feed the future cambodia harvest ii

FEED THE FUTURE CAMBODIA HARVEST II

GENDER ACTION PLAN

OCTOBER 18, 2017

REVISED DECEMBER 7, 2017

Recommended Citation: Abt Associates. “Feed the Future Cambodia Harvest II Gender Action

Plan.” Prepared by Abt Associates, Bethesda, Maryland, October 18,

2017. Revised December 7, 2017.

Submitted to: Vuthy Theng, Contracting Officer’s Representative

USAID/Cambodia

Food Security and Environment Office

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

+855-23-728-362

[email protected]

Abt Associates Inc. 1 4550 Montgomery Avenue 1 Suite 800 North 1 Bethesda,

Maryland 20814 1 T. 301.347.5000 1 F. 301.913.9061 1 www.abtassociates.com

With iDE and EMC

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DISCLAIMER

The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States

Agency for International Development (USAID) or the United States Government.

FEED THE FUTURE CAMBODIA HARVEST II

GENDER ACTION PLAN

Contract No.: AID-442-C-17-00003

Feed the Future Cambodia Harvest II: Gender Action Plan 1

CONTENTS 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3

1.1 Project Context ............................................................................................................................................... 3

1.2 Purpose of the Gender Action Plan ............................................................................................................ 4

1.3 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................... 4

2. Guiding Principle and Strategies .......................................................................................... 6

3. Gender & Youth in Horticulture: Issues and Gaps ............................................................. 7

3.1 Policy Framework and Institutional Context of Gender Equality in Agriculture ............................. 7

3.2 Gender Issues in Horticulture ...................................................................................................................... 9

3.3 Youth Participation in Horticulture .......................................................................................................... 14

4. Carrying Out the Six Strategies ......................................................................................... 15

4.1 Enhance Staff Understanding and Preparedness .................................................................................... 15

4.2 Learn from M&E ............................................................................................................................................ 15

4.3 Seek Out Opportunities for Women and Youth .................................................................................. 16

4.4 Tailor Capacity Building ............................................................................................................................... 17

4.5 Tailor Access to Finance.............................................................................................................................. 17

4.6 Incorporate Gender and Youth in Policy Work .................................................................................... 17


ACRONYMS

ADB Asian Development Bank

ADS 205 Automated Directives System: Integrating Gender Equality and

Female Empowerment in USAID's Program Cycle

COP Chief of Party

CP Commercial partnership

EG Economic Growth

GEFE Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy

GFSS Global Food Security Strategy

GMPSFA Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in

Agriculture

HCD Human Centered Design

KIA Key Intervention Area

MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

M&E Monitoring and evaluation

MEL Monitoring, evaluation and learning

MoWA Ministry of Women’s Affairs

MSME Micro, small and medium enterprise

NGO Non-governmental organization

PDAFF Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

PDoWA Provincial Department of Women’s Affairs

RGC Royal Government of Cambodia

RS Rectangular Strategy

SME Small and medium enterprise

USAID United States Agency for International Development

TWG Technical working group

TWGG Technical Working Group on Gender

WCCC (Provincial, District) Women and Children's Consultative

Committees

CCWC (Commune, Local Government) Committees for Women and

Children

ZOI Zone of Influence


1. INTRODUCTION

PROJECT CONTEXT

Millions of Cambodians have recently risen from poverty, yet many are still highly vulnerable.

Accelerating growth of the horticulture sector will help the country continue to reduce poverty and will

bring new opportunities to those in rural areas. Feed the Future Cambodia Harvest II ("Harvest II") is

working in the horticulture sector across the provinces of Pursat, Battambang, Siem Reap, and Kampong

Thom, the Zone of Influence (ZOI). The project has three interconnected sub-purposes:

Improve capacities for market participation. Leveraging the success of other USAID

programs, Harvest II works with buyers, producers, and other market actors in the sector to

apply improved technologies and management practices, increase their financial and business

capacity, stimulate the use of market and climate information, and implement risk-reducing

actions to improve resilience.

Improve market linkages. To help build mutually profitable commercial relationships in the

sector, Harvest II first identifies buyers (usually wholesalers) interested in expanding their supply

of horticultural products from the ZOI. From there, Harvest II helps these buyers connect with

suppliers and eventually establish commercial partnerships that can be sustained over time.

Harvest II also works to encourage investment that will contribute to expansion of the sector.

Improve governance and enabling environment. Harvest II is helping advance policies and

regulations to support growth of the horticulture sector. It will support key coordination

platforms, help the government to strengthen its policy analysis capacity, and support public-

private dialogue around policies and regulations affecting the horticulture sector.

Harvest II is part of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future portfolio, which is guided by the Global

Food Security Strategy (GFSS) 2017–2022. GFSS looks to promote agriculture-led economic growth and

strengthen markets through inclusive collaboration, coordination, and participation. It aims to

strengthen the participation of all participants in the food and agriculture system, paying special attention

to women and youth. Harvest II focuses on building market linkages using a buyer-led approach and

puts a high priority on developing sustainable commercial partnerships between buyers and suppliers.

The buyer-led approach begins with an understanding of specific buyers’ needs in terms of quality,

quantity, price, and timing. Harvest II helps each buyer engage with suppliers to ensure a reliable and

consistent supply of products. The project both provides technical assistance and plays a facilitative role

to develop buyers’ and suppliers’ capacity, facilitate their access to finance, and strengthen the enabling

environment—all with the goal of helping buyers and producers create sustainable commercial

relationships.

Harvest II’s underlying development hypothesis is that a focus on understanding and responding to the

requirements of specific buyers will enable suppliers to acquire the needed skills and behaviors to meet

buyers’ demand and for buyers and suppliers to build trust and mutually beneficial, sustainable

relationships.


PURPOSE OF THE GENDER ACTION PLAN

USAID has recognized that gender equality and female empowerment is fundamental for the realization

of human rights and achieving sustainable development outcomes. Integrating gender equality and female

empowerment into program implementation is one of the key principals of USAID’s gender policy,

formally known as the Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy (GEFE).

Gender equality, female empowerment and youth empowerment are also among the crosscutting

priorities in Harvest II. Therefore, this document, as required by the Harvest II contract, “establish[es]

the principles, strategy, and means by which the project will address key constraints and potential

opportunities to promote gender integration and equity” in project implementation.

METHODOLOGY

Development of this GAP has been one of the project’s foundational activities. Harvest II engaged a

short-term gender consultant who participated in the Harvest II start-up workshop and work planning

sessions, and conducted field visits along with the technical team. The gender analysis employed the

guidance of ADS Chapter 205-Integrating Gender Equality and Female Empowerment in USAID’s

Program Cycle, adapting to the Harvest II context. The gender analysis also aligns with USAID’s GEFE

Policy. The methodology included the steps described below:

Desk review to review the issues and status of gender equality and youth participation in agriculture in

Cambodia. Documents included:

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries’ “Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic

Framework in Agriculture 2016-2020.”

Neary Rattanak IV, the five-year strategic plan (2014-2018) for Gender Equality and the

Empowerment of Women in Cambodia, Ministry of Women’s Affairs and partners.

Cross-sectoral gender policy briefs prepared by Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment

in Cambodia produced by the Asian Development Bank,

Census of Agriculture in Cambodia 2013.

USAID Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy 2012.

USAID Cambodia Gender Assessment 2016.

Technical Assistance Note - Cambodia: Gender in Agriculture Assessment, World Bank, 2015.

USAID ADS Chapter 205.

Field visits: The gender consultant conducted field visits in two provinces (Siem Reap and Pursat). She

conducted group discussions with women and men groups separately to provide comfortable space for

women to express their ideas freely. She conducted individual in-depth interviews with 29 respondents

(43% female) including farmers, collectors, input suppliers, and wholesalers. Stakeholder consultation

also included semi-structure interviews with representation from Provincial Department of Agriculture,

Forestry and Fisheries (PDAFF), Provincial Department of Women’s Affairs (PDoWA) and local Non-

Governmental Organization (NGOs) working on agriculture in the ZOI.

Limitation: The gender analysis is a general examination covering gender issues in horticulture. Since

Harvest II’s buyer-led approach focuses on individual partners who form commercial partnerships,

further gender analysis of selected partners will be included as part of the commercial partnership


assessments beginning in late October. These assessments will ensure that activities in the resulting

commercial partnership growth plans are tailored to address the gender issues and opportunities of

each partner, as appropriate.


2. GUIDING PRINCIPLE AND STRATEGIES

Harvest II’s purpose is to accelerate growth of the commercial horticulture sector in the ZOI. With regard to women and youth, the project’s guiding principle is to:

The project is pursuing a buyer-led approach, which puts a focus on developing commercial partnerships

between buyers and suppliers. It also promotes horticulture-related investment and supports a better

enabling environment. All of this work favors being both systematic and opportunistic in advancing

opportunities for women and youth. Not every commercial partnership or every investment will

provide opportunities for women and youth, but the project commits to systematically looking for such

opportunities and being ready to make special efforts to pursue opportunities that do arise. The six

strategies for carrying out this guiding principle are the following:

1. Enhance staff understanding and preparedness. The project will build the capacity of its

staff and cooperators to understand gender-youth issues and deliver the program in a

responsive manner. It will encourage the staff to be alert to ways the project can advance

opportunities for women and youth and take specific steps to consider gender and youth as they

plan and organize project activities.

