contentsneeds, and perceptions of women and men in agri-culture. they must take into account the...

1

ContentsPurpose of the checklist 2Why is gender important in agriculture projects? 3How to use the checklist 4

Key questions in the project cycle 4PPTA fact finding, for ADB staff 5For PPTA implementation consultants 6

Gender analysis framework for agriculture 9Activity profile 10

Production of goods and services 11Reproductive and human resource maintenance activities 12Community work 12Community organization and activities 12

Access and control profile 13Compiling an access and control profile 15

Analysis of structural and socialcultural factors 17Project cycle analysis and design issues 19

Production 19Training 19Information 20Participation 21Access 21Institution building 22Project framework 22

Gender analysis for subsectors 24Introduction 24Gender issues in irrigation 24Gender issues in fisheries 28

Gender issues in nature-based eco-tourism 32Gender issues in forestry and watershed management 33Gender issues in coastal zone management 38Gender issues in integrated rural development 40Gender issues in microfinance 44Gender issues in industrial crops and agro-industry 47Gender issues in livestock 50

Appendix: Terms of reference for gender specialist 53Selected references 54

AbbreviationsEA executing agencyGAD gender and developmentISA initial social assessmentM&E monitoring and evaluationNGO nongovernment organizationPPTA project preparatory technical assistance

Cover photo courtesy of the International Rice Research Institute

GENDER CHECKLIST: AGRICULTURE2

This checklist is designedto assist staff and consult-ants in implementingADB’s policy and strategicobjectives on gender anddevelopment (GAD) (seeADB’s Policy on Genderand Development, May1998). It will guide usersthrough all stages of theproject/program cycle inidentifying the main gen-der issues in the agricul-ture sector and in design-ing appropriate gender-sensitive strategies, com-ponents, and indicators torespond to gender issues.

ADB staff should use thechecklist in identifying gen-der issues in the initial so-cial assessment (ISA) dur-ing the fact-finding phaseof project preparato-ry technical assistance(PPTA). Consultants shoulduse it in carrying out moredetailed social analysisduring the PPTA. It shouldbe emphasized, however,that not all questions arerelevant to all projects,and staff and consultantsmust select the questionsmost relevant in the spe-cific context.

Purpose of the checklist

Guidelines on the prepara-tion of gender-sensitiveterms of reference for theISA and the social analysisare also included, as arecase studies from ADB’sproject portfolio, to dem-onstrate good practices inmainstreaming gender inagriculture projects.

For project preparationthe checklist may be usedtogether with ADB’s Hand-book for Incorporation ofSocial Dimensions in Proj-ects (1994), Guidelines onBenefit Monitoring andEvaluation, and BriefingPapers on Women series.Other useful referencesare listed at the back ofthis brochure.

The checklist was preparedby Shireen Lateef usingpreliminary work by Pene-lope Schoeffel, a staff con-sultant. Monawar Sultanaprovided additional valu-able inputs to the subsec-tor checklists and contrib-uted some case studies.Mary Ann Asico edited thetext and Jun dela Cruz pre-pared the final layout. ElisaLacerona provided produc-tion assistance.

3

Why is genderimportant inagriculture projects?

Agriculture projects financed by ADB indicate thatconsiderations related to gender issues andwomen’s participation influence the success andsustainability of a project.

Women are major contributors to the economy, boththrough their remunerative work on farms andthrough the unpaid work they traditionally renderat home and in the community. Yet in many societiesthey are systematically excluded from access to re-sources, essential services, and decision making.Major opportunities to close this gap arise in thecourse of ADB’s agriculture projects.

The projects must consider the different roles,needs, and perceptions of women and men in agri-culture. They must take into account the gender-based constraints that women face, particularly thefactors that limit their participation in project design,implementation, and management. Failure to con-sider such differences can result in project delays,implementation bottlenecks, and generally unsuc-cessful project performance.

A focus on gender issues produces benefits that gobeyond good project performance. Direct involve-ment of women through active participation in projectplanning, design, implementation, and evaluationempowers women and gives them a stronger senseof ownership and a more pronounced stake in projectsuccess. Better access to resources also allowswomen to devote more time to income-producing


activities and to caring for their own needs as wellas those of their families. The economy and the so-ciety as a whole benefit.

How to usethe checklist

This checklist follows a gender analysis frameworkand is intended to be comprehensive, flexible, andadaptable. Gender analysis assumes that womenand men differ in the goods and services they pro-duce and in their degree of access to and control ofresources. Gender-differentiated data are collectedto identify women’s contribution to the productivesystem for which the development assistanceproject is designed.

Key questions inthe project cycle

Two questions arising from the gender analysisshould be asked when examining the feasibility of aproject and designing the project:

á What are the practical implications of the differ-ent roles and status of women and men in theproject area for the feasibility of the project andits effective design? How will the project accom-modate the different roles of women and men?

á What is the strategic potential of the project forenhancing the status of women and promotinggender equity? How will the project affect womenand men? How can the project contribute tolong-term strategies to achieve gender equity?

5

PPTA fact finding, for ADB staffADB staff are urged to use the checklist in conduct-ing the initial social assessment (ISA) during theproject preparatory technical assistance (PPTA) fact-finding phase. The ISA assists ADB staff in identify-ing the social dimensions of the project, includingthe associated gender issues, and enables them toprepare terms of reference that address these is-sues. The main gender issues to be explored at thisstage are summarized in box 1.

á Who are the target beneficiaries?

• Disaggregate the beneficiaries according to gender.

• Talk to women as well as men.

á Are women visible in the sector?

• Determine the gender division of labor in general.

• Are women’s needs in the sector the same as those of men?

• Identify if possible, the main sources of income for women and men.

á How might the project affect women? Is the project likely to have thesame positive and negative effects on women and men?

á Can a gender-inclusive design be drawn up for the project, and couldit effectively and equitably target women?

á Identify, if possible, legal, cultural, or religious constraints on women’spotential participation in the project.

á Does the executing/implementing agency have the capacity to deliverbenefits to or involve women?

á Will the project preparatory technical assistance (PPTA) fact findingand PPTA study require the services of a consultant with specializedgender and development expertise to assist in developing a gender-inclusive design?

Box 1

Key gender questions for the Initial Social Assessment (ISA)


For PPTA implementationconsultants

Social Analysis

The checklist provides an outline and methodologi-cal framework for gender analysis during PPTA imple-mentation to increase the efficiency and effective-ness of projects. A gender analysis enables con-sultants to analyze the roles and activities of womenand men in the client population, their access to andcontrol of resources, the socioeconomic context ofactivities and access and control patterns, andproject feasibility and project design.

Box 2 summarizes the key gender considerationsfor social analysis and design in the PPTA. The gen-der analysis method is explained in the next sec-tion, and gender considerations for the various ag-ricultural subsectors are suggested in the sectionsthat follow.

The gender analysis conducted as part of the socialassessment provides the opportunity to collect andrecord data on women’s roles and activities and theiraccess to and control of resources, and to exploreother aspects of economic and social life. For ex-ample, a large amount of data will be gathered onwho does what, where, when, and for how long.What is to be done with all these data? It is notsufficient to merely collect the data. The point is touse the data in designing the project. For example,if poultry raising is primarily the task of women thenthe project design should ensure that any inputsfor poultry raising are targeted to women. Likewise,if marketing of produce is the task of women, thenwomen should be the target group for marketinginformation. Box 3 suggests some key gender con-siderations in project design.

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á Identify and describe the target population. Dis-aggregate demographic data by gender and class. Con-sider how women and men differ in their roles and theireconomic, educational, and health status.

á Collect information on the gender division of la-bor. How are the production, household, and socialresponsibilities shared—who does what, where, when,and for how long?

á Examine the differences between subpopula-tions. Point out differences in the roles, status, andwell-being of women and men in these groups.

á Assess the target population’s needs and de-mands in relation to the project. Consider whetherwomen and men have different priorities and how thesedifferences might affect the proposed project.

á Assess absorptive capacity. Consider how womenand men will participate in the project—their motiva-tion, knowledge, skills, and organizational resources—and how the project will fit into their culture and soci-ety.

á Assess resource access and control. Will projectactivities adversely affect women’s access to and con-trol of resources? For example, will they lead to loss ofland or forest use or to reduced access to markets?

á Assess institutional capacity. Does the executingagency (EA) have the capacity to deliver services towomen? Does the EA have female staff and femaleextension workers?

á Identify institutions. Consider which government andnongovernment agencies and organizations with a fo-cus on women or an interest in gender and develop-ment might contribute to the project.

Box 2

Key gender issues for the Social Assessment (SA)


Participatory approach: Consult and involve women and men eq-uitably in project planning, design, and implementation.

Gender analysis

á Have both men’s and women’s needs in the project sector beendefined?

á Have cultural, social, religious, and other constraints on women’spotential participation been identified?

á Have strategies been formulated to address the constraints?

á Have local women’s organizations been consulted?

á Will women directly benefit from all project components?

Project design

á Apply the information and analysis from the social and genderanalysis to all phases of the project cycle.

á Does the project design include components, strategies, de-sign features, or targets to promote and facilitate women’sactive involvement in the project?

á Is there a budgetary allocation for these design features, strat-egies, and mechanisms?

á Consider setting aside a separate budget for facilitating theparticipation of women.

á Are the strategies and targets for women’s participation in-cluded in the logical framework of the project?

á Consider using gender expertise during project implementa-tion.

á Consider strengthening executing agency staff to plan andimplement gender-inclusive projects.

Benefit monitoring and evaluation

á Are there indicators to measure progress in achieving benefitsfor men and women?

á Develop indicators that define the benefits to women and men.

á Ensure that sex-disaggregated data are collected to monitorgender impact.

á Consider involving women in monitoring and evaluation.

Box 3

Key gender considerations in project design

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Gender analysisframeworkfor agriculture

The gender analysis framework has four parts andis carried out in two main steps. First, information iscollected for the Activity Profile and the Access andControl Profile. Then this information is used in theanalysis of factors and trends influencing activitiesand access and control, and in the project cycleanalysis.

Figure 1 shows the steps involved in the genderanalysis of projects.

Figure 1

Gender analysis of projects

Activity profileWho does what?

Access and controlprofile

Who has what?

Analysis of factors andtrends

What is the socioeconomiccontext?

Program cycle analysisWhat gender considerationsare needed for the project?

What men and women (adults, children,elders) do, and where and when theseactivities take place

Who has access to and control ofresources and services, and decisionmaking

How activity, access, and controlpatterns are shaped by structuralfactors (demographic, economic,legal, and institutional) and by cultural,religious, and attitudinal ones

Gender-sensitive project planning,design, implementation, monitoring,and post-evaluation


Activity profileThe planner needs to know the tasks of men andwomen in the population subgroups in the projectarea to be able to direct project activities towardthose performing particular tasks. Therefore, datamust be gathered on women‘s and men’s involve-ment in each stage of the agricultural cycle, on theirshared as well as unshared tasks, and on the de-gree of fixity of the gender division of labor. The ob-jective is to ensure that women are actively includedin the project and are not disadvantaged by it.

The Activity Profile usually considers all categoriesof activities: productive, reproductive,1 community-related service. It identifies how much time is spenton each activity, how often this work is done (e.g.,daily or seasonally), which periods are character-ized by a high demand for labor, and what extrademands the program inputs will make on women,men, and children.

The Activity Profile also identifies where the activi-ties take place, at home or elsewhere (the village,marketplace, fields, or urban centers), and how farthese places are from the household. This informa-tion gives insights into female and male mobility, andallows an assessment of the impact of the programon mobility, method of travel, travel time for eachactivity, and potential ways of saving time.

The four categories of activities considered in theActivity Profile are addressed below:

1Productive or economic activities, as distinguished from noneconomicreproductive or human resource maintenance activities. comprise all thosetasks that provide economically for the household and the community,e.g., crop and livestock production, handicraft production, marketing, andwage employment. Reproductive and human resource maintenance activi-ties are those carried out to reproduce and care for the household andcommunity, including fuel and water collection, food preparation, childcare, education, health care, and home maintenance. These activitiesgenerally carry no pecuniary remuneration and are usually excluded fromthe national income accounts.

TIP

Take steps

to ensure that

women are

actively

included in

the project

and are not

disadvantaged

by it

11

Production of Goods and Services

á Are women active in both subsistence and cashcrop production?

á What is the workload of the target group at allstages of the farming process? In what seasonare the tasks performed?These questions are askedseparately for each compo-nent of production (seed orcutting selection, land prepa-ration, planting or seeding,weeding, cultivation, storage,preservation, processing orfood transformation, market-ing, etc.) for both cash cropsand food crops, for livestockproduction (including poultry,dairying, fisheries, honey pro-duction and processing), andfor tree crops.

á Are tasks shared between men, women, andchildren or carried out by only one gender?

á Are men or women culturally excluded from anytasks that might be affected by the proposedproject?

á Do men or women to any extent (note the ex-tent) take over from each other in times of hard-ship and work pressure or because certain ac-tivities have become more profitable?

á To what extent do changes in household com-position (e.g., due to labor migration) changethe gender division of labor? Female-headedhouseholds in particular need to be studied inthis regard.

á Will the project increase the time spent by womenor men on agriculture-related activities?

Which policies,programs, andsocioculturalnorms couldaffect thedegree ofwomen’s

participation inthe project?


á Will new technologies be introduced to assistwomen’s agricultural roles?

Reproductive and Human Resource MaintenanceActivities

á Who carries out the tasks of reproducing andcaring for household members? Among thesetasks are the care of children, care of the aged,food production (including the cultivation of do-mestic food crops and livestock, shopping, foodpreparation and cooking), fuel and water collec-tion, education, health care, laundry and clean-ing, house maintenance (structural), artisan andcraft production, and performance of social obli-gations.

á How much time do these activities take?

Community Work

á Who organizes and carries out work for the localcommunity (for example, care and maintenanceof community facilities such as water supplyequipment, meeting places, and places of wor-ship)?

á How much time does this work take and when isit done?

Community Organization and Activities

á What types of community organizations (tradi-tional sociocultural organizations, producergroups such as cooperatives, savings and creditgroups, community-based organizations orga-nized by nongovernment organizations) exist inthe project area?

á What is the membership profile of these commu-nity organizations, what are their objectives andstrategies, and how much time do their activi-ties require?

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To what extentdo women ownor have accessto land, capital,equipment, andother factors of

agriculturalproduction?

Access and control profileThe Access and ControlProfile considers produc-tive resources such as:land, equipment, labor,capital and credit, andeducation, extension,and training. It differen-tiates between accessto a resource and con-trol over decisions re-garding its allocationand use. It enables plan-ners to considerwhether the proposedproject could undermine access to productive re-sources, or if it could change the balance of powerbetween men and women regarding control overresources.

The profile examines the extent to which womenare impeded from participating equitably in agricul-ture projects. For example, if women have limitedaccess to income or land, they may be unable to

join agriculture cooperatives, whichprovide production inputs and com-mercial opportunities, or to becomeindependent commercial producers.In some subgroups, men may alsosuffer the same disadvantage.

Program management mechanisms(e.g., the creation of water users’groups or farmers’ cooperatives) maydetermine who has access to andcontrol over productive resourcesand may change existing gender re-lations. (Box 4 shows how the infor-mation in an Access and Control Pro-file may be summarized.)

