Refocusing on community experiences for wider applicability and engagement
Due to male out-migration from rural communities, women are increasingly managing farming tasks. Female-headed households face new patterns of vulnerability, which need to be addressed through open dialogue in order to improve their resilience to climate change.
Stephanie Leder from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has developed a participatory tool to address this problem – a gender training manual entitled ‘Participatory gender training for community groups’. The training manual was co-developed by researchers, field staff and farmers under the Improving dry season irrigation for marginal and tenant farmers (DSI4MTF) project, which is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
The activities and discussions within the manual arose from science-based learning theories, with the intent of radically flattening the prevailing top-down communication structures. The manual is designed to be culturally grounded and regionally adaptable, while also enabling a transformative experience for participants. Training participants reflect on their perceptions of sons and daughters, critically review the roles and expectations on men and women when it comes to agricultural and domestic tasks, and develop bargaining skills that can be used to address unforeseen scenarios after the training.
This manual can be used by any community mobilizer, staff member of nongovernmental organization (NGO) or researcher who wants to hold a discussion with rural community members, or even fellow colleagues, on gender norms, roles and relations. An accompanying video, interactive webpage and webinar will be released in the coming weeks.