2. Learn from M&E. The project will collect sex-disaggregated and age-disaggregated data in

M&E, use this information to track progress, and include gender and youth as a topic in its

learning activities.

3. Seek out opportunities for women and youth. When identifying potential buyers and

investors, the project will be on alert for buyers and investments likely to engage sizable

numbers of women and youth.

4. Tailor capacity building. Since women’s capacity to compete creates perhaps the most

significant constraint to their realizing the benefits of a growing commercial horticulture sector,

the project will explicitly consider women’s needs when developing its numerous capacity

building activities under Sub-Purpose 1. Also as a part of capacity building, the project will seek

out ways to support positive gender norms (e.g., increased women’s management and leadership

opportunities) as it helps buyers and suppliers improve their internal processes and more

effectively negotiate with each other.

5. Tailor access to finance. Given the importance, yet potential risks, of increased access to

finance, the project will help women and youth access finance appropriate to their needs. For

those interested in accessing finance, the project will help them assess the business case and

their readiness to take on additional debt, and will help lenders tailor financial products

appropriate to their needs.

6. Incorporate gender and youth in policy work. The project will support the RGC’s ongoing

efforts to promote gender- and youth-responsive consultative processes and policies by

supporting the active participation of women and youth in advocacy and coordination platforms

and in supporting their moving into more positions of leadership.

These strategies will help remove barriers to women and youth and help them participate equally in the

new opportunities created by Harvest II.

Be both systematic and opportunistic in finding ways to help women and youth contribute to,

and capture the benefits of, the accelerating growth of the commercial horticulture sector.


3. GENDER & YOUTH IN HORTICULTURE:

ISSUES AND GAPS

As an early step in developing this Gender Action Plan, the gender consultant examined the policy

framework of gender in agriculture and then conducted an analysis of issues particularly relevant to

Harvest II. Her analysis examined roles and responsibilities of women, men and youth participating in

commercial horticulture. It also assessed women’s leadership/entrepreneur and decision-making

especially in horticulture, defining the opportunities for economic and leadership advancement for

women and their engagement in the value chain. Specific questions included:

1. What are differences in the status of women and men and their differential access to assets,

resources, opportunities, and services?

2. What is the influence of gender roles and norms on the division of time between paid

employment and unpaid work?

3. What is the influence of gender roles and norms on leadership roles and decision-making;

constraints, opportunities, and entry points for narrowing gender gaps and empowering females?

4. What are potential differential impacts of Harvest II on males, females and youth, including

unintended or negative consequences?

The following sections review the policy framework, present the gender analysis, provide general

observations on youth, and summarize main constraints and opportunities. This work helped the project

shape the six strategies described above in Chapter 2.

POLICY FRAMEWORK AND INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT OF GENDER

EQUALITY IN AGRICULTURE

3.1.1 The RGC’s Gender Equality Policy Framework and Gender Policy in Agriculture

The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has committed to promote gender equality in its

development agenda, as demonstrated in a number of national policies and strategies, including:

The Rectangular Strategy, Phase III, 2014–2018 (RS III).

Convention on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1992.

National Strategic Development Plan 2013–2018 (the NSDP), which reinforces equality

between women and men and recognizes women as “the backbone of Cambodian society and

the economy.”

In the agriculture sector, the Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture

(GMPSFA), 2016–20201 and the Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan in Agriculture, 2016–20202 confirm

1 MAFF, 2015. Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture, 2016–2020. 2 MAFF, 2015. Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan in Agriculture, 2016–2020.


the gender equality commitment of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). Consistent

with the RS III and NSDP, the policy identifies three strategic goals:

To promote women’s economic empowerment through women’s access to goods and services

for agricultural development and markets;

To strengthen capacities, resources and commitment within the MAFF to ensure effective

mainstreaming of gender perspectives into the agriculture sector; and

To promote women and men’s equal participation and representation as decision makers in

agriculture-related administrations/institutions and communities at all levels3.

The scope of the strategic framework and five-year strategic plan encompasses gender mainstreaming

and gender-responsive initiatives in all MAFF departments and institutions. The strategic framework and

action plan focus on capacity and human resource development on gender in agriculture as well as rural

women economic empowerment, and embody a program-based approach in order to enhance

coordination and effectiveness in promoting greater gender equality in agriculture4. The MAFF has also

formulated a Policy and Strategic Framework for Childhood Development and Protection in the

Agriculture Sector5. In this way, the two MAFF policies complement and reinforce one another. Harvest

II aligns to those policies and strategic framework in promoting gender equality and female

empowerment, especially in horticulture.