Will theproject

introducenew

technologiesto assistwomen’s

agriculturalroles?


Activities

á Which agricultural tasks are carried out by which member ofthe household, and how rigid is the gender division of labor?

á What are the daily and seasonal variations in labor availabil-ity?

á Who within the household has responsibility for which house-hold chores?

Resources and constraints

á Who has access to and control over productive resources, suchas land, capital, human capital resources (such as education,information and knowledge, training opportunities, extensionservices), and markets?

á What are the constraints and implications arising out of lack ofcontrol over or access to productive resources, for those wholack such control and access?

á Which decisions in the agricultural household and in the com-munity do men and women typically make?

á How do men and women differ in the constraints they face, andhow do these differences affect their work, productivity, andaccess to benefits?

Benefits and incentives

á Who controls production in the agricultural household and inthe community?

á Who receives wages and benefits from production?

á Are men and women paid different wages, and if so, why?

á Who markets farm and household produce?

á Who controls income from different sources—who decides whogets what in the agricultural household, and who receives theincome?

á Which investment- or expenditure-related decisions do menand women take?

Box 4

Access and control profile

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Compiling an Access and Control Profile

Resources

á To what extent do women and men have accessto or own:

• land, water equipment, livestock, poultry, fish,trees, homestead site?

• capital, credit, savings in cash or in kind (in-cluding money obtained from informal sourcessuch as from the sale of crafts)?

• labor (children, spouse, other kin, informal workgroup, hired labor) and draught power?

• implements for production, postharvest uses,household tasks?

• agricultural inputs (fertilizer, seeds, vaccines)?

• raw materials for artisan and craft production?

• transportation?

á Do women and men have in principle or in realityaccess to:

• extension services?

• formal credit, savings, and banking services?

• informal savings, credit, insurance and services/organizations?

• skills training (including accounting)?

• processing facilities?

• marketing?

• cooperatives or similar government or nongov-ernment associations (as full members in theirown name, with voting rights)?

• information networks and communication me-dia?

TIP

Consider

communication

strategies

directed

specifically

to women


á Do women and men in principle or in fact haveaccess to:

• health care?

• water and sanitation?

• basic social skills training?

• education and literacy/numeracy programs?

Benefits

á What material and nonmaterial benefits dowomen and men derive from the production pro-cesses?

• wages (in cash/kind);

• income from the sale of goods;

• income from the sale of services;

• other consumables (e.g., crop by-products);

• social insurance (care in sickness, old age, etc.);

• mutual assistance;

• status, respect.

á To what extent do women and men pass on thebenefits to their families?

á What are the expenditure patterns of womenand men?

Consider providing women equal access toextension services, skills training,

marketing, equipment, and agriculturalinputs such as seeds and fertilizers

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Analysis of structural andsociocultural factors

This analysis considers the structural and socio-cultural factors that influence the gender patternsof activity and access and control in the projectarea:

á demographic factors, including household com-position and household headship;

á general economic conditions, such as povertylevels, inflation rates, income distribution, inter-nal terms of trade, and infrastructure;

á cultural and religious factors;

á education levels and gender participation rates;and

á political, institutional, and legal factors.

The analysis should considerthe following:

á Which policies and pro-grams aimed at ensuringwomen’s part ic ipationcould affect the project?These policies and pro-grams may include thoseof the following, amongothers:

• agriculture ministries/de-partments and local ex-tension and training ser-vices at all levels;

• executing agency;

• nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and re-search institutes that deal with agriculture;

Whichculturalnorms

constrainwomen’s

participationin the

project?

TIP

Contract

women’s

NGOs to

mobilize

women


• training institutes providing training in agricul-tural skills; and

• media specializing in agriculture.

á Which community norms and beliefs could influ-ence women’s participation in the project’s ac-tivities? These norms and beliefs may include thefollowing:

• cultural exclusion from productive activities;

• heavy participation in reproductive activities;

• exclusion from (active) participation in publicproceedings;

• seclusion from contacts with male service staff;or

• lack of mobility because of cultural norms.

á Are there laws or regulations that could affectwomen’s participation in the project or their ac-cess to its benefits? These laws and regulationsmay include the following:

• inheritance laws;

• land title regulations;

• credit regulations (such as co-signature by maleguardians or collateral based on land title orboth);

• labor laws (may be relevant for agriculturalestates, agro-industry); or

• cultural prescriptions.

Do women derive support from informalnetworks of other women in the area?

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Project cycle analysisand design issues

This analysis will indicate if and where the objec-tives and methods proposed for the project shouldbe modified to improve the chances that the projectwill succeed and to minimize the likelihood thatwomen will be disadvantaged as a result of it.

Some questions that may need to be considered inthis analysis are:

Production

á Will the project activities divert women’s produc-tive efforts from food production?

á Will a change in crop varieties affect women’straditional markets?

á Will new technologies displace women’s tradi-tional income-earning labor?

á Will project activities or outcomes increasewomen’s workload?

á What compensatory benefits will the project in-troduce to offset changes affecting women’s roleand equity in production, such as those referredto above?

Training

á What training could be included in the project tooffset changes in production affecting women’srole, or to increase women’s equity in and ben-efits from the productive system as well as theirproductive skills?

á Is the project likely to precipitate changes inlifestyle in the client population, such as increasedincomes following a shift from subsistence tocash production?

TIP

Include gender-

sensitization

training for

executing

agency staff


á What training might help women benefit from thechanges?

á Is there potential for supplementary intersectoralprograms involving health, social development,and education agencies?

á Should women be trained separately from mento ensure that they receive and benefit fromtraining?

á Can training be scheduled for times that suit andfit women’s other responsibilities?

á What training can be provided to women to ad-dress their strategic gender needs and increasetheir influence and control over decision making(e.g., training in the maintenance and repair ofagriculture equipment)?

á Would local demonstration farms help womenand men understand and obtain access to projectbenefits?

á Will the project need a communication strategyand innovative teaching methods for illiteratewomen and men?

á Can the project include training in small-businessmanagement, accounting and entrepreneurialskills, and marketing, in support of rural women’sincome-generating activities?

Information

á Will the information and extension services reachwomen?

á Will information about project activities be pro-vided directly to women as well as men?

á Is a separate communication strategy neededto ensure that project messages reach women(e.g., a woman-to-woman information service orthe use of local women’s groups)?

How can theprojectmake

propertyrights moreequitablefor womenand men?

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á Are project messages both culturally appropri-ate and designed to promote gender equity?

Participation

á Were women consulted and did theytake part in setting the project objec-tives?

á Were women involved in the planningand design of projects?

á If women are not involved in local de-cision making, could they be involvedthrough advocacy measures within theproject, such as a community develop-ment component? Is there scope forNGO involvement if such a component is feasible?

á Can women’s NGOs be contracted to mobilizewomen to participate in the project?

á If mobility problems hamper women’s participa-tion, could the project be organized to overcomethese problems?

á Does the project require motivational compo-nents to encourage women to participate?

Access

á Can project terms and conditions overcome thelegal impediments that keep women from own-ing or accessing land, taking out loans, joiningcooperatives, selling products, or receiving pay-ments?

á If women’s rights to property are currently un-equal, can the project increase women’s equity?(For example, if new land arrangements are pro-posed, can the project require that the title beheld jointly by the man and the woman in ahousehold and exclusively by women in female-headed households?)

Are projectperformanceindicators

disaggregatedaccording to

gender?


á Can broad targets be set for the supply of mea-surable material inputs and services to womenwho are directly or indirectly engaged in theproject activities?

Institution Building

á Could technical assistance be included in the pro-gram or project to:

• Provide training in gender awareness or as-sistance in the development of gender plan-ning and policy formulation, to enable the ex-ecuting agency to promote women’s participa-tion in the project and to monitor the project’sbenefits to women?

