Household Resource Management and Food Security – Role of Home Economics Seminar presentation by Leena M. Kirjavainen Widagri Consultants Ltd Helsinki, Finland at IFAD, Rome

Home Economics – milestones - past, present and future Ellen H. Sallow Richards – ( ) ”man is a part of organic nature, subject to laws of development and growth” Chemist Environmentalist Consumerist Mother of Public Health Founder of ”home economics”

Women Men Household Needs Resources Community Socio-Political Economic Environment Natural and Infra-Structure Environment Source: Adapted from Bubolz, M. M. (1991). Reflection on Human Ecology Past, Present, and Future

International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE) -100 years Mission: improve the quality of life of daily life of people - individuals, families and communities Dimensions of practice: basic education, technical skills and academic discipline Influence: political, social, cultural, ecological, economic and technological systems at ”glocal” levels

Home Economics Contents - disciplinary diversity Food, nutrition and health Textiles, clothing, design, technology Shelter and housing Consumerism and consumer science Household management Food science and hospitality Human development and family studies Education and community service

Present and future themes Poverty reduction - population education Water, sanitation, housing, shelter Food security and nutrition Environment, climate and NRM Labour, household technology & ICT Functional literacy, girls education and skills training, extension Gender and HIV/AIDS vs. agriculture

Food Security Conditions: availability – disasters – food crisis! access – distribution: local/global adequacy – nutritional/energy needs; acceptability - food habits/culture; stability of supply – seasonality! affordability – price fluctuations/hikes! quality and safety – contamination/fraud

Coping strategies Eat less, reduce meals and foods Cultivate new of vegetables Keep livestock Collect NWFPs – foods from forests/fields (over 60 % hhs in Laos) Collect acquatic resources from rivers, ponds and paddy rice fields

Increased vulnearability Degradation of forest sources Decreasing yields Lack of credit Lack of off-farm opportunities Proness for floods and droughts Low level education No agricultural support services

Household Resource Management Issues Basic household resources: - human (physical labour, skills, knowledge, educational attainment) - material (land, capital, technology, money), and - time Diversity of households: defining family, household composition and membership

Roles and responsibilities: by gender, age, relation to household head Intra-household dynamics: decision making, power structures Inter-household relations: conflict resolution at community level Time and task allocation: by gender/age Management and control: over income and resource use

Pilot Study - ”Gender Issues in Household Resource Management” Decentralized Agriculture and Forestry Extension Project (DAFEP) - WB Java, Northern Sumatra and Southern Sulawesi, Indonesia (World Bank, 2002)

Semi-structured questionnaire Mini Handbook with a Questionnaire: Basic household data  Module I: Household Division of Labour Module II: Participation in Decision-making Module III: Time Allocation-24-hour recall Module IV: Seasonal Household Calendar Module V: Income & Expenditure profile Module VI: Case Studies

Findings Agriculture major source of income; Food largest item of expenses – demonstrates household food security concerns Non-farm income earning activities are limited Agro-forestry practiced in homelots Traditional social obligations monetarized, strains limited cash income

Findings, continued.. Men dominate decision-making, but women’s influence growing Men’s and women’s ownership of assets influences decision-making power Women have a role as the household ”banker” - a decision-maker on investments, marketing and choice of household enterprise

Findings - continued... Men’s and women’s gender roles are merging The gap between men’s and women’s leisure time is narrowing Education increases options open to extension for men and women. Principal resources in farm households are labor, farming skills and land – these define income earning activities

Why a Household Resource Management – ”Livelihoods Study” is Recommended for all Project Locations?

1. For Capacity Building For Staff and Extension workers:  participatory planning  gender awareness  location specific data for training, extension and research programming gender mentoring and gender monitoring

2. For Policy Making Use gender-disaggregated data for M & E intra- and inter-household dynamics in families and communities - relevance to policy see women and men as different client groups - - to enhance targeting see the relative contribution of men and women in food production

3. For Village Extension Planning coping mechanisms - new livelihood strategies socio-economic caracteristics of HHs men’s and women’s roles in productive and reproductive activities in different ethnic groups recognize gender/age division of labour, workload, time use, and control over their earnings and impact on family members well- being

4. For Training identify practical training needs in-service training in agriculture and forestry and household resource management hands-on-training for project staff in the field – in data collection, coding and analaysis on rural households capacity building in data analysis, coding and interpretation local-level participatory planning

5. For Networking and Parnerships to establish contacts with professionals in affiliated institutions to initiate collaborative efforts – to have uniformity in gender analysis methods to mobilize resources and enahance partnerships for co-financing to enter in partnerships

understanding household resource management through gender lens