriculture.org/feeding-improved-chickens

Note that these videos show rural women in the process of increasing their income and providing better nutrition. The video scripts can be heard in a variety of languages. In particular, the videos are produced with poor women in mind. Without information of this type workers in the field will not have access to the technical knowledge they need to help extremely poor women.

AEAS can effectively promote gender equality by enhancing their role in Producer Organizations (POs), Self Help Groups (SHGs), Dairy Cooperatives. In India, women dairy cooperatives and SHGs are some good examples where women could participate and develop confidence by engaging themselves in economic activities. The AEAS can think of making women aware about the role of POs, Cooperatives and  SHGs in empowering them.

http://teca.fao.org/discussion/promoting-women%E2%80%99s-participation-…

Taking a thread from Edye Kuyper's  comment on role of youth vis a vis AEAS, I am encouraged to share my blog posts at YPARD & AESA which speak how AEAS can engage more with youth - who are the future farmers. When we say youth, we should mean both men & women - normally in farming context in developing countries like India, often we relate only men with farming. This mindset has its manifestations at different levels and AEAS are no exception who often approach elderly male of the households to share information and services.

1. The Extension and Advisory Services (EAS) shouldn’t ignore youth, anymore! http://www.ypard.net/testimonials/extension-and-advisory-services-eas-s…

2. Mentoring rural youth to make agriculture attractive.https://blog.gfar.net/2017/05/24/mentoring-rural-youth-to-make-agricult…

3. 15 July: It’s WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY Today. http://www.ypard.net/2016-july-15/15-july-it%E2%80%99s-world-youth-skil…

4. Youth: Potential Target For Agricultural Extension. http://www.aesa-gfras.net/blogse.php?id=1019&title=Youth:%20Potential%2…

When youth are targeted by AEAS for changing the mindset including for the issues like gender equality and improved nutrition dividends are likely to be more!

English version below

Здравствуйте уважаемые организаторы и участники данной дискуссии.

Я хотел бы представить свои комментарии как на английском, так и на русском языке, так чтобы участники, которые не говорят на английском языке, смогли ознакомиться с моим мнением.

По моему мнению, мероприятия по распространению знаний и сельские консультационные услуги AEAS играют важную роль в улучшении здорового питания и ключевую роль в гендерном равенстве.

Говоря о здоровом питании, я имею ввиду, сбалансированное и правильное питание, необходимое для здорового образа жизни для всех. Участвуя, в тренинги INGENAES по вопросам внедрения аспектов гендерного равенства и здорового питания в сельские консультационные услуги, я почерпнул много нового для себя, то есть усвоил новые знания. Мне кажется, что знания определяют убеждения, и убеждения составляют основу действий. С этой точки зрения, я полностью согласен, что распространение знание является ключевым фактором решения многих вопросов. Однако, распространение знаний может быть эффективным и не достаточно эффективным. Эффективность распространения знаний должно определяться усвоением. А раз так, то мы должны правильно подбирать инструменты и методы распространения знаний для каждой целевой аудитории. Тренинги для специалистов AEAS могут отличаться (и адаптированы) от мероприятий по распространению знаний для домохозяйств.

