Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Consultation

Rural women: striving for gender transformative impacts

In March 2018, at the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), once again the spotlight will be turned on to address the challenges and opportunities  rural women and girls face.

This online discussion, led by FAO with IFAD, UN Women and WFP, invites you to reflect on the current understanding of gender dynamics of rural livelihoods and share information, views and experiences in preparation for CSW62. The main objective is to highlight critical gaps and priority areas for action on how to accelerate gender transformative impacts for rural women. The discussion will focus on three principal questions, presented below, over the next three weeks.

Changing context of rural livelihoods

Moving forward from the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995, the needs and priorities of rural women have been firmly on the development agenda and significant progress has been made. Many women have gained improved access to markets, information, financial services, greater engagement with the private sector, skills development, energy, labour-saving technologies and remittances, and some became successful entrepreneurs, leaders in the community and more respected in their homes. Women fulfil important roles throughout agrifood value chains, and play essential roles in food security and nutrition, and in the management of natural resources.

Nevertheless, the lives of many rural women remain unchanged. They work long hours combining productive work with unpaid care and domestic tasks, and their empowerment opportunities are constrained by limited security over land and an inability to borrow. Too often rural women cannot benefit from improved technologies, are exposed to the risks of climate change, and experience significant post-harvest losses. Their lives are also challenged by rapid population growth results in the youth bulge, out migration, an aging rural population and degraded natural resources.

Gender transformative approaches

To achieve the SDGs and “leave no one behind”, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for transformational change, in countries and at all levels. There is growing recognition that the standard approaches to addressing gender inequalities have often not been enough. Many gender mainstreaming initiatives have focused on empowering women economically – ensuring they have access to inputs, technical advice and markets, and have a voice in decision-making bodies and rural institutions – which contribute to short-term productivity gains. However, to enjoy long-term sustainable benefits, women want not only be able to work productively and have a voice in how the income they generate is spent. They want the quality of their lives to be improved, reduce the time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, and be free from gender-based violence.

More needs to be done – and in a different way - to achieve lasting benefits for improving the quality of life for rural women and their families. This involves moving beyond treating the symptoms of gender inequality, such as the unequal access to resources and benefits, to addressing the underlying causes deeply rooted in gender norms and behaviours, power relations and social institutions.

Question 1: What are the main challenges rural women and girls are facing today? 

  • The context of rural livelihoods has changed significantly during the past 20 years, with significant implications for rural women.  Is our understanding of the challenges rural women and girls are facing still up-to-date?
  • How do the needs and priorities of rural women differ based on their age, education, household composition, resource base and cultural context?
  • How do some rural women manage to move forward and become successful entrepreneurs, whereas others are trapped in a life of food insecurity and poverty?

Question 2: Are we using the right approaches and policies to close the gender gap?

  • How can the policy gap be closed? Most countries have ratified international and regional instruments to protect and enhance women’s rights. Yet, in many countries there is a gap between the policy framework on gender and what actually gets delivered, including the failure to mainstream gender considerations into other policy frameworks, such as food security and nutrition policies.
  • Why is it so challenging to convince the private sector to engage with rural women as economic actors, despite the evidence demonstrating that this generates profitable outcomes?
  • As we approach 2020, what are the emerging economic opportunities for rural women? Are current capacity development programmes enhancing the right set of skills for rural women and girls? How can we better update them?

Question 3: How can we best achieve gender transformative impacts?

  • What can be done to strengthen women’s voice and wellbeing in the household and the community? Many initiatives focus on empowering women in their productive role and as members and leaders of producer and community groups. While they become empowered in the public space, this does not necessarily translate into improved household dynamics and quality of life.
  • Has sufficient attention been paid in engaging men and boys for positive behavioural change? Do they understand the links between gender roles and inequalities, and their impact on the productivity and wellbeing of their households? Are their needs being overlooked, resulting in their marginalisation and disengagement from household development?
  • What approaches have proved successful to address deeply rooted gender norms, power relations and social institutions? 

Thank you and I look forward to a stimulating discussion,

Clare Bishop

This activity is now closed. Please contact [email protected] for any further information.

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English translation below

Question 1 : Quels sont les principaux défis que doivent relever les femmes et les filles rurales ?

Thème : Stratégies de résilience des femmes face à leur exclusion de la gestion foncière rurale : cas des productrices de beurre de karité et des potières dans la zone septentrionale ivoirienne.

