Empowering Women in Equitable Agricultural Systems at Scale

Beating Famine Conference14th – 17th April, 2015, Lilongwe - Malawi

Salome Mhango

Empowering Women in Equitable Agricultural Systems at Scale

Beating Famine Conference14th – 17th April, 2015, Lilongwe - Malawi

Salome Mhango

ABOUT CARE

•Humanitarian action - preparedness and early action, emergency response and recovery, future resilience and equitable development•Promoting innovative solutions for sustainable development - through essential services, building capacities, reducing risk, and empowering the most vulnerable, particularly women & girls. •Multiplying impact - use evidence and learning from humanitarian action and development programs to influence social change. •CARE works in partnership with a wide range of actors from civil society, government and the private sector.

•Humanitarian action - preparedness and early action, emergency response and recovery, future resilience and equitable development•Promoting innovative solutions for sustainable development - through essential services, building capacities, reducing risk, and empowering the most vulnerable, particularly women & girls. •Multiplying impact - use evidence and learning from humanitarian action and development programs to influence social change. •CARE works in partnership with a wide range of actors from civil society, government and the private sector.

Women and Girls at the CentreImpact population is rural women small holder farmers and adolescent girls;

- but works through Men and boys and a number of stakeholders

CARE’s Women Empowerment Framework

A woman’s own aspirations and capabilities-Skills, capacities, information-Self-confidence -Decision making confidence-Knowledge of laws and rights

The power relations through which she negotiates her path-Male partners-Market Actors-Community leaders, gate keepers-Collective action, group solidarity-Change agents

The environment that surrounds and conditions her choices-Customs, traditions, norms -Laws, policies-Rules for accessing services, resources-extn, natural resources

The environment that surrounds and conditions her choices-Customs, traditions, norms -Laws, policies-Rules for accessing services, resources-extn, natural resources

Pathways Approach to Gender Integration

(1) Empowering Interventions:a. Women’s empowerment:

agency, relations and structures –productivity & efficacy

b. Engaging men and boysc. Collectives and groups: -social

empowerment (2) Towards Gender Transformative

Strategies: Moving the bar in 5 years

(3) CARE and partners: Building the organizational systems and culture that ensure we are partners of choice for poor and marginalized women

The Gender Continuum

Gender Continuum Explained

Exploitative: Using existing gender roles for efficient project gains (which reinforce gender norms or inequalities) e.g. market committees, mechanized weeding-India

• Accommodating: Working within existing divisions.

Compensates for gender differences but doesn’t try to challenge underlying norms. Eg selecting women friendly value chains

Transformative: Recognizing and changing fundamental inequalities.

- Challenge the false dichotomy of the breadwinner vs caregiver - How?? FFBS Gender component

Farmer field and Business Schools - A Pathways programming

approach• A learning by doing approach through which farmers meet regularly during a cropping cycle to experiment and learn about new production and marketing options

• Builds on FFS • FFBS is unique in that it

includes community approaches to visioning and planning, sustainable agriculture, market engagement, nutrition, gender and performance monitoring

• A learning by doing approach through which farmers meet regularly during a cropping cycle to experiment and learn about new production and marketing options

• Builds on FFS • FFBS is unique in that it

includes community approaches to visioning and planning, sustainable agriculture, market engagement, nutrition, gender and performance monitoring

Improved knowledge, skills and relationships

Improved access to productive resources, assets and Markets

Improvement in yields and income

Increased contribution to and influence over household income and decision making

More enabling attitudes behaviours, social norms , policy and institution

Farmer Field and Business School approach’ - an innovative agriculture extension and delivery approach

Male change agents

Gender and Nutrition role play

FFBS Demonstration Plot

FFBS Demonstration Plot

Postharvest technique: Mandera Cork

THANK YOU…….

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