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.
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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Community engagement for inclusive rural transformation and gender equality (my experience)
Prof. (Mrs.) Vijaya Khader, Former Dean Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, born on 31st October 1946 in Avanigadda, Andhra Pradesh, has been actively engaged in creating awareness about nutrition, health, and livelihood security through multidimensional education for over 45 years. As a distinguished nutritionist has made very significant contributions in India through a variety of approaches including awareness programs, developing education materials, and community reach-out programs for the nutritional improvement of vulnerable groups of the population. The major focus of her efforts is to empower women and adult girls through viable technologies to increase household income and ensure thereby livelihood security.
The impact of research On Women Empowerment, Product Development, transfer of technology for livelihood security & prevention of malnutrition in different sectors of the population has benefited society at large.
Several technologies such as Sorghum Food Enterprise, Geriatric Foods, Malted Infant Foods, High Fiber Vermicelli, Preservation of Palmyra Palm Fruit, Mushroom cultivation, Value addition to Fruits and Red Palm Oil, Horse gram and Soya Products developed for socio-economic empowerment of rural families. Three fisher woman from Kerala earning Rs.3,000-15,000/m through fish vending, fish trade, and clam processing; two from Karnataka earning Rs.30,000-40,000/m through the dried fish market and fish vending to establish ice plant; one from Andhra Pradesh and one from Tamil Nadu earning Rs. 12,000-20,000/m through net making with the constant technical support from concerned fishery colleges.
The promotion of a malt-based small-scale food industry not only provides an opportunity for rural women to develop entrepreneurship and employment but also provides food and nutritional security. Processed horse gram flour and soybean flour were used to prepare low-cost products namely RAGINA and EPRF. Simple home-scale processing methods like germination, roasting, and puffing were used to improve the nutrient content. The studies on mushrooms revealed that spawn multiplication can be done by women as a cooperative venture and mushroom cultivation can be undertaken as an income-generating activity. Red palm Oil is beneficial to overcome Vitamin A deficiency, suggested to the State Govt. Effect of iron-enriched chewing gum consumed by anemic adolescent boys & girls helped to improve the Iron Nutritional Status. Increased household income of women who participated in the Dairy program in Kenya, revealed increased intake of Protective foods and Improved Nutritional Status of the family. Work on fisherwomen is Highlighted on the global website, http://genderaquafish.org.
Skill-oriented training programs for women resulted in 41 families establishing mushroom cultivation in Guntur, Prakasham, and Krishna Districts of Andhra Pradesh;10 families taken fruit and vegetable processing units ;3 families adopted the technology of dehulling jowar and preparing value-added products;10 self-help groups have been organized at Karnataka and Kerala are mainly involved in various income generating activities.
Iron Fortified Chewing Gum is very useful in improving the iron nutritional status of anemic women and children. Mrs. Laura Bush from the USA had a round table conference with Mrs. Khader on food processing, income-generating activities, and gender issues.
Presented a paper at Cairo (Musa Coast) on Combating malnutrition among vulnerable groups – SDG-2, end hunger, achieve food security, and promote sustainable agriculture with FAO support.
Developed Food Technology Website: at P.G. level with the financial support by Ministry of Human Resourse Developmenthttps://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/Home/ViewSubject?catid=15
Delivered three-minute Nutrition information in 18 programs through the Namaste Telangana channel.
Established the second college of Home Science at Bapatla under ICAR, and served as First Principal for 10 years. Written 4 University level textbooks, regularly used by students and faculty members of Foods & Nutrition, Dietetics, Food Science and Technology, receiving Royalty to date. Started Inter-faculty P.G. Program on Food Science & Technology at Hyderabad and U.G. Program, B.Tech. Food Science at Bapatla. Modified & revised the number of P.G. courses in Agriculture, Veterinary & Home Science. Prepared lecture modules on P.G. Food Technology for worldwide availability is very challenging.
Changes made in the faculty of Home Science to attain the status of professional program. E.C. Member of Women in Science and Engineering, Member of INWES a Canada-based international network. Convener (President) of the Indian Women Scientist Association.Full Member, Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World.
1984 - Housewives in the community at Bapatla, Andhrapradesh closed liquer shops when they have explained the ill effects of drinking on the family under supervision through NSS activities.
Vegetable women venders contributed supplementary income to help their families to improve livelihood security.She established the Center of Advanced Studies in Foods and Nutrition, only one in the country serving as a National Resource & Training Centre. She completed 22 independent research projects supported by national and international organizations focusing on empowering rural, farm, tribal, fisherwomen, and adolescent girls through social engineering and training programs to increase household income. She served member of the State Council for Foods & Nutrition.
Research advisory committee member NAARM; Consortium Adviser for NAIP on Sustainable Rural Livelihoods through Enhanced farming system, Member Indo U.S. Agricultural Knowledge Initiative project; High-Level Committee Member for Strengthening Teaching, Research, and Extension Activities of Rajendra Agricultural University, Bihar; Peer Review Team Member for Accreditation of Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur; Quinquennial Review Team Member of Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering & Technology, Ludhiana; PRT Member for the Accreditation of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; Eminent Fellow Scholars Academic And Scientific Society; Member Asian Fisheries Society. Chairperson of the Task Force Committee on Biotechnology-based program for Women. Member Technical Expert Group for National Program on Climate Change and Human Health. The impact of research On Women Empowerment, Product Development, transfer of technology for livelihood security & prevention of malnutrition in different sectors of the population has benefited the society at large through constant intervention through education.