          A travers le monde et principalement en Afrique, le genre est un principe fondamental de l’organisation des sociétés, notamment sur le plan de la répartition du travail et sur le marché. En imposant des limites aussi bien aux hommes et aux femmes, les rôles de genre sont plus répressifs sur les femmes. Dans le domaine agricole, et principalement dans les régions nord de la Côte d’Ivoire, cette situation est plus marquée en ce qui concerne l’accès des femmes au foncier dans une économie de plus en plus dominée par les cultures de rente (coton, anacarde). De fait, si les femmes et les hommes effectuent les travaux agricoles aussi bien pour les cultures de rentes que pour les cultures de subsistance, force est de constater que leurs fonctions et leurs responsabilités sont différentes. Ainsi, l’accès ou le contrôle du foncier et des cultures de rente par la gente féminine reste une des problématiques essentielles auxquelles est confronté le développement rural. Pourtant, en Afrique les femmes représentent 52% de la population et contribuent à 75% des travaux agricoles (GUILLET L. et al, 2013, p20)[1].

         En effet, cultures de rente et propriété foncière sont liés, complémentaires et associées au pouvoir dans nos sociétés africaines. Or culturellement, il est difficilement acceptable pour les hommes de partager le même pouvoir que leurs épouses et leurs progénitures (les jeunes) ; quoi que dans ces sociétés le rôle de la femme est essentiel. Dans ces conditions, les femmes sont défavorisées dans la mesure où la gestion du pouvoir leur échappe et leurs droits fonciers sont véritablement entravés. Les parcelles auxquelles elles ont accès et sur lesquelles elles exploitent les cultures de subsistance sont en général exigües, de moindre qualité et donc impropres aux cultures de rente. Face à cette situation de vulnérabilité, quelle est la capacité de résilience des femmes du monde rurale ? Comment se servent-elles de leur statut d’exclues du champ foncier pour se positionner comme de véritables leaders dans d’autres domaines d’activités du monde rurale ?

            Dans la zone septentrionale de la Côte d’Ivoire, la capacité de résilience des femmes du monde rural est remarquable. Ainsi, de leur exclusion du foncier, elles se sont investies dans des filières porteuses ; à savoir la production du beurre de karité et l’artisanat. La production du beurre de Karité est devenue la principale occupation des femmes du nord ivoirien. Selon l’USAID, au cours de l’année 2007 la production du beurre de karité en Côte d’Ivoire était d’environ 200000 tonnes.  En plus du beurre de karité, la gente féminin s’y positionne également à travers l’artisanat.  A cet effet, l’exemple des potières Mangoro[2] dans la région de Hambol[3] est révélateur.  

            Toutes la production issue de ces activités féminines (beurre de karité et pots) est écoulés vers les grands centres urbains et constitue un relais important dans les relations villes-campagnes. Ces activités sus-mentionnées sont de véritables moyens d’autonomisation de la femme et une source de revenu leur permettant répondre efficacement aux besoins familiaux surtout durant les périodes de soudure. D’ailleurs, avec l’instabilité des prix des matières premières agricoles, ainsi que la périodicité à laquelle elles sont soumises, ces activités permettent aux femmes de se positionner comme les principales actrices de l’économie rurale qu’elles contrôlent dans ces localités. Au-delà, de l’aspect économique, ces activités féminines s’imposent comme une indenté culturelle et une spécificité du grand nord ivoirien. Bien plus, il y a un changement ou encore une transformation,  du lien social dans une société marquée par la domination des valeurs masculines. Ce changement se perçoit de par le rôle nouveau que joue la femme dans ces sociétés naguère dominées par les valeurs masculines.

            L’exclusion de la femme de  la gestion foncière dans le Nord ivoirien n’entame outre mesure leur rôle combien importe dans l’économie rurale. A travers des activités extra-agricoles comme la production et la commercialisation du beurre de karité et autres produits artisanaux (pots par exemple), ces femmes font preuve de leur capacité de résilience et à participer au changement social dans une société masculine. Cependant, elles sont souvent limitées dans leurs actions en raison de leur faible taux d’alphabétisation[4] mais également le manque d’organisation et de promotion de ces secteurs d’activités qu’elles contrôlent.