• Provide a GAD specialist during project imple-mentation to increase the effectiveness of theproject?

• Provide training in participatory modes of de-velopment (e.g., ways to ensure communityparticipation in the setting of objectives andactivities)?

• Develop a gender database, if the presentdatabase is inadequate for gender planning?

Project Framework

á Do the planning assumptions (at each level ofthe planning framework or logical framework, forexample) adequately reflect the constraints onwomen’s participation in the program?

á Do project performance indicators identify theneed for data to be collected, disaggregated bygender? Will changes in the gender division oflabor be monitored? Will data on women’s ac-cess to and control over resources be collectedduring the project?

TIP

Consider constraints

on women’s physical

mobility in providing

training programs

23

á Can the project meet both practical gender needs(supporting and improving the efficiency ofwomen’s and men’s productive roles) and stra-tegic gender needs (improving gender equitythrough women’s participation in the project)?

á Do the goals, purposes, or objectives of the pro-gram explicitly refer to women or reflect women’sneeds and priorities?

á Do the project inputs identify opportunities forfemale participation in program management, inthe delivery and community management ofgoods and services, in any planned institutionalchanges, in training opportunities, and in themonitoring of resources and benefits? Will theproject resources be relevant and accessible topoor women in terms of personnel, location, andtiming?

á Does the project includemeasurable indices for theattainment of its GAD objec-tives, to facilitate monitor-ing and post-evaluation?

What legalrights dofemaleshave toown and

use land foragriculturalproduction?


Gender analysisfor subsectorsIntroduction

The gender analysis framework forprojects in the agriculture sector outlinedin the previous section should be usedin the gender analysis of subsectoralprojects. The general points concerningthe analysis of the sociocultural contextand the analysis of the project designand cycle apply to all projects in the pri-mary productive sector.

The following subsector checklists areintended to suggest key considerations,

by subsector, with regard to the activities of menand women, and patterns of gender-differentiatedaccess and control.

What arethe

constraintson women’saccess tocredit?

Gender issues in irrigation

Key Issues

á Do men and women differ in their water use andfuture irrigation needs, such as:• types of crops irrigated (commercial corps, food

crops, etc.);• nonagricultural water requirements;• preferred sites of water use; or• distance (of home or fields) from water source?

á Do women with agricultural specializations needaccess to irrigation water?

25

á How will women be affected by intensified pro-duction as a result of the irrigation project? (Con-sider changes in labor requirements, changes incash requirements for agricultural investmentsand concomitant changes in women’s labor allo-cation, etc.)

á How will changes in cropping pattern (e.g., cashcropping versus subsistence crop production)affect women?

á How will women be affected by the increaseddemand for labor and services created in theimplementation phase?

á Are women now involved in water management?Do they have a role in the settlement of watermanagement disputes?

á Are there water user associations? Can womenjoin them?

á Are women members of water user associations?

á Does the executing agency (EA) have the capac-ity to mainstream GAD concerns?

á Does the EA have female extension workers?

Key Strategies

á Consider the different uses and users of water inthe project area. Include measures to avoid po-tential conflicts among competing users or uses.

á Design improvements in the water system toovercome the agriculture time-use constraintsspecific to women and to men.

á Include cost-effective provisions in the projectto meet the requirements of nonirrigation wateruses/users (e.g., for livestock, fishponds, ablu-tions, laundry, domestic food gardens, and drink-ing water).


á If irrigation is associated with changes in landtenure, assist women in becoming co-owners ofland with men.

á Involve the beneficiaries, female as well as male,in the design of the project and in decisions re-garding the location of canals and other infra-structure.

á Consider building and strengthening the capac-ity of the EA to develop and implement gender-inclusive projects.

á Include specific employment benefits for womenin the project design.

á Facilitate women’s participation in water userassociations.

The project is intended to benefit poor small farmers in Nepal byestablishing sustainable and effective water user associations, andrehabilitating and improving irrigation and drainage facilities. It con-sists of 11 subprojects covering a total of 67,800 ha.

Women have a critical role in agriculture and irrigation in Nepal. But their rolehas been largely undervalued, and they generally have less access to the benefitsof agricultural development. The project therefore seeks to increase women’s in-volvement in project implementation and their participation in water user associa-tions (WUAs).

Several steps have been taken, at both the policy and the project implementa-tion level, to achieve this goal. The Department of Irrigation has held workshops tomake its senior management more aware of the gap between policies and institu-tional mechanisms relating to women’s representation in WUAs. District irrigationoffice staff have been trained to provide support in the integration of gender issues

Box 5

Nepal Irrigation Management Transfer Project

CASESTUDY

27

á Consider setting targets for the inclusion ofwomen in water user associations.

á Consider recruiting NGOs to mobilize and trainwomen to participate in water user and watermanagement organizations.

á If membership in water user associations isbased on land ownership, explore opportunitiesfor the joint membership of husbands and wives.

á If the executing and implementing agencies havefew female field workers, consider recruitingwomen from the community as field workers.

Box 5 gives an illustration of the gender issues inirrigation and how these might be dealt with in aproject.

in improving irrigation performance. The workshop and the training have helpedbring more women, as well as men, into the operation and management of WUAs.A gender and development (GAD) training unit has also been set up for bothwomen and men farmers.

A GAD strategy has been developed to address gender issues in day-to-day projectactivities. The project agronomist and the project sociologist are women. A genderspecialist has been hired to assist the project staff and to ensure the proper imple-mentation of the government’s irrigation policy, which calls for 20 percent represen-tation for women in WUAs. Women field staff have been recruited to help mobilizewomen water users, and women’s groups have been assigned to collect irrigationservice fees from these users. Women are being trained to head WUAs and to gainincreased access to agricultural inputs and technology for women members.

To assist in gender mainstreaming, the project budget is itemized and a gender-disaggregated database for monitoring and evaluation is being planned.


Gender issues in fisheries

Key Issues

á What different activities are carried out by girlsand women and by men and boys in fish catch-ing and processing, aquaculture, and market-ing? Do women catch or buy fish for processing,or process the catch of male household mem-bers?

á What activities are performed jointly by womenand men?

á Are there differences in time spent, or seasonaldifferences for separate or joint activities?

á Will the project affect any of these activities andthe level of female involvement or women’s in-comes?

á Will the project increase the burden on women’stime? Will this be to their advantage or disad-vantage?

á Do women work in the fish processing center aswage laborers or are they self-employed (buyfish to process and market)?

á Do women regularly go fishing or is this a sea-sonal activity?

á Is marketing of fish a regular activity or an extrasource of income for the women?

á Do women depend on middlemen to market theirfish or do they market it themselves?

á Do women fish sellers have a place and licenseto sell in the market?

á Do women and men have fishing equipment, suchas boats or nets? Do they depend on middle-men or traders for capital and equipment?

TIP

Ensure that

women’s role

in fisheries

activities

is taken

into account

29

á Do women fish sellers depend on private mon-eylenders/traders for capital or do they haveaccess to formal sources of credit?

á Do women and men fisher folk have enough skillsin fishing, as required for sustainable fish har-vesting/catching?

á Do women and men fisher folk have rights tocommon property resources in inland fisheries?

á Do poor women and men have access to thelease of inland fishery resources such as lakes,rivers, or ponds, or is access limited to men?

á Are women involved in pond fishery?

á Will the project activities change the gender di-vision of labor in catching, processing, and mar-keting fish in marine fisheries and inland fisher-ies?

á Will the proposed project affect the location ofdocks or processing facilities? How will this af-fect women in the sector?

Key Strategies

á Devise ways to make the activities of women andmen more efficient in terms of time spent andresources invested, without diminishing women’sparticipation and control over the activities.

á Include remedial measures to alleviate any ad-verse impact of the project on women’s andmen’s customary activities, on the level of femaleinvolvement, or on women’s incomes.

