Strengthening the Dairy value Chain Project Kakuly Tanvin, SDVC Project Manager, G&T Nurul Amin Siddiquee, SDVC Team Leader Shreyas Sreenath, Fulbright Fellow What the Cows Told Us: Measuring Women's Empowerment in a Dairy Value Chain

Agenda Project OverviewGender ApproachResults & LessonsMeasuring Gender ImpactThe Road Ahead

THE SDVC PROJECT

Goal of the Project 35,000 targeted landless and smallholding households in North and Northwestern Bangladesh (50% women) have increased incomes and more sustainable livelihoods through incorporation into a strengthened milk value chain ( ) Improve the milk collection system in rural and remote areas Increase production by improving access to inputs, markets, andservices by mobilizing groups of poor producers and input service provider. Improve the breeding/Artificial Insemination (AI) network Ensure access to quality animal health services at the producer level Improve the policy environment. Objectives of the Project

Stats Participants Total Number (# of women) Women % Producer organized & trained36400 (29745)82% Producer Groups formed 1162 (524) 45% Farmer Leader trained 3425 (2443) 71% Milk Collector trained 308 (28) 9% Livestock Health Worker trained 201 (45) 22% AI Technicians Trained52 (5)10% Dairy Input Shop 170 (31) 19% No of Savings group 819 (470) 49%

6 Our Target Beneficiaries: A Case Study Hamida Begum is married, has three children, works as a day laborer and tends her family’s two cows Average Household: –Very poor –Own 0.75 acres of land –$25 monthly income –1-3 cows

SDVC Theory of Change

Gender Rationale Women’s current role and relative ability to engage – low barriers to entry Proximity to HH and relatively low labor requirements Potential to build on cultural legacy that valued women’s engagement in dairy as an economic activity – combating current norms and trend toward male dominance as dairy sector matures Why Dairy? Economic Rationale Growing demand in urban markets for fresh milk Growing investment in infrastructure and processing capacity across private sector High # of poor households already involved in dairy Potential for doubling income for impact groups. Other Factors * Nutritional value * Supportive enabling environment * Potential for Scale

THE SDVC GENDER APPROACH

Activity AreaIntended Outcome Target women producers to join production groups Increase women’s knowledge, skills, social capital, financial inclusion, access to inputs and markets, leadership capacity, productive capacity, incomes Identify and promote opportunities for women to take on roles traditionally dominated by men Improve incomes of most destitute women, challenge traditional gender norms, improve women’s access to services tailored to their needs (women for women) Engage men and power holders through sensitization Increase women’s mobility, promote more balanced home work balance, increase women’s control over assets and incomes Promote gender- responsive services from other market actors Improve private sector understanding of women’s needs and preferences as clients and business partners to improve women’s inclusion in the dairy sector Overarching strategyUse cattle keeping as a platform to instigate positive change in the daily lives of poor women. Redefine societal beliefs of what is appropriate work for men and women to do.

RESULTS

Group Gender Composition and Income Overall, Households within Learning Groups with Female Leaders have incomes that are 3-6% higher. Learning Groups with Female Leaders do relatively better as the Phase progresses

Group composition plus leader gender affects income from milk Learning Groups with a high percentage of women producers with a female group leader perform the best overall. Learning Groups with a high percentage of women producers and a male group leader perform the least well. Learning Groups with a high percentage of men producers do moderately well regardless of group leader gender. Group Leader Gender & Group Composition

Households where women own cattle do about 10% better in earning money than do households where women do not own cattle. However, this relationship is complex and is changing over time Households in which women own cattle and women make the cattle selling decisions are more likely to sell cattle and are more likely to have higher incomes overall. Gender, Groups, Ownership & Income

Female LHW with basic training achieve a 33% higher income increase than men Female LHW with advanced training achieve a 22% higher income increase than men Female LHW with both basic and advanced training achieve a 17% higher income increase than men Female LHW with loans have a 35% higher increase in income than men Female LHW without loans have a 24% higher increase than men

How we got here Targeted women farmers, trained farmers leaders, & service providers Built the leadership capacity of women farmers’ groups and informed them about fair prices, animal husbandry and farm management practices. Included spouses and other family and community members during the selection process and in other activities through sensitization sessions Developed barrier checklists, followed up the results with interventions in the household and community level Engaged men to explore their perspectives & to ensure their participation in sharing the labor that is put into cattle rearing. Facilitated network and linkage building for women groups in particular with private sector and government service providers

SDVC MEASURING WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

M&E System Components Evaluation - Partnered with IFPRI & Data - Baseline / Midline / Endline -Multiple Control Groups to capture both spillover in SDVC communities and maintain counterfactual in ‘like’ areas w/o activity - Sex disaggregated data - Explicit questions on women’s inclusion, changes in Agency and Relations Gender, Assets & Agriculture Project - Partnered with IFPRI -Focus on enhancing qualitative understanding of change in women’s empowerment - To explore and examine the sustainable impacts on women and men’s asset acquisition, asset ownership, and related impacts on household and community gender dynamics -Multi-method approach and tools

The Tools We Used ToolsPurposeTool type FGDExplore women’s access to asset ownership, to mkt & credit and project impact on WE Research and M&E Life History AnalysisExplore project impact and WE processResearch and M&E PPTGroup performance assessment (ranking) by members & develop improvement plan Research and M&E Group Progress Survey Regular monitoring on milestones including gender Research and M&E Gender equity format analysis To aware on gender discrimination and importance of equity Gender Awareness 24 hr clock analysisTo reduce women’s workloadGender Awareness Asset ownership pattern analysis To aware on importance of asset ownership and access to income Gender Awareness Women barrier Checklist Follow up on barriers for women in DVCGender Awareness, research /M&E Barrier Tree analysisTo aware on barrier, its cause, consequencesGender Awareness Peer reviewTo assess men and women’s perception on their need and document project impact on the change Gender Awareness, research and M&E

Select Key Findings Economic interventions have high spillover ratio, empowerment interventions do not – IFPRI MTE Change at agency level fosters an increase in asset ownership ( 7.4% increase in cattle owner ship) Cattle keeping can be used to empower women to step into new spaces traditionally closed off by ensuring participation in various parts of the value chain. (GAAP baseline study)

THE ROAD AHEAD

What we learned/Road Ahead Women are likely to be empowered when livelihood activities that they already participate in (i.e. cattle keeping) are strengthened through an agricultural intervention, but there are two caveats: –First, women are empowered from cattle keeping because it is close to the spaces they interact with, and SDVC has to make sure the infrastructure it builds stays close to women. –Second, if SDVC wants to continue empowering women to participate further up the value chain, it should also use the leverage that cattle keeping activities have to help women participate in new spaces. SDVC recognizes that there are challenges to women’s participation when they are exposed to increased production and commercialization of the dairy value chain, as men are more likely to control activities at this level. –So, it will use the two points above as a framework to help women producers enter commercial markets while continuing to empower them. –It will also engage men’s perspectives and participation in designing & implementing policies targeted towards women’s empowerment.

Thank You Learn more at Or Nurul Amin Siddiquee Kakuly Tanvin Shreyas Sreenath