UNHEARD VOICES

John Madeley

WOMEN MARGINAL FARMERS –MOBILISING FOR CHANGE

WOMEN PLAY AVITAL, BUT OFTENIGNORED, ROLE INADDRESSINGHUNGER

CONTENTS1. Foreword 1

2. Introduction 2

3. Why hunger is over for the women marginal farmers in thesanghams of Andhra Pradesh 4

4. Women’s Resistance and Struggles: Asserting Rights toLand, Resources and Livelihoods in Indonesia 6

5. How an Alternative Extension System helps womenmarginal farmers in Uttar Pradesh 7

6. ‘Find out what the women are doing and help them to getthe resources to improve their skills’. An example fromZambia. 10

7. How marginal women farmers successfully organised inLiberia: Women for Development groups 11

8. It is working – further examples 13

9. Reaching women marginal farmers: practical steps thatbuild on key elements of success 14

Author: John MadeleyEditor: Mairi MacRaeContributors: Concern Liberia ,dds, GEAG , GRAIN, PAN AP and SEWA Research Design & print: Dacors Design Ltd. www.dacors.comCover image: Namangolwa Kandala working in her cassava field in the village ofNambinji, Mongu District, ZambiaGareth Bentley/Concern Worldwide 2009Copyright: Concern Worldwide 2010 Printed on FSC approved paper from sustainably managed forest, using chemical-free platemaking, a waterless printing process and vegetable-based inks.

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1. FOREWORDWhen Concern Worldwide (UK) launched its Unheard Voices campaign in late 2007, the focus was onhighlighting the needs of marginal farmers – those whom we define as ‘farming yet hungry’. The majority ofthese marginal farmers are women and more recently we have shifted our attention to the specificchallenges and needs of women marginal farmers. Recently our focus has been on highlighting the fact thatwomen play a vital, but often ignored, role in addressing hunger. A recent Concern Worldwide report –Women Marginal Farmers Speak Out: A Zambian case study 1 – highlighted the very many challenges thatwomen marginal farmers face on a daily basis in their efforts to produce food and feed their familiesnutritiously.

Concern Worldwide works with smallholder farmers and marginal farmers in most of the 28 countries wherewe are operational. In many of the countries we work in, support from government and other actors such asNGOs is channelled through supporting farmers organisations and unions. However, our recent research inZambia has highlighted that many women marginal farmers lack voice and organisation and, for numerousreasons, are not part of farmers groups or unions. This means that they are missing out on crucial supportand help. The introduction of this paper (chapter 2) outlines some of the key constraints to women marginalfarmers self-organising or joining pre-existing groups. This paper then goes on to draw together a numberof examples of poor women farmers organising themselves successfully and ways that support mechanismshave reached out to include poor women farmers. This paper does not seek to be comprehensive but insteadprovides a snapshot – documenting examples from Asia and Africa in order to learn from their experiencesof appropriate ways of providing support to poor women farmers.

Finally, using lessons from the case studies this paper draws out five practical steps in reaching andsupporting women marginal farmers: 1) take the lead from women marginal farmers themselves in helpingbuild their networks and groups, 2) promote alliances and external links, 3) organising needs based trainingworkshops and regular meetings, 4) developing flexible and innovative approaches tailored to specific needsand circumstances and 5) Recognise, support and hear voices of women marginal farmers We believe thesecan help influence effective and inclusive programming.

It is hoped that this paper will develop our collective understanding of not only the challenges faced by poorwomen farmers – but the significant strength and influence they have, particularly when working as a group.Furthermore we hope that it will provide a springboard to further discussion on how we can learn from otherexperiences in order to support the important needs of women marginal farmers

Villagers weed their rice fields. The crop isalmost ready to harvest. Makefu Village, IdodiDivision, Iringa, Tanzania Mik

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Over many years, “organise, organise” has been a basic tenet of farmers who see thebenefits of acting together. They know that organisation into groups gives them morestrength – the strength to secure a better deal from authorities and to make it more likelythat their voice is heard. Organisation gives farmers voice, influence and confidence. Itgives them leverage in their relationship with government, landowners, and traders. It isa route to improved policy that will lead to improved livelihoods. In Western countries,farmers have a long record of exerting considerable influence over government policy.

In Africa, one of the oldest farmer associations is Zambia’s National Farmers’ Union. Thishas existed under various names since the early 1900s – records show that a farmers’association existed in Zambia’s Eastern Province in 19052. In Zimbabwe, the ZimbabweFarmers’ Union was founded in 1939 to fight the effects of colonialism. Today, it has overa million members and anyone who owns a farm can join3.

However, whilst farmers’ organisations and unions may say that anyone can join – inreality, most farmers unions, organizations and groups are predominantly male. Womenfarmers, especially marginal farmers in developing countries, may struggle to join or even

to form their own grouping. Organisation for women marginal farmers has all too often been a missing linkin the chain and lack of organization holds them back from realizing their potential. But there are some quitelong-standing exceptions – in India, for example, the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), whichconsists of poor, self-employed women workers, has been active since 19724.

Membership of a farmers group or organization can bring considerable benefits. Indeed, membership of afarmers group or organization is often ‘a prerequisite for a variety of formal support mechanisms’5. Suchmembership can bring women marginal farmers within reach of a range of services and can open a channelto donor funding. Membership can also build confidence. Should women find it difficult to join a male-dominated group, they can start their own group, but may need help in overcoming the difficulties they face,not least to become recognised as a force to be reckoned with, to be heard and included in governmentschemes, and seen as equal partners with male farmers.

There are a number of factors that mean that existing farmer organisations often fail to reachout to women farmers, or make it difficult for women to join or even start a group:

1. Women are often not recognised as farmers, even in countries where they produce most of the food.The produce of women marginal farmers that they don’t sell on the market, will not count in nationalincome statistics. As their output does not count, many male officials appear to take the view that neitherdo the women farmers count. They are generally invisible to policy makers. Bringing them into themainstream and giving them recognition as farmers can be difficult6.

2. In many countries, land is almost solely in male hands, and women find it difficult to own land in their ownright. (See box “Women farmers – big labour, little land”.) Without land to offer as collateral, women maybe unable to borrow even small amounts. Furthermore, “membership in water user associations, producercredit organisations, and community-based natural resource management groups often requires secureland rights, effectively excluding women”7.

3. Fees can be a barrier to being a member of a farmer organisation. Most ask for payment, and this meansthat many marginal women are excluded. In at least one country, the Central African Republic, womenwithout money can join the national women farmers’ organisation and receive support, but cannot voteor make proposals. (See “Ensure that fees are not a barrier” below.)

4. The heavy workload, the day-to-day burden of women marginal farmers, gives them little or no time ormotivation to engage in group activity. The times when farmer associations meet may not be convenientfor women marginal farmers. Their workload may mean that they cannot fulfil their obligations as groupmembers – the amount of time they have for group work is limited8.

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2. INTRODUCTION

Farmers’ organisations

A farmer’s organisation is a groupof farmers who come together for acommon purpose, who believe thatas a group they can lift some oftheir burdens, have more say andexert greater influence than theycan individually.

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5. Male farmers tend to be the beneficiaries of government schemes. There is often no gendermainstreaming in official agricultural extension programmes, and no policy of reaching out to womenmarginal farmers. Only 15 percent of agricultural extension agents are women9.

6. Cultural difficulties may be restrictive. Traditional attitudes towards women and genderassumptions about their roles as child-bearers and home-makers can restrict women’s ability to start oraccess groups. Conflict can be caused when women prioritise or set aside time for group work andmeetings over other household and community work and there may be some difficulties of womenactively participating in discussions when men are present10.

Sources:

Women Thrive Worldwide.http://www.womenthrive.org/images/womenfeedtheworld.pdf

10 Point Action Plan toEnd Hunger. Action Aid:http://www.actionaid.org/assets/pdf/HF%20Manifesto%20FINAL.pdf

UN Millennium Project,p.5 and p.92, 2005:http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/tf_hunger.htm

In addition to difficulties that are specific to women, there can be problems that affectall marginal farmers, male and female. While they can organise themselves into agroup, their group may be too small to register as an organisation or be recognised asa body that can receive government or donor support. (See ‘Find out what the womenare doing and help them to get the resources to improve their skills’.)

Women farmers – big labour, little land

• African women carry out 90 percent of the work of processing food crops and providing household water and wood, and80 percent of the work of food storage and transport from farm to village.

• In Southeast Asia, women provide up to 90 percent of labour for rice cultivation.

• In Pakistan, rural women provide 50 percent of the labour to harvest wheat.

• Women perform from 25 to 45 percent of agricultural field tasks in Colombia and Peru.

• In Kenya, women provide approximately 75 percent of total agricultural labour.

• A World Bank review found that 74 percent of 54 completed agricultural projects with gender-related action were ratedsatisfactory for overall outcome. This compared to 65 percent for 81 projects with no gender-related action.

• Despite their huge contribution to food output, women “own only 1 percent of the land in developing countries, andreceive only 7 percent of agricultural extension time and resources”, says the UN Millennium Project document, ‘Halvinghunger: It can be done’.

• Most women in Africa can only access land through their male relatives or spouses; reform programmes have often beenslow to give women the right to land. “Governments should create and enforce land and inheritance law that do notdiscriminate against women”, says ‘Halving hunger: It can be done’.

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3. WHY HUNGER IS OVER FOR THEWOMEN MARGINAL FARMERS IN THESANGHAMS OF ANDHRA PRADESH They represent the poorest of the poor in their village communities. Some 5000 marginalisedwomen farmersin the harsh drylands of Medak in the Deccan district of Andhra Pradesh, India, have overcome difficultiesby organising into women's sanghams (voluntary, village-level associations of the poor) to improve their plots,revive marginal lands, and substantially raise their food output and move towards food sovereignty. Most ofthe sanghams (a word meaning unions) were formed by Dalit women, the lowest group in the Indian socialhierarchy, although poor women from other castes are not excluded.

The Deccan Development Society (DDS), a prominent voluntary association working in about 75 villages,helped the women to organise into sanghams. Beginning its work in 1985, the DDS enabled them to seehow organisation has the potential to improve their lives. Medak is a semi-arid area that hosts some of thepoorest populations and the most degraded agricultural land in India. Women in this area cultivate smallpatches of land – some work as well-diggers, some as wage labourers for much of their earnings.

Initially the aim of the DDS was modest: to encourage the formation of sanghams thatwould ensure the basic sustenance needs of the women who became members. Thesangham women were urged to work as collective cultivators and to take land on leasefrom land owners who were unable to utilise their land for food production. This helpedthem to overcome the constraint of not having land.

Sanghams include an average of about 65 women in number. Members work on leasedland for four to five days a season and in return earn enough food crops to feed theirfamilies for a month. The additional food was about 60-80 kgs per capita. The programmestarted looking at the level of individual household, and marginalised community, and thenlooked at larger areas such as the food security of entire village communities.

Organisation into sanghams subsequently became a tool of empowerment for the womento address the larger issues of natural resource enhancement, education and healthneeds.

The DDS stressed the need for the women to assume greater autonomy of key aspectsof their lives, in particular to work towards:

• Autonomy over food production• Autonomy over seeds• Autonomy over natural resources• Autonomous markets• Autonomous media

EFFORTS SUCH ASBUNDING AND TRENCHINGHAVE HELPED THE WOMENTO RAISE THEIR CROPPRODUCTION BY OVER300 PERCENT

Community Development, Women’s groups, IndiaConcern Worldwide February 2004

The sanghams meet regularly to discuss key matters and also hold regular village-levelmeetings, carry our audits and participatory rural appraisals, and hold sessions withgovernment agencies and other NGOs. They decide which crops to plant and whichnot to plant. For example, in 1994, some of the women’s sanghams initiated a strongcampaign against cotton because they knew that it would deny them continuous foodand fodder, and invite new pests into the farming system.

First for women, third for men!In one village, in discussions with male farmers and government agencies, the womenstated emphatically that they much preferred their own crop varieties to cash crops.The women voted for yellow sorghum, pacha jonna, a nutritious and soil enhancingcrop as their first choice – the men had put it in only third place!