á Consider support for post-harvest activities (oftenthe arena of women) within the project design.

á Develop components that will support both men’sand women’s contribution and involvement in thefisheries sector.


á Ensure that the projectreflects and builds onareas of traditional co-operation and reciproc-ity between men andwomen.

á I f new technologies(e.g., boats, gear types)or skills training are tobe provided by theproject, ensure thatthese will be accessibleto women.

á Where women and men have “separate purses”and separate financial responsibilities, make pro-visions to safeguard the normal income sourcesof women and support new income-earning op-portunities for them.

á Provide for the participation of women in coop-eratives or other community groups that areformed or supported by the project.

á Design project activities that will not eliminatethe traditional fishing rights of women and menfisher folk in marine or inland fisheries, and theirincome opportunities from fishing.

á If the project activities include commercial fish-ing, ensure that commercial fishing will not di-minish women’s involvement in fish processingand marketing.

á Develop project components that will providewomen and men fisher folk with equal access tocapital (credit), fishing equipment, and marketopportunities.

á Ensure that project activities will not diminishwomen’s access to and control over income fromcatching, marketing and processing activities.

Do womenfish sellers

have a placeand license

to sell in themarket?

TIP

Design

components

to support

women’s

post-harvest

activities

31

á Develop project components that will givewomen a place in the market, a license to havea permanent place in the market, and a process-ing facility or dock.

á Devise activities that will provide equal opportu-nities for women and men to upgrade traditionalfishing skills and to learn new skills.

á Develop project activities that will create newincome opportunities from fisheries activities inaquatic resources.

á Develop groups/organization of women and menfisher folk to provide them with better negotiat-ing power with traders and middlemen.

The case study in box 6 shows how gender issueswere dealt with in a fisheries project in the Philip-pines.

Box 6

Fisheries Resources Management Project in thePhilippines

The project preparatory technical assist-ance showed that while women play im-portant economic roles in fishing, particu-larly in processing and marketing, their

roles are often neglected in projects and programs in thesector. Women are particularly concerned aboutoverfishing, which is reducing the viability of fishing com-munities, and are keen to participate in protection andsustainable management efforts.

The project has attempted to address such concernsby providing for the training and employment of womenas fish wardens with the capacity and power to reportenvironmentally destructive fishing practices, and pro-viding larger loans for fisheries-related enterprises runby women.

CASESTUDY


Nature based eco-tourism

Key Issues

á Does tourism provide a source of income forwomen through the sale of goods and food? Ifso, is it a major or an extra source of income forthem? What types of activities are involved inthe tourist industry in the coastal area?

á Will the project activities relating to tourism elimi-nate petty trading by women in the coastal area?

Key Strategies

á Ensure that commercial ventures and projectactivities do not displace women petty traders.Otherwise, ensure alternative income-earningactivities for them.

á Develop eco-tourism ac-tivities where women canget opportunities for workin wildlife conservation.

TIP

Introduce

measures to

offset adverse

effects of the

project on

women’s and

men’s customary

activities and

incomes

Find workopportunitiesfor women in

wildlifeconservation

33

Gender issues in forestry andwatershed management

Key Issues

á In the project area, is there a gender division oflabor and responsibilities in forestry use and re-lated activities? The following should be consid-ered:

• gathering forest products for domestic/house-hold use;

• gathering fuelwood;

• gathering forest materials for use for craft orcommercial products;

• planting, protecting, or caring for seedlings andsmall trees;

• planting and maintaining homestead wood lotsand plantations on public or government lands;

• attitudes and knowledge with respect to for-est and tree use;

• destructive practices with respect to forest,soil, and tree use;

• income-earning and employment opportunitiesin general; and

• varieties of trees used or preferred by eachgender group.

á Will the project affect the level of women’s in-volvement in these activities?

á What are the time, financial, and social con-straints on the participation of women in projectforestry activities? Do these vary at differenttimes of the year?

TIP

Assess the

traditional

patterns of

forest use

by men

and women


á Is female labor included in the increased demandfor paid labor (transplanters, weeders, nurseryowners and workers, etc.)?

á Will the project impose an extra burden onwomen’s workday or patterns of work? Will thisbenefit or disadvantage women?

á Do women in the project area control the mar-keting of their products and hence retain controlover those products?

á What is the nature of ownership of the forest?Is it government forest? Community forest?Homestead forest? Forest on government-leased land and owned by a particular commu-nity? Forest on land owned by indigenouspeople?

á Who owns the land on which the community for-est or the homestead forest stands, and whoowns access to government-leased forest land?Are men or women or both the owners? Dowomen or men or both own the indigenouspeople’s forest or does the whole tribe/commu-nity own it?

á What is the traditional pattern of ownership offorest land by women and men?

á Are there any social constraints on women col-lecting and use forest products?

á Does ownership determine access to, collection,use, and benefits from forest products?

á Do women work on tree plantations on publicland or community land as wage workers or dothey have access to lease rights to the planta-tion?

á Will the project affect women’s and men’s tradi-tional right to collect and use forest products?

TIP

Introduce measures to

provide joint title for

community forest land

35

á Will the project change indigenous women’s andmen’s rights to forest use?

á Will the project introduce new plantation andreforestation work? If so, how will the projectactivities affect:

• women’s and men’s traditional source of in-comes?

• employment opportunities?

• lease of government land for reforestation ornew plantation?

• access to community forests and developmentof homestead forests?

Key Strategies

á Ensure that women’s traditional right to forestuse is not diminished. Ensure that any increasein the efficiency of access to forests and of for-est product use by women and men is notachieved at the expense of women’s access toand control over forest products.

á Ensure equal access to project resources forwomen and men for community, government, andhomestead forests.

á Include measures to avoid potential conflictsamong competing users or uses, and avoid cre-ating negative effects for forest users.

á Ensure the cooperation of both men and womenin tree planting and tree care in social/commu-nity forestry projects.

á Reflect women’s preferences for particular treespecies in project activities.

á Train women in required components, such asnursery techniques, site selection, selection of

TIP

Schedule

training for

women to fit

their other

responsibilities


species, land preparation, planting, weeding, andmaintenance, to increase their productivity.

á Look for ways in which the above inputs and newtechnologies can be channeled effectively toreach women.

á Train female forestry extension agents in theproject. Sensitize forestry extension agents towomen’s forest use patterns and particularneeds and constraints.

á Help women as well as men understand the valueof forests, and instill proper attitudes towarddestructive forest resource extraction, the sus-tainable use of forest resources, soil erosion, andchoice of trees.

á Include measures to provide women or women’sgroups with access to the lease of governmentland and to roadside forestry for new plantationand reforestation work.

á Introduce measures that will provide joint titlefor women and men for community forest land.

á Ensure the right to forest resource use for indig-enous women and men.

á Make use of women’s traditional knowledge offorest resource management, choice of trees forsocial forestry projects, and homestead forests.

á Ensure support for women’s craft and home-based forest-related industry through credit uti-lization, business management, and marketing.

á If community groups or forest resource manage-ment committees are formed under this project,ensure that women are included in the communitygroup or forest resource management committee.

The case study in box 7 describes gender issuesand their management in the SundarbansBiodiversity Conservation Project in Bangladesh.

TIP

Train female

forestry

extension agents

37

Box 7

Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation Project in Bangladesh

The Sundarbans Reserve Forest (SRF), comprising 6,000 sq km, isthe world’s largest remaining contiguous mangrove area. A globallysignificant ecosystem, SRF features habitats for fish, shrimp, birds,and other wildlife including the Royal Bengal tiger. The SRF also

offers subsistence for 3.5 million people in the 17 subdistricts of the impact zone,within a 20-km radius beyond the SRF border. The forest is part of the lives ofpeople in the impact zone, but traditional user practices and seasonality of har-vesting have largely broken down. The SRF is increasingly being used by commer-cial wood processors, rural communities, fisher folk, and fishing vessels from theBay of Bengal. Under pressure from the growing number of users and the unsus-tainable harvesting of forest products and fishery resources, forest and biologicalresources are being depleted.