Что касается, гендерного равенства, то это очень чувствительный аспект для нашего региона. Любые подходы, методы, инструменты и содержание AEAS должны быть тщательно рассмотрены, протестированы, прежде чем они будут применены на практике. Мы не можем, просто копировать разработанные модели AEAS направленные, на гендерное равенство. Опять же говоря о гендерном равенстве, мы должны четко определить в каком контексте мы это рассматриваем, например, гендерное равенство в семье, в обществе, в сельской общине, в коллективе, и что мы подразумеваем под равенством, и каковы цели этого равенства. Также, мы должны рассматривать гендерное равенство в увязке с национальными, культурными, религиозными, семейными ценностями. Возможно, мы должны глубже понять, почему мы говорим о гендерном равенстве, ведь гендерное равенство это само по себе не окончательная цель. Мы хотим рассматривать гендерное равенство, потому что хотим обеспечить справедливое распределение ресурсов, вкладов, времени; здоровье и благополучие; удовлетворенность текущим положением; уверенность в завтрашнем дне, для всех независимо от пола, возраста, семейного или общественного положения, уровня обеспеченности и физических способностей. И это, я считаю, окончательной целью мероприятий AEAS, направленных на гендерное равенство и здоровое питание. Поэтому, понимание текущей ситуации и поиск решений для ее улучшения является отправной точкой AEAS, в которой работники AEAS являются ключевой движущей силой. И поэтому, AEAS должны тесно быть увязанными с другими секторами, как здравоохранение, образование, спорт, культура, а также учитывать возможности таких секторов, как банковская и кредитная система, налогообложение и страхование, ИКТ и социальные сети, и многие другие.

Что касается, вопросов данной дискуссии, то мои комментарии следующие:

EНасколько, по вашему мнению, AEAS должны участвовать в процессе более всестороннего развития, выходя за рамки предоставления и облегчения доступа к знаниям, информации и технологиям?

Однозначно, AEAS должны не ограничиваться только традиционными методами распространения знаний и информацией, и предоставлением консультационных услуг по сельскохозяйственным практикам. AEAS должны использовать инновационные и эффективные практики и методы.

С какими конкретными проблемами вы столкнулись, которые препятствуют AEAS преодолеть гендерное неравенство и обеспечению здорового питания для всех?

Гендерное равенство и питание имеют широкое разнообразие аспектов в зависимости от контекста. Не существуют универсальных подходов, методов и инструментов. Они должны быть адаптированы для каждой целевой аудитории. При этом необходимо четко определить какие окончательные цели мы преследуем мероприятиями AEAS.

Знаете ли вы, какие-либо примеры, где AEAS успешно справляются с гендерным неравенством и поддерживают улучшение результатов питания? Какие факторы, включая конкретные подходы и инструменты, привели к успеху?

Если мы подразумеваем под «успехом» - справедливое распределение ресурсов, вкладов, времени; здоровье и благополучие; удовлетворенность текущим положением; уверенность в завтрашнем дне, для всех независимо от пола, возраста, семейного или общественного положения, уровня обеспеченности и физических способностей, то таких примеров я не знаю. Но есть примеры, которые направлены на содействие достижению этих целей. Например, Программа «Развития малого бизнеса и получения доходов» (район Бай-Алай, Ошская область, Кыргызстан), осуществляемая Хельветасом в консорциуме с Фондом Ага Хана, представляет собой пример планирования с учетом гендерных факторов для долгосрочной работы по сокращению бедности в в сельской и городской местности и улучшения занятости особенно среди молодежи и женщин. http://baialai.kg/images/151024_ENG_FInal_Report_GSS_BAI_ALAI.pdf

Как вы думаете, какую роль должны играть и основные мероприятия должны осуществлять глобальные форумы, такие как Рабочая группа GFRAS по вопросам питания, содействуя АЕАС стать более гендерно-ориентированными и способными способствовать улучшению питания?

Прежде всего стать платформой для многостороннего обсуждения вопросов улучшения здорового питания для всех; основанном на всестороннем участии основой для разработки стратегий, инструментов, методов, направленных на улучшения здорового питания для всех; источником коллективных знаний, ресурсов для разработки подходов; платформой для создания, обсуждения и согласования будущих сценариев и моделей развития AEAS, у учетом национальных приоритетов, ценностей, тенденций, а также национальных, культурных, религиозных, семейных и ценностей в различных контекстах; базой для коллективных действий, направленных на улучшение здорового питания для всех.

English Version

Dear facilitators and participants of this discussion,

I would like to share my comments in both English and Russian, so that participants who do not speak English can understand my message.

In my opinion, AEAS play an important role in improving nutrition and a key role in gender equality.

