Policy Planning and Research.
· WID and gender issues need to be placed in the mainstream of technical ministries and institutions and not isolated as social issues. For this purpose, WID or gender units should be established and gender sensitivity programmes carried out for development policy- and decision-makers.
· A gender perspective should be integrated into environmental issues in order to permit women to have access to the use and control of natural resources.
· Agricultural and national statistics should integrate a gender perspective. Methodologies and indicators should be developed in collaboration with government, non-governmental and international bodies to collect information and data on women.
· Research needs to be undertaken on the needs of rural farmers, particularly those of women.
· Efficiency should not be the only criteria against which to measure the impact of policies and programmes; the improvement of the quality of life and the elimination of discrimination should also be taken into consideration.
· Efforts should be made to enable women to participate in the planning and implementation phases of projects.
Legal and Policy Reform
· The Agrarian Reform policy and law should be modified to: eliminate discrimination against women, recognize women as agricultural producers, permit women equal rights in access to and ownership of land, and ensure inclusion of the neediest sectors of the rural population.
· Information on agrarian reform needs to be disseminated and discussion and dialogue on it promoted.
Access to Agricultural Resources and Services
Women's access to agricultural technology and services should be promoted through: more diverse, flexible and efficient credit channels and adjustment of loan repayment to the production and marketing cycles of the rural poor; the formation of formal and informal marketing organizations for small producers and the provision of information and training in marketing; improved infrastructure and the provision of services, such as childcare facilities, to alleviate women's agricultural and household work burdens; and, the formation of farmers organizations to discuss, analyze and find solutions to problems, including gender issues, related to agricultural and household work.
Source: National Sectoral Report on Women, Agriculture and Rural Development, 1995.
Prepared by: Integration of Women in Development Service Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome, Italy Tel: +(39)6 52251 |
