IAO/Gender Project: Lessons learnt and recommendations on gender and rural development in sub-Saharan Africa

The IAO/Gender research project Main objective: “to create the conditions necessary to increase and improve the participation of women and the enhancement of their role in food security, environmental sustainability and rural development programmes implemented by the Italian Development Cooperation”

Methodology Literature (scientific and technical) review on priority issues: land, natural resources, farming production and the market, role of associativism, territoriality, rural and agricultural development policies and trends, food security – from a gender perspective Analysis of the methodology, objectives and outcomes of development projects relevant for the purposes of the research (namely, Italia-CILSS and PSSR) Field research in the priority countries for the Italian Dev. Coop: Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Mali

Dissemination outputs Results devolution in Mozambique (CGC, GFP, and to the people interviewed in Mancia and Sofala) and Senegal International conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (October 2013) A volume in Italian: “Women, land and markets: rethinking rural development in sub-Saharan Africa” Research report in Italian, English, French and Portuguese

Research themes LAND AND WORK: -Inclusive business models in Mozambique -The paradoxes of establishing land security in BF THE MARKET: -Constraints in accessing markets in Mozambique -Women and markets in Senegal VOICE AND AGENCY: -Farmers’ associations as a tool for empowerment in Moz -The Groups for the Promotion of Women in Senegal TOOLS: -Participatory critical GIS for women’s empowerment -Multi-dimensional indicators for the IAO/Gender research -Land and the territorialization approach FOOD SECURITY as CROSS-CUTTING ISSUE

Challenging development rethoric? -Local knowledge can restrict women to predefined roles -Supporting small family farming implies a huge amount of unpaid work carried out by women -New forms of investments in rural areas are yet another diversification strategy based on women’s unpaid labour & their endless suplly of time -Farmers’ associations must prove that they practice genuine democratic participation and representation

Lessons learned and possible practices 1.Women generate data and knowledge re the places they live in and must participate in the production of local and national data collection systems 2.Indicators of women’s empowerment must accompany all the stages of rural and agricultural dev. programmes – including those not specifically aimed at women 3.Programmes supporting family farming must pay attention at: division of responsibilities and roles; composition and management of family budget; workload and skills; differences between WHH and MHH

Lessons learned and possible practices (cont.d) 4. Women have rights: information and legal support have to be provided and the creation of structures for the management of disputes in which women’s interests are properly defended should be supported 5. Collective rights of use of and access to land must not be relegated to the “traditional” domain but promoted as relevant forms of production. 6. Land and natural resources degradation creates a situation of vulnerability for women (rather than women being vulnerable per se).

Lessons learned and possible practices (cont.d) 7. The specific obstacles that women face in accessing and controlling value chains can be overcome through the promotion of shorter, locally-based value chains avoiding women’s ghettoization in marginal and unsustainable pockets of productions (jams, soy flour cakes, honey…production supporting “traditional local knowledge” but with no sustainable markets 8. Inclusive business models can result in negative consequences for women and must be accompanied by an analysis of the context in order to identify the economic and gender inequalities and internal power relations

Lessons learned and possible practices (cont.d) 9. Malnutrition is not always the result of poverty but can be the result of the exclusively commercial destination of the production in family businesses where the man manages the earning 10. Specific places and spaces where women voice can be heard must be created at the local level.