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B5.05. Agriculture, Irrigation and Gender

Women play an important role in agricultural and rural economies all over the world. Access to knowledge, resources, and decision-making structures tends to be nevertheless dominated by men. This Tool provides entry points that focus on the integration of socioeconomic and gender issues in agricultural water management (AWM), irrigation, and irrigation technologies/resources — at the planning, operational, and policy levels; from small scales through sustainable intensification to agribusiness.

The Gender Gap in Agriculture

There is ample scientific and anecdotal evidence that in most parts of the world women make essential contributions to the rural economy (and in improving rural livelihoods) as farmers, producers, labourers, and entrepreneurs. However, it is also clear that they still do not have equal access to the resources and opportunities they need to be more productive, food secure and empowered in human, social, and economic terms. Despite the key role women play through their knowledge of crop production, local biodiversity, soils, and local water resources, they are often excluded from decision-making processes in new agricultural water management systems and other projects and initiatives on natural resources allocation.

The gender gap in agriculture means that women and men farmers have differential access to (and control of) land and agricultural assets, inputs and services (such as seeds, fertilizers, agrochemicals, and farming tools); to rural employment opportunities; to education; and to agricultural information, training and extension services, technology, credit and other financial services (FAO, 2011). This gender gap at various levels is further aggravated by the growing competition for water from different users and sectors, which makes it difficult for poor or marginalised people, especially women, to secure access to increasingly scarce resources such as water and land. The gender gap imposes significant costs on society, in terms of lost agricultural output, food security and economic growth. Which means that the case for integrating gender into projects is compelling from overlapping perspectives — from the standpoints of social justice, of the direct links between gender equality and poverty reduction, and of good business.

Agricultural Water Management and Gender

Until recently, the focus of agricultural water management (AWM) projects and programmes has kept revolving around technical and engineering matters. There is now ample consensus that AWM is essential to food security, but it also plays a fundamental role in building human capital in rural areas. Yet, not unfrequently, AWM design fails to recognize that women are water users and farmers in their own right. Only rarely resources are allocated to allow planners and project staff to have a better understanding of the social, economic, and institutional reality of the project area. These professionals may encounter difficulties in targeting women (for example, because of sociocultural norms), and therefore fail to recognize their agricultural work, or, more generally, their knowledge, tasks, needs and requirements in relation to water resources and agriculture water management.

Indicators for Measuring Gender Issues in AWM

Developing “water and gender” indicators are the first step in mainstreaming gender in AWM. Gathering gender-disaggregated data is key to developing effective actions at the beginning of a project and tracking progress as it is being implemented (Tool B5.01; Tool B5.02). During later stages of the project cycle, field research methods (in particular participatory methodologies) can be used that capture how men and women are taking up the existing opportunities, asset control, use and benefit utilisation; or that aim at identifying gender norms to support effective implementation of transformative gender equity policies, which are of great benefit. A common set of indicators that can be used in the gender context of AWM include:



Practical Approaches for Including Gender in AMW

There are several practical methodological guides that have been specifically developed for integrating gender into the agriculture sector. This includes, among others: