Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Call for submissions
Open until:
contributions:
158

Community engagement for inclusive rural transformation and gender equality

Community engagement is now recognized as a critical component of international development practice and humanitarian assistance. It facilitates agency and the empowerment of all social groups in rural communities, enhances local participation, sustainability and ownership, and builds upon local resources and capacities, thereby leaving no one behind. 

Recognizing the importance of community engagement as a key factor in achieving a world free from hunger and poverty, and as a prerequisite for community-led collective action, FAO organized a series of five webinars between 2020 and 2021 titled ‘Community Engagement Days.’[1] This created a space for academics, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), development and humanitarian agencies and field development practitioners to come together to explore the concept of community engagement, exchange experiences and good practices as well as challenges and opportunities to bring these approaches at scale.

The webinars provided an opportunity to share research and field experiences across five interlinked themes (gender, resilience, peace, evidence, and collective action), encouraging reflection and dialogue on community engagement strategies, practices and approaches. Nearly 1,000 participants from NGOs, governments, the United Nations (UN), international development organizations, civil society, the private sector, and academia joined the series. 

Based on these conversations it became clear that while multiple definitions of community engagement exist – and there is no “one size fits all” – these definitions do share common approaches (community-led, rights-based, gender-responsive/gender-transformative); principles (inclusive, participatory and people-centered, conflict-sensitive) and characteristics (contextual and adaptive, and empowering). The key outcomes of the webinars highlighted the importance of recognizing and challenging power dynamics, integrating reflexivity in research and implementation, prioritizing gender equality, fostering resilience and peace, and supporting collective action. Furthermore, the need for systematic knowledge sharing and creating spaces for ongoing dialogue and peer-to peer learning was emphasized to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of community-driven initiatives. 

The Community Engagement Days webinar series was not a standalone initiative but a platform for discussion aimed at exchanging experiences, forging innovative alliances and partnerships to highlight the value of community engagement in both development and humanitarian contexts.

Given the scope of the series, the shared experiences were just a snapshot of existing approaches and practices. To provide an opportunity to expand the audience and hear voices from a variety of actors, the Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division of FAO (ESP) initiated this call for submissions and invites stakeholders to share their experiences, good practices and views on community engagement for inclusive rural transformation and gender equality.[2] 

This call for submissions is open to individuals and organizations from both the development and humanitarian sectors who have experience implementing community engagement strategies, interventions, approaches/methodologies, or innovations. It also welcomes contributions from a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, education, health, sanitation, civic engagement and others critical to inclusive rural development. 

Through this initiative, FAO is eager to hear more, learn, and exchange insights both internally and externally on what interventions and practices have worked and what can be improved in community engagement and community-led collective action to achieve inclusive rural transformation and gender equality. By capturing a diverse range of contributions, FAO aims to promote the adoption and scaling-up of community engagement approaches, address barriers to their implementation and refine these practices to make them more inclusive, effective, and sustainable.

Please use the submission template in any of the three languages (English, French or Spanish). The background document can serve as a reference for completing the template for submissions.

The submissions will be publicly available on this webpage and featured in the proceedings report of this call, enhancing the visibility of participants' work and fostering learning, inspiration, and networking among a broader audience. Depending on the relevance and content, FAO may also include contributions in knowledge products such as case studies, compendiums, and reports, and use them to inform its work on community engagement and collective action, with due acknowledgment of the contributions. Beyond this call, the initiative offers participants the potential for continued engagement and collaboration, laying the groundwork for further learning, networking, and community-building.   

Criteria for submissions 

We are looking for ‘good practices’—tested methods that have proven successful in multiple settings and can be widely adopted. We also consider ‘promising practices’—innovative approaches that have shown success in a specific context and have the potential for broader application but may need more evidence or replication. Both types contribute valuable insights for continuous learning and improvement.

