The role of women in agriculture and in rural development is increasingly recognized both at international and national level. There is a growing awareness of the need to reach women farmers and to fully involve them in development programmes. However, extension services still face difficulties in effectively communicating and working with women. Among the reasons for this is the lack of adequate training material addressing the issue of working with rural women.

Awareness of the need for specific training material on the issue is the first step. However, while much existing literature on extension mentions the need for such information on how to work with rural women, very rarely are any specific examples or information given on how this can be done.

By bringing together examples and practical information, this manual aims to fill this gap by providing field extension workers with a series of practical ideas on how to effectively conduct extension activities with women.

Objectives of the Manual

The manual is intended for use in training field extension agents and rural development workers working at the village level and it assumes a general knowledge of basic extension principles and methods.

The overall objective of this training manual is to assist field extension workers in working more effectively with women farmers. In particular, the manual aims to provide training materials and information that could enhance field workers capabilities to:

• identify needs, priorities, constraints and opportunities heed by rural women;

• ensure that extension packages meet specific gender requirements;

• contact and communicate effectively with rural women.

How to Use the Manual

This manual is intended for the trainer who will conduct or adapt the course. An accompanying participant's manual follows the same structure and brings together introductory notes, exercises and handouts which should be given to trainees. The participant's manual is in a loose leaf format and only the introductory notes on each module should be given to trainees in advance. Exercises and case studies should be given out at the beginning of each session as needed. Not all material may be needed for the trainees and the trainer should use his/her discretion as to what material should be used for a specific course.

Throughout the course, participants will develop a personal plan to improve their effectiveness in incorporating women in their extension activities. This will be an individual exercise developed in their own time and presented at the end of the course.

Time should be allocated at the end of each module for general discussion on how to incorporate the issues raised in participants' action plans.

An annex on Course Design (based on the information presented in the manual) is included to assist trainers in developing a course, which meets the specific local requirements. It covers needs assessment, revision of the course structure and objectives as well as adaptation of examples and selection of training methods.

How Is the Manual Structured?

The manual is divided into four modules:

Module 1: The Need to Work with Women

This introductory section is designed to ensure that trainees are properly aware of the significant role women play in agricultural and rural development and sets the scene for the main body of the course. It leads trainees to a fuller understanding of the constraints and problems faced by women, as well as of the reasons why women have so far had only limited access to extension activities. It should stimulate discussion among participants, giving them opportunities to analyse stereotypes and assumptions which may have limited their awareness of the importance of effectively reaching women farmers.

Module 2: Analysing Women's Role

This module covers issues related to analysing the situation of women in the specific area in which field workers operate. It begins with considerations about the kind of information that could be useful for planning effective extension activities. It then looks at the tools and methods available to collect this information and how to go about gathering the information required. A section on how to analyse the data collected and how to identify the areas relevant to extension planning concludes the module.

Module 3: Developing Appropriate Packages

Module three aims to assist extension workers to use the information they have gained about the needs, constraints and opportunities of rural women choosing extension packages which are relevant and appropriate to women's specific situation. Problems and issues identified in the previous module are used here in assisting extension staff to develop ways to overcome them. The module analyses the technological aspects of the extension package as well as issues such as credit, which often play a key role in farmers' decisions on whether or not to adopt a technology.

Module 4: Working with Rural Women in Practice

The final module considers practical issues which could facilitate women's participation in extension activities. The information collected about women is now used to plan the timing and location of extension programmes. Extension methods and training materials are reviewed with special reference to gender implications. The module also looks at the role of women groups and ways to work with them for extension activities.

Symbols and icons

The following are used throughout the text for easy identification of the information presented:

training objectives of the module

key points analysed in the module

reference readings

example

outline of suggested teaching strategy

training activities

role play

additional readings

space left for the user's own notes.

Module 1 The need to work with women

The need to work with women

Introduction and module aim

This module aims at helping course participants understand the complexity of rural women's work. the variety of tasks they perform in agriculture, rural development and household management and the implications for their involvement in extension activities. Through discussions, exercises and case studies, participants will identify stereotypes and assumptions which may have limited their awareness of the importance of women's involvement in agriculture and rural development. They will look at problems and constraints that women farmers face with the objective of becoming better aware of issues which may hinder their participation in extension activities and access to information.

Since creating or strengthening this awareness involves helping participants to analyse their assumptions and sometimes to revise their present beliefs and attitudes, the structure of this module includes a high component of group discussion. Background material included in the module has been kept very short, and handouts mainly consists of a few tables and graphs with data about women's activities throughout the world.

The success of the module cannot be judged only on participants' ability to memorize some of the key points presented. The module will rather have achieved its goals if it has had an impact on participants' perceptions and understanding of the importance of the work of rural women in agriculture and rural development.

The Module is divided into three sections:

• Women in Agriculture and Rural Development;

• Barriers to Women's Involvement in Extension;

• Reaching Women Farmers: Difficulties Faced by Extension Services.

Training objectives

By the end of the module participants will:

• have a clear understanding of the importance and complexity of the work of women farmers;

• be able to describe the main problems women farmers face which have limited their participation in extension activities in their area.

Students will be asked to fill in a questionnaire at the beginning of the first module. They will be given the same questionnaire to fill in at the end of the module, and the variation looked at to assess any change of attitudes. An example of such a questionnaire is given as Annex 1.1 at the end of this module

Key points

Unless, at the end of the module, participants have developed or enhanced their awareness of the need to involve women in extension activities in a more effective and meaningful way, the motivation needed for the rest of the course may be affected. More importantly, it would not bring about the expected change in behaviour needed for translating into action what is learnt during the course.

The more participants have the opportunity to analyse their perceptions and attitudes regarding women's role in agriculture, the more receptive they will be to the course content and the more likely they will be to implement what they have learned. Since this is mostly a self-learning process the trainer should try to provide as much additional local information on the topic as possible, as well as to present the topic from different angles to stimulate discussion.

It is therefore suggested that preconceptions, stereotypes and doubts that participants may have at this stage be extensively discussed during this session.

Key points examined by this module are:

• roles played by women in agricultural production and rural development;

• problems faced by women farmers which hinder their participation in extension activities;

• reasons for the limited success which extension services have had in reaching rural women;

• aspects to consider in improving rural women's participation in extension activities.

Section 1: Women in agriculture and rural development

Women in agriculture and rural development

This section aims to stimulate discussion among participants about their perceptions regarding women's involvement in agriculture. Their estimates are then compared with statistical data from throughout the world. Discussion about the gap between these figures and the participants' estimates should aim to bring to the surface any misconceptions and stereotypes held by the participants. To make the section more useful and relevant to the participants' own situation, the trainer should provide, wherever possible, data related to the local situation (national figures or district ones).

Reference information

Estimates show that women represent more than half of the labour required to produce the food consumed in developing countries.

In Sub-Saharan Africa the figure is higher, reaching three-quarters of the total labour. More specifically, African women perform most of the work related to some agricultural tasks, e.g. hoeing, weeding, storage operations and processing.

While in Africa women and men typically farm separate plots, in Asia and Latin America, they tend to work together on the family farm. Throughout Asia women's involvement in agriculture is very significant and it is estimated that they contribute between 10 and 50 percent of total agricultural labour. Women play an important role in peasant agriculture also in Latin America, where their total share of agricultural labour is around 25 percent, with a much higher contribution to tasks such as harvesting, processing and other post harvest operations.

Women farmers belong, generally, to the small farmer category. They are faced with all the problems common to small farmers. In addition, the cultural, social and economic conditions of women in general, and women farmers in particular, mean that there are a number of specific problems related only to women working in agriculture.

It is important to stress that women farmers cannot be considered to be a homogeneous category, sharing exactly the same sort of problems and facing the same constraints. While it is possible to draw out some common principles which allow a broad definition of the condition of "woman farmer", it needs to be recognized that there is considerable diversity also. Women, as with men, include young, old, disabled and able bodied, married and single, poor and relatively wealthy, from minority and majority groups, connected with influential power groups and the relatively powerless. For example, young unmarried women farmers may need to be considered and addressed by extension services differently to older or married women. An approach which treats all women farmers as the same, can end up as inappropriate as those which assume that farmers as a whole are all the same.

Despite the significance of women's role in agricultural development, evidence throughout developing countries shows that women's farming productivity and efficiency levels often remain very low. Among the key reasons for this is the lack of technical advice they receive on production and marketing, cultural practices, skills and technology. Extension services frequently fail to provide adequate information to women farmers through failing to recognize their specific needs. Women farmers face specific constraints not faced by men. In addition to their productive tasks they are frequently over burdened with household responsibilities which they cannot delegate; they are often less educated than men and have a more limited access to resources such as credit If an extension programme deals effectively with these constraints, it will be easier for women farmers to get involved in its activities.

Teaching Strategy

Questionnaire

Distribute the questionnaire (Annex 1.1) to participants and ask them to complete it. Do not explain the purpose of the questionnaire at this stage. Collect the completed questionnaires before starting the section.

Women's Role in Agricultural Production

Ask participants to write, on the table provided for the exercise, what they think the following figures are:

• percentage of men and women involved in agriculture in the world (i.e.: out of 100 men, how many are involved in agricultural activities, and out of 100 women how many are involved in agriculture);

• percentage of men and women involved in agriculture in your region.

If you have figures of these percentages in your country or district, ask participants to estimate them and to add the figures to their list.

Once everybody has completed their estimates, ask each participant to read out their figures and note them all on the flip chart There will normally be quite a range of figures, reflecting individual perceptions of what the role of women in agriculture could be.

Add to the list the official statistics as listed in Table 1.1, presenting these percentages for men and women on a world scale, within your region as well as in other regions of the developing world. Also add the official figures for your country/district, if available.

If the estimates are very different from the official statistics, start a discussion by asking participants what could be the reasons for their over or underestimates. It may also be interesting to ask participants who came up with estimates fairly different from each other, to describe the reasons for their choice of figures and to encourage a discussion from this point.

Gender Related Responsibilities

Participants should now be asked to mention the main agricultural and household tasks. Write these on a flip chart. For each task ask them what is the share of responsibility men have and the share that women have in their area.

Task

Men

Women

Show any local or national official figures available and compare them with participants' perceptions.

You may also wish to show participants Table 1.2: How the work is divided in Africa (percentage of total labour in hours) and Table 1.3: Labour Distribution in a District of Pakistan, which stress that, although women's role is always very significant, labour distribution is highly location specific.

The discussion should explore differences among participants' perceptions (and, when available, between these and official statistics) and reasons behind the possible discrepancies. The following issues could also be raised in discussion:

• Looking at the lists, how do the main tasks of men and women complement each other?

• Where should extension services place their attention: tasks played by men, those played by women or both?

• What would be the effect of concentrating the extension efforts on only one of the three lists?

Female Headed Household

In many rural areas of the world, an increasing number of men are moving to the towns or to other countries in search of better paid jobs. One result of this migration is that the number of female headed households is growing.

Ask the group for their views on the likely effects of this on:

• agricultural production;

• the work of rural women;

• what implications this would have for extension activities.

Section 2: Barriers to women's involvement in extension

Barriers

This section provides participants with an opportunity to discuss their perceptions of the traditional, social and institutional factors which may limit women's participation in extension. The issues outlined in this section cover a range of problems not all of which will necessarily be present or require action in all countries. Problems will vary from area to area, and it will be only after a detailed assessment of the situation (Module 2) that participants will know which are the specific problems of rural women in their area.

These problems and their implications for extension will be looked at in detail in the following sections. The purpose of this section is to raise or increase awareness of the constraints to women's involvement.

Reference Information

Both men and women farmers, especially the poorer ones, face a number of problems or constraints which affect their ability to participate in and benefit from extension activities to improve agricultural production and the well-being of the rural household.

Extension workers need to be aware of social and institutional factors that create barriers for women's involvement in extension and adequately address them in planning extension activities.

Land

Land

Women's rights to land vary widely throughout the world. In some areas religious laws forbid female land ownership. Even when civil law gives women the right to inherit land, local customs may rule otherwise. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where women have the main responsibility for household food production, they are generally limited to use of the land, but not ownership, and even this use needs the consent of a male relative. Some resettlement and irrigation projects have actually worsened women's rights to land by providing formal titles to men only. Lack of ownership reduces the likelihood that women will invest much time or resources in the land they work, or adopt long term farming practices such as tree planting.

Women farmers also generally farm smaller plots of land than men, both in absolute terms and in relation to household size. They also tend to be allocated poorer land, the quality of which deteriorates even further as it is intensively cultivated.

Land reform programmes often fail to recognize women as potential beneficiaries. A review of 13 programmes in Latin America found that the majority had insignificant numbers of female beneficiaries or had not even considered women as a beneficiary category. Even when female heads of households are included as potential beneficiaries, they may have lower land allocations than male household heads, as happened in a project in El Salvador,

If property rights to cultivable land are only given to men, women may have few incentives to adopt sustainable farming practices. This gender bias will be particularly important in cases where sustainable natural resource management requires labour-intensive systems, such as tree planting. Indeed, a number of studies in Africa find that women farmers are less likely than men to plant tree crops such as coffee and cocoa.

Lack of Equipment and Appropriate Technology

Female farmers generally own fewer tools than men. New technology has also often been developed without consideration of women's needs. Recently, however, international research efforts have developed a number of machines specifically aimed at work women tend to do. These new machines include micro rice mills, direct seeding equipment, transplanters, and threshing machines developed by the International Rice Research Institute, and cassava processing equipment developed by International Institute for Tropical Agriculture.

Labour saving equipment, however, has a different effect on smallholders looking for labour saving devices than on hired labourers. For women who farm their own plots, new technologies may reduce drudgery and increase productivity; but for female hired labourers, labour saving devices may mean the loss of employment and income. Also, where decisions about investment in equipment are made mainly by husbands, investment in labour saving technologies for women is often a low priority.

Do Agricultural Technologies Help or Hurt Rural Women?

The distribution of the costs and benefits of technology adoption depends on the specific cultural and social characteristics of a particular location. In one area in the Philippines. the introduction of a mechanical thresher relieved both men and women of threshing and substantially speeded the threshing process. As a result, rice farmers were able to grow a second crop of rice, which in turn led to increased employment for women in transplanting, weeding and harvesting. The benefits substantially outweighed the small cost of reduced opportunities for manual labour in threshing.

In Bangladesh, however, the substitution of a mechanical rice mill for a traditional threshing implement had a negative effect on poor and landless women who had previously earned income by providing hand-pounding services. The negative effect resulted from cultural restrictions on women's leaving their homestead for alternative employment.

Lack of Access to Credit

Women farmers often face additional obstacles to obtaining credit and consequently are less able to purchase inputs. Statistics show that women have less access to credit than men, despite the generally better loan repayment rates.

Requirements for obtaining credit differ from place to place. Property that is acceptable as collateral (guarantee of repayment), especially land, is usually held by men, and formal financial institutions often do not accept the types of valuables which are held by women (such as jewellery). Women may also not be able to afford the time involved in obtaining credit. In rural Kenya, distance to a bank affects much more the chances of obtaining credit for women than it does for men.

Women's lower educational levels relative to men's, and their lack of familiarity with loan procedures may also limit their possibilities of obtaining credit from male credit officers or moneylenders.

Since the early 1980s, a number of alternatives to the formal sector have given women access to credit and financial services. Most programmes do not heavily subsidize interest rates, and they link repayment to future lending. Successful programmes:

• reduce transaction costs;

• charge commercial interest rates;

• establish deposit facilities;

• target poor clients;

• develop income generating skills;

• strengthen existing local institutions such as (women) farmers groups;

• emphasize the provision of financial services rather than business training.

Lower Levels of Education

School

In the early 1980s, average literacy rates for men in developing countries were over 50 percent, while for women they were 30 percent or less. The gap continues to be largest in rural areas, where educational levels are generally lower, despite the significant social benefits shown in educating women (see Table 1.4: Illiteracy Rates by Region and Gender). This gap has serious implications for agricultural productivity and incomes. Better educated farmers are more likely to adopt new technologies and to have access to extension services. For example, a study of coffee, a high value crop, in Kenya, found that increasing the primary education of women farmers not only led them to plant coffee trees more readily, but also increased the adoption of coffee by other women farmers, who are more likely to copy women than men farmers.

Teaching Strategy

Common Constraints Faced by Rural Women

Ask participants to get together in small groups (maximum 5 people each) and ask them to:

• list the most common problems heed by women farmers in their area which could directly affect women's participation in extension activities;

• identify the causes of the problems.

To structure their discussion the following form could be used:

Problem/constraint

Reason(s) for the problem

1. Time related.

-

-

2. Mobility related.

-

-

3. Credit related:

-

-

4. Other problems.

-

-

Time Related Problems

Once participants have completed the exercise, ask one group to present the results of their discussion on the first point (time related constraints) to all participants. Invite everybody to comment or add to the list. Ask participants to contribute examples of the situations discussed which they have seen.

Ask participants to look back et Tables 1.2 and 1.3, on the division of agricultural and household work between men and women. Some of the tasks listed are seasonal, others are occasional, others frequent, and some are daily. Ask participants to revise the list and the group tasks according to their frequency into:

• occasional

• frequent

• daily

• seasonal

Frequency of tasks and gender related responsibilities have clear implications for the amount of time men and women will have available each day. It will be clear from this analysis that women are more involved than men in routine, time consuming activities and that therefore time availability is more of a constraint for them. If participants add to Table 1.1. other household tasks necessary for the well-being of the family (cooking, looking after children, cleaning, laundry, repairing household items, etc.) time appears as an even greater constraint.

The direct implication of this is that women have less total time available than men to participate in extension activities. Also, their free time may not coincide with that of the men.

Mobility Related Problems

Invite another group to present to participants the results of their group's discussion regarding the second point (mobility related problems). As in the previous section, ask all participants to contribute their own views and experiences regarding factors affecting women's freedom to move inside and outside the community. If not mentioned in the discussion, add the following:

• social or religious restrictions which prevent women from travelling freely;

• less cash available to pay for transport;

• fewer means of transportation available for their use.

As with time constraints, limited mobility has a noticeable impact on the ability of women to become involved in extension activities.

Access to Credit

Ask a third group to present the results of their discussion on credit constraints and invite everybody to comment or add to the list. Always encourage participants to mention examples of the situations discussed which they know from personal experiences. Make sure the following points are raised during the discussion: collateral requirements - women may lack secure land tenure or title to land;

• requirement that a male head of household signs or co-signs for the loan;

• requirements on the size of land holding that prevent smallholders from obtaining loans;

• distance and travel cost to credit institution;

• low literacy and low numeracy make it difficult for women to fill in loan applications;

• information about credit is at times passed on only to men.

Other Problems

Another group can present any other constraints they have identified, which they do not see as related to the points analysed so hr. and which have direct implications for women's ability to take part in extension activities. As with the other cases, encourage some discussion and exchange of views at the end of the group presentation.

Some of the following points could be mentioned in the discussion:

• social, cultural and religious restrictions that might prevent male extension workers from contacting and working with women farmers as well as preventing women from joining extension activities planned for a mixed group of men and women;

• training facilities are very rarely adapted to the needs of rural women (e.g. separate living quarters for overnight courses or separate classrooms);

• the level of education of rural women is frequently lower than that of men, which limits the effectiveness for women of an activity planned for men farmers;

• women tend to have less secure land tenure and smaller plots which are often of poorer quality and at a greater distance from the household.

These factors could act both as a disincentive to take part in activities and affect the appropriateness of the information provided.

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Section 3: Reaching women farmers: The difficulties faced by extension services

Farmer

Reference Information

The first two sections of this module have outlined some of the reasons for the limited integration of women in extension activities. More specifically, the two sections have highlighted:

• the significance of women's role in agricultural production and the well-being of rural households;

• the specific time and mobility problems and constraints women farmers face;

• problems faced by women in accessing credit and inputs.

This section highlights some additional difficulties, related to communication problems. In a number of cases, for instance, extension has failed to effectively reach rural women because it has communicated directly only with men farmers, wrongly assuming the information will automatically be passed on to women. In other cases, communication methods have not been adapted to take into consideration the specific situation of women.

Most of these issues will be discussed in detail in Module 4. The aim of this preliminary discussion is for participants to gain an initial awareness of the issues.

Teaching Strategy

We have seen so far that, when extension does not reach women effectively, the chances of meeting its goals of improving agricultural production. or the living standards of the household are greatly reduced. In some more extreme cases, it can also have some negative unintentional side effects, such as in the two case studies presented below.

Ask participants to get together in small groups and give each group one of the two case studies. Ask them to briefly analyse the situation, answering the questions at the end of each case study.

In a rural community in Mexico, women have always been responsible for taking care of the water supply. A water supply project provided pumps for the purpose of improving the supply of water. Training on how to maintain the new water supply system was given to men, since the extension service considered it to be a man's job. However, the men did not maintain the system because water supply was women's responsibility. Shortly after the completion of the project, the new water supply system broke down and nobody repaired it.

• What went wrong?

• What would you have done had you been in charge of training people for using and maintaining the pumps?

In an area of Burkina Faso, men were trained in using animal traction for ploughing their fields, with the aim of allowing them to farm larger areas and achieve higher production levels. Women, who were responsible for weeding, were given no new technology or training to cope with the larger areas under production. Consequently they were unable to weed all the crops and the total yield was not higher than from farming a smaller area.

• What went wrong?

• What other approaches could have been used?

After the group discussion, invite one group that has looked at the first case study and one group that has looked at the second, to present the results of their analysis.

Allow some time at the end of the group presentation for participants to share their views and discuss the case studies in a plenary. Encourage participants to think of any examples from their own area in which similar situations have occurred.

Ask some of the participants to role play the following two situations. Hand out the roles only to the players. Give them some time to organize their thoughts.

• Situation 1:

Husband attends meeting on food processing, comes home but does not discuss with wife and children issues raised at the meeting (players: husband, wife, and an additional member of the family)

• Situation 2

Extension officer refuses to include a woman infest Plot Project because the size of her farm is too small (players: woman farmer, extension officer)

After the exercise, encourage the players to mention any of the feelings they experienced, and reasons for their behaviour. Also ask the other participants for their views on what the problems were.

Additional readings

The World's Women 1970-1990 -Trends and Statistics

United Nations, 1991

The Role of Women in Agriculture and Rural Development

(Bibliography, 1986- 1994)

FAO, 1994

Women in Agricultural Development

FAO's Plan of Action

FAO, 1990

Agricultural Extension and Farm Women in the 1980s

FAO, 1993

Module 1 Annexes

Annex 1.1

Sample Questionnaire for Completion by Participants at the Start of the Course

Names should not be marked on this questionnaire so that participants feel free to give their opinions without influence as to how they might be judged.

(questions to be adapted, added to, or deleted as appropriate)

strongly disagree

disagree

uncertain

agree

strongly agree

1

2

3

4

5

1. Men and women should have separate duties.

2. Women are good at handling money.

3. Housework is hard work.

4. Women are more intelligent than men.

5. Women's work is less important than men's.

6. It is more important for girls to be educated than boys.

7. The man should be the head of the household.

8. Women work more than men.

9. Men are not suited to look after children.

10. It's natural for girls to want to look after the home.

11. It's natural for boys to want to look after the home.

12. Women should obey their husbands.

13. Housework is not work.

14. Men should be expected to help in the home.

15. Men and women work well together.

16. Men waste more time than women.

17. Cash crops should be men's responsibility.

18. At is natural for boys to want to work with machines.

19. At is natural for girls to want to work with machines.

20. Women are not interested in extension activities.

Scoring

To ensure participants feel free to answer without pressure from others, no name should be marked on the questionnaires.

Some questions will show a positive attitude towards women when the respondent marks the 'strongly agree' column (5), while others will show a positive attitude towards women when the respondent marks the 'strongly disagree' column (1). Therefore, when analysing the results of the questionnaires, some questions can be scored as marked, others will need the score reversed (i.e. a score of I becomes a score of 5).

Questions 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 14, 15, 16, 19 score as marked

Questions 1, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20 reverse mark, i.e.

strongly disagree

5

disagree

4

uncertain

3

agree

2

strongly agree

1

(see example below)

Mark each question according to these scores in the blank column to the right. Then calculate the total score for each questionnaire and divide it by 20 (the number of questions). This will give a score for an individual questionnaire (see example below). The scores for all the questionnaires should then be averaged for the whole class to give a measure of attitude at the beginning of the course. The higher the score, the more open the attitude to working with women. The same questionnaire should then be given out again at the end of module I and the score calculated again to give a measure of any change of attitude.

Example of Scoring

strongly disagree

disagree

uncertain

agree

strongly agree

1

2

3

4

5

1. Men and women should have separate duties.

Ö

1

2. Women are good at handling money.

Ö

1

3. Housework is hard work.

Ö

2

4. Women are more intelligent than men.

Ö

2

5. Women's work is less important than men's.

Ö

2

6. It is more important for girls to be educated than boys.

Ö

2

7. The man should be the head of the household.

Ö

1

8. Women work more than men.

Ö

2

9. Men are not suited to look after children.

Ö

1

10. It's natural for girls to want to look after the home.

Ö

1

11. It's natural for boys to want to look after the home.

1

12. Women should obey their husbands.

Ö

1

13. Housework is not work.

Ö

1

14. Men should be expected to help in the home.

Ö

1

15. Men and women work well together.

Ö

3

16. Men waste more time than women.

Ö

2

17. Cash crops should be men's responsibility.

Ö

2

18. At is natural for boys to want to work with machines.

Ö

2

19. At is natural for girls to want to work with machines.

Ö

2

20. Women are not interested in extension activities.

Ö

2

Total score = 32

Average 32/20 = 1.6

Table 1.1 Economically Active Women in Agriculture

Area

Women (%)

Africa

-Northern Africa

38

-Sub-Saharan Africa

79

Latin America and Caribbean

13

Asia and Pacific

-Southern Asia

62

-Western Asia

28

-Eastern and S.E Asia and Oceania

50

Source: The World's Women, United Nations 1991

Table 1.2 How the Work is Divided in Africa (percentage of total labour in hours)

Task

Men

Women

Clearing fields

95

5

Turning soil

70

30

Planting

50

50

Hoeing/Weeding

20

80

Harvesting

40

60

Transportation

20

80

Storing

20

80

Processing

10

90

Marketing

40

60

Carrying water, Fuel

10

90

Domestic stock

50

50

Hunting

90

10

Feeding family

95

Source: Women in Community Forestry 1989 FAO

Table 1.3 Labour Distribution in a District of Pakistan (percentage as total number of hours)

Task

Men

Women

Land preparation

57

43

Fertilizing

13

87

Irrigation

70

30

Weeding

53

47

Harvesting

28

72

Threshing

68

32

Orchards

53

47

Water collection

14

86

Firewood collection

60

40

Livestock

28

72

Household activities

14

86

Adapted from: Khan 1989 in world Bank 1990

Table 1.4 Illiterates Aged 20-24, 1990

Percentage by Region and Gender

Source: The World's Women, United Nations 1991

Module 2 Analysing women's activities

Women 1

Women 2

Women 3

Introduction and module aim

This Module is intended to give extension workers some practical tools to analyse rural women's activities in their own area. Information about women's responsibilities, daily schedule, access to resources, needs and constraints will help them to plan their activities more effectively.

In the first section of the module, participants will identify those issues which could help them in organizing extension activities targeted at rural women, and which require more investigation. These issues should arise directly from the understanding and awareness they have developed through the first Module.

The second section provides practical information on how to conduct a Gender and Situation Analysis, and covers aspects such as designing the questionnaires and collecting information.

Training objectives

By the end of the module. participants will:

• be able to identify the types of information about women which is needed for extension planning,

• be familiar with some Gender and Situation Analysis techniques and be able to plan and carry out a Gender and Situation Analysis survey.

Key points

Key points examined in the Module are:

• information needed by extension workers to work effectively with rural women;

• the theory and practice of Gender and Situation Analysis.

Section 1: What information is needed

Information

Building on the increased understanding of women's situation and background developed in Module 1, participants should now define the information they would need to work effectively with rural women. In doing this, they will be able to identify the gaps in their present understanding of their target audience which will create a receptive learning situation for understanding the material presented in Section 2.

Reference Information

To effectively meet local needs and make the most of the opportunities for development, extension services should have a thorough understanding of their target audience. When planning activities aimed at local rural women, a range of information on their specific situation is needed, as well as on the inter-relationship between their tasks and men's tasks. In fact, since women and men have complementary and, often, overlapping tasks and responsibilities, extension workers need to obtain most of the information on both men and women.

Areas to investigate

Some key areas which require information separated by gender include:

• specific tasks and responsibilities in agricultural production, household and non-farm activities (e.g. crafts, wage labour, trading);

• location of these tasks (e.g. in the field, at what distance from the home, in the household, in the community, outside the community);

• daily and seasonal work schedules of women and men;

• responsibilities and financial obligations (e.g. provision of food, medicines, clothing, school fees) and their income or other sources of providing for these obligations (e.g. home gardens, barter);

• access to resources for both their agricultural and non agricultural work (e.g. credit, tools, technologies) as well as control and decision-making power over the resources;

• access to support services and institutions, governmental and non governmental;

• benefits which would be derived from access to the resources (e.g. increased production and income, time saving in carrying out work) and from control over them (e.g. able to make decisions on what to plant and when, what inputs to buy);

• participation in decision-making at both household and community level;

• participation in local organizations;

• constraints, needs and priorities felt by women (e.g. lack of land title, access to credit, time, access to transport, inputs);

• existing opportunities which could be developed or used further (e.g. existing self-help groups, good loan repayment rates).

Most of the time extension activities are planned without any of the above listed information. This inevitably leads to organization of activities which, at best, only partly meet local needs, and so limit the potential impact of extension work on local development. A major reason for this lack of consideration is the lack of availability of information about these issues.

Only recently has awareness developed of the importance of having information and data separated by gender, i.e. information and data as it applies separately to men and women. Most existing information and data has been gathered considering the household to be a unified group. Experience has shown, however, that since men and women normally have different tasks, responsibilities, and access to resources and constraints, the information regarding these issues cannot all be considered together if women's needs are to be met.