AchievementsThe achievements of the women’s sanghams are considerable. Since 1985, the 5000women members have spent a total of 1.2 million eco-employment days to bring tenthousand acres of degraded agricultural land back into cultivation. Efforts such asbunding and trenching11 have helped the women to raise their crop production by over300 percent. Lands which once grew 20-30 kg of sorghum per acre now grow about100-120 kgs. Today the women grow over three million kilos of grain every year, whichis six times more than they produced before.

Some of the sanghams carry out their financial transactions themselves with anindependent bank account of their own. These sanghams revolve around Rs.4000 to6000 per member (approximately equivalent to £50-£80) which is a combination of their savings (25 to40%) supplemented with grants from outside bodies.

Community Gene FundAn important development in the work is the Community Gene Fund programme. This has helped the womento reestablish their control of the most critical link in the food chain – seeds. The programme has laid heavyemphasis on biodiversity, and the recovery of traditional landraces (crop varieties). Within two years about500 women who participated in this programme have recovered over 50 traditional landraces and have setup banks of traditional seeds in 30 villages. Over 60 varieties are now under active cultivation as against 25-30 varieties when the programme started in 1996.

The Community Gene Fund has transformed the status of sangham women in the community. Many peoplehave started to approach the women for seeds. This marks a big change from former times when dalitwomen would go begging to upper caste homes. Now, marginalised women have found a new status as seedproviders, not receivers. Seed control returning to women means the reestablishment of their intellectualleadership in the community.

Women farmers who earned around Rs.300 a season (approximately £4 a season) have started earningRs.2500 says the DDS, over eight times more. The cumulative impact of all these efforts is that no memberof a DDS sangham needs to suffer from hunger.

Community Grain Funds have also been established in 50 of the villages. These help people throughpotentially hungry times, especially meeting the needs of the poorest and the destitute in the communities.

Media Autonomy An all-woman, all-Dalit sangham radio station has been set up, and serves as the first on-air voice of thestate's Dalit women. Female reporters journey daily into villages within the area to glean information forreports that strike a chord with listeners. The station airs a 90 minute package of local news and views,tidbits on herbal medicines for animals, reports on farming tools, and folk songs and stories.

Lessons learned The women's sanghams have shown that even the most marginalised farmers can control their agricultureand natural resources. With a little help and access to financial resources, they can feed themselves and thenon-food producing members of their community.

The sangham women now “manage on their own most of their credit needs, and manage programs of communityhealth, environment conservation and regeneration and education”, says DDS Director P.V. Satheesh.

The DDS sanghams have become a beacon for sustainable development and have attracted national andinternational attention. They have shown a unique ability to regenerate land, for ecological agriculture,community land ownership, and have brought gender issues to the forefront.

Organisation into sanghams has made marginalised women visible. It has given them a new-found dignityand profile in their village communities, helped to retrieve their natural leadership positions in thosecommunities, and to fight the lack of access and control over their own resources.

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THE DDS SANGHAMS HAVEBECOME A BEACON FORSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTAND HAVE ATTRACTEDNATIONAL ANDINTERNATIONAL ATTENTION

Sources:

Deccan DevelopmentSociety:www.ddsindia.com

Sanghams, Experiences,Expectations byJagannadha Reddy,Jayappa, Padma, Baliahand other Sangham staff,(Undated.)

Poor Women Farmers'Crops of Truth. TheInstitute of Science inSociety, Rhea Gala.(Undated,) Reproduced byGRAIN:www.grain.org/g/?id=134

India: An all (Dalit) womenradio station, 14December 2009. DigitalOpportunity Channel, NewDelhi.www.digitalopportunity.org/news/india-an-all-dalit-women-radio-station/?searchterm=

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4. WOMEN’S RESISTANCE ANDSTRUGGLES: ASSERTING RIGHTS TOLAND, RESOURCES AND LIVELIHOODSIN INDONESIA Organising and Mobilising Women and Working with CommunityOrganisations Against Oil Palm Plantations. (Pesticide Action NetworkAsia and the Pacific)When women in 16 villages of Sambas District in the northeast part of West Kalimantan decided to organisefor their rights to land, it was at community level where they started. With the help of Pesticide ActionNetwork Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP), Tenaganita and Gita Pertiwi, these groups held seminars,workshops, training, and other capacity-building initiatives. “The determination and the solidarity required totake back the management of resources can only be developed by developing critical awareness among thegrassroots women”, says PANAP.

Around 400 women became members of women’s groups in these 16 villages, to struggle for a just and fairsystem. Most of the women are engaged in the production of rice, orange, rubber and other crops. But landfor small-scale food and cash crop production is under pressure due to the expansion of palm oil.

The palm oil plantations have converted communal forests into private reserves making access to forest andnatural resources more difficult. For the women, the forest is the source of wood, fruits, and rattan, whichare important to their livelihoods. All this has resulted in reduced harvests and reduced income for thewomen.

Another aspect is that river pollution due to chemical inputs associated with palm oil processing and erosionrunoff (due to deforestation) has diminished the people’s use of rivers for their daily existence. Also, forestfires and methane released from dried peat-lands result in smoke pollution affecting the health of thecommunities especially women and children. This has interrupted the schooling of the children as the smokeis thick and dangerous, preventing them from going to school.

By organising into groups and support through capacity building initiatives, the women of Sambas Districtparticipated in the negotiations between the community and the oil palm plantation. The perspective ofgrassroots women helped keep the negotiation process from being manipulated by the company andprevented some of the community men from monopolising the proceedings.

The organised women became coordinators in the mobilization of the community in demanding the rights tothe land occupied by the palm oil plantation. The women’s groups also developed a credit union for them toaccess credit at reasonable interest rates, and to develop income-generating activities such as handicraftsusing non-timber forest products.

Positive Results Working in solidarity with community organisations, the women’s groups of Sambas were able to persuadethe head of their district to rescind the permit of a palm oil plantation company accused of land grabbing.