To ensure that relevant experiences are captured, we are looking for practices with the following criteria:

1. Engagement of the community: Interventions should deliberately and actively strive to engage a wide range of segments and groups within the community to ensure inclusivity and broad-based participation, fostering a sense of ownership and collective empowerment among all community members, this should in turn strengthen community-led collective action. This means that they should go beyond merely targeting specific groups or formal structures, such as community-based organizations (farmer organizations, cooperatives, and self-help groups) as entry points. Instead, they should engage diverse groups within the community, fostering inclusivity, collective participation and shared benefits. These interventions promote a collective added value where everyone at the community level, regardless of their direct involvement, can benefit. Ideally, the community itself should be the primary entry point for the intervention, though approaches that indirectly impact the wider community are also welcome if they emphasize community value. Additionally, community-wide interventions do emphasize the participation of groups that are typically left behind. While these interventions are designed to be open to everyone, they are strategically inclusive by deliberately creating spaces and opportunities for marginalized or underserved groups to participate.
2. Inclusive and gender-responsive/transformative: The intervention should prioritize inclusivity, ensuring active engagement from all segments of the community, regardless of age, ethnicity, disability, gender identity/expression, etc. These efforts acknowledge that gender intersects with various social dimensions and identities, including age, ethnicity, indigeneity, health, psychological resilience, disability, socioeconomic and political status or other characteristics. This intersectionality creates compound inequalities and layers of disadvantage and privilege that the interventions aim to address, promoting greater inclusivity, equality, gender transformative change and positive masculinities.[3] This also involves challenging discriminatory gender social norms and unequal power dynamics and fostering attitudes and behaviors that support gender equality and women’s empowerment.
3. Rights-based and empowering: The intervention should aim for a process of change over an extended period, rather than relying on short-term or one-off activities such as workshops, trainings or consultations. It should adopt a rights-based approach[4], grounded in the principles of participation, inclusion, accountability, non-discrimination, transparency, human dignity, empowerment and agency. The intervention should position itself at the highest levels of participation (see Figure 1 below), promoting tailored and sustained engagement to achieve long-term impact. By enabling marginalized groups to influence decision-making and enhancing the capacity of individuals as rights holders to know and claim their rights, as well as ensuring that states and public authorities, as duty bearers, fulfill their obligations, accountability, impact, and sustainability can be strengthened. By recognizing and redressing structural inequalities, and by fostering the exchange and development of skills, knowledge, and confidence, community engagement enhances both practical abilities and inner resilience, ultimately contributing to sustainable development. 
4. Self-facilitation and/or participatory facilitation: As a continuous and participatory process the intervention/experience can be self-facilitated by local actors from the outset, embodying bottom-up leadership, or it can be guided by an external facilitator who works closely with the community. The facilitation is focused on enhancing local stakeholders’ empowerment and ensuring their ownership and agency throughout the intervention and beyond (post-project), adopting a forward-looking approach. If the intervention is externally facilitated, facilitators should guide a participatory process that promotes community ownership and autonomy, allowing the intervention to be sustained independently after the project's conclusion. The most effective intervention facilitates the empowerment of the community to take full control, delegating authority, ensuring long-term impact.
5. Proven implementation: The intervention should either have been implemented or still be ongoing, and should incorporate learning processes throughout its execution. This includes lessons learned and results that can be shared or documented through this call. This knowledge can be generated in various ways, including local and generational knowledge, storytelling, and formal studies or evaluations. The intervention should showcase positive outcomes and lessons learned as well as challenges identified through both traditional and participatory methods.

While FAO is particularly interested in approaches that specifically meet these criteria, we also recognize the value of methods used at specific phases of an intervention to ensure community engagement. This includes approaches for design and delivery processes or tools used for monitoring, evaluation and learning. Although the call acknowledges that meaningful engagement requires a participatory lens embedded throughout the entire planning and project cycle for higher outcomes and ownership, it is open to learning about tools and methods that support these goals at specific stages of an intervention/project.

ESP figure

Figure 1 Adapted from Pretty (1995), Arnstein (1969), International Association for Public Participation (IAP2), and White (1996). Figure 1 depicts various types of community participation, reflecting different levels of engagement in development interventions at community level. The progression goes from lower to higher levels of community engagement, but it does not prescribe a linear or hierarchical path. Instead, the figure offers a range of possible approaches to facilitate participation, tailored to the specific context and objectives of the intervention. As engagement deepens—from simply providing information to transferring decision-making power to the community— the community’s sense of empowerment and ownership over the process grows. Greater levels of engagement foster collective action, enhance accountability, and enable the community to take the lead in shaping their own development.

The call for submissions is open until 13 December 2024.

We thank participants in advance and look forward to learning from you!

Conveners:

  • Lauren Phillips, Deputy Director, FAO - Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP) 
  • Adriano Campolina, Senior Policy Officer, FAO - Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP) 

Co-facilitators:

  • Christiane Monsieur, Project Coordinator, FAO - Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP) 
  • Andrea Sánchez Enciso, Gender and Community Engagement Specialist, FAO - Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP)

How to take part in this call for submissions:

To take part in this Call for submissions, please register to the FSN Forum, if you are not yet a member, or “sign in” to your account. Please review the topic note to understand the criteria we are considering for this call. If you wish to learn more about community engagement, you may refer to the background document.  Once you have completed the submission template, upload it in the box “Post your contribution” on the call webpage, or, alternatively, send it to  [email protected]. 

Please keep the length of submissions limited to 1,500 words and feel also free to attach relevant supporting materials.

[1] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2021, March 3). Tapping into community engagement for empowerment. FAO Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism. https://www.fao.org/flexible-multipartner-mechanism/news/news-detail/en/c/1378190

[2] The call for submissions is directly aligned with the thematic components of collective action within FAO's Programme Priority Areas (PPAs), specifically Better Life 1 (Gender Equality and Rural Women’s Empowerment), Better Life 2 (Inclusive Rural Transformation) and Better Life 3 (Agriculture and Food Emergencies). 

[3] A gender-transformative approach “seeks to actively examine, challenge and transform the underlying causes of gender inequalities rooted in discriminatory social institutions. As such, a gender transformative approach aims to address the unequal gendered power relations and discriminatory gender norms, attitudes, behaviours and practices, as well as discriminatory or gender-blind policies and laws, that create and perpetuate gender inequalities.” FAO, IFAD, WFP & CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform. 2023. Guidelines for measuring gender transformative change in the context of food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture. Rome, FAO, IFAD, WFP and CGIAR. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc7940en 

[4] A rights-based approach to community engagement emphasizes the fundamental human rights of all individuals, ensuring equal opportunities for everyone to claim and enjoy their human rights. Central to this is agency, the ability of individuals to define their own goals and act upon them. By promoting meaningful participation, accountability, non-discrimination, transparency, human dignity, empowerment and rule of law (‘PANTHER’ principles) this approach not only addresses power imbalances and systemic barriers but also fosters individual and collective agency.

Please read the article of FAO publications on this topic here.

 

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Dear Moderator,

We would like to submit to the theme on Community engagement for inclusive rural transformation and gender equality based on our project on Community Nutrition Garden project in Madhya Pradesh, India. The submission is titled “Community Nutrition Gardens: An Inclusive and gender transformative approach for Rural Development”.

Also attaching a reference which was published as a GIZ internal newsletter and a publication on BMZ website Planting Seeds of Change.

We are very keen to engage with FAO as GIZ’s mandate on community engagement and Feminist Foreign Policy.