Surveys

Surveys

Surveys are now being redesigned in many countries in order to obtain accurate information about both men and women. However, many surveys still do not obtain information separated by gender and they sometimes fail to include information about women at all. This is not necessarily due to a deliberate decision to ignore women and overlook their role, but is more often an indirect consequence of how surveys are normally designed. Some of the common pitfalls include:

• Surveys often count only income-related work. Many tasks performed by women, which may be vital to the well-being of the family, do not produce an income and so end up being ignored by the survey.

• Surveys often fail to capture the full extent of women's work since they often only count one or two of the many tasks performed in the course of a year, which may vary depending on the season, and even during the course of the day.

• Surveys often look at the household as a unified unit, failing to distinguish between the different tasks, responsibilities, income and obligations of men and women.

• Perceptions and assumptions about rural women also hinder the accuracy of information collected. In many places both men and women hold attitudes that undervalue women's work. Men's work is seen as important and women's work is not recognized as vital to the survival of the household.

Studies on the role of women, their needs and constraints, occasionally exist on a national basis, usually referring to surveys conducted in some selected areas which are considered representative for the whole national situation. Even in these cases, however, more specific information on the local constraints will be needed, to add details relevant to the particular cluster of villages for which the field worker is responsible.

Field extension workers themselves will need to collect the relevant information about women. This should be done in coordination with the other extension officers working in the same area, sharing the information gathered and discussing together possible ways to overcome problems identified.

Teaching strategy

What Information is Needed?

Ask participants to get together in pairs and come up with a list of aspects about which they will need to gather information in order to increase the effectiveness of their extension activities with rural women.

Discuss the lists in a plenary session.

Add the following points if they have not been mentioned:

• specific tasks and responsibilities of women and men in agricultural production, household and non-farm activities;

• location of these tasks;

• daily and seasonal work schedules of women;

• financial obligations and income;

• access to resources, control and decision-making power over the resources;

• access to local support services, both governmental and non governmental;

• benefits which would be derived from access to the resources and from control over them;

• participation in decision-making at both household and community level;

• participation in local organizations;

• constraints, needs and priorities as perceived by women;

• existing opportunities which could be developed or used further, such as:

- informal groups;

- meeting places;

- skills available; etc.

Surveys

Ask participants to get together in small groups and, according to their experiences, discuss some of the following points:

• surveys they have conducted;

• results of surveys they have used;

• reasons why surveys may fail to capture the extent of women's role;

• examples of similar situations encountered.

Following the group discussions invite some of the groups to present their results to the rest of the participants and encourage them to exchange their views and perceptions.

Conversation Between Extension Worker and Farmer

Invite two of the participants to take part in a role play in front of the rest of the participants. Ask both of them to quickly look at the conversation in Script 2.1. They should then act it out improvising the parts of farmers and extension agent, adding to the script whatever they wish. They might want to add a third character to the role play, for instance the busy wife working in the background.

Hold a brief discussion at the end of the role play, comparing the situation presented with participants experiences of similar conversations.

Section 2: Gender and situation analysis

Improving extension work with rural women

By now participants should have realized the direct implications that a better understanding of women's involvement in agriculture, constraints and needs will have in planning effective extension activities.

Through this section you should now show them the practical ways in which they can collect this information. Allocate enough time for the practical exercise to allow them to get some "hands on" experience. Encourage them to discuss any local issues that may represent barriers to conducting interviews and collecting the information required, and help them find ways to overcome them.

Reference information

Theoretical Aspects

Gender and Situation Analysis can be used as a common sense organization of information about men and women farmers: their work in agriculture, the household and other activities, their workloads and schedules, their responsibilities and financial obligations, the resources to which they have access, their participation in decision-making and community organizations, the constraints they face and their needs, priorities and opportunities.

Gender and Situation Analysis looks at the different roles played in societies by men and women and their interactions. Roles played by men and women often have little to do with their capability to carry out a particular task and vary in different societies, according to a number of factors. In some areas men may be responsible for beekeeping, while in other places this is the task of women. In some places, women are in charge of planting; and in other areas, this is men's responsibility.

Gender roles can also vary according to socio-economic status. In some countries women are generally restricted to the household and do not work in the fields or come into contact with men outside the family. However, poor women can be found working at agricultural tasks in the field. Likewise, men and women from landholding families have different roles, responsibilities and resources than men and women from landless families.

What are seen as traditional roles can also change. Many more women are, for instance, becoming heads of households, mostly as a consequence of men migrating to towns in search of better paid employment (see Module I, Section 1). Gender roles can also change with the introduction of new cash crops or improved inputs and technologies. A worsening economic situation can bring women into work which they previously did not do. In other places, improved economic situations bring new aspirations and opportunities and/or the need for additional income to buy goods.

So, even within the same community, these roles may not be the same for all men and women. Gender and Situation Analysis needs to be specific to the particular target group for which the extension activities are meant. If extension work is intended for a range of different social groups in the community, the Gender and Situation Analysis should be carried out for all these different groups.

Gender and Situation Analysis in Practice

Gender and Situation Analysis can be carried out using a range of different methods, according to the time available and to the depth of information required (see Annex 2. 1).

Simple checklists and worksheets can be used to structure the collection of information. The formats presented in this section (see Tables 2.1 to 2.6) are general ones which contain most of the key areas which should be explored in a Gender and Situation Analysis. They should be revised and adjusted in each situation to better fit the specific characteristics of the area under analysis, or the particular focus of the study. Once the worksheets have been revised, the field extension worker should prepare a brief plan on how to carry out the Gender and Situation Analysis. This should include:

• objectives of the study;

• number of households to visit;

• time frame for collecting the interviews and for processing the information.

The analysis should be structured around six different steps:

• Step 1: Who does what

• Step 2: Providing for the family

• Step 3: Resources and benefits

• Step 4: Information flows

• Step 5: Strengths and felt needs

• Step 6: Summarising the results

Step 1: Who Does What

Men working

This initial step of the Gender and Situation Analysis is to identify which types of agricultural work are performed by men and which are performed by women. It should cover not only general sectors but be broken down into the specific component activities of each type of work.

Women working

All the various tasks carried out by men and women in agriculture and agricultural related activities should be listed. Next to each task, who does the work should be stated: men, women or both. When both work on the same task, the relative amount of labour of each should be noted.

It may also be useful to include the involvement of children and youth in the task. If youth and children are the main people who are involved in a task, do they need to be contacted directly through youth programmes, or will it be enough to work through their parents?

Example

Activity

Who performs it

Children & Youth*

Women

Men

Both Men & Women

Crop production

Crop: MAIZE

Task: Land preparation

Ö

Task: Sowing

Ö

Task: Transplanting

Ö

Task: Weeding

Ö

Task: Application of pesticides

Ö

Task: Harvesting

Ö

Ö

Task: Storage

Ö

Task: Shelling

Ö

Ö

Task: Milling

Ö

Task: Packaging

Ö

Task: Transport to market

Ö

Task Selling

Ö

Crop: CASSAVA

Task: Land preparation

Ö

Task: Sowing

Ö

Task: Transplanting

Ö

Ö

Task: Weeding

Ö

Task: Application of pesticides

Task: Harvesting

Ö

Task: Storage

Ö

Task: Processing/Packaging

Ö

Task: Transport to market

Ö

Task: Selling

Ö

etc.

* Children and youth here refer to whatever ages are considered as children and youth in the particular society being studied, i.e. all those not yet considered as full adults by the society. The age range varies considerably in different societies.

Example

Activity

Who performs it

Children & Youth*

Women

Men

Both Men & Women

Animal production

Animal: GOATS

Task: Feeding

Ö

Task: Care

Ö

Task: Milking

Ö

Ö

Task: Slaughter

Ö

Task: Transport to market

Ö

Task: Selling meat

Ö

Task: Selling milk

Task: Selling hides

Animal: CHICKENS

Task: Feeding

Ö

Task: Care

Ö

Task: Collecting eggs

Ö

Task: Slaughter

Ö

Task: Transport to market

Ö

Task: Selling chicks

Ö

Task: Selling eggs

etc.

Information should be gathered as to the amount of labour and time spent on the activities each day and during the year:

• Are the tasks seasonal, occasional, recurring regularly or daily?

• Which activities involve particularly heavy workloads at certain times and when do these occur?

It is also useful to collect data on the location where the tasks are performed: in fields close to the household and/or community, at some distance from the community, near the household, in the home, etc.

This information can be listed on the worksheets next to the activities and who performs them.

The same procedure should be followed for household tasks as well as for non-farm work and activities.

Example

Activity

Who performs it

When

Where

Food preparation

Women

3 times a clay for 3 hours daily

at home

Water collection

Women

2 hours daily

water pump 3 km from home

Firewood collection

Women and Children

3 hours daily

forest 5 km from home

Roof repair

Men

when needed (twice a near)

home

Selling produce

Women

weekly

market 5 km from home

Repairing fish nets

Women

once a week 2 hours

home

etc.

This information will give the extension worker a picture of the work carried out by the different members of the community. It will give an idea of the amount of time men and women spend on their tasks and where these are located in relation to where they live.

This is a first step in learning about gender related needs, problems, constraints and opportunities. With this information the extension worker may already have an idea of what are the most pressing needs of men and women farmers and what possible problems exist.

Further analysis of who is responsible for providing different family and household needs will help complete the picture.

Step 2: Providing for the Family

Men and women are usually responsible for providing for different needs for their families and households. Though in some cases ail household income from both men and women is pooled, in many places this does not happen. Information needs to be gathered on what men and women provide for the family as well as where the income or other means come from to provide for these needs.

Example

Family needs

Who is responsible

Means to provide for it

Food

Women

-family plot. income from sale of produce

Clothing

Women

-cloth is bought with women's income
-clothes are made by women

Medicines

Men

-men's income

School fees

Women

etc.

This information indicates to the extension worker where more income or other means may be necessary to improve the well-being of the household. It is also important to know whether the introduction of new crops, activities or sources of income to either men or women is going to have any negative or positive implications on the resources available to provide for family needs.

In one country of Central America, men and women were both responsible for growing food crops. Cash crops were then introduced and training activities were aimed just at men. Women, who were responsible for providing food for their families, faced difficulties in no longer having men's help in growing subsistence food crops. Cash crop cultivation increased men's income but, as they were not financially responsible for providing food to the family. it was not used to supplement the family food. This remained the work and responsibility of the women, but with less assistance from the men for the same work.

Step 3: Resources and Benefits

With the above information, extension workers can get an idea of:

• what work both men and women perform;

• the amount of time it takes them each day and how the amount of time varies by season;

• the location of the work;

• the responsibilities and financial obligations of both men and women.

Land

The picture would not be complete, however, without collecting some data on the following aspects:

• resources men and women have at their disposal to carry out their work;

• who controls these resources and/or has decision-making power about their use; benefits that men and women gain as a result of their access to, control over, and use of the resources.

Resources include land, inputs, equipment, irrigation, sources of water and fuel. They also include access to hired labour or mutual help, credit and inputs. Memberships in groups and organizations, such as cooperatives, mutual help groups and savings groups, are also considered as resources.

However, having access to a resource is not the same as having control over it, or being able to make decisions about it. Different kinds of benefits are derived from the use and control over resources.

Example

Resource

Who has access

Who controls

Benefits and use

Land

men

men

- cash crops

-cash for consumer goods equipment and hired labour

- collateral for credit

women

men

- crops for family food

- crops for sale

- cash used for household goods and school fees

Animal traction

men

men

- ability, to plant larger land area

- time savings

Water well

women/men

women

- clean water for household

- time saving

Savings group

women

women

- access to small loans

For example, farmers may have access to fond but not own it. This would limit their possibilities in choosing how to use it and limits the range of benefits that could be derived from it.

In village A, women farmers have access to the land but do not own it The benefits they derive are crops which they use partly to provide food for their families and partly for sale. From the sale of the crops they get cash with which they are expected to buy household goods and pay for school fees.

In the same village, men have both access to and control over the land as holders of the title to the land. The benefits they get from the land use are crops which they sell.

They use the cash to invest in equipment, to buy consumer goods, and to hire labour to work in their fields. In addition, as owners of the land, they can decide to plant crops with cycles that extend over several seasons (e.g. tree crops). They can also decide other long term use of the land and use it as collateral for credit.

Not all resources are tangible. Access to credit, or membership in an organization are, for instance, important resources which are less obvious. They should also be considered during the survey.

In some places, for example, only male heads of households are admitted to membership in farmers' cooperatives. One of the main benefits of membership is access to credit and training.

In other places, women are members of savings groups and/or mutual help groups from which they derive the opportunity to take up small loans or exchange labour.

Step 4: Information Flows

To plan effective extension activities, extension workers need to carry out some more investigations on women's channels of communications. The following information should be gathered through informal interviews and discussions:

• who influences what decisions;

• who do they ask advice from and for what;

- e.g. who do they ask about child-care/agricultural/health problems

• who attends formal and informal meetings;

- e.g. do they go to community/extension/school meetings (and if not, why)

• meeting places;

• what instructional and information material reaches the household (e.g. extension pamphlets, local paper) and who reads it;

• etc.

Step 5: Strengths and Felt Needs

While conducting the Gender and Situation Analysis interviews, it is important to also note all the relevant points which may emerge more casually from discussion regarding, for instance:

• existing strengths and skills (e.g. literacy, ability to operate a certain machine, etc.). If the extension worker is aware of these it will be easier to build on them.

• felt needs and constraints, as seen by the women.

In rural Myanmar, women did not see deforestation itself as a problem but felt as a constraint simply the fact that they have to spend more and more time walking to get fuelwood. This was not directly associated with deforestation. Using this information to plan an extension campaign, promoting new efficient stoves proved to be very useful, since it meant that a message, "Save trees - buy this stove", would have far less appeal than, "Save time - buy this stove".

Step 6: Summarising the Results

Using the information collected so far, field workers can chart the major constraints and problems faced by men and women farmers.

The activities analysis (step I) will show whether or not women farmers face time constraints.

From the resources analysis (steps 2 and 3), it will be possible to decide whether or not access to a specific resource is a constraint.

Through the interview/discussion with the various farmers, additional opportunities may be seen for extension work with rural women.

All the relevant issues should be summarized, which could have implications for household food security and income from agriculture (production, storage and marketing) and hence implications for extension work. It might be useful to group the issues under the following headings:

• production constraints and problems;

• storage constraints and problems;

• marketing constraints and problems;

• extension service problems (e.g. wrong time/duration for meetings, lack of child care, mixed meetings not allowed, information not relevant to farmers' needs).

This summary could then be shown to farmers which were involved in the Gender and Situation Analysis, to discuss whether it represents a fair picture of the situation. If the discussion is held in mixed groups, it is important to ensure that women farmers have the opportunity to express their views and comments. The summary of problems and constraints should then be amended to include any relevant issues previously overlooked.

Once the table has been finalized, it should serve as a basis for planning extension activities for the area.