            Les principaux défis que doivent relever ces femmes du milieu rural pour faire évoluer favorablement les inégalités entre les sexes s’expriment en termes d’éducation dans la mesure où c’est la base du développement. Ce module est axé sur  l’alphabétisation, la formation à la gestion financière[5], la santé de la reproduction[6], et le leadership. C’est à ce prix que les femmes africaines du monde rural pourraient survenir aux pesanteurs sociologiques qui constituent une entrave à leur épanouissement et à leur autonomisation. Par ailleurs, il s’avère important que celles-ci s’organisent en coopérative pour mieux défendre leurs intérêts socio-économiques. Se faisant, elles pourraient mieux défendre les prix de leurs productions et initier les politiques de financement de leurs projets (octroi de microcrédits par exemple). De plus, leurs activités doivent être valorisées à travers leur promotion et leur prise en compte dans les politiques nationales de développement.

 

[1] GUILLET L. et al, 2013- Inclusion sociale et genre au niveau local : enjeux et appuis au Maghreb, AFCCRE

[2] Les Mangôrô sont un groupe ethnique  du Nord ivoirien

[3] La Région du Hambol fait partie du grand nord ivoirien dont le chef lieu est Katiola

[4] Selon l’UNICEF (2006),  49% des filles vivant en Côte d’Ivoire ne sont pas scolarisées et la région du nord représente 78% de ce taux.

[5][5] Dans la plupart  des sociétés africaines où dominent les valeurs masculines, les revenues des femmes sont en général gérés par les hommes.

[6] Les femmes sont de plus en plus actives et épanouies dans leurs activités socio-économiques quand elles sont en bonne santé et parviennent à planifier les naisances.

 

Question 1: What are the main challenges rural women and girls are facing today?

Topic: Women’s strategies for resilience in the face of exclusion from rural landowning management: the case of the shea butter producers and the potters in the northern Ivorian region.

         Throughout the world and mainly in Africa, gender is a fundamental factor in the organization of societies, in particular regarding the division of work and the marketplace. Imposing limits both on men and women, the gender roles are more restrictive for women. In agriculture, and mainly in the northern regions of Ivory Coast, this situation is most evident where women´s access to land tenure is concerned in an economy more and more dominated by cash crops (cotton, cashew nuts). Indeed, even though women and men carry out agricultural work for cash crops as well as for subsistence crops, it must be noted that their functions and responsibilities are different. Thus the access of women to land control and cash crop production is still one of the fundamental problems facing rural development. In Africa, moreover, women represent 52% of the population and contribute 75% of agricultural labor (GUILLET L. et al, 2013, p20)[1].

         Actually, cash crops and land tenure are linked, complementary to and associated with power in our African societies, for culturally it is difficult for men to accept sharing the same power as their spouses and their offspring (the youth); even though the role of women in these societies is essential. In these conditions, women are disadvantaged to the extent that they have no authority and their rights to land are literally obstructed. The plots to which they have access and on which they produce the subsistence crops are generally hemmed in, of less quality and therefore not adequate for cash crops. In view of this vulnerable situation, what capacity for resilience do rural women have? How do they use their status as excluded from land tenure to position themselves as true leaders in other fields of activities in the rural sphere?

            In the northern region of Ivory Coast, rural women´s capacity for resistance is remarkable. Thus, given their exclusion to land tenure they have invested in remunerative sectors; namely the production of shea butter and handicrafts. The production of shea butter has become the main occupation for women in the north of Ivory Coast. According to USAID, in the course of 2007 the production of shea butter in Ivory Coast was around 200 000 tons.  As well as shea butter, women have positioned themselves also through handicrafts.  For instance, take the example of the Mangoro potters [2] in the Hambol region.[3]

            All the production of these women’s activities (shea butter and pottery) is moved towards the large urban centers and makes an important link in the relationship between cities and villages. The activities mentioned above are true means of gaining autonomy for women and a source of revenue which allows them to meet the needs of the family efficiently, in particular during lean periods. Moreover, with the price instability of agricultural unprocessed products as well as the seasonal nature to which they are subject, these activities allow women to position themselves as the main actors of the rural economy which they control in their districts. Going beyond the purely economic aspect, these women’s activities establish themselves as a cultural identity and a particular feature of the great Ivorian north. Furthermore, there is a change or even a transformation of social relationships in a society marked by the domination of masculine values. This change is perceived in the new role that women play in these societies, not long ago dominated by masculine values.