Regards,

Sharmishtha

Dr. Sharmishtha Basu (Ph.D)

Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor

Securing Nutrition, Enhancing Resilience Project, India and Data2Policy, Germany

giz│ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH 

I: Securing Nutrition, Enhancing Resilience Project

See the attachments:

Mauro Bottaro

FAO Forestry Division
Italy

Contribution from:

Mauro Bottaro, Gender and Social Safeguards expert, FAO Forestry Division (NFO)

Jean-Claude Nguinguiri, Forestry Officer, FAO Forestry Division (NFO)

José Vilialdo Diaz Diaz, Forestry Officer, FAO Forestry Division (NFO)

FAO also promotes community-based approaches in forestry, fisheries, and land tenure. FAO's community-based forestry (CBF) approach[i] emphasizes the active involvement of local communities in the sustainable management of forest resources. By engaging community members directly, CBF aims to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of forests while improving the livelihoods of rural populations. The FAO Forestry Division recently supported the development of a framework to assess the extent and effectiveness of CBF regimes. Two of the indicators in the global assessment are equity (e.g. equitable sharing of costs and benefits) and inclusiveness (e.g. engaging marginalized individuals and groups, including women and youth, and sharing equitably in decision-making processes and benefits). The assessment framework has been tested in more than 25 countries and its findings are being used to facilitate the strengthening of CBF regimes in selected countries. 

FAO’s Forest and Farm Facility[ii]  provides direct support to forest and farm producer organizations (FFPOs), including women, youth and Indigenous Peoples as primary change agents for climate resilient landscapes and improved livelihoods. The producer organization business model provides advantages in creating job opportunities and access to markets for women, positive spill-over effects in both household and group businesses, and access to social services such as vocational trainings, childcare and maternity leave – all of which support women to participate in the labor market on a more equal footing with men. 

The SWM Programme[iii] prioritizes people’s rights in wildlife management, aiming to balance conservation needs with wildlife use for food security and cultural practices. The initiative developed a community rights-based approach CRBA), identifying governments, institutions, and civil society as accountable duty-bearers for respecting and protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. At the same time, it empowers these communities, as rights-holders, to exercise and claim their rights. A cornerstone of this approach is the integration of social safeguards tools, systematically adapted and documented in diverse settings. This standardized methodology, innovative for multi-partner, multi-country conservation initiatives, is influencing similar projects and helping to harmonize rights-based approaches globally.

The SWM Programme’s social safeguards are designed to go beyond compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). While protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples is central, the safeguards extend to addressing the needs of all marginalized and vulnerable groups, particularly women and youth. This emphasis on inclusion ensures that voices often underrepresented in decision-making—such as women, young people, and marginalized Indigenous Peoples—are amplified and integrated into wildlife management strategies.

Through participatory consultation processes like Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), the Programme ensures that women and other vulnerable groups are active participants, not passive stakeholders. FPIC meetings are structured to create spaces where women, youth, and other marginalized members feel safe and supported to contribute. These efforts reinforce principles of equity, recognition, and empowerment within partner communities.

FPIC is a legally enshrined process that gives Indigenous Peoples the agency to approve or reject projects impacting their lands and resources. The SWM Programme has innovatively reimagined FPIC as a continuous and inclusive dialogue that fosters agency for all social groups within a community. For women, this represents an opportunity to influence decisions traditionally dominated by male leadership structures, ensuring that their priorities and perspectives are heard and addressed.

Key participatory methods, such as gender-sensitive stakeholder mapping, are used to ensure that the needs and interests of all social groups are accounted for. By addressing the structural inequalities that limit women's and youth's participation in community governance, the SWM Programme is reshaping FPIC to be a transformative tool for broader community engagement. 


