This series of briefs presents recent analyses of issues that affect the role of agriculture, including livestock, fisheries, and forestry, as a source of economic development, rural livelihoods, and environmental services.
Women are major actors in forest resource management throughout the developing world. Women and children are the primary collectors of fuel wood and fodder for home consumption and for sale at local and urban markets.
... See More + This alone gives women a major role in the management and conservation of forest resources. When convinced of the economic benefits and practicality of a forest improvement or management scheme as well as ensured of appropriate rights for forest resources such as usufruct rights and tenure, women can form a powerful lobby to persuade the entire household or community to invest the resources necessary to make the scheme work. Involving women in forestry projects often makes the difference between achieving or not achieving project objectives, particularly for long-term sustainability of interventions. Because of their traditional reliance on forest resources, women are often the chief repository of knowledge concerning the use and management of trees and other forest plants. Women also comprise a large share of the labor force in forest industries-nurseries, plantation establishment, logging, and wood processing and are increasingly involved in agro-forestry, including commercial fruits, and cash crop trees as well as fuel and fodder species. Women are often the main collectors and users of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), such as plant fibers, medicinal plants, herbs, fruits and nuts, seeds, oils, and resins. Until recently, recognition of women's role in forestry projects has been inadequate, and their full involvement in the planning and implementation has produced less than optimum project results.
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In agriculture, the generation of new technologies and the creative imitation of the existing stock of technologies can promote productivity and growth.
... See More + The important elements in mapping the enabling factors for innovation are: (a) realistic assessment of the country- or region-specific potential in human, physical, and economic terms; and (b) identifying technologies to realize that potential, through adapting the existing stock, and through networking between researchers and other innovators (agricultural research organizations, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), private companies, farmers and rural communities). Gender inclusiveness is essential in all of these stakeholder groups. This innovation system process has important gender dimensions, many of which are rapidly evolving. Men and women in the rural sector frequently grow different crops, rear different livestock, and perform different agricultural tasks. As the share of female-headed household increases, these distinctions become less clear and women take on activities that were previously undertaken by men. But certain activities tend to remain women's responsibility, particularly growing food crops, and post harvest activities ranging from crop preservation to processing and storage. Women are also increasingly taking advantage of employment opportunities in high-value crops, such as fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, and flowers, which offer farmers the opportunity to compete for a share of export markets.
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The primary principle underlying Community Driven Development (CDD) is viewing poor people as assets and partners in the development process. This could be made possible by helping rural communities build on their institutions and resources and by giving control of decisions and resources to community groups.
... See More + Well-designed CDD programs are inclusive of poor and vulnerable groups and in addition, build positive social capital, and give them greater voice both in the community and with government entities. Communities are not homogenous and to be responsive, CDD needs to be designed to be socially inclusive, giving voice and decision-making responsibility to different segments of the community.Gender refers to the socially and culturally defined roles assigned to males and females from birth. These differ from society to society and may change over time. They define responsibilities between men and women, decision-making authority, and involvement in social and economic activities. This entails giving voice and responsibility especially to those often excluded from community discussions and decision-making: women, the elderly, youth, religious and ethnic minorities, and so on. The power of the poor to negotiate will be increased when all groups of the poor are included in a dialogue with the government, private sector, and civil society.
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One of the most serious impediments to increasing the agricultural productivity and income of rural women is their lack of security of land tenure.
... See More + Land tenure refers to a set of rights that a person or entity holds in land. The rights can also exist in a variety of forms such as leases on public land or user rights to communal property. An important caveat in this context is that formal systems of property rights, which simply do not exist in many developing countries, are taken for granted in advanced nations. If tenure is secure, the holder can reasonably expect to use the land to its best advantage, and make management decisions on how land-based resources will be used for immediate household needs and as a long-term sustainable investment. Lack of title, often the problem of women farmers typically implies lower productivity levels and yields because of weak incentives for sustainable land management and soil conservation, little interest in investing in permanent crops, and lack of collateral for credit for farm inputs. Although the number of female-headed households has increased to almost a third in developing countries, women have clear ownership of only about 5 percent of all land. For women farmers, responsible for 60 to 80 percent of food production in developing countries, access to land, management and control of land-based resources, and economic incentives that security of tenure provides, are essential for their exit from poverty to sustainable livelihoods.
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Meeting world food needs in the future will depend increasingly on addressing issues related to gender and on strengthening the capabilities and resources of women.
... See More + Approximately 98 percent of rural women classified as economically active are engaged in agriculture and are the primary food producers in many parts of the world. As men leave their rural homes in search of paid employment in towns and cities, the role of women in agricultural production becomes increasingly dominant. Yet women typically have unequal rights, and limited access to resources and opportunities. Women make up 60 percent of the world's billion poor. The percentage of women below the poverty line has increased by half since the 1970s, while the comparable figure for men increased only 30 percent. The underlying goal is to support growth in the rural sector in a way that benefits the poor, and thereby improve efforts to reach the millennium development goals, particularly the one on halving poverty and hungers by 2015. These goals will not be achieved unless there is an explicit and profound effort to fully address and integrate gender into rural operations.
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Local communities often play a key role in Natural Resource Management (NRM); therefore the support of the entire community is a critical element for its sustainability.
... See More + Men and women use natural resources in different ways and at different rates and have different allocation and conservation measures. Understanding the different roles and responsibilities of men and women in the natural resource management system is critical to understanding how changes to that system will affect food security, resource management practices (e.g., land, livestock, and fisheries), and hence productivity and sustainability. NRM requires participation, management, and commitment from both sexes. Women's participation in community organizations that manage natural resources is not just an equity issue, but also one that affects efficiency and effectiveness. In general, women have a high degree of responsibility over natural resources in performing their daily household tasks as women are the ones involved in subsistence activities such as collection of fodder and wood for fuel and construction. Women are also actively involved in the management, conservation, and maintenance of natural resources for individual and collective consumption and often have detailed knowledge of their local environment, which is critical to strategies for development and change.
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Women's participation in the utilization and management of water resources must be considered in the broader context of their access to productive assets and resources and the social construction of gender roles.
... See More + Women are significant users of water, both for productive and domestic purposes, but they rarely have input into water related decision making, at the macro or even the micro level. Water rights are often closely tied to land tenure arrangements, and often transferred with land. In many places, land rights are passed from father to son. Thus, though women may be working on the land, they lack ownership and usufruct rights. Dublin Principle 3 states that women play a central part in the provision, management, and safeguarding of water. However, this pivotal role of women as providers and users of water and guardians of the living environment has seldom been reflected in institutional arrangements for the development and management of water resources. Acceptance and implementation of this principle requires positive policies to address women's specific needs and to equip and empower women to participate at all levels of water resource programs, including decision making and implementation, in ways defined by them.
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