By: Soma Chakrabarti
In
the International Year of Family Farming, we have been looking beyond
communities and putting households at the heart of change. Last week in Malawi
a workshop showed community outreach workers
from government and civil society how to use ‘household methodologies’ to
improve the lives of all members of rural households, which includes improving
their ability to cope with climate change.
The
household methodologies approach is an
exciting perspective that attempts to tackle the ‘black box’ of intra-household
dynamics. With support from the Government of Japan, IFAD has been pioneering this
approach with impressive results. At its heart is an effort to
better understand the different roles of women and men, girls and boys in the
household, and support a move beyond limiting gender
stereotypes to achieve household goals. The use of drawing
and images means that literacy is no obstacle to full ownership by all
household members.
Workshop participants
explored the intersectionality of gender and climate change issues at the
household level and got to know practical tools to support their work. “I
would like to link Household Methodologies to climate change resilience issues,”
said Frieda Kayuni, Deputy Director of Agricultural Gender Roles and Support
Services (AGRESS) in the Ministry of Agriculture.
The
first three days focused on sharing the benefits, experiences and key tools of
household methodologies, and climate change ‘teasers’ were shared throughout. Next,
a ‘Climate Change
and Gender Game’, originally developed by the Red Cross brought gender
differences in attitudes toward risks and trade-offs into sharp contrast, and
hinted at the implications of gender gaps in building household and community
resilience. After the cries,
frustrations and excitement had died down, the individual household winner emerged
as male and participants noted that the winning village had a very high
proportion of women prompting discussions about why this was so.
One
of the key findings from the game was that ‘women-headed households’ tended to favour
community resilience strategies alongside individual household ones. Participants also agreed that if women had
equal access to resources, as well as a greater voice they would not only be
less vulnerable to climate-related shocks but could also make useful
contributions to improving community resilience.
A
field visit to Chikwawa District gave participants insights into the
differentiated experiences of household members living with climate change and
their current coping strategies. This experience
was consolidated with a review of possible questions that frontline extension
workers could use at each stage of the household approach to help households
move from ‘coping strategies’ to building their longer-term ‘adaptive
capacities’. Key resources were also presented,
such as an FAO/CCAFS training guide to field research with a gender and climate
and CARE’s Capacities and Vulnerabilities Framework, as well as OXFAM’s recent
publication on climate change and Malawi - alongside relevant national policies. One of
the participants’ main ‘take-home’ messages was the link between climate change
and gender at the household level.
What
people are saying…
"We would like to integrate
Household Methodologies with a climate and gender lens in our Community
Development and Social Work Programme
curricula at Magomero College. The College Trains about 150 community
development workers every year, recruited from Government (80%) and NGOs (20%).
Graduates work at the community level and are the Government contact persons
for community initiatives to improve livelihoods through a range of
approaches." Ronald Phiri, Acting Director of Community Development.
“We
can’t think of nutrition and food security without thinking about climate
change.” Prince Shaibu, Agricultural Gender Roles Extension Support Services Officer,
Nsanje District.
IFAD expects to launch a new project in Malawi,
building on the Irrigation,
Rural Livelihoods and Development Project (IRLADP) and incorporating a climate focus with the support of ASAP (Adaptation
for Smallholder Agriculture Programme).