3.1.2 Institutional Framework for Promoting Gender Equality in Agriculture

The national mechanism for the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Cambodia

includes the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), the Cambodia National Council for Women

(CNCW) and the Technical Working Group on Gender (TWGG) and Technical Working Group on

Women Economic Empowerment. Additionally, MAFF has created Gender and Children Working

Group (GCWG) at the national level and assigned gender focal points in all provinces with mandate to

mainstream gender equality into agriculture sector.

At the sub-national level, the RGC has appointed female deputy governors of capital/provinces, cities,

districts and khans across the country to increase women’s participation in public administration.

Provincial departments of MoWA coordinate with the policies and programs of the national ministry.

Women and Children's Consultative Committees (WCCCs) are gender focal points in provinces and

districts. At the commune or local government level, Committees for Women and Children (CCWCs)

work in local communities to support the needs of women and children.

Relating to the gender equality and youth empowerment mainstreaming into the related agriculture

policies, strategies and laws, the TWGG, provincial gender focal points of PDAFF, WCCCs and CCWCs

have potential to lobby the gender and youth agenda into the policy discussion at the national and

provincial level.

3 MAFF, 2015. Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture, 2016–2020. 4 ADB, 2015 Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment in Cambodia. 5 MAFF, 2015. Policy and Strategic Framework on Childhood Development and Protection in the Agriculture Section, 2016–

2020.


GENDER ISSUES IN HORTICULTURE

3.2.1 Women’s Participation in the Horticulture Value Chain

Cambodia has a population of 15.5 million people, 79 percent of whom live in rural areas6. Women

comprised 49 percent of the labor force in 2012, with a labor force participation rate of 80 percent

compared with 89 percent for men7. While just over half of all employment is in the agriculture sector,

two-thirds of women’s employment is in agriculture8. Most rural households in Cambodia are small-scale

food producers engaged in rice farming, cultivation of vegetable and fruit crops, livestock production,

fisheries and forestry to supply to family consumption and increasing for market oriented.

Cambodian horticulture production generally requires both female and male labor in a collaborative

process. Women play important productive roles throughout horticulture value chains and rural

livelihoods. They work as horticulture input suppliers, collectors, traders and are active in wholesaler

and retailer at local and national markets. Men tend to engaged more in the production stage and engage

in agricultural trading by providing labour for transportation, while women take the role in agricultural

trade negotiation.

Input Supply

Local input supply businesses have become most important sources for providing farmers with seeds,

fertilizers, pesticides and other inputs for growing horticulture. Most of the seeds are imported from

Vietnam and Thailand. According to Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, there

are 130 shops distributing agricultural inputs in Pursat province. It is estimated that there are between 5

to 10 shops in each district that female and male farmers can easily access. Local suppliers receive input

supplies to their shops from local sale agents of distributing companies. These businesses tend to be

very small, attached to the family home and operated by a wife or joint with husband. There is no

different treatment based on sex from local sale agents on local input supplies who have been treated as

their customers regardless of their sex. Women often become responsible for key aspects of these

businesses. Due to the proximity of the shop to the house, women frequently provide service to

customers, advising them on the use of inputs. They often manage shop inventory and deal with

suppliers. In many areas, women are sole owners and operators of input supply businesses while their

husbands focus on farming or other economic activities. The local supplies in the district or commune

level experience limited knowledge in selecting quality product, know-how to properly use those

products, knowledge transfer skill to users, proper storage and marketing skills.

Production

Growing vegetable and fruit trees has become more commercial in alignment with government policy to

reduce poverty and promote rural economy through agricultural commercialization. Women

predominate in small-scale production. Women are also very active, as are men, in the cultivation of

vegetables on small plots as cash crops for sale. Both men and women participate in horticulture

production with clear gender division of labor. Men are responsible for land preparation and water and

6 World Bank, 2014, cited at http://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Cambodia/Male_labor_force_participation/ 7 World Bank, 2015a. Cambodian Agriculture in Transition: Opportunities and Risks. Labor force participation. rate (LFPR)

defines the proportion of the population aged 15 to 64 years that is economically active. 8 NIS, MoP, 2013. Cambodia Inter-Censal Population Survey.

http://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Cambodia/Male_labor_force_participation/


pest management, while women assume responsibility for weeding, harvesting and post-harvest

management and play a key active role in selling agricultural produces. The cultivation of oil seed and

other industrial crops is often the primary responsibility of men, while women actively contribute to

weeding, harvesting and post-harvest management. The introduction and increasing use of mechanized

equipment such as harvesters, however, involves primarily men.

Women are also responsible for selling and negotiating prices with collectors. Women smallholders

realize fewer benefits compared to others actors in the value chain. For example, they have limited

power in negotiating prices, which are usually set by collectors. In many cases, especially fruit tree or

industrial crops, women smallholders have loans with collectors and end up selling their products

cheaper than in the market price. Additionally, farm-gate prices are set based on market price obtained

from word-of-mouth from local collectors and other farmers. If the price offered by local traders or

collectors is unfavorable for the farmer, women located near markets may try to get a better price by

selling directly to a wholesaler or retailer. However, since the volume of their horticulture produces at

the individual farmer level is very small, this strategy may lead to increased costs rather than profit. High

price fluctuation is a hot issue in agriculture, particularly for smallholders who lose the most.

Collectors/wholesaler

Both women and men operate businesses as collectors and traders to buy fruits, crops and vegetables

from farms for resale to wholesalers or to direct customers such as restaurants and hotels. Women

tend to play a role in negotiating the price, while men provide labour support to transportation and

other required hard labour tasks. Wholesale and retailer market businesses are often owned and

operated by women, while collection is likely a joint undertaking between a husband and wife. Those

collectors and wholesaler face a number of constraints including lack of capital, entrepreneurship skills,

technologies, networking and irregular supply from farmers.

3.2.2 Gender-Based Constraints to Market Participation

Lack of access to labor: Labor is a critical input to horticulture production and marketing. Rural

households rely on the labor of everyone in the household – women, men and, sometimes, children – to

carry out the work necessary at different stages of growing crops and business. Women who head

agricultural households are very often at a disadvantage as there are fewer or no adult men to

contribute their labor. Currently, there is an increasing trend for both young women and men to

migrate to cities or across the country to search for job opportunities in the service or industrial sector,

leaving the middle aged and elderly working in the agriculture sector. As a consequence, there is

increasing interest in acquiring technology to compensate for the lack of labor. Yet, time-saving and

labor-saving technology, particularly in horticulture remains limited.

Limited control over the use of capital: Cash flow is a perennial problem for most farmers and

agricultural traders. Many obtain credit from informal moneylenders, family and friends. Some cash crop

farmers receive loans from collectors in return for a promise to sell their produce at a lower price.

Smallholders, particularly women, have little negotiating power in such situations. Additionally, repaying

loans to informal moneylenders and collectors often entangle female and male farmers in a cycle of debt.

The development projects through government and NGOs have formed many saving groups, self-help

groups and other collective saving actions in which the majority of members are women, yet the loans

provided by those groups are inadequate. Formal credit is becoming more available with 90 percent of


rural villages now having access to a micro-finance institution9. However, the percentage of men and

women using micro-finance loans to invest in horticulture remains significantly low and loans tend to be

used for only fruit trees and cash crops including cassava, cashew and maize.

There are often a combination of factors that limit women’s access to and use of formal credit including:

lack of collateral, illiteracy or low reading skills, low financial literacy, and lack of experience

dealing/negotiating with formal institutions that may make women reluctant to approach micro-finance

institutions.

Assessments of the intra household dynamics and power relations show that although women are able

to access to formal and informal loans, this does not mean they control the funds. Traditionally, women

are responsible for keeping household finances, yet discussion with women shows that men have more

influence over the use of loans and capital.

Limited access to market service and information: Price information is crucial to farmers. In

Cambodia, the RGC has initiated programs to disseminate prices for rice and other crops, primarily on

mass media such as radio and TV. The use of mobile phone technology to disseminate price information

is relatively new in Cambodia. To date, it is primarily private parties (farmers and suppliers) sharing price

information by phone, with only 10 percent of farmers receiving text messages from RGC or NGO

sources10. Women frequently have access to radio (if not TV). As of late 2015, 94 percent of

Cambodians owned a mobile phone, including a majority having a phone with Khmer script capability11.

However, phone ownership was lower in rural areas and less than half of women had a phone compared

with two-thirds of men.

Related to business services, women actively participate in all nodes of most value chains, particularly

dealing with trading or price negotiation. However, women in horticulture have limited access to

business development services including entrepreneurship, financial and market skills and networking. As

observed, the horticulture businesses in the targeted provinces is run mainly in a tradition way. To

ensure effective and efficient of horticulture VC development, it is important to have women access to

market information and market services.

Limited access to agricultural services: Overall, women receive only 10 percent of RGC

agricultural extension services in Cambodia12. In addition, there are systematic problems with women’s

access to technical information and training, for example:

The knowledge and orientation of field extension officers is often limited to rice cultivation and

does not include the crops that are of interest to women

Many field extension officers have limited knowledge and experience with improved cultivation

and water management technologies, climate-smart practices, and commercial horticulture, etc.

