While a number of useful programmes, projects and initiatives in support of rural women were carried out in the region, few could actually be considered "innovative" per se. Many could perhaps be described as "innovative" simply because they were the first initiatives carried out to support women in agriculture, forestry and fishery enterprises. With the exception of a few, most other initiatives could be classified as (a) projects that provide direct assistance to women (credit, technology, inputs, etc. ); (b) projects that seek to strengthen institutional support for women (cooperatives, WID units, etc.), and (c) policy planning and research activities (collection of gender disaggregated data and studies to identify the role of women in agricultural production, etc.).
As can be seen from Annex VI, there is a felt need for additional concerted and creative efforts by governmental, non-governmental and international agencies to improve the existing situation, and translate some of the "rhetoric" into concrete programmes of action.
