Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

Apart from Education, technologies like ICTs have big role in gender transformative impacts. The growing number of smart phones in rural areas in India including with girls ( though far less compared  with boys) is the game changer (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3681418/Mobiles-… ).The number of Internet users in India was  expected to reach 450-465 million by June'2017, up 4-8% from 432 million in December 2016 (http://www.livemint.com/Industry/QWzIOYEsfQJknXhC3HiuVI/Number-of-Inter… ). The socialnetworking via social media channels like Facebook and Whatsapp are influencing men and women, challenging the established patterns and disruptive too, making women more assertive about their roles, needs etc. The exploitative social norms are being challanged by women making men uncomfortable at times. These tools are likely to bring homogneiety in the society in long run since both men and women will understand what  is good for whole family.

Well planned use of ICTs can bring faster transformative impact in developing societies.

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=smart+phones+in+rural+areas+india+wom…

http://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-news/Smartphones-are-helping-rural-women…

https://www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2013/…

http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/QgM23BLpCo4ovHxA0jpOGM/Rural-India-get…

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/rural-india-poised-fo…

Smartphones are helping rural women get better at business. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Smartphones-are-helping-rural-…

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/in-rural-india-women-now-…

There is no doubt that women face challenges in their everyday life, but the issues that rural women encounter is becoming more complex with the present day scenerio. In Nepal, the rural areas are womenised due to male out-migration. This has expand the public space of the rural women and considered as a positive impact on the women mobility and empowerment. However, this impact is short lived and now the women whose husband have migrated face social scrutiny. The temporary household head title they owned and exercised is now filled with more discrimination and public gaze. The national media bylines showcase the patriarchal mindset to report one-way adultry of women left at home. There are superhit movies that showcase the migration stories of cheating wives. And there are thousands of likes and shares to a link containing cheap storylines against women.

All these acts around us, from national media, national actors/actress to individual social site users is troublesome and also an indicator that we are not yet sensitive enough to view any problem from gender equality or we are yet proud to carry on the patriarchal norms. The problem of a rural women starts from the way she speaks, the way she dress up, the way she laughs. Not to mention with all these scrutiny, she has to carry double workload in absence of her husband.

The present programs on remittances/migration is much focused on safer migration, or channeling the remittances into prodctive investment. However, the safer migration or productive investment will not be enough to bring the change in the discrimination against women. It will just change the form of discrimination.

The economic opportunities for rural women in the present context is involving themselves in the enterpreneruship as most of the rural men are migrated. The left behind women are the sole person to look after the family, take everyday decision and manage the remittances. Thus, the biggest economic opportunity is already at our door, rural women need to realise this situatin and their own potential on how much more they can contribute. However, there are issues of public scrutiny, negative labeling to demoralise the women which needs another policy in action to discourage the immoral actions of the society.

Involving both male and female, father and mother, husband and wife, boys and daughter is the most effective approach to buycott the gender discrimination. We are emphasizing only on daughters to be strong, we are emphasizing only women to be vocal and empower, however we are lacking that how our boys need to be raised, how men need to react or how men behave to gain gender equality.

No doubt, education for girls, sensitization and empowerment of women and the family members are the first step to move towards equality. For this specific policies needs to be in action in specific to the country and the culture in addition to the international treaties. Although, Nepal has progressed in terms of girls education and gender equality compared to other southasian countries, there are still practices of lowest level of discrimation like considering impurity during menstrual period and making the girl stay in shed where she is sometimes raped, biten by snake and die. We have advanced in one form of gender equality at the same time we are not leting go off the traditional norms that discrimanates against women and their body. We advance in technology and education but we lack the wisdom on analysing our discriminatory practices and actions.

To bring about the needed gender transformation, there is need to work with both men and women. Men and women need to agree to change certain things for transformation to take place. Mostly women and men are found at the household level(families) and real transformation has to begin here.

For the last three years I have been working with smallholder coffee producers in cooperative societies in Kenya. For along time coffee at the household level has been taken as a male crop and women only provide labour for production activities. When coffee payments are done, they do not benefit from the incomes because its paid to the men who own the bank accouts or are shareholders. 