Some training programmes often do not take into consideration the time and mobility

limitations of women

Agricultural extension officers have limited capacity to address limited literacy, use adult learning

methods or incorporate other means appropriate to working with women

Socio-cultural norms continue to impede and affect how unrelated men and women interact.

9World Bank, 2015. Cambodian Agriculture in Transition: Opportunities and Risks. 10World Bank, 2015. Cambodian Agriculture in Transition: Opportunities and Risks. 11USAID and The Asia Foundation (TAF), 2015. Mobile Phones and Internet in Cambodia in 2015. 12MoWA, 2014. Neary Rattanak IV, Policy Brief 3.


Limited access to technology and equipment: There is an increasing use of mechanized equipment

and other improved technologies; nonetheless, men are benefiting more than women. Much of the new

equipment is rented, not owned by farming households13. The transition from small-scale subsistence

farming to commercial production will be difficult for all smallholder farmers, particular women and

youth who have limited access and control over resources. Commercial value chains have complex

requirements for quantity, quality, timeliness and other factors that place smallholder producers at a

disadvantage compared to larger agro-industrial companies. To enable smallholders, particularly women

and youth to enter into commercial partnership requires a level of investment and access to new

technologies, business services and resources.

Limited representation in farmer organizations: Throughout Cambodia, there are many different

types of formal and informal farmers’ organizations such as cooperatives, producer/marketing

groups/saving groups and water user groups. Women are in general under-represented in the

membership of community-based organizations and rural institutions. Although women predominate in

farmer organization/group, there are only few women assuming leadership positions in the management

committees of these organizations unless they belong to a women-only group. When women are part of

the management committee, they are designated as treasurer or accountant based on traditional

perceptions of women as good at keeping track of finances. Time and mobility limitations, low literacy

and education, confidence and societal norms about what women need to know and how they should

participate in community affairs are all underlying causes of women’s low representation and

participation. Such low participation serves to reinforce women’s lack of skills and social networks to

assume greater roles, influence decisions and ensure that actions to promote horticulture VCs meet

their specific needs. Youth participation in these groups is low due to the unattractiveness of volunteer

work and youth out-migration.

Less decision-making power in the household. Traditional roles has assigned women as the

household bookkeeper with decision-making over expenses for daily household consumption. Larger

expenses and other decision-making is allegedly done jointly between husband and wife. However, a

joint decision is usually negotiated according to traditional social norms that accord less importance to

women and may marginalize their needs. Gender roles assigned men as the breadwinner and women as

the housewife have given precedence to men in the use of capital and other productive assets.

Additionally, the role of men as main income earner gives them more power over the final decision. In

discussion, women consider men as main income earners and more knowledgeable, as men have more

access to social networks; thus, their ideas and decisions are given priority. 14

Table I summarizes gender constraints and opportunities for Harvest II.

Table 1: Analysis of Gender-Based Contraints and Opportunties

13NIS, 2015. Census of Agriculture in Cambodia 2013. 14 These observations are the conclusion/findings from group discussion. Women said that they did make joint decision with

husbands. However, after further probing, women said that they often give priority to their husband to use money because men

are main income earners. This is specific to the context of this study’s areas, which may vary from urban areas.


Domains Gender-based

constraints or

opportunities

Consequences Potential for the

project

Opportunities to

promote gender

equality and youth

empowerment

Market

participation - Women play active roles in

all aspects of traditional

VCs, particularly with

horticulture trading

- However, women’s roles

are invisible

- Value chains in horticulture mainly operate in

traditional way, whereby

benefits for female

smallholders are limited

and risks high

- Women do not

equitably realize

benefits from their

participation in

traditional value

chains

- Harvest II has the potential to promote

women’s economic

empowerment by

strengthening women’s

entrepreneurship

across actors in VC and

promoting women’s

employment in

horticulture sector

- Help women

smallholders and women-

lead SMEs engage in, and

equitably benefit from,

Commercial Partnerships

Access to

productive

resources

- Women lack access to time

and labor saving technology

- Women lack access to

agricultural services

- Women have limited access

to information, financial

literacy skills and

entrepreneurship skills and

networks

- Women are less

able to improve the

quality and quantity

of horticulture

crops

- Women are largely

smallholders with

low productivity;

they are less

unorganized

- Women have less capacity to

participate in high

value markets

- Increasing women’s

capacity to participate in

market is the key step to

empowerment

- Harvest II can tailor its

CP assessment process

to be alert to issues

affecting of women in

individual CPs.

- Facilitate women’s

participation in the CP

assessment process and

development of growth

plans, which include

capacity-building

activities.

- Investigate

opportunities to provide

tailored assistance for

women-led SMEs to

obtain access to finance.