The gathering of firewood and the processing of forest products extracted fromthe SRF have traditionally been carried out by women from the surrounding ruralcommunities. With increasing poverty in the impact zone, women are now alsoinvolved in fishing and crab collection. The rise of the shrimp industry and growingdemand have led women to join in the collection of shrimp fry, disrupting theeducation of girls and exposing them to health hazards, violence, and harassmentfrom illegal elements. Because the society and the forest officials do not recognizewomen’s role as minor forest product collectors, women’s needs are only margin-ally considered in forest management policies.

Women who fish and collect shrimp fry are generally from the poor households.To acquire boats, fishnets, and their other needs, they resort to borrowing fromprivate moneylenders and shrimp fry traders at exorbitant interest rates. Womenalso suffer from lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation and healthservices, and from greater vulnerability to diseases.

The Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation Project is aimed at developing asustainable management and biodiversity conservation system for SRF resourceson the basis of rational plans and the participation of all key stakeholders. A majorobjective of the project is to reduce poverty among the 3.5 million people living inthe impact zone through community-based organizations of SRF resource users,greater economic opportunities, alternative employment creation, and improvedsocial infrastructure. The community development component of the project, withthe participation of a gender consultant, is designed particularly to address theneeds of women resource users living in the impact zone. Half of the project ben-eficiaries are poor women, and the project is giving priority to households headedby poor women.

The project is mobilizing and organizing groups of women SRF resource usersinto viable users’ organizations to give them a collective and legally recognizedvoice in planning SRF resource management and their own activities in the impactzone, as well as in dealing with violence against women. Through collective organi-zation, women forest resource users will be able to establish their rights and enti-tlement to SRF resources and common property resources in the impact zone. The

CASESTUDY

Continued next page


(Box 7 Cont’d)

training program is focused on the sustainable harvest of fishery resources, con-servation awareness, and management of SRF resources.

The credit program under the project is designed to create alternative employ-ment opportunities for women’s groups such as charcoal making, seedling planta-tion, and reforestation, to reduce women’s dependence on SRF products and shrimpfry. The microcredit program is also intended to lessen their dependence on pri-vate moneylenders and to increase their incomes. The enrollment of girl childrenin school is thus also expected to increase.

Women resource users will receive leadership training. Women representativeswill participate in the Stakeholders Advisory Council (SAC), where they can raiseissues that affect women user groups and have the opportunity to work togetherwith the Sundarbans Management Unit (SMU) in drawing up policies for integratednatural resource management.

Social infrastructure such as drinking water facilities, toilets, and communityschools in the impact zone will be planned in consultation with women resourceuser groups. Women’s participation in the planning of social infrastructure recog-nizes their ability to decide on community public works and gives them a sense ofownership in social infrastructure. Moreover, the social infrastructure will improvethe lives of the women and the opportunities for their children’s education.

Through access to capital, higher incomes, training, and collective organiza-tion, women will eventually have a greater voice in the family and a more visiblerole in the management of SRF resources.

Gender issues in coastal zonemanagementKey Issues

á What activities are carried out by women andgirls and by men and boys in coastal forests?

á What activities are performed jointly by womenand men?

á Do women and girls, men and boys go to theforests regularly or only occasionally?

á Who are the major and minor forest product col-lectors—women and girls, or men and boys?

39

á What are the traditional forest resource userrights for women and men?

á Do families sell forest products or do they usethem for subsistence? If the products are sold,who does the selling—women and girls, men andboys, or both women and men?

á Will the project affect any of these activities andthe level of women’s involvement in meeting fam-ily subsistence needs or their access to cash in-come?

á Will the project introduce activities that will af-fect women’s workload or diminish their income-earning opportunities?

á Will the project affect the traditional user rightsof women and their access to common propertyresources in the coastal area? If so, how? Whatare the implications?

Key Strategies

á Devise activities that will not havea negative impact on the workload,income-earning activities, and sub-sistence needs of women and men.

á Ensure that project activities willnot change the gender division oflabor in a way that will negativelyaffect women’s working condition,workload, and timing.

á Devise activities that will not diminish traditionalforest resource user rights for women and men,or else develop alternative activities to compen-sate them for the benefits lost.

á Develop project components that will provideequal access and control to women and men inprogram resources, such as institutional setup,training, capital, and marketing.

Are womeninvolved in

projectdecisionmaking?


Gender issues in integratedrural development

Key Issues

á Are data about the population(s) in the projectarea disaggregated by gender (population, so-cioeconomic characteristics, gender division of la-bor, and time inputs in the main productive ac-tivities)?

á If the project is focused on integrated sectors,such as agriculture, fisheries, or livestock, col-lect data on the gender division of labor in theagriculture, livestock, or fishery sector.

á Are there significant numbers of female-headedhouseholds in the client population?

á What impact will the project have on women’sfood production activities?

á Will the project provide support for women’s crops?

á What type of social structure exists in the projectarea and what groups have access to and con-trol over land, community resources, business,and other resources?

á What other nonfarm income-earning activities dowomen engage in?

á Do women have property rights? Land rights?

á What type of social organizations or communityorganizations exist in the project area, and whatcontrol do they have over resource distribution,such as the distribution of development projectinputs to women in the project area?

á Is there an informal network of women in theproject area? If so, what kind of support does itprovide to women?

41

á Do women have access to credit and extensionservices, agriculture inputs, and livestock andfishery inputs from formal institutional sources?

á Where do women get their capital—moneylend-ers, traders, friends and relatives? Do womenborrow at a high interest rate from moneylend-ers, traders, or middlemen?

á Who markets the products of women—traders/middlemen or the women themselves?

á What impact will the project activities have onthe gender division of labor, on subsistence ac-tivities, and on women’s workload, income-earn-ing activities, and access to land, livestock, orcommon property resources?

á Does the EA have the capacity to develop anddeliver services to women?

Key Strategies

á Consult women and men separately in sex-seg-regated communities in the design of theproject’s main components, to ensure thatwomen’s priorities, needs, and motivations, aswell as men’s, are reflected in the project frame-work.

á Include women and men in the project area inplanning the project.

á Address the water, sanitation, energy, and fuelneeds defined by women.

á If the project activities include drinking waterfacilities, ensure that women participate in thedesign of the site selection activities for waterpump, and are included in training in operationand maintenance work.

á Ensure that the project’s extension delivery sys-tem will reach women as well as men farmers

TIP

Determine the

extent to which

community

organizations in

the project area

control resource

distribution,

particularly to

women


and farm workers. Look into the need for femaleextension workers.

á Ensure that any training is equally accessible toboth women and men. Consider setting targets.

á Consider establishing separate women’s farmergroups.

á Design training to develop women extensionworkers.

á Avoid using intermediaries (husbands, broth-ers, etc.) to reach women participants/benefi-ciaries.

á Ensure that project inputs are provided to sup-port women’s agricultural activities.

á Include food security components in the project.

á Develop design features or components to pro-vide women and men with equal access toproject activities.

á Ensure that the gender division of labor in agri-culture, fisheries, and livestock is not altered ina way that might adversely affect women.

á Ensure that women’s existing roles in income-earning activities are strengthened through theproject.

á Develop strategies for women to form groups,or strengthen the existing network for dealingwith issues that affect women’s livelihood.

á Ensure that women workers in the rural informalsector are paid fair wages (for project activitiesin agriculture, agribusiness, fisheries, infrastruc-ture, and construction work).

