GENDER ANALYSIS IN AGRICULTUREPUNJAB - PAKISTAN

Field Insights – 11-13 May 2011

Linda Pennells IASC GenCap Adviser

Activity

‘Quick capture’ of gender good practice and field insights: Multan orientation and tool revision. IP and beneficiary discussions – Ali Pur IP and beneficiary discussions – Bootaywala

Objectives

Contribute field insight into 3-week Pakistan mission. Demonstrate field-friendliness and value of practical tools. Identify a sampling of relevant gender issues with FAO/WFP team. Contribute to toolkit for the FAO-led AFSSWG livelihoods

assessment.

Focus

The roles of men and women in rice and wheat production. Gender lessons learned in farm equipment distributed in

EU-funded Food Facility Project. Gender in local irrigation.

Facilitators

Jam Khalid / Abida Begum – equipment (35 min). Jam Khalid / Abida Begum - rice (20 min). Jamil Amir – wheat (20 min). Irrigation – short episodes totalling 30 minutes.

Rice Production - Bootaywala

ActivityMen

& BoysTime invested

by malesWomen& Girls

Time invested byfemales

Who makes decisions?

Preparing seedbed 3-4 hr men

Planting in nursery .5 hr men

Weeding in nursery .5 hr men

Input purchase 10 min-2days men

Land/soil preparation – with tractor 8 hr men

Fertilizing 4 hr men

Transplanting 40 hr men

Weeding 1 hr 1 hr men

Pest control men

Hand harvesting (cutting) 4 days 6 days men

Combine harvesting 1 hr men

Threshing (by hand) 10 days(2 x 5 days)

men

Selecting healthy seeds for next planting 15-20 min men

De-husking at mill 6 hr men

Putting grain into storage 14 hr men

Cleaning/fumigating storage 5 min per yr men

Selling/bartering of rice 10min-2days men

Grinding (flour)/cleaning (rice) for home use 5-10 min/day women

Baking/food preparation 30 min/day women

Bootaywala – community feedback

Women invest 2 or 3 hours for every hour invested by men in rice production (determinant: combine or not).

Gender gap in decision-making: not reflect M-F input.

Rice is a ‘partnership’ crop: males and females share some roles but have distinct skills/knowledge in rice production.

Conflict or disaster that causes family separation can jeopardize yield.

Vital analysis for projects focusing on local rice production:o what do male and female farmers do, what time to they invest in the crop,

what are their different skills and coping methods;

o how does rice work factor into men’s and women’s other productive, reproductive and community work.

The Bootaywala Sources

Type of Machinery and Equipment distributed in EU Food Facility Project

Primary UsersPotential to

increase yieldReducesworkload

Increasesworkload

Male Female Male Female Male Female

Storage bin for seed grain 1 hr

Jab planter (manual) 20 hr

Maize sheller (motorized) Reduces loss

5 hr 30 min

Rice de-huller (mechanized)

Increases profit

7 hr

Power tiller (15 hp)

Increases yield

2.75 hr159 hr

(150 reaping &9 hand digging)

Wheat seed drill (tractor driven)

Increases yield

30 min

Equipment Distribution - Bootaywala

Bootaywala Equipment Feedback

The six pieces of FAO farm equipment saves women 183 hr but increases men’s work by about 4 hr per acre.

Equipment changes gender roles: power tiller/maize sheller.

Gender gap in mechanization and learning. Focus of women’s learning: separate seed and grain storages and using 1 hand tool. Men’s learning focus: operating, maintaining and minor repair of 4 pieces of mechanized equipment.

Power equipment for men – hand-operated for women.

Gender gap in decision-making: not reflect M-F partnership.

Demonstrates need to identify who will be impacted how when farm equipment selected: the positive serendipity of results in this community can not be assumed. Up-front gender analysis is needed.

This gender analysis identified ‘invisible’ project results.

Gender in irrigation

Water User Groups – all men – registered landowners

Irrigation water is used on crops (mainly rice and wheat) in which community members confirm that women do about 2/3 of the farm labour : a representation gap

Need for holistic approach: water for all food crops, including home gardens, fruit and nut trees etc.

Opportunities for partnership exist e.g. FAO-IOM collaboration to provide kitchen garden drip irrigation toolkits on USAID project

Creative options needed: irrigation hoses to link canal water to home gardens; drip toolkits; synergistic or linked irrigation and domestic water projects

Other insights: Bootaywala/Ali Pur

Women Open Schools (WOS) are Farmer Field Schools for women: merit renaming to recognize women as farmers.

Farm women express need for WOS curriculum expansion: beyond home gardening to include livestock & key cash crops.

Good WFP analysis supported synergistic livelihoods skills of men and women in smallholder and tenant farm families:o e.g. Mix of goat share-cropping (F), day labour (M-F),

farming (M-F) and irrigation management (M).

Local feminization of agricultural day labour – lowest pay – men have higher-paid options, women often do not.

Bootaywala /Ali Pur [cont’d]

Gender analysis signals a too-high ‘opportunity cost’ if there is a push to expand cotton acreage for export earnings. o *women: 30-40 days weeding per acre in 5-month cycle.o *men: 14 hr land levelling by hand so irrigation water reaches all plants.

Toxic pesticide risk highest for male sprayers and female cotton pickers and vegetable growers (Not an FAO issue as FAO does IPM).

For every 10 hr local men invest in wheat production, women invest 8 – not exclusively a ‘men’s crop’! Men’s roles centre on mechanization and mobility.

Child labour appears higher than politically-conscious project partners admit – gender dynamics warrant exploring.

Social barriers exist for women in market access and economic migration but the ‘door is not closed’ – explore what women want to do and feel they can negotiate social sanction to do.

Conclusions - Identify

Practical gender analysis can help identify the important realities of women compared to men:

who should be consulted/involved and why.

who has skills, knowledge and potentially solutions to offer.

who needs extension service, training, farm inputs and resources.

the impact of distribution (equipment, livestock & crop inputs).

the comparative opportunity cost of males & females.

Conclusions - Benefits

Benefits:

FAO team inspired to create 8 more practical tools for field use and use by IPs.

FAO Pakistan rethinks implement distribution to women farmers.

Field analysis triggers active discussion on the Gender Marker – relevance is seen as are practical ways of building gender into projects.

Contributed to incorporating gender into Pakistan’s Detailed Livelihoods Assessment.