Speaking about healthy nutrition, I mean the balanced and proper nutrition necessary for a healthy lifestyle for all. Participating in the INGENAES trainings on the introduction of gender and nutrition aspects in rural advisory services in Central Asia and the Caucasus, I learned a lot for myself, that is, I gained new knowledge. It seems to me that knowledge determines beliefs, and beliefs form the basis of action. From this point of view, I fully agree that spreading knowledge is a key factor in solving many issues. However, the dissemination of knowledge can be effective and not sufficiently effective. The effectiveness of the dissemination of knowledge must be determined by its digestion for further actions. And if so, then we should correctly select the tools and methods of disseminating knowledge for each target audience. Training for AEAS specialists can be different from those and adapted to rural households.

As for gender equality, this is a very sensitive aspect for our region. Any approaches, methods, tools and content of AEAS should be carefully reviewed, tested, before they are applied in practice. We can not, just copy the developed AEAS models aimed at gender equality. Again speaking of gender equality, we must clearly define in what context we are considering, for example, gender equality in the family, in society, in the rural community, in the office, and what do we mean by equality, and what are the goals of this equality. Also, we should consider gender equality in relation to national, cultural, religious, family values. Perhaps we need to understand more deeply why we are talking about gender equality, because gender equality itself is not a final goal. We want to consider gender equality, because we want to ensure an equitable and fair distribution of resources, inputs, time; health and wellness; satisfaction with the current situation; confidence in the future, for all regardless of gender, age, family or social status, level of wealth and security and physical abilities. And this, I believe, is the ultimate goal of AEAS activities aimed at gender equality and healthy nutrition. Therefore, understanding the current situation and finding solutions to improve it - is the starting point of AEAS, in which AEAS agents are the key driving force. Therefore, AEAS should be closely linked with other sectors, such as health, education, sports, culture, and take into account the opportunities of such sectors as banking and credit system, taxation and insurance, ICT and social networks, and many others.

As for the questions of this discussion, my comments are as follows:

To what extent do you think should AEAS be involved in broader development, going beyond providing and facilitating access to knowledge, information and technologies?

Definitely, AEAS should not be limited to traditional methods of dissemination of knowledge and information, and provision of advisory services on agricultural practices. AEAS should use innovative and effective practices and methods.

What specific challenges have you encountered that hinder AEAS from addressing gender inequalities and promoting nutrition?

Gender equality and nutrition have a wide variety of aspects depending on the context. There are no universal approaches, methods and tools. They must be adapted for each target audience. At the same time, it is necessary to clearly define which final goals we pursue with AEAS activities.

Do you know any examples of AEAS successfully addressing gender inequalities and supporting improved nutrition outcomes? What factors, including specific approaches and tools, led to success?

If we mean by "success" - an equitable distribution of resources, inputs, time; health and wellness; satisfaction with the current situation; confidence in the future, for all regardless of gender, age, family or social status, level of security and physical abilities, I do not know such examples. But there are examples that are aimed at helping achieve these goals. For example, “Small Business and Income Creation” programme (Bai Alai district, Osh Region, Kyrgyzstan) implemented by Helvetas in consortium with Aga Khan Foundation represents an example of gender sensitive planning aimed at long-term work for poverty reduction, alleviation of inequality between village and city, and improvement of employment opportunities, especially among youth and women. http://baialai.kg/images/151024_ENG_FInal_Report_GSS_BAI_ALAI.pdf

What do you think the role and main activities should be of a global forum such as the GFRAS Nutrition Working Group in helping AEAS to become more gender-sensitive and able to contribute to improved nutrition?

Above all, become a platform for multilateral discussion on improving healthy nutrition for all; participatory developing strategies, tools, methods, to ensure the improvement of healthy nutrition for all; collective knowledge resources; resources for developing approaches; a platform for the development, discussion and harmonization of future scenarios and models for the development of AEAC, taking into account national priorities, values, trends, as well as national, cultural, religious, family and values in different contexts; avenue for collective actions towards nutrition for all.