á Ensure that cooperatives/credit unions or otherinstitutions formed under the project includewomen members.

TIP

Avoid using male

intermediaries

(husbands,

brothers) to

reach women

participants

43

á Ensure that support for women’s craft and otherhome-based industry includes all the stepsthrough credit utilization, business management,and marketing. Consider promoting cooperativesfor women’s products to increase women’s eco-nomic participation and improve women’s in-comes.

á Ensure that the project design includes mecha-nisms and strategies to promote and facilitatewomen’s active involvement in all phases of theproject.

Box 8 contains a discussion of some key gender-related issues that were taken into account in onearea development project.

Box 8

Agriculture Area Development Project in the Kyrgyz Republic

The project preparatory technical assistance analyzed gender con-cerns that would affect the project’s success in improving agricul-tural productivity and reducing poverty. A social survey and farmsurveys identified rural women as being highly disadvantaged as a

result of the economic transition because of various factors including high unem-ployment, lack of access to social services, their increasing preoccupation withfamily care giving, the increasing number of female-headed households with largerdependent children, and the possibility of women being bypassed in land allotmentto private farmers or being ignored in new producer organizations and marketingarrangements.

The project was designed to address these gender concerns. Women’s accessto land allotment under the new laws would be closely monitored. Equal opportuni-ties would be provided to women farmers, particularly female-headed households,to join and participate in new farmer organizations to be set up under the project.Women farmers would be particularly encouraged to participate in training pro-grams under the project to develop their capacity to adjust to new farming pat-terns, prepare business plans, and gain better access to credit.

The benefit monitoring and evaluation addressed the gender effects of the project,including women’s ownership of land, their access to and membership in producerorganizations, their participation in training and the types of training they are given,changes in women’s incomes compared with men’s, and the social position offemale-headed households.

CASESTUDY


Gender issues in microfinance

Key Issues

á Do men and women differ in their patterns ofcredit use (e.g., type of loans, number of loans,interest rates, arrears, defaults, amounts bor-rowed, effective use)?

á Are there significant numbers of women farm-ers, enterprise owners, producers, workers, orhousehold heads in the client population?

á Do women and men have separate credit unionsor savings and loan groups?

á Does the beneficiary population have access tofinance from both formal and informal sources?Are there differences in access for women andmen?

á If women’s access to credit is more restrictedthan that of men, how does this relate towomen’s property rights and ability to providecollateral? What are other constraints onwomen’s access to credit?

á Will the project change existing patterns of rela-tive access to credit for women and men?

Key Strategies

á If the project aims to encourage new forms ofsavings and credit groups, ensure that these willbe accessible to women.

á Establish women’s savings and loan groups.

á Consider policy or legal changes to facilitatewomen’s participation in new forms of savingsand credit groups.

á Include special provisions to increase women’saccess to credit and encourage saving. (Consider

TIP

Include

leadership

training for

women among

the project

components

45

information, communi-cation and trainingstrategies, and termsthat give poor womenor women householdheads improved ac-cess.)

á Consider providingwomen’s skills devel-opment training in set-ting up a business,product development,managing business,marketing, etc.

á Ensure that field workers and NGOs use femalemobilizers, trainers, and loan officers to workwith women.

á Consider contracting NGOs to mobilize womenand to form groups.

á Since women are generally marginalized fromdecision making, consider leadership training forwomen.

Box 9 illustrates howgender issues weredealt with in a ruraldevelopment projectin Indonesia.

Did womenhelp set the

projectobjectivesand were

they involvedin project

planning anddesign?

Promotewomen’s

participation insavings andcredit groups

through changesin laws and

policies


Box 9

Community Empowerment for Rural Development in Indonesia

The project is aimed at reducing poverty in 11 districts insix Indonesian provinces by increasing the incomes of about110,000 poor families beyond the poverty line and empow-ering the rural poor to plan and manage activities that af-

fect their livelihood. This objective will be achieved through participatoryvillage planning and the formation of community-based savings and loanorganizations (CBSLOs), which will provide the rural infrastructure neededto link the urban and rural areas.

Indonesia has about 4.3 million poor households, of which 0.5 millionare headed by women. One in every 10 households headed by women ispoor.

Rural women in the project area contribute to economic developmentin major ways through their involvement in agriculture, petty trading,and wage labor activities. However, they are constrained by low wagesand lack of access to capital, skills training, appropriate technology, andmarket facilities.

The project aims to deal with these constraints. Women will composehalf of the membership of CBSLOs for microenterprise development, halfof those who will undergo capacity-building and leadership training, andhalf of the project facilitators in the villages. The recruitment of womenfacilitators will create job opportunities for women from the community.

Women’s groups will be formed in the villages to take part in villageplanning. Women will thus be able to identify the constraints on theireconomic activities and livelihood and have their needs considered in thelocal government’s development plan. Women’s participation in the vil-lage planning recognizes women’s important role in the village economyand community affairs.

The CBSLOs will provide women with access to microcredit from banksin the formal sector for expanding their microenterprises or investing innew ones. Women will thus be able to invest in both farm and nonfarmenterprises to create productive assets. Through the urban-rural linkagecomponent of the project women’s enterprises will gain access to mar-keting facilities.

Women will receive human development and leadership training toimprove their capacity to voice out their needs in village planning and inthe operation and management of CBSLOs. The CBSLO managementcommittee will include a woman leader.

Gender and development consultants will be recruited, women’s NGOswill be involved in project implementation, women will be given equalparticipation in microcredit activities and in operation of CBSLOs, and agender-disaggregated monitoring system will be installed.

CASESTUDY

47

Gender issues in industrialcrops and agro-industry

Key Issues

á Are data about the population(s) in the projectarea disaggregated by gender (population, so-cioeconomic characteristics, gender division of la-bor, and time inputs in the main productive ac-tivities)?

á What percentage of farming households areheaded by women? In what percentage of theseis there an absent (emigrant) husband?

á What field tasks are traditionally performed bywomen, and which by men?

á Which processing and support service tasks arenormally performed by women, and which bymen?

á What factors determine tasks defined aswomen’s work or men’s work?

á How will any new technologies introduced affectthe work done by women?

á How will changes proposed within the projectaffect the gender division of labor in the areasto be covered?

á What is the pattern of land ownership on familyfarms? To what extent do women own or co-ownland or have the right to use land?

á How are decisions made about what to plant onwhich fields, and by whom?

á Who controls the earnings from cash crops? Howare they distributed within the family? How areearnings allocated and spent?


á How are men’s earnings from agricultural pro-duction spent? How are women’s earnings fromagricultural production spent?

á Could increased cash crop production lead to aloss of land for women’s household subsistencefarming? With what effects?

á What constraints prevent women from growingand marketing cash crops?

á Does the female household head have legalownership rights, rights to production from land,rights to earnings from production? What arethese rights?

á How do the farming operations of female-headedhouseholds compare with those of other farmsin the area with respect to:

• involvement in commercial cash crops;

• use of inputs (chemical fertilizers, improvedseeds);

• access to labor at requisite points of time; or

• agricultural technology used?

Key Strategies

á Provide employment and income-generating op-portunities for women as well as men in theproject.

á Ensure that women and men receive the sameremuneration for any project-related employ-ment.

á If an agricultural estate will be developed, en-sure that it will be easily accessible to the com-munities from which labor is being recruited, orelse that adequate transportation facilities willbe available and that these will be accessible towomen and appropriate for their use.

TIP

Consider

recruiting

women from the

community as

field workers

49

á Provide services on the estate to improvewomen’s well-being, such as maternity, healthand child-care facilities, or women’s literacyclasses.

á Consider incorporating new technologies in theproject to save women’s time and effort and maketheir labor more productive.

á Ensure that land is available for women’s sub-sistence crops.

á Try to provide some inputs for food crop produc-tion.