Sustainable Management Services Ltd, a company owned by Ecom Agroindusrial commodities introduced the Gender Action Learning System(GALS) to be renamed (Family action Learning System) approach to the producer organisations and the farmers. The aim of the approach is to encourage men and women to have common visions, plan on how to achieve the visions as they also analyse the family issues that can hinder the achievements of those visions. In this way the men and the women start seeing coffee as an opportunity to assist them achieve their dreams. Its out of this that men have been able to let the women have bank accounts from where they access coffee payments. Men have been able to invest in biodigetsres to lessen the burdens for women in the kitchen. With Biogas the men can be able to prepare food. From the visions families are able to buy water tanks for water storare, lessening the burden for women to fetch water from long distances and hills. Women are able to use the coffee payments to secure loans from the savings group and are able to meet other needs of their own. Men have been able to reduce unnecessary expenditures that contribute to the poverty of the family through cooperation with the wives.

For real transformation to take place, there is need to invest in the real things that can assist to remove on some of the barriers that make women not enjoy equality.

Q1. The issue is because of unemployment due to high population. As men have job problems so it is very difficult for women to find jobs in rural areas and therefore women are ignored. The second issue is because of religion i.e. in Islam women are not allowed to move freely in the society like men. In urban areas however due to more education and more jobs opportunities women face less or no problems as compared to rural women. Jobs for rural women is most important otherwise no success.

Q2. I do not agree the approaches and policies are ok for every region in the world. I means different policies and approaches are required for different regions, different countries and different religions.

Q3. Education in rural areas for women. Jobs in rural areas especially for women. The religious scholars can play a huge role to give importance to women in rural areas, etc.

Dr. Amanullah

I am Byansi Hamidu, doing BSc. agriculture, Makerere University, Uganda.

1.The current challenge that most girls face is their circumcision, in kiswahili, "UKEKETAJI" mostly in my home country, Tanzania by some tribes.

2. They too don't get access to quality education, an example is those in my village, Kyerwa, Kagera region, Tanzania, since most men unlike my Father, believe that educating a girl child is wastage of funds.

3. Women in this area lack still access to agricultural resources, no control over some resources and mostly are tortured still.

These challenges are faced most by poor, non-educated, non-political ladies and mostly those young girls who are forced in to marriage before the accepted age.

Those who have moved forward and have become successful, it's mainly because their husbands are already in that area like politics maybe. Others have some resources that others lack, that allow them improve their entrepreneurial skills hence succeed than others.

Policy makers should put in to consideration some of these gender issues. Extension services should reach those girls and women deep in villages and schools, let them know that WITHOUT THEM, THERE'S NO WORLD hence identify their importance in society. Encourage them to get involved in Agricultural activities mostly as groups, this shall make their voice to be heard.

The problem with the private sector, they tend to use men to solve women problems and focus on the so called Technical Know Who!

As we approach 2020, due to increasing opportunities in agribusiness, let the women be encouraged to engage in this venture, let them begin as small groups determined to make a change, policy makers should include women in this process, trust me, there shall be a significant change in their lives.

Set a thief to catch a thief, let women be allowed to look in to women challenges and offer solutions not men. Extension services should move to schools and let this begin with young girls, let them know how important they are to the society, let them be given what they need.

Currently, this issue of Sanitary Pads has spread all over Africa, if this challenge is dealt with, a girl's education can improve, her voice can be heard and this improves the nation, as the swahili saying goes, "Kumsomesha msichana, ni ku elimisha taifa".

Yours

Byansi Hamidu

Rural women and girls of my community lack the  education and  skills.

They need the knowledge that can help them to diversify their production, the financial and mangement skills, the agricultural technicians should be able to go to them than wait for women to come to them, there is need for the young girls to get used to ICTs, learn the technology that will help them  in the future because the rural women are aging.

However those rural women who have been working so hard in increse their production should be motivated by the state.

English translation below

Pregunta 1: ¿Cuáles son los principales desafíos a los que se enfrentan hoy las mujeres y las niñas de las zonas rurales?

En Chile, las mujeres rurales jóvenes están fuertemente vinculadas a cumplir su rol reproductivo y del cuido, especialmente en edad temprana y muchas veces comenzando en la niñez . Aun no han logrado una mayor autonomía que las libere de la responsabilidad exclusiva de las tareas reproductivas y de cuidado. En una sociedad patriarcal , predominante fuertemente en el sector rural la división sexual del trabajo aun necesita mucho tiempo para cambiar.

No obstante esto, según cifras de la CEPALSTAT, se ha verificado un aumento entre 1995 y 20015 de las mujeres rurales que han entrado en la actividad económica, en Chile. Esto se debe a que ha aumentado el acceso de las mujeres a la educación lo que ha permitidoen cierto sentido , el retraso del matrimonio y la reducción de las tasas de fecundidad y de mortalidad materna.