After a week’s activity, this discussion is generating very insightful contributions. I note several emergent themes:

• AEAS are extremely influential in household agricultural decision making, and historically they have favoured men and the agricultural activities that men are more likely to control.
• The ability to feed a growing population depends on the capacity of all farmers to improve their productivity, but women farmers typically have less access to information and market opportunities than men farmers.
• Promising strategies that engage both men and women exist. They require changes in the mindsets of organizational leadership, new approaches to AEAS training, and modifications to how they do their jobs.

One key to changing the way things are done is to engage young people in the process. Parents and educators know that once children are sensitized to an issue, they are hard to dissuade and can even influence the adults in their lives to change behaviours. Young agricultural professionals have a vital role to play in developing new ways of providing extension and advisory services, both now and in the future. Pre-service training that includes basic nutrition content will empower future AEAS staff to think more critically about how their services may impact household nutrition, and marketplace availability of nutritious foods.

I would also like to acknowledge the vital role that the country representative for Bangladesh of the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) played in catalysing this online discussion. As the discussion continues, we therefore encourage you to also share inputs that consider the role of youth. More specially, it would be interesting to hear your opinion on the constrains to empowering youth in AEAS, and your ideas on how youth can influence the nutrition and gender issues through AEAS in your own communities.

I want to share with my opinion regarding our discussion topic. We know that the number of people in the world is growing by about 70-80 million people a year. If we look at agriculture and the provision of food, each person tends to increase consumption, and the relative consumption also increases due to population growth.  The new agricultural technologies could help households to higher the quality and quantity of their products and have access to healthy food.  From my experience in Feed the Future Tajikistan health and nutrition activity I can say that the main agricultural activities in rural areas done by women, and they need access to resources, knowledge and services. 

What challenges does agriculture face in future?

1. Lack of new irrigated land.
2. Climate change.
3. Soil degradation.
4. Deficit of fresh water.
5. Food Waste-Compromising Food Security.
6. Resource Depletion.
7. Population growth.

Of course all these challenges would bring us to hunger and poverty. It is a time to think about integration gender in nutrition activities, which should be considered by Extension providers and give answer to the question "Will there be enough food to satisfy the growing population?"  Through agricultural extension and advisory services to both men and women we can prevent hunger and poverty. 

India’s agricultural sector formally employs 80 to 100 million women (32.8% women against 81.1% men), since a big majority of women remain invisible farm worker preparing the land, selecting seeds, preparing and sowing to transplanting the seedlings, applying manure/fertilizers/pesticides and then harvesting, winnowing and threshing, women work harder and longer than male farmers. Women are more engaged and mostly informally in the sub- sectors like animal husbandry, fisheries and vegetable cultivation which almost solely survive on women. But we don’t see many women in training or capacity building programmes, bank loans, farmers’ educational visits, farm exhibitions unless these programmes are meant or mandated exclusively for women farmers. Though of late in India, women focused extension training programmes are being emphasized but when these are common for men and women, it is men who prefer to attend meetings & trainings etc. themselves than sending women from the households. In our study, we found the information level of women in animal husbandry remains low as their access to information sources, mass media, visits to credit, veterinary and input related institutions remain limited. Significant differences in information level of women and men livestock owners were observed even though the participation of women in livestock training programmes is on the rise. Suitable efforts are needed in modification of mode of training, content and training methodologies owing to differential training requirements of women farmers.

It’s due to poor formal participation of women in programmes organized by formal institutions, they miss the opportunity to improve not only their awareness, knowledge and skill base in farming  but also lack the opportunities to know about improved nutritional practices for better health of them and their families. Many reports have suggested women in India are anemic and have associated problems arising out of malnutrition. Further, mother’s education, according to the NFHS, is highly correlated with the level of malnutrition among children. Children of illiterate mothers are twice as likely to be undernourished or stunted as children whose mothers have completed at least high school. The differentials are even larger when severely undernourished children are considered. Children of illiterate mothers are three times as likely to be severely undernourished as children of mothers with at least a high school education. The Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services in India have to take note of this neglected dimension in their strategies. It is equally important to skill farm women on agricultural practices and their nutrition needs as well.

https://www.lap-publishing.com/catalog/details//store/ru/book/978-3-848…

The roles of agricultural extension and advisory services in gender equality and improved nutrition cannot be over-emphasised. The caution however is that, for better targeting, women empowerment should be the focus rather than gender equality. This has been found to be a prudent approach in sub-Saharan Africa.

The capacity building opportunity associated with extension activities as functional bridge between researchers and primary producers if properly harnessed can promote women empowerment. Evidences of successes abound where extension activities in post-harvest processing, through development of novel recipes from locally available crops have promoted healthy household nutrition. 

Effective capacity building models of women producers can raise productivity and increase income. Production of high value horticultural crops presents a potent means to improve women producers''  livelihood resilience and nutritional wellbeing. 

However, key success factors are the capacities of the change agent, relevance of advisory service as well as the ability of the proposed intervention (which must be a package) to build systemic capacities by integrating the socio-economic situations in the local economy.  

Agricultural extension and advisory services can play an imperative role to ensure gender equality and improved nutrition globally. Firstly by providing capacity building opportunities to rural communities toward community development in the form of groups. Secondly by integrating extension and advisory services to education by introducing nutritional campaigns in schools for sustainable nutritional intake among male and female children which will lead to healthy and nutritious life.

Capacity building programs will provide knowledge sources and skill enhancement for farming communities (including male and female farmers) to boost up farm production, similarly nutritious campaigns will ensure nutritional intake among male and female children, which will lead healthy life. In the same way extension and advisory services by female extension staff can target women participation in various agricultural activities to grow healthy and nutritious vegetables and fruits at household level. This practice will confirm gender equality in agriculture and will ensure nutritious food intake among farming communities.

I just wanted to share my experiences in evaluation of integrated programmes in food security, nutrition and gender in Tanzania.

I remember a case where, we identified through an evaluation that there are crops that are culturally considered "women crops" in certain areas. Invariably these include vegetables, ground (pea) nuts, beans among others. It was evident that when the "women crops" value chains were recognized and strengthened, then women increased their incomes from such crops and had significant control of incomes from the same. When we shared this insight with the local government officials (District agriculture and Trade officers), they were surprised and said "We as government prioritizes maize and rice in the districts, if only we knew that these are "men crops" and has effect on gender dynamics as much as incomes and control are concerned, then we would have atl east included some of these crops (peanuts especially) in the district plan so as to benefit women and thus poor households. 

Another case was about coordinating nutrition programs especially for pregnant women and infants at the district level. It was observed that the agriculture wing of the local governments have extension workers that sensitize communities on biofortified crops such as the orange fleshed sweet potatoes, however there are also CSOs based community development/health personnel who educate poor households on issues of nutrition (and sanitation). At the same time, there are Ministry of Health community champions who do the same. The challenge was that even within the same communities, these community extension workers, do not know each other and neither do they know what the other is doing.

There are a lot of examples, however I can sum that the following in respect of the two cases are clear and have significant effect on gender equality and community development:

1. It should be understood that there are women and men crops at the community level, and the so referred to as "women crops" are more nutritious. They also have higher potentials to increase women (and household) incomes and nutrition, but only when policies recognize and intentionally include them in district/national agricultural development plans.

2. There are overlapping mandates on community nutrition interventions between government extension officers and CSOs and private sector. Coordinating such initiatives through community champions helps in integrating the roles and providing effective and holistic services.

3. The need to build capacity of extension workers to integrate food security, nutrition, sanitation and gender is something to be pursued.

We in the LIVES project have been working with the national extension system in Ethiopia and are happy to share our experiences in relation to gender equity. Below please find a summary of our experiences.

