Executive summary gender issues, constraints and potential in AGRITEX
PURPOSE OF THE ANALYSIS:
The purpose of the analysis was to determine the relevance of gender issues in the delivery of extension and other agricultural related programmes. The study includes discussions, observations and recommendations on specific issues that would require follow-up.
METHODOLOGY USED
The methodology used in the study included field visits to all the provinces (8) and interviews with 140 AGRITEX staff of which 37 were female and 309 farmers, 170 female and 139 male . The focus of the analysis was on the views of field staff and farmers on the gender related factors in agriculture.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The general conclusion of the analysis center on the fact that AGRITEX services suffer from a number of weakness in their programmes for rural women including the following:
a. In Master Farmer training approach: there is a strong focus on the few farmers to the relative neglect of many resource - poor rural families, and among these are mostly women-headed households. From 1982 to 1990 only 33% of the total number of Master Farmers trained at Ordinary level are women against a background of 70% of farmers being women.
b. Misconceptions about and prejudices against women's actual and ideal roles, with the result that they are often excluded from the target audience of agricultural extension education and development programmes. The bee-keeping in Hurungwe Mashonaland East is a case in point were only 10% of the participants are women .
c. A Bender blindness and bias among the majority of AGRITEX staff which is translated into programmes and activities detrimental to women's access to agricultural services. About 80% of the Agricultural Extension Workers are men.
d. There is a lack of feedback on the transfer of technologies that involves a two-way or multi-directional communication between rural women, and extension personnel.
e. Inappropriate extension methodology for working with rural women.
f. "A farmer is a farmer", concept that characterises AGRITEX's view of its clientele is not grounded in a true understanding of the gender socio-economic conditions of the target group. The extension service and training is not gender-neutral. It impacts on male and female farmers differently.
g. AGRITEX has the potential to promote and enhance women's role in agriculture by increasing their decision making capacities and ability to participate in agricultural committees through training in leadership .
h. Women in the AGRITEX profession encounter a number of structural difficulties partly due to their multiple roles (reproductive and productive roles) that complicate their placement and result in frequent application for transfers. This also affects-their promotion to more senior posts.
i. The monitoring and evaluation of AGRITEX activities and programmes lacks a gender perspectives. AGRITEX has therefore been unable to increase benefits to women farmers, or reduce negative impacts on women, policies on women are usually done on ad hoc basis without the basis of hard data. There are no set standards to measure the effectiveness of extension.
j. There are information gaps with regards to gender and sociological aspects of the rural communities. The implication of this lack of knowledge on technology transfer is not appreciated. Needs of the farmers are overlooked. Related to this is the creation of a centrist tradition; the distancing of some officials within the profession from the culture and life of the rural farmers, and the assumption that a purely technical approach will provide all the answers. The socio-economic surveys currently being done in preparation for the execution of development projects lacks a gender and sociological perspective. The surveys lack a broader perspective towards the socio-economic situation of most communal farmers.
k. Despite women's predominant role in marketing very little has been done to help them in their marketing activities, either by way of organising them or suggesting better marketing strategies.
RECOMMENDATIONS
a. There is a need to improve statistical concepts and methods in AGRITEX aimed at gender specific data collection and analysis; to speed up collection of reliable comprehensive and unbiased data and to develop a set of Women in Development indicators and integrate them into an overall sectoral set of indicators.
b. The training of AGRITEX staff to have a gender appreciation and improve the way they work and programme activities for farmers is an urgent matter that should be addressed.
c. The instructional material produced for extensionists should be reoriented to include a stronger focus on rural women.
d. For women to be adequately served by agricultural extension, the extension message must be made more relevant to their needs; relevant to the crops they grow, the livestock they raise and the farming systems and time allocation contexts within which they work.
e. Since women are the majority of farmers there should an impact assessment from a gender perspective whenever a technology or project is being introduced to rural farmers.
- In technology development and transfer there is need to direct it towards the end-user. New technology it has been found may increase women's workload, decrease the range of production of food crops, cause changes in the division of labour between men and women or benefit male farmers more than female farmers.
- There is need for information on the effects of cash cropping on nutritional status and energy expenditure in the various types of farming systems.
f. The incorporation of a gender and sociological perspective in the framework of agricultural extension programming is a necessity. Achieving this goal requires AGRITEX staff to acquire a new set of conceptual and analytical perspectives and skills in order to deal explicitly, effectively and efficiently with women related issues in the spectrum of the agricultural projects in which they are involved.
Strengths of AGRITEX
- AGRITEX major strength lies in its philosophy, which reads, " To satisfy the agricultural extension, technical, and regulatory services needs of all farmers and other agencies". (AGRITEX 1982)
- It is one organisation that is widespread on the ground ant has potential to reach every farmer. Following the policy of expanding the extension services provided to small-holler farmers, in some districts the extension worker-farmer ratio is on average 1:700.
- AGRITEX has highly qualified and technically competent staff at all levels.
- AGRITEX has the potential to influence policy on matters relating to agriculture, because of its central role in one of the most important sectors of the Zimbabwean economy.
Lessons Learned
The analysis shows that AGRITEX's extension programmes lack an appreciation of gender and sociological issues which are critical to bridging the knowledge gap between the extension agent and its clientele. This is evidenced in the lack of gender disaggregated data to support or reject any of the issues raised in the analysis. The analysis therefore concludes that AGRITEX staff at all levels require a reorientation to a sociological and gender sensitised approach and issues raised concerning women farmers, irrigation schemes, and women in the AGRITEX profession will have to be addressed. This would also mean that incorporation of the gender perspective will not be the job of one person that is the WID specialist, but that of EWs, AEOs, DAEOs, CAEOs up to the Directorate