Note: The picture gained by the Gender and Situation Analysis. will represent the situation at the time the information has been collected. However, things change through time, new problems may develop, or a new opportunity may emerge. The best results will be achieved when field workers look at this process as on-going, constantly updating the information as the situation changes.

Gathering Information

The simplest and easiest way to gather the information needed is through individual or group interviews and discussions. A number of other methods could also be used, according to the time and resources available, as well as the amount of details required. A list of possible methods to use in collecting information is shown in Annex 2.1: Methods of Data Collection for Gender Analysis.

When group approaches are used, it is often preferable to meet with groups of women separately from men to ensure an uninhibited discussion. When there are several different social classes or groups in the community, it might also be preferable to interview different groups separately.

When conducting the interviews, a number of points should be considered, to ensure the interviewer manages to collect the information wanted and to ensure respect for the interviewee. For example, the interviewer should:

• choose an adequate location for the interview, e.g. big enough to accommodate comfortably all participants and ensure everyone can hear what is being discussed;

• wear appropriate clothing, for example an official uniform should not be worn for an informal discussion;

• introduce him/herself, explain the objectives of the meeting;

• begin the interview with issues familiar to the audience and leave more sensitive ones for later (prepare a suitable sequence in advance);

• follow a logical order as far as possible rather than just asking random questions;

• ask open questions, i.e. questions which could not be answered with a "yes" or a "no". Answers should also not be suggested in the question (e.g. ask "What could improve your farming situation?" not "Is lack of access to small loans a constraint for your farming activities?");

• follow up answers given with "why?" "who?" "what?" "where?" "when?" "how?" to gain more information

(however, the interviewer should not dominate the interview, it is the interviewee's answers which are important);

• avoid writing endless notes during the interview but, instead, write up a short report of the interview immediately afterwards, before key issues are forgotten;

• finish by thanking the interviewee/s.

Individual interviews and discussions.

Thanking the interviewee/s

Teaching strategy

Practice Interview "Participant to Participant"

Ask participants to get together in pairs. They should run a Gender and Situation Analysis of their partner's household situation, taking turns at being the interviewer and the interviewee. Ask them to concentrate on the interviewee's situation within the household, considering one of the components of Gender and Situation Analysis, and try to prepare a summary table on constraints to improving the household income. Hand out copies of Table (2.1 - 2.6) and explain how they are used.

The exercise should give the interviewer the opportunity to practice interviewing skills. It should also help them understand how the interviewee feels when asked questions about his/her personal situation by a near stranger.

A Poor Interview

Ask two of the participants to take part in a role play in front of the rest of the participants. Briefly show them a script of a poorly run interview, such as the conversation presented in Script 2.2. The two participants should then act it out playing the parts of farmers and extension agent. The exercise should be done as "role play" i.e. not reading the script but holding a similar conversation, adding to it whatever they wish.

Hold a brief discussion at the end of the role play, analysing with participants, the issues arising from it

Practice Interview "Participant to Woman Farmer"

If you are running the course in or near a rural area, you can make arrangements in advance to invite a few women farmers to the workshop and for participants (ideally one participant per woman) to interview them. The interviews should concentrate on one aspect of Gender and Situation Analysis, ideally step 1.

Make sure that you choose a convenient time for them and that transport is arranged. Also provide them with some cash or a small gift (as appropriate) for their time.

Brief the women in advance about the course and its aims. Invite them to stay after having been interviewed, to give participants some feed back on how they felt, if they wished they had been asked different questions, if they thought the interviewer managed to get a feel for their situation, etc.

Additional Readings

Women, Conservation end agriculture -A Manual for Trainers

Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 1992.

Developing Agricultural Extension for Women Farmers

by Katrine A. Saito and Daphne Spurling

The World Bank, Washington D.C., 1992.

Module 2 Annexes

Script 2.1

Conversation Between an Extension Worker and a Male Farmer

Extension worker:

Does your wife work?

Farmer:

No, she is a housewife.

Extension worker:

What does she do during the day?

Farmer:

She gets up at dawn and fetches the water and firewood and then prepares breakfast for me and the children.

She feeds and takes care of the chickens and the cows, collects the eggs and milk.

She weeds the vegetable plot and helps me with harvesting the crops.

She threshes the grain.

She grinds the grain and stores and prepares the food for the household.

She takes the produce to market to sell and buys household goods.

She makes clothes, baskets and mats for the household.

She takes care of the children.

She doesn't work, she is just a housewife.

Script 2.2

Poor Interview

Extension worker:

I want you to answer to some questions.

Women farmer:

What have I done wrong, why do you want to ask me questions?

(woman looking very nervous and worried)

Extension worker:

Nothing wrong. I just need to investigate some crucial issues which are required for incorporation into the communication strategy of the division.

Women farmer:

Eh?

(woman looking puzzled)

Extension worker:

I need a chair to sit on.

(woman gives him the chair and remains standing)

Extension worker:

You never come to the extension meetings. Is that because you have had an argument with the village chief's wife?

Women farmer:

.... (hesitating) We never had an argument.

Extension worker:

Do you plant only maize in your field?

Women farmer:

Yes.

(extension worker pauses to write down answer)

Extension worker:

Do you have chickens?

Women farmer:

Yes.

(extension worker pauses again to write down answer)

Extension worker:

Does you husband work in the fields with you?

Women farmer:

Yes.

(extension worker pauses again to write down answer)

Extension worker:

Do insects eat a lot of your maize before you harvest it?

Women farmer:

Yes.

(extension worker pauses again to write down answer)

Extension worker:

Does it take you more than one hour per day to fetch fuel wood?

Women farmer:

Yes.

(extension worker pauses again to write down answer)

Extension worker:

Do you intercrop maize with cowpeas?

Women farmer:

Yes.

Extension worker:

I've finished my questions. Make sure you come to the extension meetings.

Table 2. 1 - Step 1: Crop Production

Activity

Who performs it

Children & Youth*

Women

Men

Both Men and Women

Where

When

Crop Production

Crop: ...................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

…………………….

Crop: ...................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

…………………….

Crop: ...................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

…………………….

Etc.

Table 2.2 - Animal Production

Activity

Who performs it

Children & Youth*

Women

Men

Both Men and Women

Where

When

Animal Production

Animal: ..................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

…………………….

Animal: ..................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

…………………….

Animal: ..................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

…………………….

Etc.

Table 2.3 - Household Activities

Activity

Who performs it

Children & Youth*

Women

Men

Both Men and Women

Where

When

Household activities

Activity: ..................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

…………………….

Activity: ...................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

…………………….

Activity: ...................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

Task: ....................

…………………….

etc.

Table 2.4 - Non Agricultural Activities

Activity

Who performs it

Children & Youth*

Women

Men

Both Men and Women

Where

When

Non Agricultural Activities

Activity: ................…………

Task: ..................…………..

Task: ..................…………..

Task: ..................…………..

Task: ..................…………..

………………………………..

Activity: ................…………

Task: ..................…………..

Task: ..................…………..

Task: ..................…………..

Task: ..................…………..

………………………………..

Activity: ................…………

Task: ..................…………..

Task: ..................…………..

Task: ..................…………..

Task: ..................…………..

………………………………..

etc.

Table 2.5 - Providing for the Family

Family Needs

Who is Responsible

Means to Provide for It

Food

...........................

...........................

...........................

Clothing

...........................

...........................

...........................

Medicines

...........................

...........................

...........................

School fees

...........................

...........................

...........................

etc.

Table 2.6 - Resources and Uses

Resource

Who Has Access

Who Controls It

Benefits and Use

Water

...............................…

...............................…

Labour

...............................…

...............................…

Capital Goods

...............................…

...............................…

Purchased Inputs

...............................…

...............................…

Inputs Produced On_farm

...............................…

...............................…

Cash

...............................…

...............................…

Agricultural Credit

...............................…

...............................…

Markets/Transport

...............................…

...............................…

Agricultural Knowledge

...............................…

...............................…

Education

...............................…

...............................…

etc.

Annex 2.1

Methods of Data Collection for Gender and Situation Analysis

Methods

Methodology

Ouput/benefits

Agricultural calendars

On a monthly basis, identify who is responsible for all field operations for all enterprises, livestock rearing agro-processing, wild products gathering fuel and water collection, marketing.

Qualitative picture of activities for all enterprises and operations.

Seasonal labour profiles

Estimate personal days/month for each task during average farming season.

Quantitative - useful for showing changes in farming cycle and labour allocation when new crops or techniques are introduced.

Informal surveys

Open-ended questioning of individuals.

Quick, informal, cost-effective way to describe farming practices, agricultural knowledge, and women's roles in agriculture. May miss some important information.

Group and community interviews

Open-ended questioning of group representing more than one household.

Quick, inexpensive overview of conditions and practices in an area.

Household sample survey

Structured questionnaire to a sample that is representative of the population.

Time-consuming, expensive. Produces quantitative data.

Adapted from: Katrine A. Saito, D. Spurling, World Bank, 1989

Module 3: Developing appropriate packages

Developing appropriate packages

Introduction and module aim

Among the reasons why extension services have had limited success with women is that the extension packages promoted (the collection of ideas and practices aimed at improvement in one particular area) are often not suitable for rural women. Originally developed for male farmers, these packages often fail to reflect the priorities of women farmers or take into consideration a number of gender related issues.

This module raises some of the issues to consider in developing packages that will directly target the specific needs of women and have an immediate direct effect on their lives. There is no such thing as a single ideal extension package for all rural women. As with all extension work, the packages need to be designed according to the particular circumstances and needs of the audience. Successful extension packages for rural women:

• build on gender and situation analysis and on a full understanding of women's constraints, priorities and strengths;

• select technologies and approaches accordingly.

Through the module, you should emphasize the link to gender and situation analysis and the process of developing a suitable package, rather than the provision of ready made solutions. Stress the fact that each case is different, and to be effective a package will have to provide answers to the specific problems of each situation.

This module starts by discussing some of the reasons why extension packages have in many cases failed to meet women's needs. It then suggests possible issues to incorporate in the package and how to identify aspects for inclusion in the package by making use of the situation analysis conducted.

Training objectives

By the end of the module participants will:

• be familiar with the reasons why extension packages may fail to meet women's I needs or be inappropriate for their situation;

• be able to identify some crucial aspects which should be considered in developing extension packages for rural women;

• be familiar with the process that links findings of the gender and situation analysis survey to the development of an appropriate extension package for women.

Key points

Key points examined in the Module are:

• technical content of extension packages aimed at women: what should be different from a package aimed at men;

• problems faced by women in accessing credit;

• steps in developing extension packages appropriate for rural women.

Section 1 Technical content of extension packages

Technical content of extension packages

This section identifies some of the reasons why extension packages have in many cases failed to meet women's needs. In raising these issues, the section gives participants the opportunity to analyse the suitability of some of the packages they have introduced and to assess how well they match existing constraints. Encourage participants to bring up examples from their own work and to analyse real situations they have directly experienced.

Reference information

Extension packages have traditionally been developed considering men farmers as the main target audience. The growing recognition of the extent of women's involvement in agriculture and rural development has often led to a 'rush' to include women in existing extension activities, without proper consideration of how packages may need to be revised or adapted. Where the need for including women in the target audience has been recognized, it has rarely gone beyond inviting women to attend existing extension activities. Even programmes aimed specifically at women farmers often achieve results well below their potential, due to the tendency to promote packages which were developed originally for men farmers but which fail to address women's specific needs.

Issues Limiting the Adoption by Women

A number of issues have limited the adoption of extension packages by women. While several issues are specifically related to women's situation only, other issues are also of concern to the wider category of small, resource poor farmer.

The following issues represent some of the common drawbacks of extension packages. This is not an exhaustive list, but promotes a way of looking at problems, highlighting the principle that "appropriate to men" does not necessarily mean "appropriate to women".

• Most packages introducing technological improvements require credit. However, most packages fail to recognize that credit is often less accessible for women than for men, hence indirectly preventing them from adopting the package (see next Section).

• Extension packages are often more concerned with cash crops and commercial agriculture. Though far from being always the case, women tend to be in charge of family food plots, while commercial plots tend to be a male responsibility. In such a situation, women farmers can be unintentionally excluded from the extension activity due to lack of relevance of the issues to their situation.

• Improved technologies promoted through extension services often focus on maximum productivity, ignoring other aspects that can be comparatively more important to women for the general well-being of the household. For example, traditional varieties not always be very productive but can offer valuable by-products (e.g. food, fuel, medicine, household goods) not present in higher yielding' modern varieties'. In other circumstances, taste and habits within the family may be more important than higher yields.

• Packages of inputs and technologies are often presented on an all or nothing basis. This prevents women from adopting technologies on a step by step basis, trying out technologies according to their usually more limited resources and their capacity to take risks.

• Development of new technologies tend to favour commercial agriculture and productivity. Usually, little effort is put into promoting labour-saving technologies for some of the time consuming tasks in which women are engaged. Though not directly related to agriculture, labour-saving devices can increase women's productivity in agriculture by giving them more time to spend in agricultural production.

• Even when the aim is to improve an activity carried out by women, the technology being promoted can be unsuitable for women. In Nigeria, for instance, palm oil pressing is a time-consuming responsibility of women. A palm oil press was introduced but, having been designed to be used by men, it was too heavy for women to use. The time allocated for women to use the press also interfered with women's other tasks. As a consequence, women did not gain any benefit from the new technology.

• Sometimes there are cultural barriers to women using certain kinds of equipment. In some countries, for example, it is not considered appropriate for women to use bicycles or animal traction.

It is important to remember that these issues are all situation specific, i.e. the use of the same approach might have opposite effects according to the local situation. As mentioned earlier, women may reject the idea of growing cash crops on their plots in place of food crops due to the higher risks involved, the loss of security in ensuring the family food needs are covered, and because of the higher requirements in terms of investment and labour that the cash crop might require. For a number of different reasons, women may seek access to a cash crop which yields higher returns than subsistence food crops and decide to use the extra cash gained through its cultivation to buy the food needed instead of growing it. In Rwanda, for example, women have been in charge of 70 percent of the work involved in coffee production.

Quite often, the inappropriateness of extension packages is due to misconceptions regarding what women's needs might be, basically due to attitudes and assumptions of extension workers, usually supported by male farmers. With no specific support from a gender and situation analysis study, extension workers are often called on to decide on the appropriateness or inappropriateness of a specific technology. Even areas which are apparently similar, from a cultural or social perspective, may differ deeply. For example, in several places in Africa food processing machines operated with a bicycle were rejected by women, since sitting on a bicycle was considered socially inappropriate for a woman. However, in a Muslim area of Ghana, where it was not considered appropriate for women to ride bicycles, women enthusiastically took up use of bicycle-operated machines when given the opportunity.

None of the issues analysed in this section should, therefore, be taken as valid in a specific area if not supported by adequate investigations.

Teaching strategy

Why Adoption by Women Can Be Low

Ask participants to get together in small groups (max. 5 people each) to discuss some of the reasons why extension packages may fail to adequately address women's needs.

Ask them to refer to specific examples of the points they raise.