á Ensure that women are provided with equal ac-cess to cash crop production.

Box 10 gives an example of gender mainstreamingin a crop diversification project in Nepal.

Women’s critical role in agricultural production and food security inNepal has been largely undervalued, and they have had less accessto the benefits of agricultural development programs. The project isdesigned to address this imbalance by promoting a farmer group

approach to the production and marketing of agricultural crops.Women farmers will form groups to gain better access to technical marketing

and extension services. Women will be trained to take leadership positions in mixedfarmers groups. The women farmers’ groups will provide forums for women farm-ers to identify their needs as a group and to negotiate for agricultural extensionservices from the government and for links with agriculture service centers andlocal markets.

Women and men farmers will undergo gender sensitization training to developtheir understanding of one another’s needs and to facilitate the formation of net-works of women and other farmers’ groups for crop diversification, production,and marketing. Agricultural extension staff will be trained to draw up field exten-sion manuals that address the needs of both women and men farmers. A gender-disaggregated community monitoring database system will ensure the participa-tion of women and men farmers in project activities.

Box 10

Nepal Crop Diversification Project

CASESTUDY


Gender issues in livestock

Key Issues

á What roles do women and men play in livestockhusbandry and care in the project area?

á For which aspects of animal care are womenmainly responsible, e.g., with which of the fol-lowing activities are women involved daily orregularly:

• collection and fodder preparation, feeding;

• watering;

• cleaning;

• herding;

• milking, sheaving, or other harvesting activi-ties; or

• care of sick animals?

á How will the project affect the amount of labormen and women spend on livestock care? Willwomen and men do more work or less?

á If the project involves new productive tasks, willthese be done by women or by men? Will thelabor have to be shifted from other activities?How will such changes affect women?

á Will the project inputs to livestock developmentchange women’s roles in the overall farming sys-tem? How?

á If the care of large livestock is thought to be aresponsibility of the men, do women actually dosome of the work? How much?

á If commercial livestock production technologiesare provided to men, how will women’s traditionalworkload and responsibilities be affected?

51

á Will the project create extra work for women? Ifso, how will they benefit from it?

á Will new livestock production methods or newforms of livestock affect land use? Will they af-fect women’s access to land?

á Do women have access to the resources (land,credit, capital) to participate in the project andto benefit from the improved stocks, feeds, orother inputs?

á Are women included in processing or marketingcooperatives or in communal projects?

á Do women own the animals they tend, and dothey have control over or access to the incomederived from the sale of meat, eggs, milk, etc.?

Key Strategies

á Include women among the intended recipientsof improved animals or other project inputs.

á Consider a project that supports small livestockproduction as this is often the responsibility ofwomen.

á Consider ways in which time and labor can beused more efficiently in livestock care, withoutdiminishing women’s participation and control.

á Where women and men have separate incomesand separate financial responsibilities, safe-guard the normal income sources of women andsupport new income-earning opportunities forthem.

á Provide women with basic veterinary training toprotect their livestock.

á Ensure that any training provided is conductedin the village rather than in towns since women’sphysical mobility can be an issue.


á Engage NGOs to mobilize and train women in live-stock production and marketing.

á Ensure that all technical inputs and services areprovided to women.

Box 11 illustrates the gender issues considered in atypical livestock project.

Box 11

Participatory Livestock Project in Bangladesh

The project preparatory technical assistance iden-tified several gender concerns and issues such asthe lack of attention paid to women’s overwhelm-ing role in livestock production and their lack of

access to extension, credit, and markets. It demonstrated thatwomen do much more significant work in small-livestock raisingthan men, and yet are largely ignored in the training and exten-sion programs of government agencies. Such programs are heldin central locations, preventing the participation of women be-cause of their lack of mobility. Women also lack access to creditwhich they need to expand their livestock holdings. Nongovernmentorganizations (NGOs) have organized extension and training pro-grams in villages where women’s participation has been very high.NGOs have likewise demonstrated ways in which women can beprovided access to microfinance for purchasing livestock and equip-ment, and access to technical services even in villages not cov-ered by government veterinary services.

The project has addressed gender concerns in its design bytreating women as significant economic actors in their own right.Seventy to eighty percent of primary beneficiaries will be women.Microcredit will be supplied through NGOs to 340,000 households,particularly female-headed households, and landless women, forsmallholder poultry, beef-fattening, and goat-rearing enterprises.Village-based extension services and training will be provided towomen by NGOs. About 10,800 women will be trained and pro-vided with credit to establish village-based feed supplies, vacci-nation, and marketing services.

CASESTUDY

TIP

Provide

women

with basic

veterinary

training to

protect their

livestock

53

Terms of reference for gender specialist

Appendix

á List major GAD-related policies affect-ing the sector at the national and pro-vincial levels.

á On the basis of a survey of availableinformation, identify GAD issues thatneed to be particularly studied forproject preparation.

á Conduct a gender analysis.á Design a representative household sur-

vey aimed at obtaining data on thegender division of labor in farming andrelated productive activities and in re-productive work; women and men’saccess to resources, services, andmarkets; and the likely impact of allthese on project activities.This task will involve an analysis of:• gender-based patterns of work allo-

cation and their relative rigidity;• access to and control over produc-

tive resources;• patterns of male and female access

to benefits arising out of their labor(wages, incomes and profits, savings)and control over the use of such ben-efits;

• relative access of women and mento training and extension for im-proved productivity and incomes; and

• gender-based opportunities and con-straints on participation in decisionmaking.

á On the basis of this gender analysis,develop and recommend mecha-nisms, strategies, and design featuresthrough which the project may addressthe practical needs of women and menand help improve the strategic posi-tion of women by suggesting:• ways of improving women’s access

to productive resources required un-der the project, as well as avoidingany negative effects of the projecton women’s position;

• ways of improving women’s participa-tion in training, and their access to in-formation and extension services;

• measures to improve their access tobasic services in order to reduce domes-tic drudgery, increase their leisure timeor give them more time for additionalincome-earning opportunities, and gen-erally improve their quality of life;

• steps to facilitate women’s participationin producers’ organizations to give themaccess to services, inputs, and markets;and

• support for women’s savings and creditactivities through group formation, train-ing, and linkage with microfinance ser-vices.

á At the level of strategic gender needs,on the basis of the foregoing genderanalysis, the consultant will:• identify opportunities and strategies to

facilitate the organization of womeninto separate groups or subgroups fortraining and capacity building in prepa-ration for their participation in mixedgroups;

• identify ways to promote women’s fullparticipation in decision making with re-gard to project planning, implementa-tion, access to benefits from the project,and management, monitoring, andevaluation;

• strengthen women’s social status in thehousehold and the community with re-gard to decision making and access todevelopment opportunities;

• ensure that the results of the genderanalysis are incorporated in the projectdesign, implementation, and evalua-tion; and

• prepare a gender strategy that clearlyspecifies how the project will address GADconcerns to be annexed to the Reportand Recommendation of the President.

The consultant should have a postgraduate degree in gender/women’s studies andconsiderable expertise in designing gender-responsive projects in agriculture and ruraldevelopment, particularly in the Asia/Pacific region. The consultant’s responsibilities willinclude, but not be limited to, the following tasks:


Australian Agency for International Development.1997. Guide to Gender and Development. AusAid.

Fong, Monica, and Anjana Bhushan. 1996. Toolkit onGender in Agriculture. Gender Toolkit Series No.1. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

Moser, Caroline O.N. 1993. Gender Planning and De-velopment: Theory, Practice, and Training. London:Routledge.

Wilde, Vicky L., and Arja Vainio-Mattila. 1995. Gen-der Analysis and Forestry. International TrainingPackage. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Selected references

contentsneeds, and perceptions of women and men in agri-culture. they must take into account the...

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