La expansión en el acceso a la educación a comienzo de los 90 con el apoyo de los gobiernos democráticos resulto en la expansión sustancial del numero de escuelas en el sector rural , facilitando así el acceso de las mujeres rurales . También programas como “Chile Califica” dio oportunidades educativas a las mujeres rurales que no consiguieron terminar su educación primaria. Programas de especialización técnica organizados por el Ministerio de Agricultura, El SERNAM ( hoy Ministerio de la Mujer ) entre otros abrieron mas oportunidades para que las mujeres rurales se integraran en mejores condiciones al mercado de trabajo, realizando trabajo rural no agrícola, o trabajando en los consorcios agrícolas creados a partir de la la mecanización del campo y exportación horticultura . También hay que agregar que durante los años 90 hubo una gran movilización para organizara las mujeres rurales e indígenas, y con apoyo del gobierno se creo la Mesa de dialogo de la Mujer Rural que abocó permanentemente por la integración de las mujeres a la actividad económica, al empleo decente. A esto se suma que en el marco del proceso de la modernización del Estado también se creo y funciono por varios años ( hoy debilitada) los PMG de Genero ( programas de Modernización del Estado con perspectiva de Genero ) donde se incentivó a las instituciones del agro a realizar e implementar actividades dirigidas a las mujeres rurales e indígena .

Un fenómeno importante que ha estado ocurriendo en los últimos 10 años es la feminización del campo chileno especialmente en la agricultura familiar. La migración de varones jóvenes con mejor educación y especialización en busca de mejores alternativas laborales ha ido en aumento , especialmente motivados por las diferentes alternativas económicas que se han abierto en el mercado chileno.

Question 1: What are the main challenges rural women and girls are facing today?

In Chile, young rural women are strongly committed to fulfilling their reproductive and caregiving role, especially at an early age and often beginning in childhood. They still have not achieved greater autonomy that frees them from the exclusive responsibility of the reproductive and caregiving tasks. Changing the gender division of labour in a patriarchal society, highly prevalent in the rural sector, requires plenty of time.

Nevertheless, according to CEPALSTAT statistics, the number of economically active women has increased in Chile between 1995 and 2015. This is due to their increased access to education which has, to a certain extent, delayed marriage and reduced the fertility and maternal mortality rates.

With the support of democratic governments, wider access to education in the early 1990s significantly increased the number of schools in the rural areas. The access to education for rural women was facilitated as a result. Programmes such as “Chile Califica” also provided educational opportunities to rural women who failed to complete their primary education. Technical specialization programmes organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and SERNAM (nowadays the Ministry of Women) among others, provided more opportunities for the successful integration of rural women in the labour market, either doing rural non-agricultural work, or working in agricultural cooperatives that were established following agricultural mechanization and the increase in vegetable exports. There was also a major mobilization to organise rural and indigenous women during the 1990s. With the government support, the Rural Women's Dialogue Table was established and continuously advocated for the integration of women in economic activity and for decent employment. In addition, and within the framework of the national modernization process, Gender-responsive State modernization programmes were also implemented for several years (nowadays these programs have weakened), encouraging agricultural institutions to organise and implement activities aimed at rural and indigenous women.

An important trend in the last 10 years is the feminization of Chilean rural areas, especially in family agriculture. The migration of better trained and specialized young men in search of better employment opportunities has increased, especially due to the diverse economic alternatives that have emerged in the Chilean market.

Is our understanding of the challenges rural women and girls are facing still up-to-date?

There is a saying, if you are able to diagnose the problem, half the problem is solved. We have to think, are we solving the right problem? On the gender transformative front, it seems to be true that we are not designing our interventions towards attaining early transformative impacts. Gender roles for instance, continue  as tradition in many societies. Cattleshed cleaning, feeding cattle, collecting grass/fodder for livestock and fuledwood collection by women are some invisible works where women predominantly engaged since very long and there  is little shift in this primarily due to mindset even of women that they feel it is fine that not men but women doing these menial tasks. This will continue for long unless women are encourgaged for higher education. Once educated, women may not like to do these menial tasks but look for more productive engagement. Whatever developmental interventions are made to shift in these roles for transformative impact, it won't change the scenario much unless efforts are made to tackle the root cause i. e poor educational level of women mostly in poor and developing countries. The education is the key which will empower women that they will look for their roles in skilled work. In some cultures, women would not like to see their men doing certin tasks like cleaning of house and utensils, cooking food or baby sitting! It is very fundamental that women and men must think that there is no difference whether men is doing or women is doing the task - work is work whether men do it or women do unless specific skills needed which either men or women can do it well due to some kind of uniqueness.

Looking forward to interesting and stimulating contributions from diverse world!