demonstrating and disseminating the best practices and technologies for watershed rehabilitation -...

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Gender WorkshopIslamabad, Pakistan

Cheryl Simmons, USDA NRCS in cooperation with FASNational Conservation Planning Technical Specialist

Central National Technology Support CenterFort Worth, TX, USA


Abstract;• In many cultures, just telling people to include women doesn’t work. Looking

at the gender aspect in demonstrating and disseminating sustainable agricultural practices opens the door to implementing newer technologies.

• Working with Gender experts and led by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Simmons co-led a group working on better and more effective incorporation of women into activities that promote soil fertility and soil health. Topics included Sex and Gender; Equity and Equality, the 24 Hour Day, Gender Roles and Valuation of Labor and Gender Mainstreaming in research and applied sciences.

• Simmons will highlight the work in Pakistan and touch briefly on some current projects in the U.S.


Young soil scientists, biologists and engineers


Gender Mainstreaming And Basic Concepts

Perspective•View

Perhaps there is something under the bed

I’ve got it again - An eerie feeling like there is something on top of the bed. Far Side, Gary

Larson

Sky & Water, M. C. Escher, 1938

“Below the line” issues, can behuge & invisible

Purposely hidden, or simply lack of awareness

photo by Ralph Clevenger

http://ralphclevenger.com/portfolios/earth/


More PerspectiveViewWoman without her man is nothing

Woman,without her man,

is nothing

Statement (is this about Sex/Gender?) • Women give birth to babies' men do not • Little girls are gentle and boys are tough • Amongst Pakistani agricultural workers, women are paid

40-60 % of the male wage• Women can breastfeed babies , men can not• Women are better at caring for children than men• Men are sexually more aggressive than Women• Men need more help in post disaster because they are

main bread winners• Men's voices break at Puberty, women's do not.• At Construction sites, construction materials are carried

by women

Gender Sex• Refers to socially constructed roles and

responsibilities, mainly influenced by perceptions

• Differs between and within cultures/societies, But in all cultures, gender determines power and resources for females and males

• Includes variables identifying differences in roles, responsibilities, opportunities, needs and constraints.

• However, gender attitudes are learned and can be Changed

• Perceptions of gender are deeply rooted• People are born female or male, but learn to

be women and men.

• Biologically defined• Determined by

birth • Universal• Unchanging ….???

Sex rolesBiological makeup and cannot be changed e.g. bearing a baby is biological role, only women become pregnant and give birth.

Gender rolesThose behaviors, tasks and responsibilities that a society considers appropriate for men, women, boys and girls. These are socially constructed; learned; dynamic (they change over time); multi-faceted (they differ within and between cultures) and influenced by class, age, caste, ethnicity and religion .

Reproductive/family maintenance Role Productive Role Community managing

Role

Ensure the reproduction of society such as child bearing and rearing and caring for family members. Most activities are labor intense

Refers to activities to produce goods and services. Example; economic activity, income, agricultural activities ….

Voluntary unpaid work done as an extension of their reproductive role. Example; water collection, caring elderly

For example; managing household chores, bearing and caring for children,food preparation, water and fuel collection, family health care

For Example;plowing, transplanting paddy, fencing, harvesting, maintaining water pump or any other related – often paid work … income generating activities

For example; social gatherings, community meetings, spiritual and cultural events - often structured to support men

Gender Equality

Equal participation of women and men in decision-making, equal ability to exercise their human rights, equal access to and control of resources and the benefits of development, and equal opportunities in employment and in all other aspects of their livelihoods.

Gender Balance

The equal and active participation of women and men in all areas of decision-making, and in access to and control over resources and services.

The United Nations considers gender balance fundamental to the achievement of equality, development and peace.

Gender Equity Fairness and impartiality in the

treatment of women and men in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities.

By creating social relations in which neither of the sexes suffers discrimination.

Gender equity aims at improving gender relations and gender roles, and achieving gender equality.

The essence of equity should always be considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities .

*Gender Mainstreaming

Globally recognized strategy for achieving gender equality.

Gender mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action in all areas and at all levels.

That means making both the concerns and experiences of women and men an integral dimension of all development efforts.

Gender RelationsThe ways in which a society defines rights, responsibilities and the identities of men and women in relation to one another.

