Community Learning and Strategic Change: Identifying Lessons for Effective Rural Development in Asia Govind Kelkar Presented at What are the Innovation Challenges for Rural Development? IMI Workshop, IFAD Rome November 2005

2 An Understanding of Innovation  Innovation as it relates community-based strategic change in gender relations and reduction in the feminization of poverty.  Unlike the conventional view of innovation as a process connected with science and technology, the examples of innovation at the grassroots level in rural Asia discussed in the preceding pages have pointed out the role of innovative projects in reduction of gender inequality and poverty.  The examples are drawn from IFAD and UNIFEM projects in indigenous and poverty affected rural areas in Asia.

3 An Understanding of Innovation

4 Key features of innovation initiatives  Community-based poor women’s institutions  Increased capacity to aspire  Multisectoral collaboration for poverty reduction through increasing collective agency of women  Collective learning and strategic change in gender relations

5 Why these project approaches are innovations?  These projects have radically departed from the conventional approach to poverty reduction and women’s empowerment; which have reinforced protective dependency of women.  These following project approaches are innovations in the sense that they have introduced a new approach to poverty reduction. Among the major objectives, enhancing women’s individual and collective agency through unmediated control or management of resources is underlined in the field practice of these projects.

6 Chenchu Women of Andhra Pradesh, India: Empowerment in the Market and Household The main innovations in this UNIFEM/SERP/Kovel project are:  Women, along with men, are trained in improved and sustainable methods of collection, post-collection processing to add value;  Women’s groups are organized to run procurement centers in villages; and  Women do the selling of NTFP at the procurement centers.

7 Chenchu Women of Andhra Pradesh, India: Empowerment in the Market and Household

8 Impact On Household Income and Women’s Control Over Income  Improvements in Well-Being and Self-Esteem “Earlier we did not even comb our hair. Now we comb our hair, we take pride in our appearance… We did not take care of how we tied our sarees. Now we do. We come neatly dressed for meetings,” said Gangamma of Sarlapalli village.  Sharing of Domestic Work  Reduction in Domestic Violence  Strengthening the capacity to aspire

9 Pond Aquaculture Groups in Bangladesh  Women Acquiring Managerial Control of Pond Aquaculture Groups  The pond belongs to my husband, the fish belong to me

10 Community Forests: Women’s Rights and Freedom  Change in Gender Relations  Increased Well-being “Through my training, I have started cultivating vegetables and weaving wool. I have developed a relationship with the vendor and conduct my own business. My income has gone a long way towards our children’s education, ” said Purna Maya, a member of a leasehold group (IFAD, 2001, 10).

11 Micro Finance and Women’s Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh  The Ethic of Savings and Repayment of Loans  From Mediated Access to Ownership of Assets Table 1: Assets acquired by SCG women members in ADIP Type of AssetNo. of casesPercent of women Land11745% Livestock10540% Poultry4517% Small trade/Business7529% All Women261

12 Micro Finance and Women’s Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh  Acquiring Access to Land Table 2: Land Acquisition by Name NumberPercentage In women’s own name8775 In joint names43 In men’s name bought by women 2622 Total number of land acquisition cases

13 Micro Finance and Women’s Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh  Of 261 women, 117 reported land acquisition through purchase or lease. In 87 instances, (including three of inheritance), land was in women’s names. 10 of these instances were those of two groups of women leasing land for vegetable production. In four instances, land was acquired in the joint names of husband and wife. While in 26 instances, the land was in the name of the men alone.

14 Micro Finance and Women’s Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh  Improvements in Well-being  Money as the Measure of Respect  Samman (Dignity): “If you have assets, everyone loves you,” says Kalpana, an articulate village woman. “If we have sampotti (property/assets), our samman (dignity / prestige) will be permanent. Samman is closely linked with sampotti,” Gul Akhtar, who has recently acquired 15 decimals of agricultural land. “When we have assets in our names, we will be respected and will have social and familial dignity. But this will not be easy. Our men do not easily agree to control of assets by women. Each one of us has to persuade the husband, when he is in a cool frame of mind,” Zahida, with the close support of other members of the SCG.

15 Micro Finance and Women’s Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh  Solidarity and Groups “We have developed group solidarity and identity as members of the Samiti, which we have used to prevent the taking of second wives by two men in this village. I am also raising this (membership of the Samiti) as a major point in negotiating the marriage of my daughter,” says Rashida

16 Micro Finance and Women’s Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh  Increased Work and Leisure “He thinks now I have some money,” (Gazipur) What that might mean is that he now thinks she earns some money. This reaction of sharing some of the housework is something that might be expected with the rise in women’s opportunity cost of labour.

17 Conclusion: the Novelty of Innovation To be fully effective, innovations require:  a regular monitoring and evaluation of processes and impacts;  self-assessment based local capacity in the areas identified for replication or up scaling of innovations;  adequate inclusion of hard core poor women and men in the innovation processes and local institutions.