She received M.Sc. from S.V University with Mary Clark Memorial Scholarship, Ph.D. (CSIR Fellow), and Post-Doctoral (CSIR) Fellowship from CFTRI, Mysore. She established the Center of Advanced Studies in Foods and Nutrition, only one in the country serving as a National Resource & Training Centre. She completed 22 independent research projects supported by national and international organizations focusing on empowering rural, farm, tribal, fisherwomen, and adolescent girls through social engineering and training programs to increase household income. She served member of the State Council for Foods & Nutrition.
Changes made in the Faculty of Home Science to attain the status of professional program included revamping the U.G. program into 4-year degree program with specialization to provide entrepreneurship qualities and handson experience. Students are placed in related industries or institutes, facilitating employment opportunities. Rural Home Science Work Experience Program was introduced to develop human resources in the rural sector with a focus on women's empowerment by addressing community problems and constraints. Many short term skill oriented programs were offered to school dropouts, NGOs, A.P. Tribal welfare schools, and self-help groups. Received patents for two equipments a Low-Cost Ice Cream Freezer for village-level use and a Multi-Purpose Fresh Fish Vending and Display Table to reduce drudgery and ensure hygienic handling of fish, licensed the technology to a women entrepreneur twice.
She started inter faqcuilty P.G. Program in Food Science and Technology by leveraging the academic strengths of the faculties of Agriculture, Veterinary, and Home Science. Written four university-level textbooks that continue to earn royalties. Visited Michigan State University as an FAO Fellow for advanced studies in Food Science and Nutrition and examined educational systems at several universities in the USA and UK for potential collaborations. She also visited Egypt, the Netherlands, and Italy to study agriculture and extension activities beneficial to farmers. Participated in many international conferences as a lead speaker, panelist, and keynote speaker.
As a member of the Board of Management of A.N.G.R.A.U., she offered valuable advice to university authorities. Her work on fisherwomen is featured on the global website run by the Asian Fisheries Society. She chaired the Task Force Committee on Biotechnology-based programs for women. Principal Investigator for ICT-enabled higher education on producing e-Content for M.Sc. Food Technology funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development after retirement. She served as a subject expert for the online review of Biotechnology Ignite Grant proposals for early-stage funding through BIG, BIRAC. She was a resource person in a Tutor briefing workshop on the ENACT professional course on nutrition education organized by FAO and a technical expert for the National Program on Climate Change and Human Health to strengthen climate-sensitive health areas like nutrition and food security. Member of the Global Forum on Food Security & Nutrition, a Fellow of the Society for Promotion of Oil Palm Research & Development, Co-Chair of Agro-food Processing & Rural Development, and an advisor to the Ladies Wing FTCCI. She developed brochures, flashcards, and flip cards in regional languages on health and nutrition.
Her efforts in promoting malt-based scale food industries provided rural women with opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment, as well as food and nutritional security. Played a key role in transferring technologies to clients through radio, TV programs, CDs, popular articles, print media, group discussions, and training programs.
Based on her work on mushrooms, the Commissioner of Horticulture issued a G.O. on unit cost Rs. 70,000 for oyster mushroom cultivation .Implemented from 1994. Served on a high-level committee to strengthen teaching, research, and extension activities at Rajendra Agricultural University, Bihar, PUSA, Samastipur. She demonstrated that horse gram commonly used for cattle feed, could be diversified for human consumption. Her work showed that amylase-rich supplementary foods preferred by mothers and Anganwadi workers significantly reduced Grade IV and Grade III malnutrition in preschool children. Introducing red palm oil helped overcome vitamin A deficiency. Her work on mushrooms, product development, technology transfer for livelihood security and reduced malnutrition in adolescent girls, pregnant women, lactating mothers and preschool Children benefits society and reveals the pivotal role of education.
Hello,
Attached is our submission for the FSN Forum’s call for submission on community engagement for inclusive rural transformation and gender equality.
Thank you,
Claire Lynch | CARE
Program Officer, Scaling Up Farmer Field and Business School
Gender, Youth & Livelihoods | Food & Water Systems
女士 Jenny Conrad
Jenny Conrad | Communications & Learning Consultant | CARE
Based in the UK.
I hope this email finds you well.
If you require any additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Warm regards,
Julieta Ocampo (she/her)
Senior Specialist, Program Communications
TechnoServe
Bonjour,
Merci de bien vouloir trouver en attache notre proposition de contribution.
Meilleures salutations.
Mariam et Seydou
Mariam Maiga
Youth & Adolescents Specialist
UNICEF Mali
Engr. Anthea O. Udo mnse
Please find the completed form attached
Bonjour,
Ci-joint la contribution du Programme FORMAPROD, financé par le FIDA concernant l'engagement communautaire pour la transformation rurale inclusive et égalité homme-femme. FORMAPROD étant un projet sur la formation professionnelle des jeunes ruraux, l'initiative concerne la mobilisation des communautés pour favoriser l'insertion des jeunes ruraux via la formation professionnelle et l'appui des autorités communales.
Le Programme a édité un livre relatant son parcours auprès de la maison L'Harmattan (https://www.editions-harmattan.fr/catalogue/livre/la-formation-des-jeunes-levier-du-developpement-rural-a-madagascar/74504)
Ci-attachés: une note technique sur l'initiative, le rapport de l'étude d'impact, le rapport de la dernière enquête d'effet.
Meilleures salutations
Dear Moderator,
Please find attached our contribution from CARE to Community engagement for inclusive rural transformation and gender equality, "Girls in Action: Norm shifting model for gender equality"
Regards,
Hilawit