MAINSTREAMING GENDER FOR SUSTAINABLE SOIL MANAGEMENT.
WHAT IS THE RELATION BETWEEN SUSTAINABLE SOIL USE, MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION AND GENDER EQUALITY
Sustainable use of soil is the use, management and conservation of soil to meet the changing human needs of the present generation while at the same time ensuring that the soil can also meet the needs of the future generation. To achieve this, men, women, boy and girl have to be involved actively. For the soil use to be sustainable, soil has to be managed properly and its inherent qualities has to be conserved.
WHAT ARE THE DISTINCT ROLES FOR WOMEN, MEN, BOYS, AND GIRLS IN SUSTAINABLE SOIL MANAGEMENT
In the rural areas, women, men and boys play a prominent roles in farming activities from land clearing, tillage operations and other agronomic practices including fertilizer application while the girls are engage in domestic chores.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN GENDER-BASED CONSTRAINTS?
The main gender-based constraints in sustainable soil management is the significant gender-based gap and inequalities in land ownership, secondly putting women behind in important discussions settings from the local to the global world, about the nature of the problems and possible solutions or coping strategies.
WHAT PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS AND APPROACHES COULD HELP OVERCOMING SUCH BARRIERS?
Women play vital roles in agricultural systems, thus they have good knowledge about plants and agricultural techniques that might help adaptation strategies. If women aren’t at the “table” when coping strategies and adaptation approaches are discussed, this knowledge won’t be represented. And the solutions include:
- To empower women and to broaden their exposure in sustainable soil management, conservation and food security.
- Programs should strengthen, educate to build on the women’s knowledge and help create more awareness relating to soil management.
- To create awareness on the ability of women in order to expose them worldwide and for them to be partisans in decision making.
- Meeting Lands authority to enable women to have easy access to lands, so as to have maximum protection of the soil, and conserves it properly.
HOW CAN THE PROMOTION OF GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABLE SOIL MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION.
- Promotion of gender equality will enhance the participation of women in sustainable soil management and conservation.
- If women are empowered, it will reduce the labor burden of rural women, making them to concentrate more on sustainable soil management and conservation.
- It will make women have easy access to the land they farm.
- Promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment is crucial for the achievement of a zero hunger world.
WHICH INTERVENTIONS AT POLICY AND PROJECT/FIELD LEVEL ARE OF UTMOST PRIORITY?
Policy interventions of utmost Priority include:
- Eliminating discrimination against women in access to agricultural resources, education, extension and financial services, and labor markets.
- Investing in labor-saving and productivity-enhancing technologies and infrastructure to free women’s time for more productive activities; and
- Facilitating the participation of women in flexible, efficient agriculture to enable women to be aware of the economic importance of agriculture because it’s a source of gainful employment.
Mme Comfort Eze