Best regards,

Azage Tegegne

LIVES Project Manager

 

LIVES project approaches, experiences and lessons in gender-responsive agricultural extension and advisory services

In recent times, the landscape of agricultural extension and advisory services in Ethiopia is changing with new roles, actors and relationships coming into play. Several initiatives have been taken by the government, development partners and civil society organizations to deliver market-oriented, gender-responsive and climate-smart extension and advisory services.  

Development agents in Ethiopia are no more focusing on technology transfer alone but are required to facilitate linkages and innovation along the value chain and need to have a broader set of skills than previously was needed.

My contribution aims to reflect on the approaches, experiences and lessons of the LIVES project in developing the capacity of public extension services to design and deliver gender-responsive agricultural extension and advisory services. The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project is jointly implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in partnership with public and private partners at different levels.

LIVES intervenes in four regions to capacitate the public extension system in market-oriented development approaches. Core to LIVES interventions is gender equality and women’s empowerment. The project has tested innovative approaches to increase the participation of women in value chain development interventions. Key features of LIVES gender strategy and methodology include: conducting gender analysis; setting gender targets; collecting gender-disaggregated data; conducting gender reviews of project plans and reports; and organizing women-focused study tours and field days.

Two participatory approaches - couples training and household coaching and mentoring - have proved effective in addressing gender constraints in reaching out to women both in male- and female-headed households. The LIVES project adopts couples training – training both husband and wife – on the ground that male household head only training can suffer training application challenges, as husbands rarely transfer learning to their household members.

The project experience shows that adopting couples training approach has several advantages. For example the approach has:

• Improved collective household decision and action, as it increases access to knowledge and skills by women in male-headed households and enhances their acceptance and ability to share knowledge within the household and with neighbours.
• Increased training application, as the couples share knowledge and support one another in applying trained knowledge and skills in the workplace.
• Increased knowledge and information sharing through informal and formal interactions of women networks.
• Helped male development agents mitigate socio-cultural constraints to working with women producers, since husbands are trained with their wives and the couples have developed action plans for knowledge and skills application with a follow-up technical support from development agents.   

There are, however, challenges to implementing the approach. It requires closer engagement with development agents to convince them and develop their confidence in the approach. It also requires engagement with couples to discuss training utility and what the household could change as a result of the training. Another constraint is venue and duration of training events. Couples training events should be organized in places where women in male-headed households can return home on the same day. Training should be village based, given at times suited to women's workload and should focus on practical skills and technologies selected and prioritized by the women.

The other approach is household coaching and mentoring. The project adopts this approach to address training transfer challenges and increase learning opportunities for women and youth in male-headed households.  The project has provided intervention households with regular follow-up and technical support in applying learned knowledge and skills in the workplace.

As for couples training, household coaching and mentoring approach has several advantages. For example, it has:

• Enhanced interactions among household members, leading to increased sharing, learning and collaboration, and adoption of improved technologies and practices.
• Helped fill learning application gaps and continue the learning process after training sessions through practice and feedback.  
• Facilitated spontaneous dissemination of knowledge and skills among producers through the demonstration effects of coached and mentored households, who have provided assistance to other producers in acquiring new knowledge and skills.
• Helped male development agents reduce socio-cultural constraints to reaching out to women in male-headed households.

In conclusion, we have observed that, as a result of couples training and household coaching and mentoring interventions, women in male-headed households have come forward as leaders of value chain activities. Women are more practical and eager to apply learning from training sessions. They have influenced their households to make changes based on new knowledge and skills gained. It is expected that the resulting social and economic empowerment of women would give them more recognition as equal partners in the household and in the community as well. Involving partner staff in the organization and facilitation of couples training and household coaching and mentoring has helped develop awareness, willingness and skills to increase the participation of women in learning and sharing events. Coaching and mentoring of public extension staff has increased willingness and ability of project partners to involve more women in project interventions.