Following the discussion, invite each group to present their results to the class. Ensure that the following issues are raised:

• packages requiring credit should address credit accessibility for women separate to accessibility for men;

• focusing on commercial agriculture may indirectly exclude women;

• focusing on maximum productivity tends to ignore aspects that can be comparatively important for the household;

• focusing on commercial agriculture and productivity tends to exclude promotion of labour-saving technologies for time-consuming tasks;

• the usual all or nothing approach excludes the possibility of a step by step adoption;

• the technology being promoted can be unsuitable for women;

• cultural barriers may exist preventing women from using certain equipment.

Discussion in class

Section 2 Access to credit

Access to credit

Women's access to credit frequently represents an overwhelming barrier to their adoption of the best and most appropriate technology.

Lack of credit availability as a constraint for women has already been briefly looked at in Module 1 (Section 2). Refer to the discussion and points raised at that stage, making sure this section reinforces the learning process providing a more in depth understanding of the issue, and avoiding repetition. If the barriers to accessing credit have already been exhaustively discussed, summarize the issues briefly and concentrate on the second part of this section (improving women's access to credit).

In either case, however, do not give participants the impression that access to credit is always a crucial problem. Limit the discussion to creating awareness of the possible existence of the problem, underlining that in numerous cases this has proved to be a major issue to be addressed. Emphasize the problem solving approach that extension workers should have in developing packages which should respond to problems identified in the field rather than regurgitating ready made solutions to issues assumed to be a problem.

Reference information

Rural women's problems in getting access to inputs and technology are often directly related to their difficulty in getting access to credit. Without cash or credit, they cannot buy the inputs that are recommended by extension services or afford capital investments in technology and equipment Lack of consideration of the credit issue is often one of the key missing ingredients in extension packages aimed at women.

Though lack of credit is often a difficulty common to both men and women, the situation for women is usually complicated by traditional constraints. By becoming aware of these constraints, it may be possible for extension workers to find ways to help overcome them.

As shown in Annex 3.1, gender related imbalances regarding credit exist throughout developing countries. This is despite the fact that women farmers have an excellent repayment rate, usually higher than that of male farmers, as has been shown by studies carried out by FAO and other institutions (Annex 3.2).

If women have such excellent repayment rates on loans and if it clearly makes good sense economically to extend credit to women, why is it so difficult for women to get credit?

Common Obstacles to Obtaining Credit

Women face several obstacles to obtaining credit:

• Lack of collateral - Women often lack title to land or other assets. These are usually in a man's name. Most banks and credit institutions require collateral (something owned which becomes the bank's property if the loan is not repaid).

• Exclusion from agricultural cooperatives - In some areas membership in agricultural cooperatives may be limited to male heads of households. Many of these groups provide access to credit, or information about sources of credit.

• Distance from sources of credit - Banks and credit institutions are often located at some distance from the places women live and work. Constraints faced in this case may include: lack of affordable public transport, cultural barriers that inhibit women from travelling their communities, time constraints, and household responsibilities.

• Limited education and information on bank and financial procedures - In many rural areas, women have less access to education than men and, hence, the levels of literacy and numeracy are lower than for men. In these cases, it is especially difficult for them to learn about and understand information on bank and loan procedure. Women may not be able to read the information about how to obtain credit or to make the required calculations. The information is often written in highly technical terms and not in the language that ordinary people can understand. However, more often there is little or no information available on where and how to get credit. There is a great need for information on obtaining credit, especially for those women who have had little or no experience with banks or loans.

• Credit is frequently limited to specific crops or livestock - Because of the gender division of labour, these may not be the crops and livestock for which women are responsible. Credit is more often available for those crops and livestock for which men are responsible.

• Transaction costs are often too high for small and for poor farmers, and rural women tend to be among the smaller and poorer farmers.

Improving Women's Access to Credit

Improving Women's Access to Credit

Often village extension workers may be the only official link to institutions and organizations outside the village. They need to feel responsible for helping women solve their problems either directly or by contacting others who can help, e.g. voicing concerns to their managers, speaking to a bank official, etc.

While extension workers should generally not become involved in supervising credit, loans and loan repayment, they can help overcome difficulties which women face in accessing credit in a number of ways. For example:

• If women lack information on where and how to get credit, extension workers can investigate the existing options and provide the relevant information to rural women. Information must be provided in ways that women can easily understand and which are appropriate for the area. According to the level of literacy and the means of communication available, the method of passing on the information will range from simple written materials to group meetings, radio, and audiovisuals. Using appropriate means of communication is discussed in Module 4.

• If one of the difficulties faced by women is filling out the application for the loan or following the often very complex procedures to obtain the loan, the extension worker may be able to help women farmers develop the necessary skills and provide them with assistance to apply for a loan and to follow the procedures. Alternatively s/he may be able to help find someone else who could assist them, such as a bank official or someone from another village who successfully applied for a loan.

• At times, travelling to the financial institution can represent a major obstacle. The extension worker could discuss with the women, ways to overcome the problem. For instance, one possibility might be to have a group loan with only one of them needing to go to the bank. This approach would also mean sharing the transaction costs among the group. Alternatively, the extension worker can contact the financial institution directly to discuss the problem and try to find a possible solution with the bank officials.

• If there are no credit facilities for rural women, in some cases the extension officer may be able to contact some of the local financial institutions and try to encourage them to establish schemes aimed at rural women. S/he may be able to do this directly or discuss the idea with others who can.

• If some group saving schemes already exist in the area, extension workers could explore ways to strengthen them and to enhance women's participation in them.

In several countries, women have developed their own informal credit schemes or successfully used existing informal credit schemes. These range from obtaining loans or credit from friends and relatives, moneylenders and merchants to developing rotating savings schemes and credit associations. Informal credit schemes may be the only way of giving women access to credit where barriers to formal credit institutions cannot be broken down. These can also be interim measures while efforts are being made to give women access to formal credit institutions.

Informal saving schemes have been successfully implemented by rural women in Java, Kenya, parts of West Africa, Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Egypt amongst others.

In places where formal and informal credit is non-existent or limited, it may be possible for extension workers to help establish informal savings and credit schemes in a community, such as savings clubs or revolving funds.

Many governments, donor agencies and non-governmental organizations have established innovative financial institutions and schemes to provide credit and meet the savings needs of people (see Annex 3.3). Extension workers should try to find out about the existence of such programmes or institutions. This information is usually available from government agencies, development agencies and non-governmental organizations working in the field of development.

Teaching strategy

Credit Facilities

Ask participants to briefly discuss and analyse the following issues in small groups:

• what participants understand by credit;

• what credit is available in the area in which they work: e.g. what institutions provid small loans; what types of activities are most likely to receive credit; what are the conditions for granting credit; what informal credit is available;

• what obstacles could prevent women from obtaining credit.

Ask one group to present their findings and encourage a general discussion to integrate the presentation with the experiences of the other groups.

Ensure that the obstacles to women obtaining credit, mentioned earlier, are covered here:

• lack collateral;

• exclusion from agricultural cooperatives;

• distance from sources of credit;

• limited education and information on financial procedures;

• credit not covering staple food crops;

• transactor costs.

Positive and Negative Experiences

Ask participants to mention cases of rural women's positive and negative experiences related to credit. Use one of the points listed below as an example. Once enough points have been raised, ask participants, working in small groups, to take one positive and one negative point each and discuss ways to reduce the incidence of negative experiences and ways to increase the occurrence of positive experiences.

Positive

Negative

Committed official to assess the contractual services provided

Indebtedness

Timely provision of credit

Discontinuity in programme

Involvement of the farmers themselves

Group ineffectiveness

etc.

etc.

Ask groups to present the results of their discussion to the class, and encourage them to compare their experiences.

Ask participants to add any other ideas which might be used to improve women's access to credit in their area.

Section 3 Developing extension packages appropriate for rural women

By this stage, participants will have had a number of opportunities to critically review the gender implications of extension packages and the specific needs of women which have to be addressed. In this section, refer to previous discussions in which these points have been raised, and encourage participants to identify aspects to include in extension packages which would enhance their appropriateness for rural women.

Developing extension packages appropriate for rural women

Stress that the ideas developed in this section are not a recipe to be followed step by step, but represent some of the most common issues to incorporate in extension packages for women. Some of them may be mutually exclusive, while others may be missing. Some of the ideas presented will certainly be appropriate to the specific situation in which extension officers work and should, therefore, be looked at separately and compared with the needs identified. In other cases, the extension worker will have to identify new solutions or adapt some of the ideas presented in this section.

The key learning point is to realize the need to use a problem solving approach, to develop solutions which will be different for each situation.

Reference information

Knowledge of women's activities, resources, constraints and needs can help extension workers to determine, in consultation with the women farmers themselves, the most appropriate inputs and technologies for women.

A Two Step Approach

When developing an extension package, extension workers will need to take into consideration the following steps:

• The results of the gender and situation analysis.

The table prepared at the end of the gender and situation analysis, including the amendments suggested by the women farmers, should be used to identify the key aspects that need to be addressed in the extension package.

• Revision of the technology and support services available.

Which technologies match the needs identified in the gender and situation analysis? A review of existing extension packages may well result in deciding that none are appropriate. Could parts of these package be appropriate, however? fry to identify which parts of existing packages (if any) could be appropriate to women and how other parts of the packages might be adjusted to make them more suitable. Could other activities be added which would increase the appropriateness of the whole package?

By comparing the summary of the gender and situation analysis and the list of technologies available, and by using the imagination to develop innovative mixes of what is available and what could be done, it will often be possible to develop a suitable package.

Men in a particular area are responsible for cash crop production. Women in the same area are responsible for food crops and also sheep and goat care. The extension package at present promotes greater use of fertilizer for use in cash crops which men can afford. Increased production of staple food crops is also being promoted by the extension service. A major component of this is increased use of fertilizer for food crops. Women. however. do not have the same access to cash and cannot afford high doses of artificial fertilizer. A suitable extension package for women might then be to recommend a low dose of artificial fertilizer (which they can afford) supplemented by sheep and goat manure.

Ensure Responsiveness to Felt Needs

When a pressing need has clearly been mentioned by several women, extension workers should try their best to address it. Even with issues which seem beyond the control of the extension worker, it will often be possible to make a move in the right direction. Reporting to the women the progress achieved will help gain their confidence and establish the basis for a constructive relationship.

Women in a particular area spend several hours every day collecting water from a stand pipe some distance away. This leaves them too little time for agriculture and food production and any innovations suggested are rejected due to lack of time. The extension worker may be able to contact the appropriate local authorities and help arrange for a stand pipe closer to their own houses.

Consult the Audience While Developing the Package

Once a draft extension package has been prepared, a good practice is to discuss it briefly with some of the women farmers and to check its suitability with them. It is important to encourage women to comment on the applicability of the proposed package, expressing any doubts they might have. This will help ensure that steps can be taken to improve the appropriateness of the package and increase its chances of successful adoption before going any further. It will also show women farmers that their opinion is valued and that addressing their problems effectively is a real concern of the extension service.

Incorporate Flexibility Whenever Possible

In using packages of inputs and technologies, extension workers should try to ensure flexibility that will allow women to adopt inputs and practices on a step by step basis according to their resources and ability to take risks.

A successful example is the use of the Small Plot Adoption Technique (SPAT) used in a project in Nigeria. New varieties or production recommendations were tried out by women on small plots in concentrated farming areas, alongside paths and at crossroads. Extension workers were able to use the plots as demonstrations to many other farmers at minimal cost. More than 40,000 SPATs were established for crops that are primarily the responsibility of women (cassava, rice, maize and cowpeas) and about 75 percent of the participating farmers are women.

Technical Content of Agricultural Extension Packages

When gender and situation analysis shows that men and women are engaged in different aspects of agricultural production, extension packages aimed at women will need to reflect these differences. For example, it is important to ensure that staple food crops are given adequate coverage in extension work. Consideration also needs to be given to aspects not directly related to productivity, such as the use of by-products or preference for some traditional varieties over new high yielding varieties.

In one area of Kenya, a new maize variety resistant to local pests was introduced to small farmers. Since maize was mainly grown for family consumption, this new variety was in most cases rejected because the colour did not appeal to the family as much as that of the traditional variety.

An area which is very often women's responsibility and which tends to be given less attention in extension packages is post harvest operations. Considerable amounts of food are lost after harvest which can be avoided through adoption of improved techniques. Food processing operations (such as threshing, winnowing, milling, shelling seeds and nuts, pressing oils) are also very time consuming when traditional methods are used. Inclusion of post harvest issues in extension packages could, therefore, improve the availability of food for the family and save much needed time for women, thus addressing two crucial issues at the same time.

Marketing operations are another area which is frequently women's responsibility and hence often given less weight than issues related to increasing agricultural productivity. Women could greatly benefit from increased consideration of improved marketing techniques in extension packages.

The amount of time spent by women in repetitive and tedious time-consuming activities can be reduced considerably through the use of simple, low-cost labour-saving technologies. In addition to improved post harvest practices, extension workers can explore possibilities for introducing improved technologies and other ways of reducing the amount of time women spend in the provision of fuel and water.

In many countries of Africa and Asia, improved stoves have been introduced that use much less fuel than traditional stoves. In Pakistan, for example, the introduction of smokeless stoves has resulted in a 30 percent savings in fuel. As a result, women spend much less time gathering firewood for fuel. In addition, the smokeless stoves improve health conditions, as women no longer inhale the smoke during cooking. The smokeless stoves do not blacken utensils and walls with the result that women spend less time and water for cleaning. The stoves have saved up to four hours of work a day.

In Tanzania, irrigation technology reduced by half the time women spent in fetching water, freeing women to engage in other activities.

The introduction of simple, low-cost shelling and grinding technologies have reduced the time women spend in daily food processing and resulted in many hours of time savings in several countries of Africa.

Women's time constraints can also be reduced by arrangements for sharing work and thus freeing women's time. Cooperative and mutual help groups and efforts are already common in many areas and could be encouraged. Where they do not already exist, extension workers can explore with women, the possibilities of forming such groups to reduce the amount of time women spend on some of their tasks.

A Word of Caution

The introduction of labour-saving technologies, especially in agricultural production tasks, may have some unexpected results. For instance, the introduction of means to increase the amount of land under production will increase the amount of weeding and processing required. The result may be that women will have to spend even more time in these tasks, thus further reducing their time available. On the other hand, the introduction of food processing technologies may increase the demand for crops. The extension worker will have to look at the consequences of the introduction of technologies throughout the production process to ensure that the introduction of a technology will not have negative consequences.

Another common occurrence is that when improved technologies are introduced for women's tasks, particularly the mechanization of agricultural production, provision of water and food processing, the training is given to men, who then take over these tasks. At first glance, this may appear to be a way to lighten women's work load. Experience has shown, however, that this is not always the case and can even lead to negative consequences for women and communities. As we have seen in Topic 2, men and women usually have complementary tasks and responsibilities in the household. When responsibility for a task is taken away from women, this may reduce women's decision-making and control over resources and reduce the income women have available for their areas of responsibilities. Since these usually involve providing food for the family and school fees for the children, it is easy to see that the consequences may be negative not only for women, but for their families and the community.

In one case, processing grain was mechanized and training in the use of processing equipment was given to men. Men became responsible for this task and women lost an important source of income. They had to turn to other time-consuming, low paid activities to make up for this loss.

Teaching Strategy

Successful and Unsuccessful Packages

Give a definition of "successful" package in terms of level of adoption and degree of improvement achieved.

Ask participants to form small groups and, concentrating on either successful or unsuccessful packages, to:

• identify the most successful/unsuccessful technologies/packages they have introduced (or tried to introduce) to rural women in the past;

• review the problem the package addressed;

• review the result of adopting the ideas/technology (if any);

• analyse the reasons for the success/lack of success.

Ask groups to present the results of their discussion to the class.

Labour Saving Devices

Ask participants to descibe labour saving technologies they have come across. Discuss their potential for introduction to women in their areas. For the discussion to be most useful, you may want to invite participants to do some background research and to consider the issue individually before the session.

Additional Readings

Participation as Process - what we can learn from Grameen Bank, Bangladesh

by Andreas Fugelsang and Dale Chandler

Norwegian Ministry of Development Cooperation, NORAD

Revolving Fund Gives Soft Loans to Women

by Chris Magola and Sauti Ya Siti

Tanzania Media Women's Association (TAMWA), October-December 1991

Market Women's Cooperatives: Giving Women Credit in Nicaragua in Seeds: Supporting Women's Work in the Third World

edited by Ann Leonard

New York: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York: 1989

Module 3 Annexes

Annex 3. 1

Credit and Gender Related Imbalances

In 1990, a total of US$ 5.8 billion in multilateral bank loans and grants was allocated to agriculture and rural development in the developing world. It is estimated that no more than 5 percent of the total was given to rural women, even though up to 70 percent of the food grown in developing countries is produced by women.

(IFAD, INSTRAW and MIM, Inter-regional Training Seminar Report on "How to Improve Banking for Rural Women ' 1990).

In Africa, rural women receive less than 10 percent of the credit allocated to small farmers and only I percent of the total credit allocation to agriculture.

(WAD, Consultation Report on the Economic Advancement of Rural Women in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1991).

In Colombia, 1986 statistics show that women received only 22.5 percent of the credit given by the Agricultural Bank in small loans of up to 20 pesos. For larger amounts of credit, the percentage of women given credit is even smaller: from 20 to 100 pesos, women were only 21.3 percent of the recipients; for 100 to 500 pesos, l 9.6 percent; for 500 to 1000 pesos, 16.1 percent; and for credit above 1000 pesos, women were only 14.2 percent of the recipients.

(FAO, Plan of Action for Women in Development, Illustrated Version, 1990).

Data from commercial banks in Andhra Pradesh, India, show that only 6 to 12 percent of the loans were given to women and, moreover, none of these were agricultural loans. A survey of households in Bangladesh found that women made up only 2.8 percent of the recipients of formal credit.

(Saito, 1992).

Annex 3.2

Repayment Rates on Loans

In Cameroon, the Credit Union lending scheme has found that women rarely default on loans.

In Nepal, a World Bank credit programme for the rural poor showed, after eight years of operation, a 91 percent repayment rate on the part of women.

The experience of Women's World Banking, which has 50 affiliates in 44 countries, shows a 97 percent recovery rate on loans to women in Africa.

(Source, WAD, INSTRAW and MIM, 1990).

A World Bank study in Africa showed that when men and women have similar access to land, education, extension services, information and credit, women out-produce men by 6 percent.

(WAD. Report of the Summit on the Economic Advancement of Rural Women, 1992).

Annex 3.3

Bangladesh: The Grameen Bank

The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh is a well-known innovative credit organization which provides loans to thousands of landless farmers in Bangladesh. It has a 98 percent repayment rate and relies on social collateral rather than on material collateral.

Those who receive loans are organized into groups with a strict set of rules for receiving and repaying loans. Since the availability of loans to the members of the groups depends on the adherence of each member to the rules and to repayment of loans, peer pressure is very effective. Men and women are organized in separate groups as is culturally expected in a Muslim society. The groups also function as vehicles for training and information.

Tanzania: Revolving Fund

In Tanzania, a Revolving Fund has been set up by the National Bank of Commerce, in coordination with the Women in Development Department, to provide short term soft loans to women for economically viable projects. The Fund accepts the mortgage of crops, vehicles, machines and jewels in place of land and tangible assets. The primary consideration for loans is the worthiness of the project. A training programme will be given along with the loans to help women learn the skills of managing projects and understand the issue of borrowing and repaying loans. The Bank will also train its workers to discard bureaucracy and to learn to speak in a way that is understandable to the women taking the loans.

Nicaragua: Market Women's Cooperatives

In Nicaragua, the Nicaraguan Foundation for Development (FUNDE), organized cooperatives to give loans to market women and free them from the high rates of interests charged by private money-lenders. The cooperatives not only give credit but require members to save. Women can get loans only after they have saved for six weeks. In order to make the credit accessible to women, the cooperative offices are located near the market with office hours corresponding to market hours. The cooperative manager can also be found in off-hours. Unlike banks, but similar to private moneylenders, women can make repayments daily. The women prefer this system as they do not like to keep sums of money around the house.

Nepal: Self-help Groups

In Nepal, the Small Farmer Development Programme assisted women to form small self-help groups to take out loans. As poor farmers, they did not have land or sufficient property or goods to put up as collateral. Instead, they borrow on a group guarantee basis: if one person defaults, the group has to take the responsibility for repayment. The groups are made up of women who know each other and who have already worked side by side for years. In the close-knit community, group pressure ensures that members pay off their obligations. The groups also serve as mutual help groups.

Savings Groups and Revolving Funds

One of the simplest and easiest ways to increase women's access to credit is to form village savings groups and revolving funds. In a great many places, women have already formed such groups. The rural women form a group to pool their savings. Small loans can be obtained from this pool of savings by each woman in turn. Some groups have managed to save enough so that the group savings can be used as collateral to obtain larger loans from formal credit institutions. The essential ingredients for success are strong group cohesiveness and peer pressure, honest and capable managers of the funds and openness and regular reporting to the group on the state of the funds. Successful savings groups have been operated, even among women with low literacy and numeracy skills through the use of objects and marks to keep track of money and financial transactions. Whatever their state of capability, savings groups can often benefit and be strengthened by skills training.

Module 4 Working with rural women in practice

Working with rural women in practice

Introduction and module aim

Module 4 looks at practical issues which could facilitate women's participation in extension activities. The results of the gender and situation analysis are used in improving the approaches used to contact women and to man time and location of extension activities. The module also looks at the extension methods which could be most effective in working with women farmers. In particular, women's groups are considered in more detail as a way to channel extension activities for rural women.

The module presupposes a general knowledge of extension methods and is restricted to highlighting gender considerations. Should participants lack this background, it is important to at least supplement the information provided with some additional introductory readings.

Training Objectives

By the end of the module, participants will:

• be aware of the main constraints which may prevent extension workers from working with rural women and be familiar with ways to overcome them;

• be aware of time and mobility constraints faced by rural women and of ways to plan extension activities to reduce the impact of these constraints and allow women's participation;

• be able to select the most appropriate communication methods to enhance women's participation in extension activities.

Key Points

Key points examined in the Module are:

• ways to overcome social and cultural restrictions in contacting and working with rural women;

• approaches in the selection of time and location of extension activities to better suit women's needs;

• extension methods which facilitate rural women's participation in extension activities;

• women's groups and their effectiveness as a channel for extension activities.

Section 1 Contacting rural women

Contacting rural women

By now, the participants will have analysed some of the problems faced by women farmers, and will be more aware of the various constraints which prevent women from becoming more involved in extension activities. This section provides some examples of ways to overcome specific constraints and cultural barriers and should promote creative thinking to find the appropriate approach for real situations.

Reference information

One of the reasons why women may not be fully involved in extension activities is that there are often social or cultural constraints that prevent or inhibit male extension workers from contacting and working with women.

In some areas, women are not permitted any contact at all with males who are not part of the immediate family. In other areas, there are strong cultural taboos on the interaction of men and women. However, even where there are fewer or no formal cultural restrictions on contact between males and females there may still be cultural or social reasons which make it difficult for male extension workers to communicate successfully with women. For instance, when women have little education, they may lack the confidence to express themselves to extension workers or to speak up during extension activities. Where men are considered the authority figures in the community or household, women may not feel free to speak up, ask questions or disagree with men.

Contacts with women can also be limited as a result of assumptions about rural women which male extension workers sometimes make and which can stop extension workers from trying to contact women.

A study in Tanzania, found that extension workers assumed that all adult women are married and that their husbands would pass on advice to them. In fact, many women were single and heads of households and even when they were married, the husbands did not pass on information.

Extension workers need to be aware of any social and cultural factors that restrict contact between them and rural women in the areas where they are working. They can then make adjustments or use methods to overcome these limitations. The following are some ways to improve contact with rural women through individuals and through groups.

Female Agents

It has often been noted that women extension workers can be more effective in communicating with women farmers. In most areas where strong cultural taboos exist concerning contact between males and females, women extension agents may be the only way to contact rural women.

In Pakistan, for example, religious regulations precluded male extensionists from entering households to vaccinate poultry while the husband was absent. Because of time limitations, the agents were unable to return to these families and a spread of poultry diseases followed. Consequently, female extension agents were later employed.

It is worth noting, however, that, even strong cultural taboos concerning women's contact with strange men will often be less strongly enforced with poor women.

The number of female extension workers is still very limited in most extension services. Together with a longer term approach of recruiting and providing more opportunities for women to become extension agents, there are other ways to find women agents who can contact rural women. For example:

• Female professionals working as home economists or domestic science teachers are often numerous in many countries. Although most focus on nutrition and women's household or domestic tasks, many have had agricultural training. In any case, they have access to and contact with rural women and can be used to provide information to women farmers and to support the work of extension agents.

This approach has been successfully used in Nigeria, where home economists helped in the adoption of soybeans, teaching women how to grow and use them.

• Women working in community development as well as active female community organizers can also act as a contact with women farmers. Often associated with non-governmental or community organizations, they tend to live in the villages or at least visit them frequently.

Male Extension Agents

Even in situations where cultural and social taboos exist, male extension agents can still succeed in working with rural women. They need to be committed to working with women and prepared to put in the time necessary to learn from and about women farmers to find the best ways to communicate with women, and to provide for the specific needs of women. Possible ways to increase contact with women farmers include:

• Overcoming inhibitions in the community by having male extensionists initially accompanied by women agents. Later, when trust is established, male extensionists may be able to continue the contact and work with rural women on their own.

• Male extensionists can also contact both the male and female members of the farming families at the same time. The extension officer should, in this case, make sure that the visit is timed in such as way that women are able to be present; and should ensure that attention is given to the tasks and needs of women as well as men. These kinds of visits are most successful when men and women are both involved in similar tasks or where there is a strong inter-relationship between their different farming responsibilities.

Contact Farmers

Some female farmers could be selected as contact farmers and act as an effective link with other women farmers Experiences of working with female contact farmers show that this is an effective approach. To ensure women are included as contact farmers extension workers need to consider the criteria commonly used in the selection process. Some of these tend to indirectly exclude women: e.g. requirements of land ownership, literacy, and the ability to purchase inputs. Adding an emphasis on farming ability could result in an increase in women contact farmers.

In Muranga District, Kenya, for example, more than half the contact farmers were women in areas where the selection criteria included active involvement in farming and availability to meet agents. In areas where land ownership was a selection criteria, fewer women were contact farmers Ideally contact farmers should:

• represent the local range of farm size, cropping patterns, and socio-economic conditions and be regarded by other farmers as worthy of imitation;

• be active, participating farmers;

• be willing to adopt extension recommendations on at least part of their land, allow other farmers to observe the new practices, and be willing to explain them to other farmers;

• come from different families;

• be from geographically dispersed farms.

Some extension workers have successfully encouraged village chiefs to speak out in favour of female contact farmers.

Studies in South Asia have shown that women from large land-holding families who supervise farm labour share their agricultural information with the women labourers, with beneficial results for both the landowners and the labourers. In these areas, such women would make good contact farmers.

Teaching Strategy

Constraints in Working with Women

In small groups, participants should discuss the following points:

• What, if any, social or cultural constraints exist in the area where participants will be working that might limit their ability to work with rural women?

• Have the participants experienced these constraints personally or just heard about them?

• What was the evidence of these communication barriers?

• What did they try to do to overcome it?

After the small group discussion, ask participants to briefly present some of the cases analysed. Encourage an exchange of opinions on how the cases could have been tackled. At the end of the session, once the different approaches have been discussed, return to some of the examples mentioned at the beginning of the session to see whether they can now see possibilities for different approaches which could overcome constraints.

Ask participants to discuss the following case study in small groups:

In the area where you have recently been assigned, there seem to be no apparent restrictions to women talking with men who are not part of the family. The impression is that for strong cultural reasons, it is very hard for a man not known to the community to gain the confidence of women. You are aware that there have been warnings from a nearby area of the possibility of an epidemic of a goat disease spreading. To contain it, it is crucial to get women to implement the advice you have to give them. There are no women extension agents in your area. Which approach would you follow.

One group should then be asked to present the results of their analysis to the class, as a starting point for discussing alternative approaches to contacting women's farmers.

Section 2 Time and location of extension activities

Time and location of extension activities

This section aims to develop an understanding of the implications of time and mobility constraints faced by women farmers, on their participation in extension activities. Through discussion, participants should gain enough ideas to be able to plan their future extension activities with rural women in such a way that the impact of these constraints is minimized.

Encourage discussion of specific situations experienced by participants, in which time or mobility constraints have affected women's participation in their extension activities. Help the class to find approaches which could have improved the situation.

Reference information

Rural women are often not able to participate fully in extension activities because the activities are held at times when it is difficult or impossible for them to attend, and/or in places they cannot easily reach or that are not adapted to their needs.

If the extension worker is aware of women's time and mobility constraints, these can often be overcome by organizing extension activities at times and locations that make it possible for women to participate.

Time Constraints

As seen in Module 1, rural women often work as many as 14 hours per day. In addition to agricultural tasks, they have household and child care responsibilities. Many of their tasks are repetitive and time consuming. Furthermore, women are usually less flexible in terms of time because of agricultural and household tasks that must be performed daily, often at set times such as feeding, milking animals, preparing and serving meals, etc.

When planning extension activities, extension workers should try to find out what time constraints women face, using the information gathered through gender and situation analysis. If this information has not been gathered previously, the extension worker can make a rapid survey of key women contacts and women's groups. See Annex 4.1 for possible questions.

Next, and most important, the extension worker can find out when would be the best times for women to attend meetings and other extension activities. The simplest way is to ask the women themselves when would be the best times to meet or participate in activities. This information can be gathered at the same time as the information on the time constraints, through a rapid survey of key women contacts and women's groups. Care should be taken to include information about women from all socio-economic sectors and ages, since they are likely to have different time constraints.

Mobility Constraints

Women are often less mobile than men

As discussed in Module 1, women are often less mobile than men. This is partly due to the fact that they have less time to spend travelling, and that they often have less money to pay for transport and less access to means of transport than men. Sometimes cultural or social restrictions keep women from travelling outside their communities, or outside their homes at certain times (e.g. after dark).

A study in Zambia showed that only five percent of the women in the Northern, Central and Southern Provinces of Zambia attended farmer training courses. In the Eastern province, only 15 percent of those attending training courses were women. The main reason for the low attendance by women was the lack of transport. In one district, where 41 percent of the households were headed by women, no women attended the courses offered by a residential training centre. The reason was that women farmers who are heads of households were unable to leave their villages for the several weeks needed to attend courses.

Once the extension worker has identified the mobility constraints of women, it should be possible to locate meetings and extension activities not only at times convenient for women, but also in places that they can get to without undue difficulty. In some cases, these may be times and places equally suitable for men, and joint meetings may be appropriate. In other cases, separate meetings may need to be held.

Convenient places may be in women's fields, in or near the home, in the community, or near the places where women gather for regular work (water supply, mill, etc.).

If the lack or cost of transport is the problem, the extension worker can arrange to hold activities closer to women's households and/or places of work. The extension worker may also be able to arrange transport for the women.

Where there are strong cultural and social restrictions on women travelling outside their communities, there have been successful initiatives to bring rural women together for meetings by allowing some local leader or government officer to accompany them. In Pakistan, for instance, a national conference of peasant women brought together women from all over the country. Arrangements were made for them to be accompanied by trusted extension workers and representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations working in the areas. The women's escorts also served as interpreters. The extension workers and the organizers had to discuss the conference and the arrangements with the women and their husbands well in advance. A few husbands insisted on coming with their wives and they were allowed to do so.

Different Approaches to Overcome Time and Mobility Constraints

If women cannot come to the extension activities, the extension worker can take the activities to the women. The following cases are examples of successful approaches used by some creative extension workers:

• Facing difficulties in scheduling activities which rural women were in a position to attend, an extension worker set up a stall in the weekly marketplace. When the women came to the market, as they had to do regularly, they could stop at the stall of the extension worker and discuss problems, report progress and get advice.

• Some extension workers arrange small group meetings for women farmers who live in a cluster of neighbouring households, in the compound of one of the households. This cuts down on the time that women have to be away as well as solving the mobility problems.

• Rural women often gather together in small groups or with their neighbours to perform certain tasks. (e.g. washing clothes). These are often times and places for women to meet and converse anyway. The extension worker can take advantage of this to organize extension activities at times and places where women are already gathered together. This approach has worked best when the women are engaged in time-consuming tasks that are routine and repetitive and so do not require the full attention of the women; for instance, repetitive food processing tasks like shelling and grinding, or tasks such as making or mending clothes, fishnets, or household items such as mats, baskets, etc.

Child Care

Child care responsibilities often prevent women from attending meetings or courses of long duration or long distance from the households. Infants can be taken to meetings, but children under five, who cannot yet take care of themselves, always require a share of the attention. Inevitably, this prevents women from concentrating on the issues discussed, indirectly limiting the impact of the extension activities.

Child care arrangements may be necessary. Extension workers can discuss with the women and the community, possible ways to organize child care. Women are often willing and able to take turns looking after and caring for groups of children.

Training Courses

Rural women often find it especially difficult to leave their agricultural, household and child care tasks to attend longer training courses, since the length of the activity interferes with their routine responsibilities.

Their participation could be increased by trying to address their specific problems. For instance:

• Training courses can be broken up into shorter sessions. For instance, it may be possible to split a week-long training course into modules of one or two days each.

• Training centres may have to be adapted to the needs of women. In places where there are social and cultural restrictions on contacts between men and women, separate eating and meeting facilities may have to be arranged. Another possibility is to arrange all-women courses and training sessions.

• Training centres may need to make some arrangements for child care. As with shorter meetings, these could be cooperative arrangements among the women.

• Whenever feasible, a good approach is to bring the training course to where the women are. In many countries, extensionists have successfully organized mobile training courses that come to women where they are, rather than requiring women to go to a training centre. In Thailand and the Philippines, mobile dairy extension and training services, including artificial insemination and vaccination programmes, have greatly increased women's access to these services. Mobile training units have also been used successfully in Zambia.

Teaching Strategy

Time Constraints

In small groups, ask participants to develop a list of reasons why rural women may have time constraints. Once they have completed their discussion, ask participants to read out their points and write a comprehensive list on the flip chart. Ask them to revise their list to include any constraints raised by other groups. Allocate enough time for them to discuss what action can be taken to reduce time constraints. They may wish to split this into:

• actions to be taken by rural women (individually or in groups);

• actions to be taken by the extension agent (individual field workers or the extension service).

Ask groups to present their findings and develop the discussion from there.

Mobility Constraints

In small groups, ask participants to develop a list of reasons why rural women may have mobility constraints. Once they have completed their discussion, ask participants to read out their points and write a comprehensive list on the flip chart Ask them to revise their list to include any constraints raised by other groups. Allow enough time for them to discuss what actions could be taken to reduce mobility constraints. They may wish to split this into:

• actions to be taken by rural women (individually or in groups);

• actions to be taken by the extension agent (individual field workers or the extension service).

Ask groups to present their findings and develop the discussion from there.

Time and Mobility Constraints

Give participants Table 4.1, and tell them to assume they are field workers in charge of women's extension activities in Sierra Leone. Some investigations have shown this to be the most common daily schedule for rural women in your area. How would they plan their extension activities?

Section 3 Communication methods

Communication methods

While the basic principles behind the conventional extension methods are the same for a target audience of rural women as they are for men, there are a number of considerations which can enhance their effectiveness when working with women. This section aims at highlighting some of these aspects.

As mentioned in the module introduction, it is assumed that participants are familiar with the main extension methods and the principles behind them. Should this not be the case, this section will need to be supplemented with background information on communication methods.

A wide range of books and training manuals are available on extension and communication methods, some of which are listed at the end of this section. The trainer should refer to these or to similar sources as necessary.

Reference information

Mixed Groups

When speaking to a mixed group, extension workers must take special care to address women as well as men. This includes covering issues and problems relevant to both, as well as referring to both men and women during the talk.

In strongly male dominated societies, women invited to a mixed group meeting often tend to sit at the back. In this case, the extension worker should ensure they are able to hear properly and can see whatever might be shown. When cultural reasons would make women uncomfortable to sit at the front, the extension officer should try to find other ways to ensure their participation. Examples could include asking them to sit on the side, or the extension officer could walk around the audience while talking.

Group Discussions

Whether to hold discussions with women-only groups or with mixed groups will depend on the community situation.

When mixed group discussion is acceptable, it can be very beneficial for both men and women. Extension workers will need to help create the conditions for the participation of rural women in mixed groups.

The meetings must, for instance, be held in locations that are accessible to women and at times that do not conflict with their farm domestic tasks. During the meeting they should ensure that the women are seated where they can participate fully. Extension workers may have to encourage and provide opportunities for women to speak up and try to avoid allowing the discussion to become male dominated. Another way to encourage greater participation of women is to break the large group into small groups, either groups of all men and all women or smaller mixed groups. The small groups may then come together to present the results of their discussions in the larger group.

Media and Materials

When developing extension materials for rural women, extension workers should keep in consideration their usually lower level of literacy. The same principles that would be used in developing media for illiterate male farmers would then apply. When literacy levels are low, printed material is normally of limited use and visual representations of the concepts explained, such as drawings, photographs or objects, are preferred. However, when using visual representations, it is important that the materials are pre-tested with the target audience, since picture recognition varies not only with literacy but also with culture. It is very common for pictures to be misunderstood, even to the extent of the opposite message being received from that intended.

Radio is frequently used in rural areas and can be a good means to bring information to rural women. It has proved to be very helpful in reaching women who have little opportunity to participate in other extension activities. Programmes should be broadcast at times when it is possible for women to listen to them, and the content of the programmes should be relevant to women's agricultural tasks.

In some places, radios are owned by men, and women may not have easy access to them. If this is the case, the extension worker may be able to improve women's access to the radio. Examples of ideas used in the past are:

• discussing the problem at a community meeting, to identify ways around the problem;

• finding out if the programmes are broadcast at times when women can gather around a radio as a group, (e.g. when they are engaged in routine household tasks such as food processing or washing clothes) so that one radio would be enough to reach several women. (If not, the extension worker may be able to bring this issue up with the broadcasters and investigate if it is possible to change the time of broadcasting);

• taping the programme and playing it back on a cassette recorder at a time when women are gathered together for carrying out some daily routine tasks;

• suggesting women's groups save sufficient funds to buy a radio for their group.

A general principle to keep in mind while choosing media to communicate with rural women is that media are more effective when the audience feel part of it. Many audiovisual communications assume that farmers are male and are often directed to a male audience. Use of such media can be ineffective with women since they do not feel any direct involvement. This can also happen if the media was developed using women as the main characters who look different from those in the local area (from an urban area or from a different area). If local women cannot identify with them, they may not be receptive to the message.

Traditional Media

One type of communication which is often very effective with rural women is traditional media, such as songs, dances and drama. These approaches have been used successfully to involve women farmers in expressing their problems and needs in a number of areas.

In Tanzania, extension workers used popular traditional theatre, song and dance for development activities. The women in the villages were organized to express their problems regarding lack of access to water, crop prices, land use, distribution of basic commodities and activities for young people through their traditional types of songs, dance and drama. The performances brought out possible solutions to these problems. Immediately after the performances, discussions were held in small groups. Out of these came community short-term and long-term action plans to implement solutions to the problems identified.

Other experiences in using popular theatre for development purposes have been carried out in Botswana, Bangladesh, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Cameroon.

Traditional media, such as songs with accompanying actions, are popular. For example in Southern India, songs have successfully been used to communicate extension messages addressed to rural women in nutrition, health and post harvest operations.

Demonstrations

If men and women work with different crops or livestock or handle different tasks, demonstrations aimed at mixed groups or at women alone need to cover aspects relevant to the work of women. When the tasks are well defined and there is a clear gender separation, it might be better to hold separate demonstrations for women.

To be useful for women, demonstrations should contain information relevant to women and be held in a context with which they are familiar. If they are used to farming small intercropped plots of food crops, a demonstration held on a big farm, showing single cropped cash crops will be of very little interest or use to them. When selecting the sites for demonstrations aimed at women farmers, it is a normally a good practice to include a typical local farm under a woman's management, which reflects cropping patterns and problems faced by most of the local women farmers.

When it is local custom to provide a meal to the extension officer at the end of the demonstration, the extension officer should avoid discussing crucial issues of the demonstration when the host farmer is away cooking the meal. Wherever possible, arrangements should be made which would not interfere with the host farmer's ability to participate in the demonstration.

If demonstration plots are used, these should be located near to where women carry out their work. A good location is along a path well-travelled by women, las in the Small Plot Adoption Technique (SPAT) used in Nigeria (see Module 3).

Excursions and Tours

Experience shows that it can be particularly stimulating for women farmers to meet and discuss common problems with other women farmers and to learn from each other experiences. For rural women who have little opportunity to travel, the enjoyment of going on a tour also stimulates participation and enthusiasm for extension activities.

Nearby communities will, however, often be more suitable due to the practical obstacles of time and travel which would normally limit women's participation.

Field Days

Since field days are all day events, arrangements for child care are needed to enable women to give their full attention to demonstrations. When cultural reasons prevent women from taking part in activities outside the community, the possibility of having a local leader, or a person trusted by the community, to accompany the group can be considered.

Teaching strategy

Women in Mixed Groups

Ask participants to discuss, in small groups, how women's participation in a mixed group can be enhanced. Aspects to be analysed include all mixed group extension activities. Invite one group to present the results of their discussion to the class and develop the topic from their presentations.

Ask participants to analyse, in small groups, one of the following topics. At the end of the small group activity, invite the groups to present the results of their discussion to the class.

1) Traditional media -Ask them to analyse traditional media in their areas and to discuss the possible uses of these media for extension.

2) Constraints on use of other media - Ask them to list extension media with which they are familiar and to discuss the following questions:

• What restrictions might there be to women's access to these media in their areas?

• How could the restrictions be overcome?

Refer to Annex 4.2 for possible extension media to discuss.

3) Full day extension activities -Ask them to mention any particular constraints they noticed in their area, which prevent women from participating in filed days, tours and training courses. Hold a general discussion on the issues that emerge, and help participants explore possible ways to overcome them.

4) Constraints on use of other extension activities - Ask them to list extension methods with which they are familiar and to discuss the following questions:

• What restrictions might there be to women's participation in these extension activities in their areas?

• How could the restrictions be overcome?

Refer to Annex 4.3 for possible extension methods to discuss.

Section 4 Women's groups

Women's groups

One of the most successful ways of working with rural women is through groups. The effectiveness of groups is linked to the enhanced confidence and support that individuals gain through it, as well as to the improved understanding gained by comparing each others experiences. Meeting with groups of women is also culturally and socially acceptable women's is also culturally and socially acceptable in most places, and can overcome even the most rigid taboos.

This section explores the advantages of working with women's groups and analyses some practical aspects of working with L existing groups and setting up new ones.

Reference information

Group extension approaches are normally very successful with rural women, since individuals normally gain strength from the group and are more willing to try out new practices and new activities. Constraints, such as individual financial insecurity or low education. seem to lose weight in the group and are no longer perceived as or low education, seem to lose weight in the group and are no longer perceived as insurmountable obstacles. Groups may also facilitate pooling of resources and distribution of inputs.

According to the specific situation and local customs, women's groups may already exist or the situation may be conducive to their formation and operation. In other situations there may be well established active mixed groups which would represent a good channel for communication.

Women usually feel more free to speak in groups of women than they do when men are present. Women's needs are often overlooked in rural communities and women often lack opportunities to be able to voice their needs. A women's group offers women a place to speak up freely and talk about their work and their needs.

In a project in Malawi, women unanimously preferred farmers' groups for women only over mixed groups. When meeting with Extension agents, women felt freer to discuss and develop their ideas. In a mixed group, the men delayed repayment of loans and used the money for other businesses, so women, who had better repayment rates than men, preferred to obtain credit in women-only clubs.

The use of farmers' groups is also common in Burkina Faso's extension system. Women expressed a strong preference for women-only groups, where they could express themselves more freely. A World Bank mission recommended that agricultural extension demonstrations be held separately on the collective fields of female and male village groups.

A combination of women's groups and women's participation in mixed groups can also be used. When women have had the opportunity to develop speaking and leadership skills in women's groups, they are often more likely to speak and participate actively in mixed groups. It is often useful to work both with separate groups of women farmers and to encourage women's participation in mixed groups at the same time.

Working with Existing Women's Groups

In communities where it appears best to work with existing women's groups, the first step is to identify these groups. This information is usually easily obtained from community leaders and key women informants.

When women's groups already exist in a community, it is usually (but not always) best to work with them rather than to try to develop new groups. Many communities have a long tradition of women's groups which include mutual help groups, savings and credit clubs, labour exchange groups or those set up for social and ceremonial purposes.

Women Farmer Groups in Kenya

Women farmers' groups are used extensively in Kenya as the contact point for extension work. A survey found that 67 percent of field extension agents work with women's groups. Of these, 38 percent worked with more than three women's groups. Already established groups tended to be the most effective in extension: 62 percent of those surveyed were already functioning as self-help family groups. Extension agents follow up group meetings with visits to the individual women farmers and report that these women tend to adopt extension messages more readily than individual contact farmers.

Wherever agricultural credit or savings groups organized by women exist, they can serve as a basis for extension activities. In addition to the advantages related to group cohesiveness and smooth running, their involvement in credit provision further assists in the adoption of new technology and the involvement in new activities which may require some initial funds.

Setting up New Women's Groups

Though existing groups might be the first choice, quite often there will be a need to establish new ones, since it is often the more literate and better-off women who belong to groups, and participation by illiterate and poor women tends to be low.

Examples of the organization of women into groups for agriculture-related productive activities include:

• the women's cooperative movement launched by the Ministry of Local Government in Bangladesh, which has promoted the formation of women's groups to work with agricultural extensionists in agricultural production;

• in Benin, Ghana and Guinea, women's groups have been set up to introduce improved technologies for fish processing and conservation.

Experience has shown that groups are most successful when they are based on the greatest needs as perceived by local women and take into consideration women's resources, constraints and opportunities in agriculture and related activities.

In setting up new women's groups, it is usually necessary to go through traditional leaders and authorities. Requesting permission from chiefs or community leaders and councils shows respect for them and is often needed to enlist the support of the community leaders. Extension agents must be prepared to explain clearly the need for the women's groups. Support will more easily be forthcoming if the extension agent is able to show that, by helping women to improve their production, their families and the community will benefit too.

It can also be useful to get the support of local women leaders and the wives of male community leaders. However, it is important to make sure that groups don't become dominated by an elite, and result in marginalization of poorer women. If, for whatever reason, it is not possible to include women from all socio-economic sectors of the community in one group, different groups may need to be formed.

Steps in Group Formation

Once a potential group of women which may be interested in working together has been identified and the support ensured from local authorities, an initial meeting should be called. It is important to remember, at this stage, that common economic and social interests between members are what bind the group together. Major social and economic differences between members may cause conflict. Issues to be discussed at this initial meeting should cover the group's expectations, as well as general issues related to problems and needs faced.

Once there is a clear idea of what they want to do and how to do it, a group can be formed.

To ensure participation of all members in discussions and activities the group size should be kept small. Groups of 8 to 15 members are usually the most effective.

The following issues should at this initial stage be discussed by the group:

• meeting days, times and location;

• clear objectives for what the group wants to achieve;

• structure and leadership of the group;

• member's contributions, in either cash or kind, according to the objectives and activities defined;

• group rules, to minimize conflict and improve efficiency of group decision making.

Teaching strategy

Working with Women's Groups

In small groups, participants should discuss one of the following points:

• characteristics of existing women's groups in their area and ways to involve them in extension activities;

• strategies to form new women's groups.

For each point, ask one group to present the results of their discussions to the class and encourage participants to contribute their views and experiences.

Additional readings

Cooperation Between Women and Village Extension Workers: Assumptions and Expectations in Female Farmers and Male Extension Workers

Leiden University, 1991, pp. 14-26.

Groups Methods of Extension - in "Guide to Extension Training"

FAO, 1985.

Group Discussions - in "Agricultural Extension"

by A.W. Van Den Ban and H. S. Hawkins.

Extension Strategies Involving Local Groups and their Participation, and the Role of this approach in Facilitating Local Development

by John F. A. Russell in Investing in Rural Extension: Strategies and Goals, edited by Gwyn E. Jones.

Powerful Images: A Women's Guide to Audio-visual Resources

Rome: Isis International, 1986.

Guidelines on Communication for Rural Development - A Brief for Development Planners and Project Formulators

Development Communications Publications from the Development Support Communication Branch, FAO, 1989.

A Thousand and One Worlds -A rural radio handbook

Development Communications Publications from the Development Support Communication Branch, FAO, 1992.

Using Video in the Field - Guidelines for the Use of Video Communication Technology within FAO Field Projects

Development Communications Publications from the Development Support Communication Branch, FAO, 1991.

Powerful Images - Slide Programmes and Filmstrips to Inform, Motivate and Train in Developing Countries: Planning, Production and Use Guide

Development Communications Publications from the Development Support Communication Branch, FAO. 1991.

The Group Promoter's Resource Book

FAO, 1994

The Group Enterprise Resource Book

FAO, 1995

Module 4 Annexes

Table 4.1

Sierra Leone: One Woman's Day

4.00 to 5.30:

Fish in local pond.

5.30 to 6.00:

Carry water and firewood.

6.00 to 8.00:

Light fire, heat washing water, cook breakfast, clean dishes, sweep compound.

8.00 to 11.00:

Work in rice fields with baby on back and a four-year old son.

I 1.00 to 12.00:

Collect berries, leaves and bark; carry water.

12.00 to 14.00:

Process and prepare food, cook lunch, wash dishes.

14.00 to 15.00:

Wash clothes, carry water, clean and smoke fish.

15.00 to 17.00:

Work in gardens.

17.00 to 18.00:

Fish in local pond.

18.00 to 20.00:

Process and prepare food, cook dinner.

20.00 to 21.00:

Clean dishes, clean children.

21.00 to 23.00:

Converse around fire while shelling seeds and making fish nets.

(Source: Restoring the Balance, FAO, 1987)

Annex 4.1

Rapid Survey on Time Constraints

Example Questions

1. Can you describe what you did yesterday from when you woke up to when you went to bed?

2. Are there any things you do regularly each week which you do not do every day?

3. Are there any regular seasonal activities done at other times during the year?

4. Are there any particular times of the day when you could usually attend an extension meeting in the village?

5. How long could you stay?

6. Are there any locations in the village which could be best?

7. If meetings where held at.... could you attend?

8. Could you attend meetings/demonstrations outside the village?

When?

Where?

For how long?

Annex 4.2

Extension Media

Mass Media

Radio programmes and advertisements/spots

TV programmes and spots

Newspapers

Leaflets

Newsletters, signboards, posters,

Exhibitions, shows

Cassette tape

Books

Group Media

Films, video tape, slides and slide tape

Blackboards and whiteboards

Flannelgraphs/flannelboards

Flipcharts and flash cards

Posters

Models, real objects

Displays, wallcharts

Puppets

Letters

Lectures

Traditional media - plays, songs, dance, storytelling, games

Individual Media

Leaflets and handouts

Direct speech (and non-verbal communication)

Letters

Telephone, fax, e-mail

Annex 4.3

Extension Methods

Mass Methods

Radio, TV, leaflets, posters

Group Methods

Audio visual aids

Speeches and talks

Role plays

Drama/folk media

Group discussion

Panel discussions

Demonstrations

Excursions/farm visits

Field days

Individual Methods

Home visits

Farm/field visits

Correspondence

	training objectives of the module
	key points analysed in the module
	reference readings
	example
	outline of suggested teaching strategy
	training activities
	role play
	additional readings
	space left for the user's own notes.

Problem/constraint	Reason(s) for the problem
1. Time related. - -
2. Mobility related. - -
3. Credit related: - -
4. Other problems. - -

	strongly disagree	disagree	uncertain	agree	strongly agree
	1	2	3	4	5
1. Men and women should have separate duties.
2. Women are good at handling money.
3. Housework is hard work.
4. Women are more intelligent than men.
5. Women's work is less important than men's.
6. It is more important for girls to be educated than boys.
7. The man should be the head of the household.
8. Women work more than men.
9. Men are not suited to look after children.
10. It's natural for girls to want to look after the home.
11. It's natural for boys to want to look after the home.
12. Women should obey their husbands.
13. Housework is not work.
14. Men should be expected to help in the home.
15. Men and women work well together.
16. Men waste more time than women.
17. Cash crops should be men's responsibility.
18. At is natural for boys to want to work with machines.
19. At is natural for girls to want to work with machines.
20. Women are not interested in extension activities.

Area	Women (%)
*Africa*
-Northern Africa	38
-Sub-Saharan Africa	79
*Latin America and Caribbean*	13
*Asia and Pacific*
-Southern Asia	62
-Western Asia	28
-Eastern and S.E Asia and Oceania	50

Task	Men	Women
Clearing fields	95	5
Turning soil	70	30
Planting	50	50
Hoeing/Weeding	20	80
Harvesting	40	60
Transportation	20	80
Storing	20	80
Processing	10	90
Marketing	40	60
Carrying water, Fuel	10	90
Domestic stock	50	50
Hunting	90	10
Feeding family		95

Activity	Who performs it
	Children & Youth*	Women	Men	Both Men & Women
*Crop production*
*Crop: MAIZE*
Task: Land preparation			Ö
Task: Sowing				Ö
Task: Transplanting		Ö
Task: Weeding		Ö
Task: Application of pesticides			Ö
Task: Harvesting	Ö	Ö
Task: Storage		Ö
Task: Shelling	Ö	Ö
Task: Milling		Ö
Task: Packaging		Ö
Task: Transport to market				Ö
Task Selling		Ö
*Crop: CASSAVA*
Task: Land preparation			Ö
Task: Sowing		Ö
Task: Transplanting	Ö	Ö
Task: Weeding		Ö
Task: Application of pesticides
Task: Harvesting	Ö
Task: Storage		Ö
Task: Processing/Packaging		Ö
Task: Transport to market				Ö
Task: Selling		Ö
*etc.*

Activity	Who performs it	When	Where
*Food preparation*	Women	3 times a clay for 3 hours daily	at home
*Water collection*	Women	2 hours daily	water pump 3 km from home
*Firewood collection*	Women and Children	3 hours daily	forest 5 km from home
*Roof repair*	Men	when needed (twice a near)	home
*Selling produce*	Women	weekly	market 5 km from home
*Repairing fish nets*	Women	once a week 2 hours	home
*etc.*

Family needs	Who is responsible	Means to provide for it
*Food*	Women	-family plot. income from sale of produce
*Clothing*	Women	-cloth is bought with women's income -clothes are made by women
*Medicines*	Men	-men's income
*School fees*	Women
*etc.*

Resource	Who has access	Who controls	Benefits and use
Land	men	men	- cash crops
			-cash for consumer goods equipment and hired labour
			- collateral for credit
	women	men	- crops for family food
			- crops for sale
			- cash used for household goods and school fees
Animal traction	men	men	- ability, to plant larger land area
			- time savings
Water well	women/men	women	- clean water for household
			- time saving
Savings group	women	women	- access to small loans

Extension worker:	Does your wife work?
Farmer:	No, she is a housewife.
Extension worker:	What does she do during the day?
Farmer:	She gets up at dawn and fetches the water and firewood and then prepares breakfast for me and the children.
	She feeds and takes care of the chickens and the cows, collects the eggs and milk.
	She weeds the vegetable plot and helps me with harvesting the crops.
	She threshes the grain.
	She grinds the grain and stores and prepares the food for the household.
	She takes the produce to market to sell and buys household goods.
	She makes clothes, baskets and mats for the household.
	She takes care of the children.
	She doesn't work, she is just a housewife.

Extension worker:	I want you to answer to some questions.
Women farmer:	What have I done wrong, why do you want to ask me questions?
(woman looking very nervous and worried)
Extension worker:	Nothing wrong. I just need to investigate some crucial issues which are required for incorporation into the communication strategy of the division.
Women farmer:	Eh?
(woman looking puzzled)
Extension worker:	I need a chair to sit on.
(woman gives him the chair and remains standing)
Extension worker:	You never come to the extension meetings. Is that because you have had an argument with the village chief's wife?
Women farmer:	.... (hesitating) We never had an argument.
Extension worker:	Do you plant only maize in your field?
Women farmer:	Yes.
(extension worker pauses to write down answer)
Extension worker:	Do you have chickens?
Women farmer:	Yes.
(extension worker pauses again to write down answer)
Extension worker:	Does you husband work in the fields with you?
Women farmer:	Yes.
(extension worker pauses again to write down answer)
Extension worker:	Do insects eat a lot of your maize before you harvest it?
Women farmer:	Yes.
(extension worker pauses again to write down answer)
Extension worker:	Does it take you more than one hour per day to fetch fuel wood?
Women farmer:	Yes.
(extension worker pauses again to write down answer)
Extension worker:	Do you intercrop maize with cowpeas?
Women farmer:	Yes.
Extension worker:	I've finished my questions. Make sure you come to the extension meetings.

Resource	Who Has Access	Who Controls It	Benefits and Use
*Water*
*...............................…*
*...............................…*
*Labour*
*...............................…*
*...............................…*
*Capital Goods*
*...............................…*
*...............................…*
*Purchased Inputs*
*...............................…*
*...............................…*
*Inputs Produced On_farm*
*...............................…*
*...............................…*
*Cash*
*...............................…*
*...............................…*
*Agricultural Credit*
*...............................…*
*...............................…*
*Markets/Transport*
*...............................…*
*...............................…*
*Agricultural Knowledge*
*...............................…*
*...............................…*
*Education*
*...............................…*
*...............................…*
*etc.*

Methods	Methodology	Ouput/benefits
Agricultural calendars	On a monthly basis, identify who is responsible for all field operations for all enterprises, livestock rearing agro-processing, wild products gathering fuel and water collection, marketing.	Qualitative picture of activities for all enterprises and operations.
Seasonal labour profiles	Estimate personal days/month for each task during average farming season.	Quantitative - useful for showing changes in farming cycle and labour allocation when new crops or techniques are introduced.
Informal surveys	Open-ended questioning of individuals.	Quick, informal, cost-effective way to describe farming practices, agricultural knowledge, and women's roles in agriculture. May miss some important information.
Group and community interviews	Open-ended questioning of group representing more than one household.	Quick, inexpensive overview of conditions and practices in an area.
Household sample survey	Structured questionnaire to a sample that is representative of the population.	Time-consuming, expensive. Produces quantitative data.

Positive	Negative
Committed official to assess the contractual services provided	Indebtedness
Timely provision of credit	Discontinuity in programme
Involvement of the farmers themselves	Group ineffectiveness
etc.	etc.

	Women in Mixed Groups

	Ask participants to discuss, in small groups, how women's participation in a mixed group can be enhanced. Aspects to be analysed include all mixed group extension activities. Invite one group to present the results of their discussion to the class and develop the topic from their presentations.

	Ask participants to analyse, in small groups, one of the following topics. At the end of the small group activity, invite the groups to present the results of their discussion to the class.

4.00 to 5.30:	Fish in local pond.
5.30 to 6.00:	Carry water and firewood.
6.00 to 8.00:	Light fire, heat washing water, cook breakfast, clean dishes, sweep compound.
8.00 to 11.00:	Work in rice fields with baby on back and a four-year old son.
I 1.00 to 12.00:	Collect berries, leaves and bark; carry water.
12.00 to 14.00:	Process and prepare food, cook lunch, wash dishes.
14.00 to 15.00:	Wash clothes, carry water, clean and smoke fish.
15.00 to 17.00:	Work in gardens.
17.00 to 18.00:	Fish in local pond.
18.00 to 20.00:	Process and prepare food, cook dinner.
20.00 to 21.00:	Clean dishes, clean children.
21.00 to 23.00:	Converse around fire while shelling seeds and making fish nets.