Acceso a bosques y pequeñas fincas en América Latina: teniendo en cuenta la dimensión de género

Convocatoria de para taller de aprendizaje 

Lugar: Sede principal del CIAT en Cali, Colombia

Fecha: 21 al 22 de agosto de 2013

Para las pequeñas fincas, el acceso a tierras de bosques y a la tenencia de tierras con gran frecuencia se encuentra sujeto a la discriminación de género. Las mujeres y los hombres poseen diferentes derechos de acceso y tenencia que a su vez impactan su capacidad de participar en el manejo sostenible de los recursos naturales. El objetivo de este taller de aprendizaje es compartir experiencias y documentar las desigualdades de género en el acceso a bosques, árboles y tierra agrícola para los grupos marginados de América Latina.

El taller de aprendizaje dura 2 días y es organizado por el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) bajo la Estrategia de Género del Programa de Investigación de CGIAR sobre Bosques, Árboles y Agroforestería. Esperamos contar con la participación de un grupo pequeño pero dinámico de 20–30 participantes provenientes de institutos de investigación, universidades, organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG), representantes de comunidades indígenas, entre otros. Nos proponemos brindar una plataforma para compartir métodos y enfoques en la investigación de la tenencia de tierras de bosques en relación con el género. Este esfuerzo será enriquecido con sus experiencias sobre los derechos locales relacionados con la gobernanza de bosques, reformas agrarias y territorios indígenas teniendo en cuenta la dimensión de género. En resumen, el objetivo es comprender mejor los datos desglosados por género, relacionados con los derechos de tenencia, acceso, participación, ciudadanía, representación, medios de vida, entre otros.

Costo: Los participantes deberán cubrir sus propios gastos de viaje, hospedaje y otros, como visa y seguro médico. El programa no tiene ningún costo de registro.

Fecha límite para recepción de síntesis: 15 de julio de 2013

Las síntesis (experiencia y/o investigación) deben presentarse en un máximo de 500 palabras que expliquen contexto, métodos y hallazgos clave, e incluir nombre completo del autor(es), afiliación y datos de contacto. La aceptación de las síntesis será notificada durante la semana del 15 de julio de 2013.

Correo electrónico: p.bose@cgiar.org

Resultado previsto: Los trabajos seleccionados serán considerados para una publicación arbitrada y adicionalmente se compilarán en un documento de trabajo.

Contacto para el envío de las síntesis y para cualquier inquietud: Dra. Purabi Bose     p.bose@cgiar.org

Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) A. A. 6713, Km 17 Recta Cali-Palmira, Colombia

Teléfono: +57 2 4450000 Ext. 3580 Fax: +57 2 4450032 Web: www.ciat.cgiar.org Blog: http://dapa.ciat.cgiar.org/category/gender/

Escrito por: Nora Soto (Género & Cambio Climático)

El pasado martes 21 de mayo se llevó a cabo el Seminario para el Proyecto de Colaboración Género y Cambio Climático. A dicho evento asistieron integrantes e investigadores del CIAT-CCAFS y miembros de la Fundación EcoHabitats del municipio de Popayán. El objetivo de la reunión fue presentar las propuestas de los estudiantes investigadores a realizar en el departamento del Cauca, y buscar tanto un objetivo como una metodología conjunta a implementar. Con esto se busca emprender un programa colaboración integrada entre el CIAT y comunidades del Cauca, y dar impulso a los proyectos en cuestiones de género.

Photocredit: Neil Palmer (CIAT)

Entre los miembros de CIAT-CCAFS estuvieron presentes Osana Bonilla-Findji Oficial Científica, Ana María Loboguerrero líder de América Latina, además de los investigadores del equipo de Género y Cambio Climático. Asimismo se tuvo la presencia de Luis Alfonso Ortega, Liliana Paz y Álvaro Gómez de la Fundación EcoHabitats de Popayán y comunidades aledañas.

Mariola Acosta estudiante de IRC Montpellier Supagro, pretende realizar una investigación en torno a las “Dinámicas de género en la adaptación de prácticas climáticamente inteligentes”, mientras que Taryn Devereux de la Universidad de Florida desarrollará su trabajo en el tema de la difusión de la información y la innovación, mediante un análisis de las redes sociales y los canales de comunicación. Por su parte Seth Marsala-Bell también de Florida estudiará el impacto del cambio climático en los roles de género, y las formas de adaptación diferenciada entre hombres y mujeres. Manon Koningstein investigadora del CIAT, buscará realizar un trabajo utilizando la herramienta de video participativo titulado “Voces inspiradas del Cauca”.

Photocredit: Neil Palmer (CIAT)

Entre las actividades que se pretenden realizar en las comunidades aledañas de Popayán se encuentran talleres con perspectiva de género, entrevistas con miembros de las familias para conocer sus rutinas diarias y formas de adaptación actuales, y  también con personal del municipio para conocer el impacto de las políticas públicas. Un punto muy importante, es que los estudiantes buscan darle continuidad a los programas que se han implementado anteriormente en el área, retomando el trabajo que se ha hecho de modo que se “construya sobre lo construido”.

Durante la reunión se compartieron opiniones por parte de los miembros de ambas organizaciones, Osana Bonilla-Findji Oficial Científica de CCAFS-CIAT resaltó la importancia de no sólo dejar un folleto informativo sino crear una documentación del proyecto como tal para iniciativas futuras. Por otra parte Luis Ortega de la Fundación EcoHabitats mencionó que uno de los objetivos a conseguir deberá ser lograr un impacto duradero en toda la sociedad, pero sobre todo crear conciencia.

Esperamos que estos nuevos proyectos abran una puerta para el desarrollo y consolidación de la perspectiva de género dentro de los programas de CIAT-CCAFS, y también entre las comunidades asociadas, así como fortalecer los lazos de cooperación con nuestros compañeros de las fundaciones locales.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Gendered Access to Forests and Small Farms in Latin America 

Venue: CIAT Headquarters in Cali-Palmira, Colombia on 21-22 August 2013

Access to forestland and land tenure for small-scale farms is most often gender biased. Women and men have different access and tenure rights which in turn impact their ability to participate in sustainable management of natural resources. Aim of this learning workshop is to share experiences and document gender disparities in access to forests, trees, and farmland for marginalized groups in Latin America.

The two-day learning workshop will be convened by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) under the CGIAR Gender in Forests, Trees and Agroforestry Research Program. We expect to bring together a small but dynamic group of 20-30 participants from research institutes, universities, NGOs, indigenous people’s representatives, among others. We would like to provide a platform to share methods and approaches in forest land tenure research in relation to gender. This will be substantiated by your experiences on local rights related to forest governance, agrarian reforms, and indigenous territories from gender dimension. In brief the objective is to better understand the sex-disaggregated data related to tenure rights, access, participation, citizenship, representation, livelihoods among others.

Cost: The participants will cover their own travel, accommodation and other expenses such as visa, and medical insurance. The program will be free of registration cost.

Abstract deadline: July 15, 2013.  

Kindly email your abstract (experience and/or research) in maximum 500 words explaining context, methods and key findings. Please provide author(s) full name, affiliation and contact details. We will review abstracts both in English and Spanish languages.

Abstract acceptance will be notified in the week of July 15, 2013.

Expected output: the selected papers will be considered for peer-reviewed publication and in addition a working document will be compiled.

Kindly e-mail abstract and contact details (and for further inquiry) to Dr. Purabi Bose:  p.bose@cgiar.org

Thank you.

CIAT, Colombia (15 May, 2013). In brief, the preliminary empirical findings on gender-based access to trees and forests in Uganda and India from a cultural dimension indicate that:

• Access to trees and forestland tenure in Uganda and India has a cultural dimension.
• There exists gender-based difference in access to trees on private land and community forest.
• Women’s participation compared to men lacks decision-making in community forest.

A collaborative research* in Uganda and India examined key gender issues related to how men and women access to trees on private-land and how state and community forest management is organized. This ethnographic study aims to explore research questions related to participation and decision-making from the local cultural dimension. Though this evidence-based research is in the preliminary phase, the initial findings – based on our field work in Uganda (2012) and India (2010-12) – indicate that there exist gender-based difference in access to trees and its resources, and participation in community forest.

Pic by Neil Palmer (CIAT). Two children silhouetted on a mountain slope in southwestern Uganda.

Uganda, a land-locked country bordering Lake Victoria, is commonly known as the Pearl of Africa. Uganda has progressive forest policy reform that promotes community-based forest management. The study area is the villages in Mbale district living adjacent to Mount Elgon National Park, the fourth highest mountain in East Africa.  India, on the other hand, the most populous democracy in the world, has recently introduced the Forest Rights Act. This policy reform aims to undo historic injustice done on the forest-dependent people, including the marginalized tribal people. The study area is the villages of semi-arid Banswara tribal district in Aravalli range of western Rajasthan in South Asia.

The marginalized forest-dependent tribes in the study areas are dependent on trees, land and forests for livelihoods. The future of policy reform of tree and forestland tenure will largely determine the secured access rights of the majority of the households.

We used the ethnographic qualitative research approach with focus on the cultural dimension. The cultural dimension provides an understanding of how culture plays (direct or indirect) role in influencing the men and women’s access to trees and their participation in the community forest management.

The community in the study areas, both in Uganda and India, face the challenges of implementation (or lack of) policy reforms. The findings indicate that gender disparity exists in a way that women lack tenure rights, which affect their access rights. They had to depend on male family member for making any decision related to planting trees or harvesting timber or tree resources. Women’s participation, in general, has been active in labor supply, but women receive limited financial gain from trees and forest products. Moreover, men are pro-active in decision-making in community forest management. From India, for example, it was evident that adapting the mainstream rural culture has limited the tribal women’s participation and further reinforced that community forestry is a male domain. Likewise, in Uganda, the local cultural practice though permits women’s daily household need to collect firewood, but hinders them from planting trees.

In our next detailed field work, we plan to gather qualitative data specifically related to how access to trees on private land (and its resources) is organized between men and women, and to what extent (and how) political participation is shaped by the cultural dimension. The comparative study will attempt to highlight the gendered dimension of the trees in private lands and forestland tenure for marginalized poor.

* Han van Dijk (Rural Development Sociology, Wageningen University) and Purabi Bose (Gender in Forest, Trees and Agro-Forestry Research, CIAT).

Kindly do leave your comments below. We would appreciate to receive your experiences and thoughts. Thank you.

New research shows these plants are important food for rural families

While conducting a transect walk of Khoud Khae village (Lao PDR) I noticed a woman standing in a field near us bending over to pick weeds out of a rice field. She was filling a handbag sitting at her feet that held her earlier collection of various items from the forest. She explained how her livelihood strategy consists of collecting weeds, wild food plants and other non-timber products from the forest and trading this for rice. Sometimes she would go to the temple where she begs for rice, but she tells me she is too shy to go every day. Therefore sometimes she goes to the temple in other villages. She tells me that she is a widow without any livestock and only a small paddy field, but not enough for her to live off. The forest products and weeds that are often overlooked in the fields provide just enough for her and her grandson to survive (Caitlin Corner-Dolloff).

Mrs Kam in the field, while collecting plants. Photo: Caitlin Corner-Dollhoff

As this female farmer from Lao PDR explained, for many rural households ‘wild’ edible plants, including weeds and other so-called Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP’s), provide a substantial part of the daily diet. However, many are considered weeds by most agricultural scientists, and therefore undesirable. But besides their nutritional value these plants have other uses, such as in local medicines, handicrafts and rituals.

The idea that weeds can be culturally important for farmers is a key finding of recent research conducted by Cruz-Garcia and Price (2012) in the Kalasin Province, northeast of Thailand. The growing academic interest and recognition of the importance of weeds for the survival of poor farming households is good news for gender-related research: many poor rural families depend on these wild food plants, as they’re usually collected by women. However, Cruz-Garcia and Price found that many of the same species collected by women are not only regarded as weeds to be eliminated by agronomists and rural extension services, but are also the main targets of common pesticides used in these areas.

Mrs Kam in the field, while collecting weeds. Photo: Caitlin Corner-Dollhoff

The acknowledgment of weeds and other NTFP’s as highly important alternative livelihood strategies for rural women and their families, is critical for researcher working in socio-ecological systems. While these issues are often peripheral to community planning and farming initiatives, they should be considered in climate change adaptation planning, ecosystem services, and gender research projects. It’s a way of addressing equity, by targeting the realities of the poorest and most vulnerable populations.

This article is based upon previous research conducted by Dr. Gisella S Cruz-Garcia, Social Scientist at CIAT. She joined the Ecosystem Services group, part of the Decision and Policy Analysis group (DAPA) last December. The testimonial is based upon an interview conducted by Caitlin Corner-Dolloff on the 18^th of August 2012, while conducting research for the Participatory Social Return on Investment (PSROI) project for CIAT with the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) in Lao PDR. She forms part of the DAPA team at CIAT and works closely together with CCAFS.

References:

• G. Cruz García and L.L. Price (2011) Ethnobotanical investigation of ‘wild’ food plants used by rice farmers in Kalasin, Northeast Thailand. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 7:33. 2011. http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/7/1/33/abstract
• G. Cruz García and L.L. Price (2012) Weeds as important vegetables for farmers. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81(4):397–403. http://pbsociety.org.pl/journals/index.php/asbp/article/view/1035.
• Price, L.L. (2003) Farm women’s rights and roles in wild plant food gathering and management in North-East Thailand. In: Women and plants. Gender relations in biodiversity management and conservation. P. Howard (ed.) London & New York, Zed Books: 101-114.

Do you know the Year 2013 is declared by the United Nations General Assembly as “International Year of Quinoa”? How will this help impact the women in the Andes region of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia who are the main growers of this grain crop? What will be the consequences on the food security and on the local culture and practice of the indigenous Quechua? Who will benefit and who will be excluded?

© SIPAM/FAO/MINAM/Alipio Canahua.

The main objective of the “International Year of Quinoa” is to recognize the local knowledge and age-old culture of Andean people, and to highlight the significance of quinoa and its contribution to global food security.

During my trip to Quito in April, I learnt about this UN initiative. In Quito’s Mariscal area I found a fair trade organic shop and soon became a regular customer to buy this super power food called ‘quinoa’. Typically a packet of 500gm of quinoa costs around US$20 in Mumbai’s supermarket while in Quito’s organic store it was approximately US$2 – a far more economical deal! Besides economic there are ecological and nutritional benefits as well.

Quinoa is gluten free, low fat, high protein and fibre-rich grain crop – in brief – a power-packed high nutritive value food from Andean origin. A perfect hardy crop because it can sustain extreme temperatures and climate variability. Therefore, quinoa is highly appreciated as a crop suitable for te arid and semi-arid drought prone regions, and for poor small-scale farmers. During my three-week stay in Ecuador I was introduced to a cooperative leader of small-scale farmers (organic and fair-trade) from Mount Chimboroza. She explained me that the majority of the quinoa farming (now-a-days) is done by Quechua women.

Quechua are the indigenous people inhabiting the Andes region of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. Quechua women are typically small-scale farmers, whose husbands migrate to neighbouring towns/cities for labour work. These women take an active role in cultivating quinoa for household consumption and for marketing in the local market. However, according to the cooperative leader, women are in general benefiting the least in the value chain to market of quinoa. Quechua women are often dependent on local traders and therefore they receive relatively low prices below the real market value.

The second issue I discussed with the cooperative leader is that over the past decade there has been a steady increase in demand for quinoa in the global market that is influencing land tenure relations. It is assumed that the prospects of increasing economic benefit may influence many men to switch back to quinoa farming, and by making more claims on land (ownership) for cultivating quinoa.

The third important issue is that because of high value of quinoa, they might be tempted to sell their produce and substitute for more inferior food items that are available in the market. A staple nutritious diet might become a matter of economic choice for poorer locals.

This story is based on the discussion of the fair-trade quinoa nevertheless I think there are few emerging questions that require future research attention. First and foremost what is the impact of global demand of quinoa on local indigenous women? Then, to what extent the global supply (including organic fair trade) through small scale farms will help to change the position of local producers in the value chain (and what is the gender dimension) of quinoa. In what way the shift from subsistence farming to commercial production for the global quinoa market will impact the Andes region? Finally, will this super-crop empower the local women?

Drop a comment and share your thoughts and experiences on the gender dimensions of Quinoa. 

CIAT, Colombia (18 March, 2013). Does recognition of forest rights help marginalized groups? How does forest tenure policy affect the livelihoods of forest-dependent marginalized groups such as tribal and indigenous groups – in particular, women and children?

Photo by P.Bose

Identity-based and rights-based forest tenure policy reform has become a common phenomenon for marginalized groups in vulnerable areas of developed and developing countries. In the debate about tenure reform the identity of ethnic minorities (tribal and indigenous groups) living in and around the forest, and the ancestral rights of possession over forest land and resources are critical. However, these issues raise the question of whether the recognition of land tenure rights actually benefit women? (refer http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Infobrief/3750-infobrief.pdf)

Why Forest Tenure Matters for Tribal Women?

Since 1998, my research work focused on the Bhil tribal communities in three contiguous tribal districts (Jhabua, Dahod, and Banswara) in western India. Recent research findings on ‘Citizenship and Gender in Forest Tenure’ indicate that the tribal women in these regions face social, cultural, and political exclusion due to the changing regime of forest tenure and the lack of democratic decentralization. Among several factors the common cause for women’s exclusion is the external interventions that promotes a top-down ‘participation’ approaches without ensuring tribal women’s ‘political empowerment in decision-making’.

India has one of the oldest bureaucratic histories of forest governance through the Forest Department, which continues to be the domain of male domination. From 2006-2012 in-depth qualitative research conducted in the poorest tribal areas of India indicate that there is strong evidence of gender disparity in village-level democratic institutions known as ‘gram panchayats’ and in community based forest management.

This lack of empowerment not only has to do with gender discrimination but also with issues of citizenship affecting tribal communities as a whole. My forthcoming research paper highlights one of the challenges of India’s new forest tenure policy reform – the Forest Rights Act of 2006 – in relation to Bhil tribal people’s citizenship rights [Bose, P., in Press. Individual Tenure Rights, Citizenship, and Conflicts: Outcomes from Tribal India’s Forest Governance. Forest Policy and Economics:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934112002456].

Towards Tribal Women’s Citizenship

Forest-dependent tribal women play a significant role in forest management. The majority of tribal women collectively access fodder, fuel wood, and non-timber forest products from degraded dry forestland in the semi-arid region of western India. Forest products constitute a major contribution to their household needs. Moreover, the majority of tribal women prefer to claim collective forest management rights (refer article in International Forestry Review on exclusion of tribal women’s access to forest in India http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/articles/ACIFOR1104.pdf). In contrast tribal men in general claim individual forest land tenure rights. Yet, these tribal women remain invisible. What makes these tribal women vulnerable in forest governance?

Citizenship and women’s forest tenure rights remains an understudied subject. Recognition of tenure rights plays an important role i.e. in who controls and has access to forest land and resources, why and how. However, recognition of forest tenure rights does not directly ensure citizenship rights for tribal women. One of the aspects that my paper analyzes is tribal women’s perception toward the new forest tenure policy reform, and how it impacts their citizenship and social identity. Clearly the majority of women in the tribal villages consider government policies as contradictory. For tribal women, lack of tenure rights means that they are politically not well represented at the community level, making them second class citizens.

In conclusion the paper emphasizes that citizenship is an important element for forest tenure analysis. The recognition of forest tenure rights may not directly coincide with the citizenship rights of the tribal men and women. Citizenship is important because it reflects how tribal men and women’s ethnic identity is related to get recognized by the state, and their sense of ‘belonging’ to forest land.

Do let us know your thoughts below in comments. Kindly contact Purabi Bose (p.bose@cgiar.org) for further information on ‘Citizenship and Gender in Forest Land Tenure’ research at CIAT. 

By Cecilia Schubert (Reposted from the CCAFS’ blog)

Ignoring women in agriculture comes at a high cost, reduced food production. Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT)

Ignoring the gender gap in agriculture has huge economic dimensions. If we want the situation to improve for female farmers we have to make it all about economics! This was the advice given by Ann Tutwiler (FAO) in the learning event  ‘How can agricultural innovation better empower women and their key roles in food and nutrition security?’ held during Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research.

Policy makers would be much more engaged if they knew how much revenues the country looses by excluding women from decision-making processes, denied ownership to land,  access to markets and credits, as well as receiving knowledge about new fertilizers and crops. Already women produce less per land, as they lack inputs och resources. Helping women contribute more efficiently can create significantly gains for both the society and in the family unit. Women are key resources in agriculture seeing as they comprise 43 percent of the agricultural labor force in developing countries, Ann emphasized, adding that “the stereotype of a farmer is that he is a man, but in reality she is a woman”.