In Guyana, one of the implementation sites of the SWM Programme, the Amerindian Act granted in 2006 Indigenous Peoples (referred to as Amerindian villages and Amerindian communities in the Act) the right to consent for specific activities on their formally recognized territories. However, this right was limited to small- and medium-scale mining, logging, and the establishment of protected areas. The Act does not recognize FPIC rights for communities on untitled land and does not cover development and conservation projects, research activities, or other activities that may have positive or negative impacts on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Without written rules and procedures, communities are struggling to defend their rights over land and other resources they have traditionally used and occupied. Indeed, it is external actors who tend to define the terms of engagement and consultations. The SWM Programme in Guyana has been supporting an innovative community-led initiative aimed at expanding and strengthening the existing consent policies, focusing on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including those on untitled lands. This is aligned with the SWM Programme objectives to promote and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The SWM Programme began raising awareness among Indigenous Peoples’ leaders (Toshaos) and community members about their FPIC rights under the UNDRIP since 2018. The team then began working with communities that had already secured formal land tenure from the government and where their community council was recognized by, and authorized to, govern access to and use of their territory. The Toshaos recognized the value of having their own consent process and protocols to engage with external individuals or organizations seeking access to community lands. This kick-started efforts with the SWM Programme to create tailor-made community FPIC guidelines that build on the Amerindian Act and international law. This initiative is unique in Guyana because it adopts a bottom-up approach, supporting Indigenous People’s agency to take the lead in defining and managing their own writ-ten FPIC processes. The indigenous leaders’ enthusiasm for FPIC highlighted its potential beyond only formal engagements with external entities, envisioning it as a tool for broader community development and resource management. To develop comprehensive FPIC protocols, in 2023 the SWM Programme facilitated a series of multi-day training sessions with Toshaos and community members, focusing on the implications of a consent process, defining the situations where FPIC would be requested by the community and clarifying the FPIC steps. These sessions led to in-depth discussion and clarification on the specific roles and responsibilities of community members and the obligations of external parties were clearly defined. The whole process has had multiple benefits: 

  • Community Empowerment: The training and subsequent discussions empowered community leaders and members to take an active role in managing their territories.

  • Protocol Development: Five Amerindian villages (Mocomoco, Surama, Yupukari, Nappi and Rewa), with guidance from the SWM Programme team, developed protocols to standardize FPIC processes, ensuring clarity and consistency in engagement with external entities.

  • Capacity Building: Strengthening the capacity of community leaders and members has positioned them to lead future FPIC processes, safeguarding their rights to self-determination and territorial governance,

The protocols developed by these Indigenous Peoples will serve as a blueprint for others across Guyana and in the wider region. This toolkit will enable other communities to create their own FPIC processes, tailored to their specific needs and circumstances, thereby promoting widespread adoption and empowerment. At previous National Toshao Council meetings, Indigenous leaders from the Rupununi explained how they are developing their FPIC Protocols in their communities in Region 9 (Rupununi). They will present their FPIC Protocols at the next National Toshao Council in order to gain official recognition and support for their efforts. This official recognition will provide Amerindian villages with a stronger foundation for negotiating with external actors and government agencies. It will also serve as a model for other Amerindian communities in Guyana that are seeking to further protect their land and resources through the FPIC process by developing their own FPIC protocol. 

Relevant Links:

[i] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2021, September 20). Community-based forestry. FAO. https://www.fao.org/forestry-fao/participatory/en/

[ii] Bolin, A. (ed.). 2020. Women’s empowerment through collective action: how forest and farm producer organisations can make a difference. Rome, FAO and London, IIED. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8713en

[iii] The SWM Programme is a major international initiative that aims to improve the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in forest, savannah and wetland ecosystems. It is being funded by the European Union with co-funding from the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the French Development Agency (AFD). Projects are being piloted and tested with government and communities in 16 participating countries. The initiative is coordinated by a dynamic consortium of four partners, namely the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO), the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). For more information: https://www.swm-programme.info

See the attachments:

Hardi Vieira

IFAD/LAC Division
Brazil

Dear colleagues,

As per your request, please find attached a solid submission from an IFAD financed project in Brazil. 

Kindly let us know about next steps.

Best,

Maine

See the attachments:
Dear Moderator,
 
I hereby attached the completed submission document and a case study report, from Agriculture value Chain Development Project in Sierra Leone. 
 
Regards
Borteh Yema Patricia Massaquoi
Senior Gender Youth and Targeting Officer
Agriculture Value Chain Development Project/Rural Finance and Community Improvement Programme 2
See the attachments: