4. RESULTADOS
4.2. Resultados de encuestas y entrevistas
4.2.1. De los Directivos
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MODULE 3 GENDER IMPORTANCE IN
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3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 Why Gender Makes a Difference in Agricultural projects
Women are, of course, an integral part of farming households. They produce over half the food in many developing countries, bear most responsibility for household food security, and contribute to household well-being through their income-generating activities. Yet, women usually have more limited access to resources and opportunities and their productivity remains low relative to their potential. In some regions, men and women have different farming systems, different domains - for example, crops or livestock - different access to resources, and different status. In general, compared to men within the same household, women have: A wider range of tasks and enterprises
Different production objectives
Dissimilar production constraints
Econometric evidence on gender differences in agricultural productivity points to the importance of investing in women by increasing their human capital through education and extension, and by increasing their access to physical and financial inputs. Key findings are:
Women farmers are as efficient as men farmers, once other characteristics and input levels are controlled for.
It suggests that increasing women‘s physical and human resource capital to the level of men‘s would bring significant gains in agricultural production. Limited access to inputs combined with cultural constraints on women‘s farm work tends to reduce women‘s labour productivity and their participation in high productivity agricultural work.
Women farmers underperform in agricultural production because they lack access to information, credit, extension, inputs, and markets and by household and child care tasks limit the time they have available. This underperformance occurs despite the longer hours they work than men in traditional farming systems.
The gradual feminization of agriculture in many countries makes attention to women farmers‘ necessary in implementing agricultural policy and programs. As men move out of agriculture into other sectors, women remain on the farm, gradually feminizing the agricultural labour force.
Attention to gender facilitates economic and social objectives.
Improving women‘s access to resources, control over income,
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and education, while reducing their time burden generates both efficiency and welfare gains.
Conversely, ignoring gender concerns can lead to project failure.
Ignoring gender issues can result in projects that are technically successful but negatively affect both women and children. Cotton projects funded by the International Development Association (IDA) in three francophone African countries, for example, achieved their production objectives and benefited farmers. The impact evaluation, however, showed the projects had affected women and children adversely, reinforced the power of men household heads, and increased social and economic stratification. In households growing cotton, women‘s labour input increased, polygamy increased, and some women became financially less self-sufficient.
3.2 Importance of Gender Analysis in Extension Work
Gender analysis is important in development programmes for many reasons. It helps to do a systematic assessment of males and females often different needs, preferences, activities, and preferences as well as different access and control over resources by males and females, sexual division of labour, and income-generating activities and participation of men and women in development opportunities. The importance of gender analysis is summarised below:
1. It provides information recognising gender and its relationship with race, ethnicity, culture, class, age, disability and other statuses.
2. It helps in planning issues relating to livelihood. This will assist in achieving viable and sustainable livelihood strategies.
3. This can be used in raising awareness of gender issues. This helps to inform policy makers and provide gender training materials.
All these will assist in monitoring different impact of policy, project and budget commitment on both male and female.
4. Gender analysis helps to identify the needs of male and female.
5. It helps to identify different problems facing the participation of both male and female.
6. Gender analysis helps to identify various ways in which male and female do or do not benefit from livelihood interventions.
7. It provides reasons for the current division of responsibilities and benefits and their effect on the distribution of rewards and incentives.
8. It helps to provide insights on how gender equality can be prioritised within efforts of sustainable development to ensure maximum efficiency in pursuing development goals.
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9. Gender analysis helps to identify the roles and responsibilities of male and female (e.g. productive roles, reproductive roles);
seasonal patterns (community participation, community politics), Assets (e. g. human assets, natural assets, social assets, physical assets and financial assets) power and decision making, needs and priorities (e.g. women‘s and men‘s needs and priorities).
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Mention and discuss five importance of gender analysis.
4.0 CONCLUSION
You have learnt why Gender Makes a Difference and Importance of gender analysis in extension work.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt that:
Agricultural projects especially those financed by Agricultural Development Projects (ADP) and other funding agencies indicate that considerations related to gender issues and women participation influence the overall success and sustainability of such projects.
Gender analysis is important in development programmes for many reasons. It helps to do a systematic assessment of males and females often different needs, preferences, activities, and preferences as well as different access and control over resources by males and females, sexual division of labour, and income-generating activities and participation of men and women in development opportunities.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
Mention and discuss five importance of gender analysis.
7.0 REFERENCE/FURTHER READING
Afolabi, M. M. (2008). ―Women as Pillars of National Economy in Nigeria: A Study of Economic Activities of Rural Women in Six Local Government Areas of Ondo State.‖ IAFFE Summer Conference, International Association for Feminist.
Buckland, L. Haleegoah, J. (1996). Gender Analysis in Agricultural Production. IITA Research Guide 58
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Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) (1991a). Nigeria ‘ Rural Roads and Marketing Project.
Identification Report Rome.
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