- Help women get access

to time and labor saving

technology

Time use,

gender roles,

social norms

- Typically, women are

assigned as housewives with

responsibilities for doing

household work, while men

are regarded as

breadwinners

- Adding to their

reproductive role, women

also participate in productive

roles

- Women have been

constrained from improving

their production/business

due to time linked to their

reproductive role.

- It determines

women’s access to

and control over

resources, thus

women are largely

smallholders and

unorganized

- Women’s business

are usually small and

informal and less

productive

- By promoting the role

of women in productive

roles, the project could

potentially add more

burdens to women if it

does not organize gender

equality awareness

raising and sensitize

households to gain men’s

support

- Organize gender

equality sensitizing to the

households to gain men’s

support for women’s

engagement in business

and share household

responsibilities

Decision-

making

- Women have less decision-

making over the use of

capital

- Women have less decision-

making over other productive resources due to

gender roles and social

Limits women’s

participation in

production and

market

- Promote joint decision

making that ensures

equal access and control

over resources

- Organize awareness

raising of women role as

income earners and the

importance of women

having equal decision-making over productive

resources


Domains Gender-based

constraints or

opportunities

Consequences Potential for the

project

Opportunities to

promote gender

equality and youth

empowerment

norms limiting women’s

choices

Leadership - Women are often

constrained from filling

decision-making position of

farmer organizations due to

time and mobility limitations,

low literacy and education,

confidence and societal

norms

Low rate of

women’s

participation in

farmer

organizations

- Promote women’s self-

confidence and

representation within

farmer organizations

- Provide leadership

training to women

- Build women’s

confidence by providing

opportunities and

enabling women to speak

out during the meetings

YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN HORTICULTURE

Cambodia’s rural youth are increasingly choosing employment in the service and industrial sectors

rather than agriculture. Labor shortages in the agriculture sector provide incentives for increased

mechanization. Factors contributing to youth out-migration include the migration of young women to

work in garment factories and young men to work in the construction sector, as well as the shift of

some agricultural operations from manual to mechanization. However, youth out-migration increases

the burden on female and male elders, who are left with responsibilities for agriculture activities,

household work, and care of grandchildren. Remittances from migration contribute to increased labor

hiring and mechanization.

Development practitioners agree there is much more to explore related to Cambodian youth in terms

of agricultural policy and program initiatives. Currently, FAO is undertaking a study on the role of youth

in agriculture. It is clear that increasing youth participation in commercial horticulture could add

dynamism to the sector, given youth’s talent, readiness for innovation, and energy level.


4. CARRYING OUT THE SIX STRATEGIES

This section examines how Harvest II will carry out the Gender Action Plan’s six strategies that will

allow the project to be both systematic and opportunistic in helping women and youth contribute to,

and capture the benefits of, the accelerating growth of the commercial horticulture sector. The

strategies will also help Harvest II improve women’s empowerment in four domains of the Women’s

Empowerment in Agriculture Index. For example:

Access to and control over productive resources. Harvest II will facilitate the

participation of women in commercial partnerships and tailor training and other support to

meet specific needs of women and men; it will help remove gender discrimination in accessing

to resources and encourage behavior change to gain men’s support for women’s participation

in the market.

Decision-making over productive resources. The project will build women’s negotiation

and leadership skills that will allow them to increase their confidence and independent decision-

making.

Income. Again by facilitating women’s participation in commercial partnerships and supporting

positive gender norms in assisted SMEs, Harvest II will help women expand their capacity to

generate income and exert control over their income.

Leadership. The project will help build women’s participation in producer groups and help

them enhance their management and leadership skills. The project will also support positive

gender norms in producer groups and help women build their confidence as leaders.

The COP will have overall responsibility for making sure that Harvest II implements the GAP, identifying

further strategies and actions as the project’s engagement in the sector deepens, and allocating any

additional resources, including STTA, that may be necessary as needs for follow-up are defined. The six

strategies are described below.

ENHANCE STAFF UNDERSTANDING AND PREPAREDNESS

The Harvest II COP will have overall responsibility for making sure that the team is adequately prepared

and proactive in advancing opportunities for women and youth. USAID’s online course Gender 101 is a

good first step in building gender awareness. This course is required for all Harvest staff (including sub-

contractors) and most staff members have already completed it. The course provides staff with an

introduction to their role in planning and carrying out project work in a gender-responsive way. Harvest

II is also preparing staff to be alert to gender and youth issues by building relevant questions into the

assessment tool used for buyers and suppliers in commercial partnerships. This tool helps the staff tailor

the capacity building efforts to the specific needs of each buyer or supplier group – and it will guide the

staff to consider the needs of specific sub-groups, e.g., the needs of women producers within a producer

group.