A report made by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), State of Food and Agriculture 2010-11 (SOFA), as presented during the event, showed that by giving women equal access to land, inputs, training and credit, this could increase their farm productivity by 20-30 percent. Countries’ total agricultural production would increase by 2.5‐4 percent, and 100‐150 million fewer people would be hungry. In other words, ignoring women in agriculture comes at the expense of the poor and already food insecure. And a huge cost for humanity. Read more about the report here.

Gender is currently being mainstreamed within the CGIAR Research Programs. During the learning event, Carolina Naverrete Frias from the CGIAR-led International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), explained that a gender-specific approach means all community member will benefit from the exchange. And not just women.

Carolina went through the ongoing research within The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). For instance, CCAFS has developed clear gender-sensitive indicators for monitoring the impacts of climate change and adaptation interventions in its gender-training manual, done together with FAO earlier this year.

View Carolina’s presentation here:

Summing up, Carolina mentioned that evidence-based knowledge must inform gender and climate change policy. We need to strengthen the policy form process with a gender approach to stop ignoring the gender gap and most importantly incorporate a gender perspective in the National Adaptation Plans (NAPAs), she said.

The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) also launched a gender grant opportunity last year, inviting female researchers from developing countries to receive support to conduct gender-focused agricultural research. One of CCAFS gender grant recipients, Arame Tall is investigating gender-specific needs within the field of climate service information, specifically looking at rural communities in Senegal. Read more about our gender grant recipients and their ongoing gender-related projects here.

When planning interventions for improved agricultural technologies and rural development the gender lens is often ignored. However, the cost of ignoring it is quite high:  improving rural women’s conditions or “minding the gender gap” could raise agricultural production in the developing countries by 2.5-4% and reduce hunger by 12-17%, which is equal to 100 to 150 million people.

After the Summit of Rio+20, many leaders met to discuss the future of the world, and many were pessimistic on the progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to end poverty in the world. One may wonder, especially in reference to the MDG that aims to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, why if empowering women can be so effective for increasing production yields and reducing hunger, gender research and effective gender actions are still ranking low in many priority settings?

This issue was brought forth in the discussions during the Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) 2012 at Rio (http://www.cgiar.org/press-releases/agriculture-and-rural-development-day-2012-lessons-in-sustainable-landscapes-and-livelihoods/). So, what does “minding the gender gap” mean? If agricultural interventions or climate change adaptation strategies are not developed with a gender lens, their impact will be highly reduced. For instance, to reduce women farmer’s vulnerability in the face of climate change, persistent inequalities must be addressed. Women should have improved access to assets (especially land ownership), to services (especially information and markets) and they also need to have opportunities to attain better levels of education and training.

Some pilot studies in Africa show that women have less access to weather information. But interventions must go beyond just reducing the gender biased access to information. Other barriers, like background knowledge or basic skills are required and must be strengthened to be able to make an adequate use of the information. Another aspect is increasing agricultural yields and therefore economic benefits to farmers. Many times this is not enough to improve the wellbeing of women and their children. Thinking about the gender gap will mean considering who is really capturing the benefits and/or who is making the decisions on how to spend the income.

There is a pressing need to develop and implement baseline studies and data collection that ask the “right gender questions,” that will then provide key information to be mainstreamed into strategies and policies. These are also important to develop specific gender indicators to monitor the progress in the ground and identify gaps that require more research. But many times, this is not enough. Blending into the communities, developing a real bond with women’s groups is needed to be able to get a deep sense of the dynamics and get the “right answers” for those questions. For instance, a common question in the surveys is who is heading the household. Many times, due to cultural traditions among other reasons, responses will point to a male headed household, even though; the male of the household is most of the year in a distant village working and only comes home a few weeks per year and the woman is the one at home taking care of most of the responsibilities. So, who is really the head of the household?

To really capture the gender sensitivities and issues in the collection of data, the Climate Change and Food Security Research Program (CCAFS) , the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR), the Earth System Science Partnership and FAO jointly developed  new research methods and training materials, for gender and climate change research in agriculture (http://ccafs.cgiar.org/sites/default/files/assets/docs/fao-ccafs-brief-gender-web.pdf). Additionally, in relation to gender indicators, USAID, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and OPHI created an index to measure women’s empowerment, looking at five main domains:  production, resources, income, leadership, and time (http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/weai_brochure.pdf).