            The exclusion of women from land tenure management in the Ivorian north does not unduly configure how much their role contributes to the rural economy. Through these extra agricultural activities, like the production and commercialization of shea butter and other handmade products (pots for example), these women give proof of their capacity for resilience and participation in social change in a masculine society. Even so, their actions are often limited by their low literacy rate[4] and also by the lack of organization and promotion of the sectors of activities in which they are engaged.   

            The main challenges that these rural women must overcome in order to secure a favorable evolution of the inequalities between the sexes is summed up as education since this is the basis of development. This module is centered on literacy, training in financial management[5], reproductive health[6], and leadership. It is at this price that African women in rural areas could overcome the sociological obstacles which constrain their fulfillment and empowerment. Furthermore, it appears to be important that they organize themselves in cooperatives to better defend their socio-economic interests. Doing this, they could better defend the prices of their products and introduce financing policies for their projects (provision of microcredits, for example). At the same time, their activities should be enhanced by their being promoted and taken into account in national development policies.

 

[1] GUILLET L. et al, 2013- Inclusion sociale et genre au niveau local: enjeux et appuis au Maghreb, AFCCRE

[2] The Mangoro is an ethnic group in the Ivorian north.

[3] The Hambol region forms part of the great Ivorian north where the main place is Katiola.

[4] According to UNICEF (2006), 49% of girls living in Ivory Coast are not schooled and the northern region represents 78% of this index.

[5][5] In the majority of African societies where the masculine values dominate, the women´s income is generally managed by men.

[6] Women are more and more active and comfortable in their socio-economic activities when they are healthy and manage birth control.

Margot Tapia

Dirección General de Cooperación Multilateral (DIGECOOM)
Dominican Republic

English translation below

Pregunta No.1

En el caso de la República Dominicana, las mujeres rurales continúan mostrando inaceptables indicadores de discriminación, subordinación y marginación social. Estas representan solo el 10% de los trabajadores agrícolas y de esas, sólo el 72% es remunerado su trabajo.[1]

A partir de la adopción de la Ley 55/97 sobre reforma agraria se desarrollaron diversas iniciativas para mejorar el acceso a la tierra, pero solo el 26% de las personas beneficiarias fue mujeres y el tamaño de las parcelas recibidas por las mujeres fue un 30% inferior a la de los hombres[2]

En 15 años no se verifica un aumento significativo de las mujeres en la producción agropecuaria correspondiente a personas físicas la realiza el 83.7% de los hombres y el 16.3% de las mujeres, según datos del Precenso Nacional Agropecuario realizado por la ONE en 2015. En la región Higuamo presenta el mayor porcentaje productoras 25.3% (ONE 2016).

Otras limitaciones están relacionadas con la violencia sexual y doméstica y la sobrecarga del trabajo en el hogar, los hombres siguen ausentes de las labores domésticas.

Pregunta No.2

En República Dominicana contamos con una serie de instrumentos nacionales e internacionales para impulsar el desarrollo rural con equidad.

Contamos un marco jurídico amplio que van desde la constitución hasta leyes específicas. Se establecen objetivos, indicadores y acciones específicas para asegurar la participación de las mujeres rurales en el desarrollo rural en la Estrategia Nacional de Desarrollo, Plan Plurianual, Plan Nacional de Equidad de género (PLANEG), el Gabinete de Políticas Sociales a través del Programa PROSOLI tiene programas orientados a la seguridad alimentaria a través del impulso de los huertos familiares; el Ministerio de Agricultura tiene la Oficina Sectorial de la Mujer (OSAM) entre otras. Sin embargo, para continuar avanzando en la aplicación efectiva d, a través de evaluaciones periódicas que den cuenta de los avances logrados.

De igual manera es necesario continuar trabajando en la sensibilización y capacitación de hombres y mujeres para vencer las resistencias, estigmas y discriminación de las mujeres rurales en nuestra sociedad.

Pregunta No.3

En relacion a la tercera pregunta considero importante trabajar con las organizaciones rurales para transversalizar el enfoque de género con procesos de integración real de las mujeres, definir, desarrollar e implementar procesos en diversos ámbitos, acorde con su realidad institucional. Tener la disposición de trascender el discurso desarrollando procesos de capacitación integrales, asignación de recursos a organizaciones de mujeres y apoyo a mujeres emprendedoras con recursos suficientes para desarrollar sus proyectos de manera autónoma.