In Senujuh village, the representatives of the women’s groups successfully negotiated with a palm oilcompany to get them to acknowledge that the 231.4 hectares of land the company used is actuallycommunal land.

The women’s groups have gained the respect of other organisations in Sambas because of their militancyand they have become an inspiration for other villagers to organise themselves.

Lessons LearnedThe struggle of the now organised women of the 16 villages against the palm oil plantations is a struggle fortheir children, for their livelihood, for their communities and for their heritage. In the process, they have builttheir own organisations, have developed confidence from their successes in negotiations and in their massactions, and have won tangible victories vis-a-vis reclaiming their land.

They have also learned the importance of relying on their own strength and on the importance of supportfrom sympathetic legislators and media in the face of the lack of support from certain government offices.The women’s groups in the 16 villages are now in the process of forming the Union of Sambas Women.

Source:

Pesticide Action NetworkAsia and the Pacific(PAN AP) booklet,“Struggle of WomenAgricultural Workers”(2009). Ed: Judy M.Taguiwalo. (based oninterviews with thewomen in SambasDistrict.)

Gorakhpur in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India has a high percentage of marginal farmers.Landholdings are small – 82.3 percent of holdings are below a hectare. There are alarge number of landless (sharecroppers and agricultural labourers, etc.) alsodependent on agricultural operations.

Government advice and assistance for farmers to help them improve their methods ofproduction and marketing (known as agricultural extension), mostly focuses onimproved seeds, fertilizers, farm implements, pesticides, poultry, livestock, etc. Withincreasing control of the state over agricultural production, the cash-based agriculturaleconomy and the market has taken centre stage. As a result, the system addresses theneeds of the larger and male farmers. The needs and priorities of the marginal, landlessand women farmers have been neglected.

The government extension system in Uttar Pradesh aims to achieve targets, not todevelop the capacities of the farmers. Training and information are not offeredaccording to the crop cycle and before the cropping season. As a result, farmers remainuninformed.

A major problem with the system is the lack of participation of women. The system hasno clear policy or practice of involving women, even though more than 70 percent offarming is done by women. In the government extension service, the participation ofwomen is also minimal. Gender mainstreaming is conspicuously non-existent inGovernment sponsored agriculture extension programmes. There is no policy orprogramme to reach out to a large number of women peasants in the state. Policiesand programmes are based on a gender biased presumption that links all farm activitieswith men.

Lack of identity is a problem, says the GEAG, “especially the recognition of women as farmers”. Legally,women have no share in agriculture land so they don't inherit ancestral agriculture land. Poor landmanagement and planning policies are also major issues. “Despite a plethora of legislative measures andpolicies nothing much has happened for the small and marginal farmers, as land reforms failed to achieveminimal goals”, says the GEAG.

There are other constraints – for example the lack of skills, knowledge and experience in village levelextension workers. Yet they are responsible for delivery of the services to farmers.

In response to the needs of women marginal women farmers especially, GEAG initiated a knowledge supportsystem at village level in the form of an Alternate Extension System. This has proved to be a success.

Alternative Extension SystemThis extension mechanism operates with a cluster of 5 or 6 villages. People from other nearby villages drawbenefits from this mechanism. It has the following criteria:

• The system is small, marginal, landless, woman-farmer friendly.

• The promotion of low external input sustainable agriculture.

• A platform for sharing of farmers’ experiences.

• The system takes a problem solving approach.

• The system has linkages with other relevant departments and resource institutions.

The Alternate Extension System operates through the following two mechanisms.

1 Farmer Field Schools (FFS)

2 Agro Service Centres (ASC)

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LEGALLY, WOMEN HAVE NOSHARE IN AGRICULTURELAND SO THEY DON'TINHERIT ANCESTRALAGRICULTURE LAND.

5. HOW AN ALTERNATIVE EXTENSION SYSTEMHELPS MARGINAL WOMEN FARMERS IN UTTARPRADESH – GORAKHPUR ENVIRONMENTALACTION GROUP (GEAG)

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Farmer Field Schools (FFS)

Farmers have a tradition of developing and applying technologies and refining them with their ownexperiences. To give a platform for the sharing of experiences and for collectively solving agriculture relatedproblems, the concept of Farmer Field Schools (FFS) was initiated. The FFS approach is a direct responseto the expressed needs of marginal woman farmers.

Farmers learn by carrying out for themselves the various activities. The FFSs offer farmers the opportunityto learn by sharing, by being involved in experimentation, discussion and decision making. This strengthensthe sense of ownership of rural communities in technological packages and evolving new knowledge andskills.

In the FFS process, village meetings are conducted and a seasonal action plan is prepared at the beginningof the year. Problem cards are distributed to the farmers on which they enter the problems encountered bythem in their fields. The cards are collected and distributed to Master Trainers, who are subject matterspecialists, for providing solutions and identifying appropriate resource people.

Resource persons and experts from agricultural universities, government departments, etc. are also invitedby the farmers to provide inputs and remedial solutions to farmers’ problems. On the FFS day, participantshave 4-6 hour sessions. A follow-up session is held a month later.

Agro Service Centers (ASCs)

In the so-called “green revolution” a few high-value crops claimed most of the attention and funds. Marginalfarming systems were neglected. But it led to problems for all farmers because of higher agricultural inputcosts and the excessive use of chemical inputs. The eco-friendly inputs and solutions of problems based onlocal experiences are still not available at conventional extension centers.

The ASCs are coordinated by a person nominated by the village federation and is supervised and monitoredby a committee of village level community federation. Seasonal need assessment and procurement of inputsis done in time. The availability of inputs on a reasonable price, and also equipment for hire, is ensured. TheASCs have linkages with other village institutions.

The main features of these two extension mechanisms – FFSs and ASCs – are:

• Operative at the village level• Managed and controlled by farmers• Low cost input solutions to agricultural problems of farmers are negotiated• Experiential learning based on ecological principles • Participatory learning through group action • A problem solving approach • Linkage with agricultural resource institutions• Linkage with live model farms for practical learning• Low cost and eco-friendly agricultural inputs such as seed, bio-fertilizers, are easily and readily available

at ASCs• ASCs serve as centers where small agri-implements are available on hire • Centre for dissemination of knowledge and information• Financially self-sustainable• Linked with nearby villages.

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Alternative Extension System village level support groups The Alternate Extension System also consists of other village level groups, which supportthe functioning of FFSs and ASCs. Chief among them are:

Self Help Groups: SHGs are primarily focused to provide poor women with a means ofsavings and access to formal credit (bank loans). The SHGs are engaged in activities thatgo beyond micro-finance, for example, green agriculture, collective marketing of farmproducts, and addressing community development issues which include hygiene andsanitation for everyone, speaking out against violence and infrastructure development. Thegroups mobilise the members as ‘agents of change’ and advocates for sustainableagriculture.

“Strengthening the credit linkages through Self Help Groups is one of the acclaimedstrategies to mobilise women from socially and economically neglected regions of thesociety”, says the GEAG, “Today, all 284 SHGs are functioning on their own and haveplayed a crucial role in reducing poverty of the target group members”.

Master Trainers: A number of practicing farmers, 80 percent of them women, havebecome Master Trainers after receiving intensive training in facilitation techniques andcommunication skills. These Master Trainers organise regular training sessions in thevillages according to demand. “More and more local farmers are now accepting mastertrainers as their resource person on sustainable and low input agriculture, especially thewomen master trainers”, says the GEAG.

Farmers’ Interest Groups: Groups of farmers have undertaken certain activities successfully, likevegetable production, cattle-rearing, and other income generating activities. The GEAG supports the largenumber of women marginal farmers who are engaged in animal husbandry practices.

Lessons learned About 5000 farmers are now covered by the Alternative Extension System. The system has a well-definedstructure. The Village Federation, comprising of representatives of all the institutions, village Pradhans (chief)and other active villagers, federates and controls all the institutions – the Self Help Groups, FFS, ASCs,Master Trainers, etc. It aims to enhance the leadership qualities of poor villages, and help them be self-dependent.

Village Federations supervise and govern the established village level institutions, and will gradually take overfrom GEAG the responsibility of continuing and sustaining the alternative system.

This alternative extension system in Eastern Uttar Pradesh is helping women marginal farmers to overcomeone of the biggest problems that women in their position face – the problem that government agriculturalextension services are chiefly geared to male, better-off farmers.

In the initial days of the system, it was not easy to convince marginal farmers of the system, says the GEAG.This was because they had not led from the front and they lacked confidence. “But gradually theyexperienced and learned that such small and marginal farmer friendly extension system is possible”, says aGEAG official.

Source:

GEAG website:http://www.geagindia.org/

STRENGTHENING THECREDIT LINKAGESTHROUGH SELF HELPGROUPS IS ONE OF THEACCLAIMED STRATEGIESTO MOBILISE WOMEN

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Katuba Women's Association of Zambia is a network of 42 different women's associations in the country.

While marginal women farmers may form themselves into a group, because they are small they may not havethe capacity to register as an organization that can be recognised and receive support and funding.

Katuba Women's Association (KWASSOC) enables groups to register by becoming part of the larger Katubanetwork. A typical village group may have between 20 to 30 members. When a group joins KWASSOC itpays a small membership fee, and retains ownership of its group while being part of a wider network.

KWA advises women on vital matters such as organisation, legal issues and skills training in agriculturalmatters. It connects a village group to the help that it needs.

“We go to a village, find out what the women are doing and help them to get the resources to improve theirskills”, says Florence Shakafuswa, KWASSOC Executive Director. With most women having very little sparetime, due to their work burdens and household commitments, KWASSOC asks them what is the best timefor them to meet.

Members of village groups (called clubs) are asked to elect a chairperson, secretary and treasurer. They paya small amount to join the club. The very poorest women may have no money to join a club, but the club issupposed to help raise living standards and the income of women – because of this the club is flexible inthe fees they charge so that no woman is excluded. This helps to overcome the difficulty that the poorestwomen often have of finding membership fees. A village bank is normally suggested by KWASSOC so thatmembers can borrow when they need to, and save when they can.

KWASSOC asks groups to have a monthly meeting to discuss issues and to decide what to do about anyproblems. For example, the Zambia government runs a fertilizer support programme. This operates throughdifferent agricultural departments in the villages, but these are staffed by men. And the fertilizer goes mainlyto male farmers. KWASSOC is pressing the government to include women in the process so that they canget their rightful share.

Women are being trained as paralegals in their communities to help women’s groups get free legal advice.Advice on how to acquire land may be a key part of this. KWASSOC helps women with transport in order totravel to government offices where they can lay a claim to land. This may be done in secret as men mayobject and it could cause martial tension. There are concerns that a woman could be beaten if her husbandfound out that she was laying a claim to land.

But some of the women’s groups have managed to secure funding for boreholes, “and the men appreciatethat”, says Florence Shakafuswa.

Many marginal women farmers in Zambia are illiterate and KWASSOC also helps them with writing proposalsand applications for funding from donors.

Lessons learnedBy supporting existing women’s groups and their activities, KWASSOC respects the autonomy of women tomake their own decisions, and ensures that training and assistance recognises the needs and challenges ofwomen marginal farmers. In this way, KWASSOC provides a range of training opportunities and facilitatesconversations between women marginal farmers and government.

An understanding of the community and power relations also allows KWASSOC to recognise and addressthe knock on effects of activities i.e. violence against women.

The National Farmers Union of Zambia does not reach out to marginal women farmers, says FlorenceShakafuswa. Organisations such as Katuba Women’s Association play a vital and important role in providingsupport for women marginal farmers that they would not otherwise receive.

6. ‘FIND OUT WHAT THE WOMEN AREDOING AND HELP THEM TO GET THERESOURCES TO IMPROVE THEIR SKILLS’

Source:

Based on a conversationbetween Florence MShakafuswa, ExecutiveDirector, KatubaWomen’s Association,and Mairi MacRae,Concern Worldwide,November 2009.

KWASSOC email:katubahouse@zamtel.zm

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7. HOW MARGINAL WOMENFARMERS SUCCESSFULLYORGANISED IN LIBERIA: WOMEN FOR DEVELOPMENT GROUPS Liberia’s first ‘Women for Development’ group was formed in 2006 by 17 people – 13 vulnerable women and4 men in the town of Konia in Zorzor district, Lofa County. The group’s leader Ms. Malay Mulbah, says afterLiberia’s civil war in 2003 it was difficult to rebuild their lives as most of their husbands had died in the war.

Starting out They started out by using individual small back yard gardens to grow assorted vegetables such as potatogreens, bitter balls and hot pepper to sell and earn a small income to support their families. In 2006 theywere approached through NGO Concern Worldwide and asked what they wanted to do. They were keen tomake more money through making their gardens bigger. Concern Worldwide asked them to form into agroup and choose a name. The women chose the name ‘Women for Development’ for their group becausethey wanted a name that reflected their desire to do something on their own and earn respect.

After the group was formed, it decided on the rules that members would adhere to, and they also electedleaders from among members. They resolved to farm together one day a week – Saturday. The rules coveredmatters such as the times of group activity training, how to share the work, the harvest and the profit. lt wasagreed that if anyone was absent on the working day, her portion would be left to do later. Malay Mullbahhighlighted how well it was working as a group because the flexibility helps to overcome, at least to somedegree, the lack of time that woman marginal farmers have for group activity.

Successful interventions When the group first started to work on the project they received some cutlasses, wheelbarrows, wateringcans and other tools. They also received some pineapple and cassava sticks to plant. Concern Worldwidealso provided US$217 at the end of 2006. They used this money to buy 20kg of peanuts and 10kg of beanswhich they planted in their garden.

From the garden, the group harvested 40 bags of peanuts and 4 bags (200kg in total) of beans in 2007.Members decided to sell 20 bags of peanuts and 180kg of beans, and to keep 20 bags of the peanuts and20kg of beans. Each member was given a small amount of the proceeds, and the balance was put into akerosene business and a used clothes business. In 2008 some of the proceeds from the sales were usedto pay school tuition for members’ children and to pay hospital bills of sick family members.

Women's Land Link AfricaKatuba Women's Association is a member of Women's Land Link Africa. They work with regional women's groups to secureand maintain women's tenure of land and property through local-to-local dialogues with local leaders and authorities.Watchdog groups raise awareness and generate community action in times of evictions. Trained volunteers serve as paralegalsto settle land and housing disputes.

“Grassroots women's groups have had considerable success in securing and maintaining women's tenure over land andproperty through local-to-local dialogues held with local leaders and authorities, established watchdog groups that raiseawareness and community action in times of unjust evictions..... protecting women's rights to land and property”, says Women'sLand Link Africa.

Source: http://www.wllaweb.org

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ChallengesBut there were problems along the way. Malay Mulbah relays some of the difficulties they had: “Some of thegroup members wanted us to divide all the money among ourselves and to forget about the project […] Wedid not agree on this so they felt bad and dropped out, and only 10 members remained.” However, oncepeople started to see the benefits of the project many of the people who dropped out wanted to re-join thegroup. Now, many more people are interested in joining the group because they can see the success of thegroup. The group are keen to stress that their focus is on long term benefits – as Malay Mullbah states: “Westand for development.”

Concern Worldwide staff also noticed the challenges of maintaining membership ingroups – programme staff highlighted that a number of people drop out in the first yearfor a number of reasons including that people get demotivated when they don’t seeimmediate benefits or they get bored with the group effort. However, by the second yearmembers of the community start to see the benefit of group work and membership oftenincreases.

Whilst a majority of the membership are women, there are cases where the group hasbeen ‘taken over’ by the interests of men. In particular this has happened where men areemployed to run mechanised food processing equipment such as rice mills. In thesecases, support may be needed in order to help intervene and work with the community tore-organise the group and re-explain roles through setting up community meetings andfocus group discussions. These issues highlight that continued monitoring and support ischallenging but essential.

Another key challenge is trying to keep group cohesion. The size of the group is animportant factor and Concern Worldwide Liberia found that it is much more problematicto reach decisions in bigger groups. For example, whilst one large group with over 40women members achieved positive results, they found it difficult to coordinate meetingsand to get people together to work at the same time or for training. Eventually theydecided to split into two smaller groups to make it easier.

Group cohesion and the success of a group can also often depend on leadership – manyof the weaker groups in Liberia also had weaker leadership. Support is often needed toprovide leadership training and support to help re-structure the group if necessary.

Women for Development groups By late 2009, there were 26 ‘Women for Development’ groups in Liberia, 25 in Lofa and one in Grand Bassa.All of these groups have been formed since 2006. Whilst the groups do include male members, men onlyconstitute a small minority of membership. The number of members in a group varies from 10 to 25 people,depending on the size of a community. Some groups were self-formed and helped by Concern. In othercases Concern initiated the formation of the groups during community mobilization work.

There are also two additional women’s groups in Lofa that operate “grain banks”. They purchase rice andpalm oil when the price is low, and store it until the lean season (June to August in Liberia) when they sellthe produce in the local market, achieving a margin of around 10-15 percent. This is also a way of combatingthe prices imposed by middlemen, which can be 40 percent higher during the lean season.

Each group has a chairperson, secretary and treasurer – all elected by the group’s members. There are nomale leaders, though they can sometimes be the part of the group and, in theory, they could be elected.

Lessons learned This success story from Liberia demonstrates that with a little help, marginalised women can work hardtogether to achieve real differences to their livelihoods – even in difficult contexts. By defining their owngoals, work plan, constitutions and training needs, it allows greater buy-in from the community and ensuresthat all activities and plans really suit the needs of women marginal farmers.

Further to this it shows the need for groups to persevere in their activities and receive continuous and longterm support – benefits may not always be immediately apparent but longer term engagement and supportbrings real benefits and can play a role in redressing power struggles and redefining gender roles andresponsibilities.

THIS SUCCESS STORYDEMONSTRATES THATMARGINALISED WOMEN CANWORK HARD TOGETHER TOACHIEVE REAL DIFFERENCESTO THEIR LIVELIHOODS

Sources:

E-mail correspondencewith Zlatan Celebic,November and December2009.zlatan.celebic@concern.net

Case study: A successstory of a group ofvulnerable women,Concern Liberia, VWGcase study, Lofa;September 2008.

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8. IT IS WORKING –FURTHER EXAMPLES

“It is working”A paper by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, “Are farmers’ organizations a good tool to improve small-scalefarmers’ welfare?” concludes that farmers’ organizations are a good tool to enhance small-scale farmers’ welfare. Andthat for this reason, supporting farmers’ organizations is an efficient policy to reduce poverty among small-scalefarmers, and these efforts should be strengthened.

But the paper says that there are questions that still need to be addressed to give policy makers more detailed policyadvice on how to best support of farmers’ organizations, “beyond the fact that it is working”.

See http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=44649&em=291009?=agric

The Nigeria Women in Agriculture (WIA) programmeThis programme came into being to address the problem that extension services focused on men and their farmproduction needs. Through a participatory, learning-by-doing approach, it has succeeded in

• giving women a voice in the national policy reform process• integrating women into mainstream agricultural extension and development initiatives in their localities.

Because of the shortage of women trained in agriculture, existing home economics agents have been retrained tobecome WIA agents. The formation of WIA farmer groups has

• facilitated the dissemination of agricultural innovations• provided women farmers with better access to farm inputs and credit than they would have had as individuals.

Assisted by WIA agents, women now participate through these groups in all aspects of sub-projects, from identificationto planning and implementation.

The project was a collaborative program with initial funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).Some World Bank-funded projects and loans were modified to support the program.

For details go to http://go.worldbank.org/PBWR3XGVW0

9. REACHING MARGINAL WOMENFARMERS: PRACTICAL STEPS THATBUILD ON KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS

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The most critical element for success of women marginal farmer groups is sound organisation. As these casestudies demonstrate, good organisation can give groups more strength, influence and confidence. Outlinedbelow are five steps that emerge from the case studies as key to supporting and organising women marginalfarmers.

1. Take the lead from women marginal farmers themselves inhelping build their networks and groups This should involve supporting women’s groups that already exist. In many places, womenmay have informal or formal networks and groups that should be built upon. Where nogroupings exist, self-help groups can be suggested but these should revolve around selfdefined interests and needs. In order to support women marginal farmers an in depthknowledge and understanding of the context is necessary and several meetings and visitsover a period of time may be necessary.

The experience of India’s Ahmadabad, Gujarat-based Self Employed Women’sAssociation (SEWA) has some pointers.

SEWA has organised marginal women farmers into village level women farmers groups. Itsays that its experience in organising agriculture workers to build their own associations,“has underscored that different approaches and interventions must be developedaccording to context-specific needs and issues. Also, a holistic and integrated approachto agriculture development must be comprised of technical trainings, introduction ofappropriate technology, and natural resource development through watershed activities”.

SEWA has found that sustainable development depends on understanding the elementsthat fuel poverty; it works with women to address their vulnerability through asset building,capacity building organising for collective strength, and social protection.

As SEWA notes, landless women need to be organised into co-operatives to avail ofexisting government schemes for land development and the creation of fodder farms and pasture land. Landallotted in the women’s own name or in the name of her women’s co-operative is used more effectively. Suchgroups can construct water harvesting, storage, and irrigation structures to revive wasteland. The affect istwo-fold: it regenerates natural resources, thus reducing soil erosion and desertification. And it providessupplementary income, fodder, food grains, and vegetables for the women.

Focusing on working with women marginal farmers to support their groups or to help them build their owngroups will foster a sense of ownership. This is vital to the success of groups (as demonstrated in thesuccess of the Alternative Extension System’s Self Help Groups and Farmer Field Schools). This sense ofownership has also been a key element of success in Zambia where women retain ownership of their groupwhile being part of a larger grouping. Furthermore, SEWA has found that land is used more effectively if theland is in a woman’s own name or in the name of her women’s co-operative.

Also, a thorough understanding of the context (based on taking the lead from women marginal farmersthemselves) can support groups to seize opportunities and respond to threats. For example women marginalfarmers in Andhra Pradesh seized the opportunity to take land on lease from land owners, and the womenin West Kalimantan responded to the threat to their livelihood by mobilising with determination and militancyresulting in a successful outcome.

FOCUSING ON WORKINGWITH WOMEN MARGINALFARMERS TO SUPPORTTHEIR GROUPS WILLFOSTER A SENSE OFOWNERSHIP

Source:

The ConstructiveStruggle of SEWA’sSmall and MarginalFarmers.

http://www.sewaresearch.org/books3.htm

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2. Promote alliances and external linksWhilst it is vital that groups have a sense of ownership and independence, the right kind of outsideassistance can be a major factor in the success of projects. For example, the case studies of the sanghamsin Andhra Pradesh, the struggles in West Kalimantan, the Alternative Extension System in Uttar Pradesh andKatuba Women's Association in Zambia, all demonstrate that sensitive, well-directed help (personal,organisational and financial) can be the spark that helps develop organisations that change lives.

In some cases it may be useful to link up with larger organisations. For example, Katuba Women’s Associationbenefited from maintaining a sense of ownership whilst having partnerships with larger organisations – theybenefited from having increased power and influence by being part of a larger group or alliance.

3. Organise needs based training workshops and encourageregular meetingsTraining imparts knowledge, skill and confidence to participants. Workshops need to becarefully organised, at times that are suitable for women marginal farmers. Womenmarginal farmers need to be involved in every aspect of the training, and have a sense ofownership. Sessions need to be relatively short, succinct and needs-based, in the fieldrather than in the classroom. If too long, women may be deterred: four to five hours maybe long enough. A workshop needs to be followed up by on-farmer visits by theworkshop’s organisers. Other capacity-building initiatives could also be organised.

In particular, training should be provided to support good leadership skills. Goodleadership is a common element of success in all the case studies and plays a vital role inkeeping the group working together effectively. As these case studies show there aredifferent models of leadership that can be built upon depending on the context – forexample, leadership can be joint as in the West Kalimantan study, and it can come fromdedicated individuals, as in the case of Liberia’s Women for Development groups. It canalso be a combination of both.

Further to training, it is important that regular meetings are held. Meetings are better ifthey are not just between group members but also at village-level and with NGOs andgovernment agencies. The experience of Women's Land Link Africa is that dialogue withlocal leaders and authorities pays off.

4. Be flexible and innovative by tailoring approach to specificcircumstances and needsIn order to reach women marginal farmers, support needs to address barriers to participation with flexibilityand innovation. For example, if a group of women marginal farmers decides to form an organisation they canbe advised not to charge membership fees in order that no-one is excluded. If women marginal farmers wantto join an existing organisation there may be modest fees. But existing organisations should be flexible andensure that lack of money does not bar anyone. The Zimbabwe Farmers Union, 80 percent of whosemembers are women, told Concern Worldwide that fees may be waived for a woman with no money12.

There may also be other ways to address the barrier of joining fees – for example if a village has a savingsand lending bank, it can be advised to lend the fee to women without collateral. Other steps also includesupporting women who have money to lend the necessary fees to those without it – for example, if awomen’s group is running successfully they may use a little part of the extra income from the group activitiesto subsidise the membership of a women marginal farmer who does not have the money to cover themembership fee. This would allow women marginal farmers to be included in activities with the view that aftertheir inclusion in the group they would have enough money to pay membership fee later. A donor could alsoconsider loaning a small amount to cover the membership fees of women marginal farmers

Further to flexibility over joining fees, it is also vital that there is flexibility over the times when marginalwomen carry out their group farming – as demonstrated by Liberia’s Women for Development initiative. Thereis also need for flexibility over approaches and interventions: these must be developed according to specificcircumstances and needs. The success of the Alternative Extension System in Uttar Pradesh demonstratesthe importance of innovation in developing approaches according to specific circumstances and needs.

Finally, in view of the contribution that women marginal farmers make to food production, it is important thatthere is some flexibility in the prices they pay for inputs – women marginal farmers should be able to accessinputs at prices they can afford.

GOOD LEADERSHIP IS ACOMMON ELEMENT OFSUCCESS IN ALL THE CASESTUDIES AND PLAYS AVITAL ROLE IN KEEPING THEGROUP WORKING TOGETHER

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5. Recognise, support and hear voices of women marginalfarmersSupport should be given to women’s groups to engage in decision making processeswithin their community and at every level of government. Where women are given avoice within their own communities and with local authorities it is clear that they havesignificant impact – as demonstrated in the case study from Indonesia where womenplayed a vital role in community negotiations with a palm oil plantation and districtgovernment in order to safeguard their land and their livelihoods. Supporting women toincrease their voice within their communities and with government at all levels is key tohelping women marginal farmers to achieve their goals.

Other actors and support mechanisms such as NGOs also have a role to play inensuring that government policy listens to the voices of women marginal farmers.Government should recognise women marginal farmers as fully fledged farmers innational agricultural policies. The policies should contain clear operational guidelines inrelation to women farmers. This should include more sensitivity to their needs andpotential, the training of more women as extension workers, and greater recognition oftheir contribution. Building the capacity of women marginal farmers to raise their issueswith government and policy makers at various levels (community, district, national) iscrucial to this.

INCREASING THEIR VOICEWITHIN THEIR COMMUNITIESAND WITH GOVERNMENTISKEY TO HELPING WOMENMARGINAL FARMERSACHIEVE THEIR GOALS.

Christina Mlelewa, 89, walking through thevillage near her house. She is one of the oldestinhabitants of the village. She still grows her ownmaize and works as a labourer on other farms. M

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Kuukaraa, Cornelius.Viable Strategies for Reaching Women Farmers by the AgriculturalTraining Colleges in Ghana. M.A. Thesis: University of Professional Education,Deventer, Netherlands. 2004.

Brasier, Kathryn., Trauger, Amy., Barbercheck, Mary., Kiernan, Nancy Ellen. and Sachs,Carolyn. She's Not a Real Farmer: Extension Educator's Interactions with WomenFarmers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society,Radisson Hotel-Manchester, Manchester, New Hampshire, July 28, 2008:<http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p254812_index.html>

Rebecca Kent et al, 2009, Women Marginal Farmers Speak Out: A Zambian CaseStudy, London: Concern Worldwide

ENDNOTES

FURTHER READING

1. Rebecca Kent et al, 2009, Women Marginal Farmers Speak Out: A Zambian CaseStudy, London: Concern Worldwide

2. Zambia National Farmers Union website: http://www.znfu.org.zm/

3. Based on a conversation between Berean Mukwende (Second Vice President ofZimbabwe Farmers Union), and Mairi MacRae (Concern Worldwide), November2009

4. SEWA website: http://www.sewa.org/

5. Unheard Voices. page 18, 2009. Concern Worldwide, London

6. See, for example, “Invisible Partners” in Voices for change: Rural women andcommunication, FAO, Rome,http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/X2550E/X2550e02.htm

7. IFAD Agricultural Source book, 2008. IFAD, Rome.

8. See, for example, International Co-operative Information Centre, Topic 2 – Women'sPosition in Society & Coops. http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/icic/issues/gender/ilo-ica/module/topic-2.html. Also: “Women farmers: Environmental managers of theworld”, Janet Henshall Momse, United Nations University.http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu03pe/uu03pe07.htm

9. See Gender Mainstreaming training manual, UNDP, New York,http://www.energyandenvironment.undp.org/undp/indexAction.cfm?module=Library&action=GetFile&DocumentAttachmentID=2368

10. See, for example, Institutional and Cultural Information in “Watershed managementfield manual”, FAO Rome, http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/T0165E/t0165e06.htm.See also Unheard Voices. Women Marginal Farmers Speak out: A Zambian CaseStudy. 2009, London: Concern Worldwide

11. Bunding: area within a structure designed to prevent inundation or breaches ofvarious types.

12. Based on a conversation between Berean Mukwende (Second Vice President ofZimbabwe Farmers Union), and Mairi MacRae (Concern Worldwide), November2009

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