For reducing the gender gap, strengthening the links and exchanges between the scientific and policy sectors is of crucial importance. Some of the main constraints that limit women and reduce their ability to cope in the future with climate change can only be addressed by policy and institutional interventions. This is the case of land access and tenure, which require deep structural changes in the distribution of ownership and wealth. Ideally, this should translate into women owning larger and good quality plots. Access to credit and inputs (seeds, fertilizers and irrigation equipment) is also a main constraint that should be addressed by policy and technical assistance programs. Policies that guarantee access (especially in the rural areas) and quality of education and technical training in accordance with the local needs are also key. But also, some of the initiatives currently undertaken by many governments around the world, which are the National Adaptation Programs on Action to Climate Change (NAPA’s) should also include a strong gender approach.

Agricultural technologies should consider ex-ante their impact on women. For instance, if new technologies will be more labor intensive, women won’t buy into them. Women farmers already have very high workloads being responsible for household chores, firewood collection, working in the fields and vegetable farming (among other responsibilities). Therefore, it is a priority to free women’s time through labor saving technologies. Currently, there are multiple adaptation initiatives leaded by public and private sectors and research institutions around the world. The monitoring and evaluation of these cross-cultural and cross-country strategies should assess the impact on women. In this way, we can identify the climate-smart agricultural practices, actions and strategies that in a sustainable manner help to increase productivity and resilience, but also the ones that most benefit women.

Gender should be integrated throughout the research cycle. The Consortium Level Gender Strategy aims to improve the relevance of its research for poor women (http://library.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10947/2630/Consortium_Gender_Strategy.pdf?sequence=4). CCAFS which is leaded by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) developed a Gender Strategy (http://ccafs.cgiar.org/sites/default/files/assets/docs/ccafs_gender_strategy2012-final.pdf).  For exploring adaptation options using a gender lens various methodologies are now being applied in the field. These include the Social Return on Investment which is bringing forth a new approach where communities measure the costs and benefits of interventions. Some gender related interventions include the capture of women’s perceptions of value and women’s daily calendars (in time of surplus and in time of need). Also, the Climate Analogues where communities can learn coping strategies from the people living in places where the climate conditions are now similar to the ones they will face in the future. For women to really be able to test and validate meaningful adaptation practices taking full advantage of this tool, many issues need to be considered: What do women want to learn? Do they have the same socio-economic ability to act on what they learn? Do women have the same adaptation priorities? Last, the Village Resource Maps where women map their own village, the natural resources and the activities they perform more frequently. They have been useful to identify what is most relevant to women and some aspects that could limit their ability to benefit from the analogues approach. For instance, women do not travel as far and as frequently as men do, and their mobility is limited by daily and seasonal calendars.

So, what is the future that women want? To have public and private interventions effectively address the gender gap, allowing them to become key players leading the change needed in the food and agricultural sector for attaining sustainable and resilient food systems and rural development with an integrated landscape approach.   

The most exciting things in science often happen when two disciplines meet for the first time, or when two complementary groups join together.  It seems the stars are aligned, as we’re happy to report a new partnership on gender and climate (change).  Agricultural and climate scientists from CIAT and CCAFS have joined forces with gender experts in the University of Florida to explore and unravel the links of gender and climate change.  Last week an agreement was signed during a visit of CIAT Director General Dr. Ruben Echeverria with the University of Florida to work on the following objective:

Contribute to the design of  processes, technologies and related policy and institutional frameworks for the adaptation of farming systems in the face of future climate uncertainties that reduce gender disparities in critical vulnerabilities, reduce female drudgery and improve incomes for resource-poor men and women. Specifically, we’re interested in exploring the gender dimensions along agricultural supply chains.

Leading the collaboration is Dr. Carmen Diana Deere, a renowned Latin American gender research expert from the University of Florida, who will bridge to CIAT’s incoming  postdoctoral research fellow on gender (Jennifer Twyman, currently finishing her PhD in U. of Florida).  The joint work will contribute to CCAFS ambitious targets to really make headway on bridging the gender gap through careful analysis of the social differentiation implications of different climate smart agricultural interventions.  The CCAFS gender strategy outlines how this might happen.

This collaboration has come about thanks to Dr. Jacqueline Ashby from the CGIAR Consortium Office, who is supporting CIAT build up its gender analysis research, and focus our work on the issues that really will make a difference.  Watch this space as we operationalise this collaboration.