Closing the gap between men and women in agriculture could pull 100-150 million people out of hunger. Improving women’s access to farming resources could further raise yield on women’s farms by 20-30% (FAO). Whist it is difficult to estimate the exact proportion of the contribution of women to agriculture, Oxfam statistics suggest that women produce over 50% of the world’s food. For research and development agencies the question remains… how to close the gap between men and women in agriculture?
The gender program of the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) aims to address this gap by applying gender transformative approaches. Paula Kantor and Ranjitha Puskur, gender researchers from WorldFish, explain that these approaches go beyond addressing the symptoms of gender inequality (i.e. gaps in access to resources) to addressing the causes of these inequalities. The livelihood choices that men and women pursue are determined by the social norms, beliefs, power relations and established gender roles.
Female fishing in Zambia
In the Barotse Flood Plains of Zambia, women did not fish with nets in the river, as it was believed that these women would not be able to give birth if they did so. It was also believed that women paddling boats was a bad omen. Community members said that the roles of men and women are taken from the bible, so there is no need to change the gender division of labor. As a result women here were restricted to selling fish, which is not very remunerative.
Over time, there have been significant changes in these norms. Women can now go fishing in deep waters and women paddling is no longer considered a bad omen. Community members now report that wives can earn money in addition to taking care of the family. There is now an increasing awareness of importance of education for girls and, most girls go to school now. Gender transformative research aims to facilitate these types of transformations in gender roles.
Gender transformative research
Gender transformative interventions are designed to catalyze locally driven social change processes. The aim is to unlock the potential of poor and marginalized groups to contribute to, and benefit from agricultural research and development. They attempt to support the creation of more equitable institutions in order to expand the range and quality of livelihood choices available to the poor.
Three key questions the AAS gender research program will answer are:
- how do social norms and gender relations influence agricultural development outcomes for marginalized social groups?
- what combinations of technical and transformative interventions foster gender transformative change in different contexts?
- how do these transformative changes contribute to agricultural development outcomes?
AAS is in the process of rolling out its gender transformative research agenda. The first stage in this process involves collecting in depth information about the social and economic contexts of the communities with which AAS will work. The goal is to gain an understanding of how gender norms and practices influence rural livelihoods and adaptive capacities, how these norms are changing (or not…) over time and why. The information will then be used to foster dialogue in the communities around why these norms exist, and whether changes to some norms may be beneficial to livelihood security. The key to this process is ensuring that communities themselves define the type and pace of change.
Triggering critical reflection and dialogue is a core means of catalyzing gender transformative change. Other approaches to be tested include targeting families instead of either men or women with new technologies. The “family approach,” Dr. Kantor says, acknowledges the interdependency between men and women and provides a space to open dialogue within families about gender equality. Research teams also will engage with people in communities that have a wide influence on social norms, such as religious leaders. “In the places in which we work we have seen that people often associate gender norms and roles with religion,” says Dr. Puskur. The program also will look at ways of triggering discussions on gendered roles in schools and among young people.
To some, the gender transformative approach may seem to be too directly involved in promoting cultural change. But cultures and norms are not static, explains Dr. Puskur. What might be considered a social norm now, may have been different in the past and will not necessarily be the same in the future, as exemplified by the change in women’s participation in fishing in the Barotse Flood Plain.
Gender transformative approaches also are one of many types of research and development interventions that can bring about change. For example, “agricultural scientists go in and want to introduce market based agriculture—that might be a big cultural change in some societies but no one questions that. Or bringing democratization to countries that aren’t based on a one person one vote individual concept of citizenship – that’s also cultural change,” explains Dr. Kantor. “Gender raises resistance because it is more personal.”
Gender norms and roles will not change overnight. But the hope is that initiating these discussions, and supporting communities to reconsider the roles of men and women in agriculture will lead to greater equity and more lasting development outcomes over time.
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This post was the result of discussions with participants from the Methods and Standards for Research on Gender and Agriculture Workshop which took place in Montpellier last month. The #gender aspect to #LELP2013 #Ag4Dev (Listening Engaging Learning Progressing – LELP2013)
Photo credit: by Stevie Mann/WorldFish