Women play a key role in feeding the world

As I will be away from computers over the weekend, I wanted to post this in time for International Womens' Day, 8th March. The posting is on behalf of the International Alliance Against Hunger.


Please pause for a moment on International Womens’ Day – Sunday 8th March – to think whether you can do something simple that can have a positive impact on your life and on the lives of others, and is environmentally sound. Read this, and, if you agree, please forward it to your friends, women and men. Together, you can make life better for many women around the world!

Facts
1. Women farmers produce 60-80% of the food in poor countries but only own 1% of the land, and are often excluded from farmers’ associations, services and technical know-how.2
2. Rural women alone produce half of the world’s food but receive less than 10 percent of credit provided to farmers.
3. More women farmers must be give the right to own and use farm land so as to have more secure sources of food and livelihood.
4. Women’s rights must be respected: for example, enabling girls to get education has been identified as the single most powerful contribution to reducing malnutrition over a 35-year period.
5. Women are much more likely than men to spend additional income from the sale of crops on their children, who are better nourished because their mothers provide a diverse diet.
6. In Kenya for instance, women do most of the work of growing nutritious vegetables, but play a smaller role than men in decision-making in the home.


Act Now!
Share this message with your family, colleagues, and friends to make them think, and act to change this situation.

Consider the fact that, in spite of government commitments to reduce hunger, over 950 million of our fellow humans suffer from hunger on a daily basis in a world in which enough food is produced to allow everyone to eat well.

3. Learn more about how to end hunger and malnutrition and improve your nutrition habits (click on http://www.iaahp.net/ for links).

4. Share our sense of OUTRAGE: Raise your voice to encourage your government to do everything that is humanly possible to eradicate hunger and malnutrition: it can be done, and everyone wins.

Food sovereignty and agrobiodiversity

Produced by the Community Media Trust, a group of peasant women filmmakers, this DVD and publication highlights the different ways the community has worked towards sustaining their own food systems, dynamically conserved their biodiversity and regenerated livelihoods in a semi arid region.

Mind the Gap - Gender

Ireland has a long way to go compared to its Scandinavian neighbours in terms of closing the gender gap as highlighted by the Gender Equity Index. I wonder how the gender gap would appear if it was possible to disaggregate the data based on rural or urban location?

International Women's Day

Tomorrow is International Women's Day

Fact Sheets and Training Guides for the implementation of Gender Equality in Agriculture and Rural Development are available for download from the Gender Equality Unit of the Irish National Development Plan.

International Women's Health Conference in Derry

This conference aims open up debate on the need to improve health status and reduce health inequalities by focusing on the themes of Women and exclusion, maintaining women's roles in determining health and well-being when societies move from conflict to post conflict, and Meeting health needs on a cross border basis. The conference takes place on the 29-30 May 2008 and is hosted by Derry Well Woman.

Visible Work, Invisible Women

I think it was the large photograph of the two young girls from a rural area in Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh that caught my eye the most. They were bent over in hard labour concentrating on finding one of the many red hairy caterpillars that would help them earn about 20 cents for a days work. It takes about one thousand of the pests to make up the kilogram that will result in the pay of 10 rupees. Nice work if you can't get it! This exhibition, Visible Work, Invisible Women, of Palagummi Sainath's photographs graphically illustrated the exploitative nature of women's work in rural India and the poor treatment that they receive at the hands of landlords and how undervalued women's work is compared to that of men. Often the excuse being that the work of men is more technical, more demanding which this exhibition highlights is not the case. But Indian landlords are not the only ones who undervalue the work of rural women. Economists and statisticians ignore and undervalue it too! This photographic essay clearly highlights that a life in the day of a rural woman in India is one filled with constant work in the home, in the field and in the market. It is a strategy of livelihoods very much dependent on local resourses such as non-timber forest products that will guarantee a minimal inclome to help look after the family. And with the growing privatisation of land in rural India access to ponds, pathways, firewood, fodder and water is becoming more difficult and therefore undermining many livelihoods and basic welfare.

The Visible Work, Invisible Women exhibition has been viewed by well over half a million people in India. Add to that the many thousands who have now seen the photographs overseas. For more information on the exhibition and its history, click here.

Not only is Mr Sainath an excellent journalist and speaker he is a very talented photographer. More importantly, he seems to be one of a very small group intent on capturing the realities and hardship of rural life in less wealthy countries.

Women in agriculture down under

Gender inequality is to be found everywhere, in the global north as well as south, rich as well as poor countries, rural and urban centres and in most sectors including agriculture. Studies in Northern Ireland, and I am sure eslewhere in the UK, EU, continue to highlight gender inequality in agriculture. Here is an interesting example from Australia set up to address such inequalities. Australian Women in Agriculture is committed to promoting the advancement of women in agriculture by:
- uniting and raising the profile of women in agriculture;
- addressing rural and agricultural inequalities;
- working to ensure the survival of agriculture for future generations;
- securing local, regional, national and international recognition; and,
- achieving the status of a political and economic force.

Might be something worthwhile to think about here.

Marking World Rural Women's Day

'Marking World Rural Women's Day Minister Michelle Gildernew MP MLA has praised the work of rural women and encouraged them to become actively involved in the 2007-2013 Rural Development Programme. World Rural Women's Day provides recognition and support for the multiple roles of rural womenwho make up more than a quarter of the world population. On World Rural Women's Day the Minister highlighted the important role of rural women in today's society.'

"World Rural Women's Day is the universal day that connects all women who live in
rural areas around the world and inspires them to achieve their full potential.
It is an important day for rural women as it celebrates the fact that as well as
contributing to the well being of their families, rural women play a vital role in
the development of rural economies. "My department is committed to improving the quality of rural life. For example the provision of accessible, affordable
childcare facilities for people in rural communities is something that is long
overdue. This is something that would not only make a major impact on women but
on the economic, social and well being of all families with young children. The
new Rural Development Programme will also provide the opportunity for significant
investment in rural areas to make them better places for everyone to live and
work. Women can make apositive and significant contribution by playing an active
part in identifying what is needed at a local level."

From WID to GAD, trends in gender mainstreaming

If all you need is a simple and concise, yet extremely useful, guide to the trends in gender and women's issues then the UK's Department of International Development (DFID) Gender Manual is probably what you are after. Alternatively, if you are interested in a more systematic analysis of the trend in gender and women's issues in International Development over the past few decades you may be interest to read, From WID to GAD: Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development Discourse. There is much here to benefit anyone interested in gender mainstreaming in rural development.

Welcome to the Gender Training wiki.

If you are looking for information on gender training go no further than the UN's Gender Training wiki. It has excellent resources on training organizations, training events, training manuals, funding, grants and scholarships.

WomenWatch, the gateway

'WomenWatch is the central gateway to information and resources on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women throughout the United Nations system, including the United Nations Secretariat, regional commissions, funds, programmes, specialized agencies and academic and research institutions. It is a joint United Nations project created in March 1997 to provide Internet space for global gender equality issues and to support implementation of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action. Since 1997 the intergovernmental mandate has expanded, for example through the outcome document of the Twenty-third special session of the General Assembly in June 2000 and Security Council resolution 1325 of October 2000. The website now also provides information on the outcomes of, as well as efforts to incorporate gender perspectives into follow-up to global conferences.'

There is much here that would be of value to local gender practitioners and advocates. Check it out.

The Argumentative Indian

Amartya Sen is one of few (Peter Timmer on agricultural development, being the other) economists that I always feel that bit wiser for having taken the time to read. A large bulk of Sen's writing is on inequality, poverty and famines and his latest collection of essays under the title of The Argumenative Indian also touch on these issues. It is his essay on gender inequality, Women and Men, that interested me most. While there is extreme gender inequality in places like India and China (survival and natality inequality), which he writes about vividly in relation to the millions of 'missing women', he does stress that gender inequality is not a social issue exclusive to either the developed or developing world, concluding,

'Gender inequality is a far-reaching societal impairment, not merely a special
deprivation of women. That social understanding is urgent as well as momentous.'

Anyone with an interest in gender would do well to read his framework and analysis of what he calls the six distinct faces of gender inequality: 1. Survival inequality, 2. Natality inequality, 3. Unequal facilities, 4. Ownership inequality, 5. Unequal sharing of household benefits and chores, and 6. Domestic violence and physical victimization. While there are obvious geographical patterns to faces 1 and 2 it would be very wrong to think places like Ireland, Europe or other economically advanced societies are generally free from many of the gender biases within the other groupings.

The SEAGA Programme

The Socio-economic and Gender Analysis (SEAGA) Programme was established in 1993 to promote gender awareness when meeting development challenges. It involves a partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

SEAGA has produced an excellent range of gender-related publications that are available for download free from their website including their excellent Handbooks series (this is the field level handbook). These provide practical information on how to undertake socio-economic and gender analysis at the macro, intermediate and field levels. Each Handbook presents case studies and tools to help development and gender practitioners collect, analyse and use information. Each Handbook also suggests methods for integrating the findings to policy programme and project identification and formulation.

Finally SEAGA has also produced a useful guide for those people facilitating the collection of gender disaggregated data for agriculture and rural development.

I am sure that SEAGA has much useful information and resources for local rural development and gender practitioners.

Appreciating and understanding cultural diversity

The Training for Women Network (TWN), Northern Ireland's leading network for the promotion of women's training and development, is running the following 'free' course on the 29th October 2007

Course: Cultural Diversity Awareness Introductory Session
Date: Monday, 29 October 2007
Time: 10am — 4pm
Location: TWN Training Suite, Unit 10b Weavers Court , Linfield Road , Belfast
Cost: FREE (Limited to 20 places)

'It is nowadays incumbent on businesses to have an awareness of the implications
of having a multicultural workforce and the implications of equality legislation
for all employees. A wealth of cultural diversity awareness workshops and
training courses have been designed to assist businesses to manage cultural
diversity and equality issues in the workplace. In this unique 1 day
introductory session the hosts will seek to provide delegates with a wide
ranging overview of the issues that effect today employers based on the various
courses available. This special introductory course is aimed primarily at
frontline staff, business owners, HR staff and managers. The course involves
supporting the indigenous workforce to support multi-ethnic employees and
customers by creating awareness of the needs and customs of specific ethnic
groups. The result is a more informed and aware workforce and a more customer
friendly ethos. To book your free place on this unique course contact TWN on
(90) 319888 or e-mail mailto:events@twnonline.com

BRIDGE, a one-stop shop for gender

I have posted a couple of times now on work that highlights the need for improved data gathering related to gender and gender research. If not already aware, practitioners in this area might be interested in the work of BRIDGE, housed at IDS, University of Sussex.

'BRIDGE supports gender advocacy and mainstreaming efforts by bridging the gaps
between theory, policy and practice with accessible and diverse gender
information in print and online.'

BRIDGE covers a range of themes and provides an array of information types. In relation to the issue of improved data and information systems in relation to gender the BRIDGE Cutting Edge Packs may be of interest.

The specific Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and Indicators may be particularly useful. It contains both an overview of issues and resource pack which has links to relevant information available online. The pack contains an interesting section on the need for engendering statistics systems and data collection.

Has anyone had experience using the BRIDGE resources? Have you found them useful?

SIYANDA, helping mainstream gender equality

SIYANDA is an excellent online resource of gender and development resources.

'Siyanda aims to be an ever growing resource to support practitioners in
implementing gender programmes and in mainstreaming gender equality concerns,
whether they are gender specialists or not.'

Some recent publications from the Carnegie Trust

The following publications may be of interest:

A Charter for Rural Communities - The final report of the Carnegie Commission for Rural Community Development.
Mapping Rural Needs - The Young Foundation
Developing Gender Research in Rural Scotland- UHIPolicyWeb
Asset Based Approaches to Rural Community Development- Literature Review and Resources

These and other publications can be downloaded from the Carnegie Trust website.

Improving rural services

I read with interest that Rural Development Minister, Michelle Gildernew MP MLA, recently met with her counterpart Eamon O Cuiv, Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DCRGA) in County Leitrim. Among the many issues they discussed were rural childcare and mental health. In a separate but related story, Praxis Care Group have secured funding that has enabled them to extend their outreach programme for dealing with mental health problems in rural areas of NI.

Women, farming and rural development

Reading Dr Sally Shortall's publication Women in Rural Areas in Northern Ireland I was somewhat surprised to be reminded that a number of the issues she highlights as challenging women's participation in rural development and farming in NI are similar to those constraining women in many of the countries in Asia and the Pacific where I worked before. Well, maybe I wasn't all that surprised. Dr Shortall has raised a number of policy recommendations to address these constraints and again these are similar and include: farming organisations actively engaging women in their approach to the farming community; improving gender representation; enhancing women's training; and sensitivity in timing and locations of meetings/events. This is for farming alone. There are others for general rural development, childcare, employment and improved data. One recommendation in particular caught my attention:

• The fact that so many documents refer to the under-representation of women in rural development suggests that full account is not being taken of the work of the Women's Networks. A very solid infrastructure exists. Tapping into and supporting this infrastructure seems an important means of ensuring the representation of women in general rural development initiatives, a stated priority for DARD and the rural development organisations.

After working extensively in international rural development I can add that I am aware of many organisations, programmes and projects that have done exactly the same i.e., worked in isolation from exisiting women's networks. So while they were all busy figuring out how to mainstream gender into their activities and programmes they failed to see the gains and opportunities that could be made by better linkages and partnerships with local women's networks. For example, until recently I worked on an EU-funded sustainable agriculture development project with 16 participating countries and multiple stakeholders. Mid-way through the project we commissioned a thematic gender evaluation of the project (largely because we felt that the EU commissioned mid-term review of the project did not take evaluation of gender seriously enough). The gender evaluation provided project management with a great deal of useful information and data, confirming what we were doing well and highlighting where we could improve. However, while full of praise for the lengths we had gone to develop linkages and networks with relevant stakeholders in each country, the review stressed that it was significant that no partnerships had been developed with already existing national women's mechanisms which could bring gender expertise and experience into the project. Not only did the project lose out in terms of accessing such expertise and inputs, the review rightly pointed out that we were missing opportunities for the project to highlight its good gender practice in a wider context to support and contribute to national policy level actions for gender equality. It is interesting (and humbling) to sit down and reflect on how such simple strategic partnerships could be so easily neglected!

Which reminds me. I can't recall much being written in NIRDP2007-2013, which I posted on earlier, that convinces me rural development actors in NI have paid much heed to the findings and recommendations on gender from Dr Shortall's publication. I hope I am wrong.

You're welcome here kind stranger

While some of the life stories of women described in the RCN publication Stranger or Citizen? Barriers to Citizenship are harrowing, many are inspirational such as that of Bennie Attoh from the Louth African Women's Support Network. Bennie, who came to Ireland in 2000, unable to find a job after two years despite having a degree began selling Nigerian food from the boot of her car. With start-up funds of Euro140 she managed to grow a business that now has an annual turnover of Euro200,000.

The publication describes many of the now familiar barriers facing women, and new arrivals in particular, in Ireland but more importantly highlights the massive change they can inspire if given an equal chance.