March 2012: A very interesting article in French in New Agriculturist March 2012 on les clubs d’écoute in Niger (Community listeners' clubs) and the work of l'ONG VIE - Kande Ni Bayra ('Apporte ton savoir') and Dimitra.
"[...] Mariama, comme beaucoup de femmes au Niger, n'avait pas voix au chapitre lors des décisions engageant la vie de la communauté telles l'accès à la terre, au crédit et à la formation. Encouragées par l'ONG VIE - Kande Ni Bayra ('Apporte ton savoir') et Dimitra, projet de la FAO qui ancre son action depuis 1998 dans les dimensions du genre, de l'information et de la communication vers et avec le monde rural, les populations ont mis en place à partir de 2009 des espaces pour partager l'information et transformer qualitativement leurs conditions de vie. Ces espaces de dialogue s'inspirent du modèle des clubs d'écoute communautaires encadrés par Dimitra au Sud-Kivu (République démocratique du Congo) dès 2003."
Dimitra Newsletter 21: Women’s access to land
March 2012: Bulletin Dimitra 21 is now available in English and French. This issue focuses on particularly innovative activities that enable women to have better access to land in several African countries.
Dossier: Action learning workshop on the capitalisation of good practices
March 2012: Newsletter 21 of Dimitra is available online in English and French. See page 11: Within the framework of FAO’s Knowledge Management and Gender Programme, the Capitalisation of good practices in support of agricultural production and food security project organised an action learning workshop on the capitalisation of good practices in Niamey (Niger) from 5 to 9 December 2011.
The action learning workshop in Niamey was attended by 21 people, a third of whom were women. It brought together the Capitalisation project team, several members of the IARBIC project (Intensifying agriculture by strengthening cooperative input shops), of the Emergency Rehabilitation and Coordination Unit (ERCU), ONG-VIE (Dimitra’s partner), as well as representatives of three producers’ organisations: Mooriben, the Réseau national des chambres d’agriculture du Niger (RECA – National Network of Nigerien Chambers of Agriculture) and the Fédération des Coopératives Maraîchères du Niger (FCMN-Niya – Federation of Nigerien Market Gardening Cooperatives). The participants went away with an action plan and a promise to meet again in three months to exchange their good practice sheets. A handbook on the capitalisation of good practices with a gender dimension is due for publication in 2012.
International Women’s Day: FAO gender policy aims high
8 March 2012, Rome: One of the keys to eradicating hunger and extreme poverty is to increase social, educational and economic opportunities for women and girls. A new Gender Equality Policy launched today by FAO aims to place the improvement of gender equality at the center of the UN agency’s work to boost sustainable agriculture and development. “FAO's gender policy underscores the Organization’s commitment to addressing gender and women’s issues to eradicate hunger and poverty,” said FAO Director-General Graziano da Silva.
Intervention of Belgium at CSW56: 'The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges’
March 2012, New York: From the intervention of Belgium at CSW56 - 2012, Interactive Expert Panel 1, 28 February 2012.
".....L’empowerment individuel et collectif des femmes rurales est un axe prioritaire de la stratégie belge dans le secteur de l’agriculture et de la sécurité alimentaire. Les femmes jouent un rôle crucial dans la production agricole des pays en développement, ce qui fait de celles-ci d’importants agents de développement économique. En outre, la part considérable de la production vivrière imputable aux femmes fait de celles-ci les principaux agents de la sécurité alimentaire et du bien-être des ménages en milieu rural. Malgré cela, les femmes rurales restent le plus souvent « invisibles » lorsqu’il s’agit d’investissements, de politiques et de programmes. L’effort de la Belgique en la matière vise à ce que les femmes puissent participer, sur un pied d’égalité avec les hommes, au développement agricole et aux bénéfices qui en découlent et, de la sorte, contribuer pleinement à la sécurité alimentaire et à la croissance économique en milieu rural. [...] Dimitra, géré par la FAO et soutenu financièrement par la coopération belge dans le cadre d’un programme « genre et connaissances » est un projet d'information et de communication participative qui contribue à améliorer la visibilité des populations rurales, particulièrement des femmes. Le projet vise à permettre aux femmes rurales et à leurs organisations de faire entendre leur voix aux niveaux national et international. Ainsi il contribue à améliorer leurs conditions de vie et leur statut en soulignant l'importance et la valeur de leurs contributions à la sécurité alimentaire et au développement durable."
56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York from 27 February to 9 March 2012
February 2012, New York: The fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 27 February to 9 March 2012. See especially Interactive Expert Panel 1 on The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges. Archived webcast available.
Closing the gap between men and women in agriculture
January 2012: New FAO animation: Closing the gap between men and women in agriculture. It aims to maintain the momentum of the key messages delivered through The State and Food and Agriculture 2010-11: Women in agriculture – closing the gap for development. See video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDM828TpVpY An accompanying website ( www.fao.org/sofa/gender ) offers a topical approach to closing the gender gap in access to agricultural resources, inputs and services, with key facts and policy recommendations broken down by theme, allowing visitors to quickly access the specific information they need.
Training Workshop "Capitalisation, Knowledge Management and Gender."
December2011, Niger: From 5-9 December 2011 in Niger, under the framework of the "Knowledge Management and Gender" and especially the project "Capitalisation of good practices in support of agricultural production and food security", a training workshop was organized.
The workshop brought together representatives of producer organizations, development projects, emergency projects and other partners. This workshop was highly participatory and aimed to build capacity through a process of learning and action. This training enabled participants to have a clear idea of of knowledge management, capitalisation and good practice, while taking account of gender.
Video interviews from from the Capitalisation Team at ShareFair, September 2011
December 2011: Video interviews from the Capitalisation Team attending the Second Global AgriKnowledge Share Fair Sharefair are now online on YouTube.
Capitalisation Team presents theatre piece: Le warrantage équitable
December 2011: The Capitalisation Team attended the Second Global AgriKnowledge Share Fair, 26-29 September 2011 at IFAD headquarters. There they presented a theatre piece on "Promotion of gender-sensitive practices for inventory credit": see video of "Le warrantage équitable". This piece highlighted the good practices that contribute to making inventory credit equally accessible to all women and men, especially the most vulnerable.
The warehouse receipt system, or countering price volatility
October 2011, Rome: Food price volatility is likely to persist, making farmers, consumers and poor countries even more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity, according to the latest report on hunger in the world, released today by the three UN agencies based in Rome. FAO has developed a solution to enable small farmers in Niger to be able to purchase agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilizers. With the warehouse receipt system, you can put the crop as a token of a refund credit, and sell when prices rise. We listen to Fatouma Déla Sidi, national expert in Gender in Niamey(interview in French).
Agricultural products and the warehouse receipt system
October 2011, Rome: FAO has developed a solution to enable small farmers and operators of Niger to get better prices when buying inputs such as seeds and fertilizers. The solution is to incorporate in the draft warehouse receipt, that is to say an inventory credit system by which, rather than sell the crop immediately, the small producer and the small producer is the pledge of repayment a bank loan, and the window of opportunity to resell at a profit.
Interview (in French) with Fatouma Déla Sidi, national expert in Gender, on the project in Niger 'Capitalization of good practices to support agricultural production and food security'. She presents the warehouse receipt system (warrantage) as a way to cope with the volatility of food prices. The women say, "For one million CFA can put 100 bags of millet as collateral for the warehouse receipt. After 6 months, when I paid off my credit, I can offer for sale my 100 bags of millet and can pay big dividends in lean period during the winter."
Capitalisation Team attending the Second Global AgriKnowledge Share Fair
September 2011: The Capitalisation Team is attending the Second Global AgriKnowledge Share Fair, 26-29 September 2011 at IFAD headquarters. They are presenting a session on "Promotion of gender-sensitive practices for inventory credit". This session will highlight the good practices that contribute to making inventory credit equally accessible to all women and men, especially the most vulnerable. You will hear about two cases in Burkina Faso and Niger where inventory credit is practiced and learn how farmer organizations, decentralized financial institutions, advisory service providers, and others participated to document this process. You will also learn about how this initiative has been using mobile phones and radio listener’s’ as an innovative way of sharing knowledge among community members. (28 September, 1400-1530, room C100)
New Programme brochure
September 2011: New brochure available on the FAO-Belgium Partnership Programme "Knowledge Management and Gender". Available in EnglishandFrench.