Gender Blind Gender-blindness refers to a failure to identify or acknowledge difference on the basis of gender where it is significant.

Gender Sensitivity Ability to perceive existing gender inequalities/Being aware of the differences between women’s and men’s needs, roles, responsibilities, and constraints.

Gender Analysis

Provides us with ways to compare the relative advantages and disadvantages faced by women and men in different spheres of life; the family, the workplace, the community and the political system.

Helps us to understand the status, roles and responsibilities of men and women in society, as well as their access and control of resources, benefits and opportunities.

It also can yield baseline information against which the potential gender impacts of programmes policies can be evaluated.


Gender Sensitive Extension/Dissemination Strategy• Promote equitable access to improved agricultural strategies• How?

• Pre-testing of strategies to assess the willingness of farmers to adopt the technology – men and women?

• Agriculture Providers and Field – will their sex matter?• Organization of field/demonstration days – offer

alternative days, time, place, conducive learning environment?

• Dissemination of information of improved technologies?


Impacts….MORE… MORE … MOREEnvironmental impact – improvements in soil nutrients, vegetation coverage, etc.Social impact – women accessing technologies, increased community collaboration, etc.Economic impact – increased incomeInstitutional impact – increased capacity at different levels of gov’t, changes in policy, etc.

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Data Collection Tools• Secondary sources of data• Surveys – structured interviews/questionnaires• Focus Groups• Resource Mapping• Oral Life Histories• Daily and seasonal activity calendars• Access and control• Poverty Mapping (overlay GIS with economic data)• Valuation of labor – paid and unpaid labor.

23

Gender Mainstreaming/Analysis Tools

Production of goods and services Males Females Notes Subsistence crops

Cash crops

Livestock

Tasks

Irrigation

Land preparation

Planting and harvesting

Construction and fence building

Human capital production

Food preparation

Child care

Community/political

Activity analysis – gender division of labor• Used to record time spent on activities and the location of the activities

24

Activity – seasonal calendar

SUBSISTENCE ACTIVITIES WHO?

JAN F MA AP MA JU JU AU SE OC NO DE

PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES

Land clearing Hired labor, grandmother

Land preparation Hired labor, grandmother

Planting Hired labor, grandmother, wife

WeedingGrandmother, husband, wife,

children

Herding Hired labor

Harvesting Hired labor, grandmother, wife

REPRODUCTION ACTIVITIES

Cooking Grandmother, adolescent daughter

Laundry Adolescent daughter

Gathering food, shopping Grandmother, adolescent daughter,

wife

Slaughtering Relatives, neighbors, husband

Food processing Grandmother, adolescent daughter

REDISTRIBUTED FARM Wife

SCHOOLING

URBAN LABOR Husband

SOCIAL NETWORKSGrandmother, Husband, Wife,

children


Why Does Gender Matter?• On average 47% of the world’s farmers are women (FAO 2011)

Women’s Labor Input in Selected Crops


Field Visit from Pakistan• Focus group discussion and the problem tree (core problem,

causes, and effects)• The question: “What is the main challenge in improving

productivity of your land?”• Divide into 3 groups:

• All women group• All men group• Men and women group


Women are comfortable in many styles

Thank you to Dr. Shaheen and Ms. Dessalegn. For sharing their presentations.


Gender is particularly important in the context of agriculture in Pakistan. Women perform an important role in the sector with three-fourths of women in the workforce employed in agriculture. Labor statistics show this proportion has increased in the last 10 to 15 years. In effort to more fully recognize women in the Soil Fertility and Soil Health efforts, USDA collaborated with ICARDA and other Pakistan partners to present the Gender Mainstreaming in Soil Fertility and Soil Health Training Workshop.

Discussions and presentations focused on why and how including a gender perspective and analysis can make agriculture research, and more specifically soil fertility programs, more effective. Simmons presented examples from the U.S. and spoke to the cultural similarities in the desire for healthy food from healthy soil.

Participants were introduced to a broad range of gender analysis tools, examples in terms of case studies and on-going projects, and were given opportunities to learn by doing through group exercises and by testing some of the tools in the field.

Cheryl Simmons, USDA, (Center) joined Dr. Shaheen Asraf Shah, Gender Consultant (Right), and Beza Dessalegn, ICARDA (Left) to lead the workshop.