From new business opportunities to women’s empowerment
and sustainable natural resource management: A journey across Nepali good
practices
By Tanya Lutvey, PROCASUR; tlutvey@procasur.org
In December 2014, 20 participants from 9 countries, and
PROCASUR's team traveled across Nepal for 8 days. With the crucial support of
the hosts - the Leasehold Forestry and
Livestock Programme (LFLP), the Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF), and the Nepal
Agricultural Co-operative Central Federation Ltd (NACCFL) – as well as the
technical support garnered from the IFAD Gender Desk during the design,
implementation and follow up of the Learning Route (LR), participants learnt of
experiences in the districts of Chitwan and Kapilvastu, which are successfully
generating new income-generating opportunities through women-led Private-Public
Producers Partnerships (4Ps).
The eager practitioners had the opportunity to
experience how the leadership role of women in the establishment and management
of 4P's including Saving and Credit Groups (SCGs), as well as the involvement
of Dalit, Janajati and other socially marginalised groups, have been crucial
factors in their success; these Nepali women have gained increased recognition
and respect at community level, mainly through their role in household
decision-making and their improved position as SCGs leaders.
Our adventure was kicked off in Kathmandu, by WOCAN
representative Dibya Gurung who gave us the ins and outs of the present situation
for Nepali women ‘an invisible force to be reckoned with’. According to Ms
Gurung, increased opportunities in income generation
has given more opportunities for rural women in Nepal (75% of Nepali women are
engaged in agricultural activities) while men’s support of women’s leadership
is increasing, particularly among younger husbands and male youths providing an
opportunity to encourage women’s advancement as leaders in the community and
the family.
Eight days later, after various field visits to
the host communities of Bijuwa, Devitar and Khaireni Parsha, group discussions
and analyses the participants were able to glean a number of meaningful lessons
under three interconnected areas of learning, including; gender equality and women’s
empowerment, rural institutions and natural resource management. Aside from
the structured learning, participants were able to engage with ideas and
strategize in an informal setting – a regular (and necessary) ingredient in the
LR recipe.
Andrew Mwaura from the Department of Social
Development, Kenya, shared his learning with the
group; ‘Social mobilisation has been the biggest key for the successes
we have seen. They (social mobilisers) need to be the female members of the
household. Even after the project is over, the social mobiliser will still be
there, in the field. That is how we trigger motivation.’ Ripa Shanjida from
Bangladesh added; 'if you have an educated mother you have an educated nation'.
The Learning Route was concluded with the sharing of
proposed Innovation Plans by the participants grouped by projects, country
groups or individually. Each group/individual prepared an action plan based on
the lessons learned from the three host cases during the eight day Learning
Route journey. Of the 20 participants, 11 action plans for either women-led
businesses or woman-focussed community organisations were presented on a wide
range of topics including fruit preservation, organic honey production,
empowering pastoralist women in decision making bodies and saving and credit
groups for women. Participants were able to leave the LR with the constructive
guidance necessary to finalise their plans in consultation with their own
organisations. Participants had until January 15th to submit their
finalised Innovation Plans in order to take part in a contest that will award
the top 5 plans with $2500 USD in start-up capital. Watch this space for announcement
of the winners!
Oh, and our Learning Route was
packed so full of excitement that our closing ceremony was held on the tarmac
of Bijuwa Airport! In keeping with the Learning Route spirit, it was excitement
down to the very last minute! For more insights and learning route contents
please visit: http://asia.procasur.org/women-empowerment-new-business-and-sustainable-nrm-in-nepal-2014/
More blogs on the Learning Route to come!
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