LEARN FROM M&E

The M&E Manager will have responsibility for this strategy, which involves taking advantage of the


project’s M&E system to learn how various women and youth-related initiatives are working and if

needed adjust them in a timely manner. The project will disaggregate its M&E data where possible in

order to monitor its engagement with women and youth and provide the basis for data-driven learning.

Disaggregated indicators include:

Number of for-profit private enterprises, producers organizations, water users associations,

women’s groups, trade and business associations and community-based organizations (CBOs)

disaggregated by sex and age that applied improved organization-level technologies or

management practices with USG assistance (EG.3.2-20)

Number of people disaggregated by sex and age using climate information or implementing risk-

reducing actions to improve resilience to climate change as supported by USG assistance

(EG.11-6)

Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs created for women and men and youth with USG

assistance (EG.3-9)

Percentage of participants in USG-assisted programs designed to increase access to productive

economic resources who are youth (15-29) (GFSS-24)

Number of agricultural and nutritional enabling environment policies analyzed, consulted with

both women and men on, drafted or revised, approved and implemented with USG assistance

(EG.3.1-12)

Number of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) led by women and men and youth,

including farmers, receiving agricultural-related credit as a result of USG assistance.

In addition, the project will track one specific gender indicator:

Percentage of female participants in USG-assisted programs designed to increase access to

productive economic resources (GNDR-2).

The M&E Manager will regularly examine the disaggregated data, as well as findings from its periodic

focus group discussions, to help the project examine its success in both systematically and

opportunistically advancing opportunities for women and youth.

SEEK OUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH

Because of the constraints to women’s empowerment as noted in Table 1, and because youth often

under-represented in the agriculture sector in general, it is necessary for the project to proactively seek

out opportunities for each group to participate and benefit. The Private Sector Development Specialist,

Market Linkage Coordinators, and Finance/Investment Specialist will have primary responsibility in this

area. When identifying potential buyers and investors, they will be on the alert for promising women-

owned or women-managed businesses or businesses likely to engage sizable numbers of women and

youth. They will contact youth associations or innovation groups such as Trybe or Impact Hub to

identify new areas in which youth can engage in profitable activities in the sector. The Communications

Manager will use social medial and mass media to inspire youth to engage in horticulture, e.g., she will

share stories of successful youth-led horticulture enterprises. The project will also investigate the

possibility of organizing youth and horticulture business forums, where participants can reflect on

youth’s role, challenges and opportunities in commercial horticulture. Finally, the project will consider


organizing challenge grants to encourage youth to pilot their innovative ideas related to commercial

horticulture.

TAILOR CAPACITY BUILDING

Women’s capacity to compete creates a significant constraint to their realizing the benefits of a growing

commercial horticulture sector. Their limited access to services, information, and know-how constraints

their productivity and entrepreneurial potential. Therefore, Harvest II will explicitly consider women’s

needs when developing its numerous capacity building activities under Sub-Purpose 1. Human Centered

Design (HCD) staff will structure the commercial partnership assessments to elicit information about

the roles and needs of both women and youth. It will tailor trainings to be sure topics are applicable to

women and youth, that the materials are adapted to their level of understanding and preferred learning

styles, and that the training takes place at a place and time when they are likely to attend. As the project

undertakes initiative related to climate information and market information, it will tailor its needs

assessment to understand the types of information, communication platforms and channels that would

suit women, as well as men. Also under Sub-Purpose 1, the project will seek out ways to support

positive gender norms (e.g., increased women’s management and leadership opportunities) as it works

with buyers and suppliers to improve their internal processes and more effectively negotiate with each

other.

TAILOR ACCESS TO FINANCE

Unequal access to productive resources has prevented women from realizing equal benefits from the

expansion of commercial horticulture. Therefore, the Finance and Investment Specialist will pay

particular attention to helping women and youth access finance appropriate to their needs and financial

capacity. For those interested in accessing finance, the project will help them assess the business case

and their readiness to take on additional debt, and will help lenders tailor financial products appropriate

to their needs. The DCA will be one valuable tool as a part of this strategy because it encourages

underserved clients, encourages sound lending procedures, and includes a target for women borrowers.

INCORPORATE GENDER AND YOUTH IN POLICY WORK

Through its enabling environment activities, Harvest II – under the leadership of the Policy Expert – will

engage with relevant women and youth networks and government gender mainstreaming mechanisms –

for example, the Technical Working Group on Gender and the Technical Working Group on Women’s

Economic Empowerment – to facilitate women and youth’s engagement in policy dialogue. It will also

seek out ways to support women moving into more positions of leadership in public-private forums.

The project will also seek out ways to build capacity of government institutions, as well as women and

youth business networks, to help them understand the issues and draft specific policies, laws, and

regulations that will enhance gender equality and youth participation in commercial horticulture.