Strempel A (2011) Women's farming groups in Aceh: reflections from a year as a volunteer, ACIAR Seminar Series presentation, 15 September 2011, Canberra, Australia.
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Seminar women farmers aceh strempel_150911
1. Presenter Anna Strempel
Australian Youth Ambassador for Development
Topic “Women farmers in Aceh”
Date 3pm, Thursday 15 September 2011
Venue Conference Room, ACIAR House, Canberra
Acknowledgements Strempel A (2011) Women's farming groups in Aceh: reflections from a
year as a volunteer, ACIAR Seminar Series presentation,
15 September 2011, Canberra, Australia.
3. My Assignment
• Australian Youth Ambassadors for
Development (AYAD) program
• 9 month position (extended to 12) focusing on
women’s farming groups
– Needs assessment research & report
– Women farmers’ forum #2
– Women in Agriculture Network workshop
– Strategic planning
8. Why focus on women?
Failure to account for the Women perform 66 percent of the world’s
“roles, differences and inequities” work [and] produce 50 percent of the
between men and women poses “a food, but earn 10 percent of the income
serious threat to the effectiveness of the and own 1 percent of the property
agricultural development agenda”
– UNICEF 2007
- World Bank’s ‘Gender and agriculture Improvements in health care, nutrition and
sourcebook’ education can only be sustained with an
increase in household income and greater
Traditional gender divisions of labor
control by women over financial resources.
often consign women farmers to
subsistence production for [household] - UNFPA 2007
consumption. Policies and interventions
that accept this as a given and assume
that commercial production is the
province of men will miss many
opportunities to tap into the
tremendous productive potential of
women.”
- Ashby 2008
9. Needs Assessment
• Interviews
– KWT leaders and full
groups
– PPL
– Organisations
• Literature review
11. Social Impacts
• Improving quality of life “Our whole
village has been
• Empowering women
happier since
• Healthier, happier women; the KWT was
healthier, happier communities established”
13. Food Security
• Improving local access
to fresh fruit & veg “Meeting world food needs
in future will depend… on
• Diversifying range of the capabilities and
crops resources of women”
• Improving productivity - International Food Policy Research
Institute
& resilience
14. Health Impacts
• Improved nutrition for
women & their families
38% of Acehnese children
suffer stunting from
malnutrition
- UNICEF 2005
15. Uptake of Organic Methods
• Biopesticides, organic
fertilisers in use already
• Chemical use seen as
unhealthy, expensive
• Women want to learn more
BUT
• Chemical companies have a
stronghold
• People have become
dependent
16. Building Capacity
Activities to date:
• Forums
• Peer-to-peer learning
• KWT visits
• Training programs
• Info dist & extension
(PPL, BPTP)
17. Building Capacity
Learning new skills in:
• Group management &
leadership
• Managing finances &
credit systems
• Cultivation techniques
incl. organic methods
18. Some things that work
• Demonstration
• Farming is hard work;
KWT make it more
enjoyable
• Extension officers – the
local link
• Having a long-term
presence
• Self-driven with support
where needed
20. Gender
“In Africa, a donkey-drawn intercrop
cultivator could halve weeding time per
acre, but women lack the cash to purchase
new equipment and men will not invest cash
when women’s manual labor is available to
them at no cost.”
• Project appropriation Ashby et al 2008
• Is there a role for men?
• Institutional context
21. Land Tenure
“If women had secure title to land they
could invest in it rather than merely
working it, and this would encourage them
to adopt sustainable farming practices.”
FAO
1999
22. Extension Officers
• A resource with massive potential…
• Challenges:
– Under resourced
– Need for professional development
24. What is needed?
• Capacity building
– Leadership training for KWTs and PPL
– Organic/permaculture training
– Post-harvest processing training
– Further (more structured?) KWT visits
• Increased support & agency for Nazariah
• Strategic planning
• Achieving independence
25. Achieving Independence
• Women in Agriculture Network
• Financing through microcredit
• Building leadership skills
• Expanding activities
• Addressing gender and land tenure issues
27. Women Farmers Said…
Q: Do we need a network?
A: YES! We need a network because:
• Groups will be more visible and more easily supported, and it
will be easier to achieve our desired goals.
• When we’ve formed an organisation it will be easier for us to
achieve the things we want.
• It will provide a platform for women farmers to learn together.
28. Women farmers can:
• Share knowledge & experiences with each
other
Aceh Besar groups visit Mekar Jaya, Bireuen
30. Women farmers can:
• Link with helpful organisations
and programs
• Develop a stronger political voice
31. Network Development Workshop
• 2 days
• 65 attendees
– KWT leaders
– PPL
– Academics
– NGOs
(ag, gender, livelihoods,
permaculture)
– Government
(ag, health, food
security)
32. Workshop Outcomes
• Vision
– Women Farmers of Aceh to be an
independent, prosperous network with a strong
bargaining position.
• Mission
– Establish and strengthen the capacity of each KWT
district/city in Aceh
– Build networks and cooperate with other parties
– Improve knowledge and skills of members in the
KWTs
– Build social and economic independence of KWT
• Links built with women leaders and supporters
• Chairperson elected
• Momentum
33. What next for the network?
• Establishing a
committee
• Developing a
communications
strategy
• Activating links
developed through
workshop
Women produce most of the world’s food; money goes further in the hands of women and health impacts are extended to family; programs that haven’t been designed with gender differences in mind have tended to sideline women in developing countries. If women are to be engaged and have a voice they need to be specifically targeted and to have ownership. It’s critical that men continue to support the project and the best way is to engage them somehow. Also critical that women maintain ownership of the project so what is the best role for men to play?Gender policies and committees; staff development e.g. gender training
Most important outcome for most interviewees; Spending time with other women on a regular basis, working productively together; Having shared aims a key success factorGroup work and collective action important for women’s initiatives – gives them a stronger voice and more bargaining power; women become strong when they enter the kebun*Social impacts can be difficult to measure or quantify but this should not mean they are left out of project evaluation; transcending social barriers
Some interviewees estimated their households’ veg consumption had doubled since joining the project
Accessing credit may be an issueFrom the FAO: Not only does the lack of secure title limit women's access to credit, it also bars them from joining farmers’ associations, especially those concerned with processing and marketing. If women had secure title to land they could invest in it rather than merely working it, and this would encourage them to adopt sustainable farming practices.