Programmes and experiments in support of women in agriculture
Although still in the embryonic stages, a range of government and non-government initiatives seek to involve women in leadership and decision-making and to improve their access to resources and services. Programmes and policies aimed at rural women in particular signal a growing recognition of their contribution to household food security and to the well-being of much of the Namibian population. In its analysis of changes since Namibian Independence, this report has highlighted measures which seek to redress political, legal, social and economic imbalances faced by women farmers. Additional trends and programmes of merit are discussed below. It must be stressed that this study does not do justice to the wealth of innovation and experimentation occurring at the grassroots level. Moreover, the value of development Programmes lies as much in the experience and lessons they offer as in the success.
On the most basic level, programmes have aimed to promote awareness and sensitivity to gender issues in government circles and among the general public. An initiative, supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), seeks to ensure that women's concerns and priorities are fully integrated into national planning processes. The programme emphasizes training in gender-sensitive planning for civil servants and networking among key Ministries, including MAWRD, and the National Planning Commission (NPC), responsible for development planning in the country.
The fledgling inter-ministerial gender network could prove an important forum for urging policy-makers to incorporate gender in national and sectoral planning processes. Similarly, an effort by an NGO, the Namibia National Women's Organization (NANAWO) educated parliamentarians on issues of women and health and urged them to involve women in their constituencies to address these concerns.
Gender-sensitive planning must be backed up by appropriate research and analysis, a process which has only recently begun in Namibia The NPC's Central Statistics Office, in consultation with government departments, research centres and NGOs, has devised a strategy to generate, analyze, present and disseminate gender-specific statistics. This process represents an important step in overcoming the dearth of statistics needed to inform policy. The Ministry of Education and Culture has established a system of gender-based statistics to monitor differential enrolment and retention rates. Other important research initiatives include the research project of the Legal Assistance Centre and the economic and legal study of the Owambo regions, undertaken by the Namibia Development Trust (NDT) and the University Law Faculty. There are plans to replicate the latter survey in other communal areas. It is envisaged that a new gender research unit at the University of Namibia (UNAM) research centre, the Social Sciences Division, will promote ongoing and systematic research and policy discussion around gender issues.
Research findings are also being made accessible and disseminated at the local level Although practice is not widespread, simplified versions of the Division of Rural Development's socio-economic survey of the South and the NDT study have proven useful for promoting awareness of the obstacles faced by rural women and for generating debate on development options. The Owambo survey also formed the basis for designing workshops for rural men and women on the implications of customary law. The Central Statistics Office is coordinating the production of a simple booklet with data on women and men in Namibia.
Despite these steps forward, women farmers remain underrepresented in national-level planning and research, even in sectoral initiatives that target the communal areas.134 However, soon to commence is a programme supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization and MAWRD to integrate women into agricultural development programmes. An important component of the programme will be to improve national agricultural planning through the development of gender-sensitive data collection and approaches to planning. The programme also aims to train extension staff in socio-economic and gender analysis so that regional experiences and needs flow into agricultural and rural development plans and policies.
Efforts also aim to make the public aware of women's rights and of gender issues -the relations between men and women. Namibia is fortunate to have supportive leadership. The President and Prime Minister have been two of the nation's most vocal supporters of women, examples which pose a small but significant challenge to the male dominance prevalent in many rural areas. The radio and print media ensure that debate and discussion of the obstacles faced by women reach a wide audience. The Government newspaper, New Era, is mandated to emphasize community and rural development issues and does so in both English and indigenous language articles135 These efforts are complemented by campaigns and information, such as that prepared by the Legal Assistance Centre to inform local groups of the rights of women and children enshrined in the Constitution. As noted earlier, the Department of Women's Affairs has simplified and translated the UNCEDAW into Namibian languages to stimulate discussion at all levels.
In rural schools, efforts are underway to make the curriculum gender-sensitive and to provide guidance and support to girls to overcome gender-barriers when choosing careers. For example, the NANAWO branch in the Okavango region is encouraging girls in secondary schools to consider non-traditional careers, including agriculture professions.
Although not gender-specific, education and media campaigns have also been actively used to educate the public on issues of direct relevance to rural women. Government ministries and NGOs together have produced publications and radio Programmes on topics such as AIDS, wise water use, and the causes of desertification.
Lively debate and informed planning and research are instrumental to creating the legal and policy environment to support the advancement of rural women. Progress has been limited, in part due to the slow and cumbersome translation of polices into legislation. However, new policies, such as a plan to develop an agriculture bank for the communal areas or a policy to establish conservancies for community-based wildlife management, signal greater attention to the need for a legal and policy framework to underpin rural and agricultural development. These policies display some gender sensitivity and would improve the access of rural women to essential resources.
The Co-operative Act, now under review by Parliament, is a notable example of both participation in the policy process itself and of legislation which can create the conditions for local-level organization and control of credit and other productive resources. An advisory committee of government and NGOs developed the policy through broad consultation, and the committee will become a legally-recognized board once the Act is passed. The policy encourages the development of autonomous co-operatives as vehicles for empowering women and, as discussed earlier, stipulates the participation of women in management structures.
As legal reform and policy development continues, programmes and interventions are targeting rural women at the local level. The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development (MAWRD) is implementing several measures aimed at improving extension capacity and outreach to communal farmers in general, and to women farmers in particular. One important initiative in Namibia is the Division of Rural Development's Household Food Security Programme (HFS), closely supported by UNICEF. The programme aims to enhance household food security, particularly for female-headed households, by improving agricultural services and rural development support to women and by reducing the time and labour of women on burdensome tasks. The programme trained rural development extension staff, now incorporated into the main agricultural service, in communication skills, participatory development, and, importantly, on concepts of household food security and gender. In addition, the extension staff mobilize local participation, in part through training and support to community-based rural development promoters, most of whom are women.
Through the FAO programme noted above, other agricultural extension workers will gain training and experience in participatory and gender-aware approaches. An international NGO, ACORD, is conducting similar training over a five-year period for field workers from farmers associations, the national trade union, and government extension staff. In addition, a newly formed Home Economics Advisory Board is exploring the potential role of home economists in extension, an involvement intended to aid women and men both in income generation and household resource management.
Finally, the Ministry is seeking to shift from the administration of costly services to the provision of extension, research and other farmer support. Over a dozen Agricultural and Rural Development Centres have been or are near completion. The decentralised Agricultural and Rural Development Centres will facilitate the contact of extension services with women farmers and enhance their access to agricultural services and inputs. In the Caprivi, a committee of nongovernment and government staff is considering how the involvement of the Likwama Farmer's Co-operative in selling seeds and inputs and in providing other services can promote complementarily between the Co-operative and MAWRD. Although this process has not addressed women farmers, this co-operation will improve the participation of local people in the Centres. These programmes are a central step towards reorienting agricultural services towards women farmers
The HFS programme, as well as efforts by the Rural Development Centre, CCN and Canadian-Namibian Cooperation (CANAMCO). have led to the pilot introduction of appropriate technologies in some villages. The aquaroller was introduced to female-headed households through the HFS programme. In collaboration with NDT, the Rural Development Centre is designing new donkey carts for transporting water and crops. The experiences with these technologies, such as hammer mills for millet and agricultural implements, are leading to new designs, as well as management strategies more suitable for Namibian women. To date, these projects have been ad hoc and have led to only limited exchange of experience. A UNIFEM-supported initiative, recently underway, will assess technologies of greatest value and relevance to Namibian women on a broader scale.
A particularly fruitful area of NGO involvement has been in credit unions and rural savings schemes. Organizations such as the Rural People's Institute for Social Empowerment (RISE) and the Namibia Credit Union League have gained considerable experience -- from successes and from shortcomings -- in supporting local groups to manage and administer group savings and credit programmes. Many of the credit unions have helped women to mobilize and invest their cash resources. Also valuable are lessons learned by the Private Sector Foundation, the Institute for Management and Leadership Training, Cooperation for Development and other NGOs providing credit and small loans, and training to women entrepreneurs. Similarly, although not always profitable, income generation activities have enhanced the skills and knowledge of women in management, finance and communication.
Until recently, government and NGO co-operation was weak, and a lack of development coordination resulted in duplication and inefficient resources. Linkages across sectors, within and between regions, and between government and NGOs are helping to improve service provision, enhance access to policy-making, and stimulate the exchange of ideas and information.
For example, the Department of Women Affairs has set up a coordinating structure to facilitate NGO, government and donor participation in nine priority areas under which gender concerns will be addressed. Rural Community programmes constitute one of the areas, and priorities are to implement rural job creation, to reduce the workload of women, to sensitize rural communities to gender issues and to implement projects to reduce malnutrition in rural areas. MAWRD and CCN will be the lead agencies.136
Several government Ministries are also seeking to coordinate the use of volunteer promoters in literacy, rural development and community health programmes. Regional rural development committees of Ministry, donor, and NGO staff exist in the Owambo regions and in the South. Similar government-NGO coordination is also being formed around both vocational training and micro-enterprise, where there are an array of diverse, ad-hoc initiatives. In the NGO sector, rural organizations are represented in both of the two umbrella organizations. NGO collaboration and consultation with community-based organizations has led to plans for a national, participatory People's Land Conference, to be held in August 1994. Gender issues are a focal point of the research and preparations for the conference.
The success with which policies and endeavours benefit rural women will only emerge over time and with careful assessment. Achievements must be measured against the backdrop of the nation's recent Independence and relatively brief exposure to democracy and participation. In this sense, it is the promotion and nurturing of grassroots organizations which represents the most significant step towards advancing rural women. A number of programmes seek to strengthen local-level structures and organizations to empower local residents to design, manage and assess development processes in their areas.
Developing local capacity takes time, and many communities continue to rely on external funds and technical assistance to implement programmes. Nevertheless, rural women are being incorporated into decision-making and leadership processes through their involvement in local committees and grassroots organizations. Women are present at all decision-making levels in UNICEF's Integrated Area Based Programme, a regional, multi-sectoral development initiative. Piloted in a district in Owambo, the programme has led to the formation of active committees at the village, district and regional levels as well as sectoral committees around agriculture, water and sanitation and other issues. Women are increasingly involved in the management of water points through community-based Water Point Committees. Other initiatives which seek to involve women in community decision-making structures include CANAMCO's regional rural development programme in the Okavango, and the Sustainable Animal Range Development Programme, with pilot projects in six villages and small towns in the East and South.
While their participation in community organizations is important to promoting gender equality, rural women in Namibia often lack the experience or confidence to accept leadership and decision-making roles. For this reason, some NGOs are supporting the establishment of women only organizations or women-only branches. An affiliated association to the Eastern Epukiro Farmers Association gives Herero women farmers the confidence and autonomy to speak and participate apart from their dominant male counterparts. Similarly, Southern women involved in the regional farmers union have formed the Good Hope Women's Co-operative to better advance their own concerns. Separate organizations could further marginalise women by confining them to stereotypical tasks. In the absence of training and support in organizational management, some organizations have disintegrated, resulting in frustration and disappointment. However, women-only organizations formed around farming and other mainstream activities appear to enable rural women to assert their knowledge and interest and to gain experience in agriculture and rural development programmes