Involucrar a las mujeres, sobre todo a las jóvenes en actividades relacionadas con el uso de las Tecnologías de la Comunicación e Información para aplicarla en los programas y proyectos agrícolas que desarrollan.

Abordar el empoderamiento de las mujeres desde la formación de capacidades en proyectos productivos, comercialización y generación de ingresos.

Distribución del trabajo doméstico, incidir en las unidades familiares para promover una mayor participación de las mujeres en los espacios públicos y promover la incorporación de los hombres en las labores del ámbito privado.

Tambien, urge asignar mayores recursos economicos para programas  de investigacion sobre la realidad de las mujeres en el campo, en nuestro pais no hay inoformacion reciente y los datos son dispersos. De igual manera las asignaciones presupuestarias son muy bajas para los proyectos de mujeres.

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[1] Censo Agropecuario, 1998

[2] FAO, CONAMUCA y Veterinarios sin Fronteras (2012): La equidad de género en la tenencia de la tierra y los programas de reforma agraria en República Dominicana, Santo Domingo.

Question No.1

In the Dominican Republic, discrimination, subordination and social marginalization indicators keep showing unacceptable figures for rural women. Only 10% of the agricultural workers are women and just 72% of these are paid for their work. [1]

Since the adoption of Law 55/97 on the agrarian reform, various initiatives have been developed to improve the access to land. However, only 26% of the beneficiaries were women and the plots allocated were 30% smaller than those assigned to men. [2]

The number of women involved in agricultural production has not increased significantly in the last 15 years. According to the Agricultural National Pre-census (Precenso Nacional Agropecuario) conducted by the National Statistics Office (known in Spanish as ONE) in 2015, 83.7% of the agricultural working force were men, whilst the remaining 16.3% were women. The highest share of women producers (25.3%) was registered in the Higuamo region (ONE 2016).

Other limitations are related to sexual and domestic violence and the overload of work at home, where there is still no cooperation from men.

 

Question No.2

In the Dominican Republic there are several national and international tools to promote rural development with equity.

There is a broad legal framework in place, ranging from the Constitution to specific laws. Specific objectives, indicators and actions are established in the National Development Strategy, the Pluriannual Plan and the National Gender Equity Plan (known in Spanish as PLANEG) to ensure the participation of rural women in rural development. Through the PROSOLI Programme, the Office of Social Policies has programmes aimed at improving food security by promoting home gardens. The Ministry of Agriculture has the Sector Office for Women (known in Spanish as OSAM) among others. However, to continue moving forward in the effective implementation of these policies, periodic assessments should be conducted to report on the progress made so far.

Similarly, we need to keep working on raising awareness and training men and women to overcome the resistance, stigma and discrimination rural women suffer in our society.

Question No.3

Working with rural organizations to mainstream the gender approach with processes of real integration of women, but also to define, develop and implement processes in different areas aligned with their institutional reality, is important.  The willingness to go one step further and develop comprehensive training processes, allocating resources to women's organizations and supporting women entrepreneurs with sufficient resources for them to develop their projects independently, is key as well.

Involving women, especially the young, in activities related to the use of Communication and Information Technologies to implement these in their agricultural programmes and projects is also important.

Addressing the empowerment of women by training them in productive projects, marketing and income generation would be advisable.

Distributing domestic work, focusing on family units to promote enhanced participation of women in public spaces and foster the incorporation of men to the private sector, is also desirable.

Allocating more economic resources to research programmes on the reality of rural of rural woman is deemed urgent. In our country, there is no recent information and data are scattered. Similarly, budget allocations are very low for women's projects.

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[1] Censo Agropecuario (Agricultural Census)1998

[2] FAO, CONAMUCA and Veterinarios sin Fronteras (2012): La equidad de género en la tenencia de la tierra y los programas de reforma agraria en República Dominicana, Santo Domingo.

Relating to your question 2, sub-question on the private sector, I recently found a contribution by Tom Wilson, Chairman and chief executive officer of the All state Corporation and vice chairman of the US Chamber of Commerce, who states: " for decades, corporations have been expected to concentrate on one mission: maximizing profits or shareholders. This single minded focus on profits is largely due to Milton Friedman, Noble Prize winning economist. In his 1962 book "Capitalism and Freedom", Friedman declared " There is one and only one social responsibility of business .... to increase its profits." That argument has shaped the thinking of business leaders and created the corporations we have today".  According to Wilson, the emphasis on profits has widened the trust gap between corporations  and society... " (Washington Post, 29 September 2016). 

This single focus on profits is still present in many companies, we try to convince of gender equity. However, they simply do not see the evidence that women can contribute to their profits. 

Secondly, a framework used by the "Making markets work for the poor (M4P) approach", is the "will-skill" framework, which is useful in identifying which player you might partner with and the nature of support required to change their behaviour. A prospective partner needs the incentives and capacity to change. Private sector partners are the most difficult to change if they have neither the incentive nor the capacity to change.  If companies have their focus on profits only, they may not have the incentive, and often they also do not know how to go about engaging rural women as active actors. 

According to Wilson, "the corporation of the next 100 years must take on social problems. On their own, governments, social service and charitable organisations simply do not have the capabilities and resources to solve problems, such as inadequate education and poverty. And most people agree: in a recent survey, 87 percent of young Americans said corporations should do more than just make money. "

 

In contribution to question #2, we need to look at local context and ask, what is being said about the role of women and girls in development? who is saying what? what are the implications of what is being said? Most marginalisation and disempowerment happen through narratives that people and communities use. In Zambia for example, the passing marks for girls are lower than those of boys. This could be seen as affirmative action. However, what does it say? That girls are less intelligent that boys? These actions created subtle narratives that in turn becomes norms to the extent that empowering women and girls becomes unsustainable because of the narratives in community that perpetuate the notion that women and girls are less able to perform. We need to look at who is perpetuating these narratives and work to change these stories. For now, we are dealing with results of underlying societal biases that have been reinforced by national policies in various sectors.

Ms. Clare Bishop

FAO Gender Consultant with the Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division
United Kingdom

Dear contributors and followers,

Thank you all for your contributions during the last three weeks which have resulted in a rich discussion.

There have been 66 individual contributors, representing over 30 countries and a mixture of organisations, multilateral and bilateral agencies, NGOs, research institutes, colleges and universities. It has been encouraging to see so many men actively engaged in the discussion – accounting for 25% of the total contributors – because this is the path to gender transformative impacts. A detailed review of the proceedings will be prepared over the coming weeks. The principal findings will be discussed at an Expert Group Meeting which will be held in Rome in September, as part of the preparatory activities for the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2018.

Consequently, in this short piece, I have decided to focus on the inter-play between new opportunities and the constraints imposed by social norms. One such example is male outmigration. The movement of men away from rural areas in search of employment, and many rural women becoming the primary farmer, could be seen as an opportunity to create space for women to become more involved in economic activities and redefine their role in the agriculture sector. This may take place in the short-term, as women step in to fill the gap left by their male counterparts – partly out of necessity but partly taking advantage of the opportunity. They get involved in new areas of business, engage with the market and broaden their networks and horizons. But in the longer term, their dreams and professional aspirations risk to be reined in by persistent social norms. Their new behaviour may be considered to be unacceptable, colliding with the idea that a women’s place should be in the home, that they should not be making independent decisions, etc.

A major thread throughout this discussion has been the recognition of the need to address the root causes of gender inequalities in order to achieve sustainable development. Behaviour change, based on a full understanding of the meaning of gender equality - of a just and equal world for all - is crucial. It has been exciting to read of so many different approaches being used to stimulate gender transformative change at the individual, household and community levels. These will be explored in more detail in the follow-up actions.

Once again, thank you for your contributions. There is still time to post contributions or to send them to [email protected] by Friday 11 August; after that date, the discussion will be closed.

We look forward to sharing the synthesis report with you in due course.

Clare Bishop

Within the forestry sector, one of the biggest challenges for women is their limited access and control over land tenure. Many other persistent issues women in forestry face - economic inequality, policy inequality, decision making inequality and empowerment challenges- are linked back to the issue of insecure land rights. Despite some progress in Sub-Saharan Africa in reforming legal frameworks, customary law, unequal inheritance practices and lack of awareness of policies, cause the continuous marginalization of women. When a women has limited access or control over land, she often ends up working informally on land owned by a man, gets cut out of decision making processes reserved for "land owners" and receives only a fraction of the profit from products or timber produced on that land. However, there are some successful examples of community based policy formulation where better tenure policies (statutory and customary) have been realized.

In Liberia, the Foundation for Community Initiatives (FCI) has found bottom-up, grass-roots approaches to be more effective if rural women involve themselves in the process by positioning themselves as leaders and collaborate with traditional leaders (usually men), headpersons and chiefs, to transform customary practices. The involvement of the community can lead to empowering women to lead community mapping efforts is a another way to improve land governance across a community.

Securing equal land and tenure rights for women is essential for their livelihood and empowerment, and both statutory and customary inequalities need to be addressed. Involving communities and especially rural women in policy formulation is key to improving gender equality for women in forests.

Dear colleagues,

You may be interested to read an illlustrated account of the following:

Why are women so important to agriculture?

Where does the gender gap in agriculture exist?

What are the impacts of the gender gap in agriculture?

This infographic, produced by Farming First and FAO contains easily shareable facts and statistics, that can guide investment and research in this crucial field. Access it here:

https://farmingfirst.org/women_infographic/

On Question 3: How can we best achieve gender transformative impacts?

What approaches have proved successful to address deeply rooted gender norms, power relations and social institutions? 

Norms, power relations and social institutions are very context-specific and can differ from one community to another. Changing norms, power relations and social institutions is only achievable when people are defining the change process themselves. Empowering measures are the most effective approach where men and women are skilled and equipped to make decisions on the changes they are willing to see. In IFAD, an innovative and transformative approach based on participatory action learning system has been tested in the past ten years. It has been developed to tackle root causes of inequalities and social exclusion with a focus on gender justice: the Gender Action Learning System (GALS). All male and female members of the household are equipped with tools to lead change through visualization of the various areas of inequalities (power relations, division of labour, decision-making processes, access and control over resources and assets) and negotiate the solutions they want. The approach/methodology has now demonstrated transformative impacts on women and men such as redistribution of power, balanced workloads, improved relations and communication to make decisions that contribute to gender equality and sustainable poverty reduction. Tangible results and impacts are reported by the beneficiaries and encouraging IFAD to upscale the methodology.

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Hello,

Responding from question 1-: I will say that most initiatives of state and non state actors are usually rolled at in the urban areas to the neglect of the rural communities. The rural communities have lots of challenges and these challenges could either be socio-econmic or sociocultural. Hence to find sustainable solutions to these challenges, Community Based Organizations from such areas be consciously targeted for Capacity Building training for them to further understand the critical issues and better appreciate them and suggest home based solutions to resolving them. Such CBOs are usually led by the Youth and with the requisite training, coaching, exchange visits and financial support to role community level activities and projects, I believe it will go a long way to finding sustainable approaches to rural problems thereby guaranteeing community ownership. 

Dear Colleagues,

Food and agricultural systems are rapidly changing in the global, regional and national markets, providing rural women with new economic opportunities but also confronting them with strong challenges.

Previous contributions mentioned a list of limitations for women entrepreneurs in accessing resources and services: education, training and information, markets, financial services, among others, that inhibits their potential. 

Although these constraints are relevant, several experiences and research have proved that facilitating access to productive resources and services to women might not sufficient to eliminate existing inequalities and promote women’s entrepreneurship and equal participation in agrifood value chains / commercial agriculture.  It is evident that a more holistic approach is needed. 

A value chain approach embraces the referred challenges on women’s entrepreneurship, global markets, trade policies an women’s economic empowerment.

FAO’s guiding framework Developing Gender-Sensitive Value Chains (GSVC) (http://www.fao.org/3/a-i6462e.pdf)  proposes two categories of analysis to identify gender-based constraints affecting value chain development and unveil the role of women and men in the different nodes of the chain, from production to processing and marketing.

These two categories of analysis are access to resources – assets, agricultural services and financial services; and power and agency, which includes capabilities, self-confidence and decision making power.

The GSVC analysis also highlights the importance of understanding the individual and household level, since each individual is part of a household in which specific dynamics and power relations are in place that influences how women and men participate in the value chain.  Gender inequalities often originate within the household and the individual agency and power might also depend on intra household dynamics.

The framework allows to make women’s contributions and needs visible and identify gender based constraints, providing entry points for action.

The framework has been piloted through the FMM Sida Programme “Enable women to benefit more equally from value chains” (http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5417b.pdf) in eight countries in Africa during 2015 – 2017.

This transformative approach has put in place some of the following initiatives: family as a business, business development service centers, women’s entrepreneurship, women’s participation in producer’s organizations, gender sensitive policies, among others.

Alejandra Safa - Valentina Franchi and Nozomi Ide