The Critical Role of Women in Agricultural Development

(This research paper was presented at the 7th International Conference on Integration of Science and Technology for Sustainable Development last November 26, 2018 in Bali, Indonesia.)

Abstract

Around 30% of the rural population of Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines belongs to poor farming families. Most of them struggle to meet their basic needs. The situation of the women farmers, in particular, is harder despite their contribution to rural economic growth. Their role is not visible, and their contribution is undervalued. Because of this, most of them lack confidence, unable to harness their potentials in agricultural development.

To address this challenge, the Women Empowerment Movement- Rural Improvement Club (WEMRIC) launched a women empowerment program that seeks to improve the living conditions of the rural women by increasing income level, savings, livelihood opportunities, decision-making capacity, as well as changing gender relation in the area. The provincial government of Zamboanga del Sur and other agencies have provided support to the program.

The program includes a series of activities, like women’s forums, livelihood skills training, enterprise development training, farm tools dispersal, legal aid assistance, a celebration of the women's month thru dance competitions, among others. To further equip them in improving their livelihood, WEMRIC provided them with financial assistance and opened retail outlets wherein they could sell their products,  which are outputs of the program.

Overall, the women improvement program of WEMRIC has shown a great deal of success. A total of 31 social enterprises were established, benefitting around 2000 rural women. The program has improved the living conditions of their families due to increased family earnings. The increased income and enhanced self-confidence have boosted the decision-making capacity of the women beneficiaries. Thus, aside from material development in the form of improvement of food intake and other amenities of life, the program also resulted in non-tangible changes in the lives of women and their families. This initiative shows that if only the rural women are economically empowered, they can make a difference in their communities. This fact highlights the critical role of women in agricultural development.

1.    Introduction

1.1   Backgrounder

In the province of Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines, the rural women, just like in other parts of the country, had a difficult situation. Most of them belong to poor farming families who struggle to meet their basic needs. Most of their families earn below the poverty threshold set by the national government at around $172 for a family of five. Secondly, the role of women is not visible, as people often see their role as a mere adjunct to that of men. Thus, their contribution to the economy is undervalued. Because of this challenging situation, most of them lack confidence and unable to harness their potentials in agricultural development.

In this backdrop, the Women Empowerment Movement- Rural Improvement Club (WEMRIC) of Zamboanga del Sur took up the cudgels to address this challenge facing the rural women. WEMRIC launched a program in 2015, focusing on building the economic independence and capacity of women beneficiaries through vocational/ technical seminars and mentorship. This capacity development initiative was expected to increase livelihood opportunity, income level, savings, and decision capacity of the women, as well as change the gender relations in the area. The US Secretary’s Office on Global Women’s Issues (USGWI), the Provincial Government of Zamboanga del Sur, and other government agencies provided support to the initiative. They provided varied support in terms of funds, training facilities, and trainers. In its third year of implementation, the initiative can now show verifiable outcomes that highlight the critical role of women in agricultural development. 

1.2   Significance of this study

This study primarily aimed to assess the level of economic independence and capacity development of the women beneficiaries as an outcome of the initiative of WEMRIC. The results of this study will provide feedback to the present leadership of WEMRIC, guiding them on how to improve the initiative. It will provide them information on the strengths and weaknesses of the project, from where they can learn lessons. This study will be their guide on how to continue building up the capacity of the rural women of Zamboanga del Sur.

Secondly, this study will inform all agencies that provided support to WEMRIC. Given the principles of transparency and accountability, this study will inform them about the results of their assistance to the organization. This information will be their basis to keep trusting the WEMRIC and continue supporting its initiatives.

Lastly, this study will also inform other women groups that also conduct a similar program that they may also learn from the lessons of WEMRIC out of this program. These lessons may help them improve an existing program or may guide them to initiate a similar program. This study may also be used as project-related literature or reference material that other women groups can use in their studies.

1.3   Literature Review

The consensus meaning of women empowerment has since been evolving, therefore being defined and redefined with the attempt to bring clarity to the concept. Women empowerment has been viewed from culture to culture, from region to region. It has a large number of indicators of what it is that vary depending on the specific context. In the urban setting, people view it as the advocacy of women groups for reproductive health and equality in the workplace. In the rural setting, such as in Zamboanga del Sur, people view it as the initiative for economic independence and capacity development. What is common, though, is its reference to gender equality and equity which seems very vital to women empowerment and its ultimate goal. All these indicators, advocacies and initiatives are all the various steps in clarifying and bringing up women empowerment in varying contexts.

Because of this evolving definition of women empowerment and its large number of indicators, measuring it is a challenge and should be based on the specific context. The UNDP came up with the General Inequality Index in 2010, “a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment, and the labor market." GII takes into account and portrays the disadvantages faced by women and girls in these three fundamental aspects of human existence, and thus “better expose differences in the distribution of achievements between women and men” (UNDP 2010).  The GII may help provide the basis of putting in place intervention for women empowerment, but it does not yet reveal the invisible, hidden, and undescribed dimensions of empowerment and women’s daily life. Because of this, this study seeks to focus on bringing clarity the concept of women empowerment from the eyes of the women beneficiaries of the WEMRIC program.

2.    Methods

           

This study was prepared based mainly on the primary source of information collected through in-depth interviews with 19 women. An interview checklist was used to guide the interview and collect data. This checklist enabled the researcher to probe and clarify missing information from the respondents. Consequently, these in-depth interviews were used to write case studies about the best practices of the 19 women respondents.

Secondary sources of data were also used in this study, such as books, journals, and publications on women empowerment. The works of literature available on internet websites were another source of information to gather secondary data.

A checklist with semi-structured questions was also used for group interviews to collect information from 30 key informants. The objectives of the study guided the semi structured questions. The checklist was used to collect additional qualitative data meant to clarify the issues and viewpoints of the respondents. Moreover, another source of primary data during visits and discussions with the project beneficiaries were the researchers own observations. Training reports and evaluation reports were also gathered to support the abovementioned qualitative data with quantitative data.

The primary data was compiled and tabulated systematically with the Microsoft Excel sheet. The data was separated based on its nature and classified according to the related information. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis approaches were applied to present the data in this study. During the analysis of data, tables were used to present the data, and qualitative information was presented descriptively. Finally, the analysis of the findings was interpreted.

3.    Findings

As stated earlier, this study aimed to assess the increased level of economic independence and capacity development of the women beneficiaries as an outcome of the initiative of WEMRIC. This increased level was evident in the attainment of the following initiative outputs and outcomes, proving the success of its implementation.

Firstly, male and female farmers have increased awareness of their roles for productive participation in sustainable agriculture. After two and a half years of implementation, the project has reached a total of 1,959 individuals (1,810 women and 149 men), who have gained additional knowledge and skills through agribusiness-related seminars and mentoring sessions. WEMRIC trained farmer leaders from across the province on sustainable agriculture; they, in turn, re-echoed their learnings to the farmers in their respective communities through roll-out sessions. These seminars and mentoring sessions have enabled them to better understand their roles in agricultural development, as well as the importance of sustainable agricultural practices to the livelihoods, food security and overall health and well-being of the family and community.

In addition to the new awareness of their role in sustainable agriculture participation, the women also received agricultural inputs and personal protective equipment (PPE) that ensured their occupational health and safety. WEMRIC also gave them gloves, boots, and native hats. They received a total of 719 sets of PPEs which varied depending on the enterprise the beneficiaries were part. For example, enterprises producing food products such as coco sugar, herbal tea, and cassava cake received PPE sets consisting of an apron, facemask, and hairnet. Lately, ten women farmers of organic vegetables received gardening tools.

Secondly, WEMRIC established a total of 31 livelihood and agri-enterprise projects with financial and material support and technical assistance from USGWI, partner government agencies, and local government units. Managed by the women beneficiaries themselves, these agri-enterprise projects include swine breeding and dispersal of native chicken; organic vegetable growing, herbal tea production; meat processing; coco sugar production; chili and ginger farming and processing, to name a few.  In addition to technical training and agricultural inputs support, women enterprise managers and bookkeepers also received seminars on financial management and business planning. Each enterprise drafted a business plan.

26 of the 31 agri-enterprises are in various stages of operations. Some have started to earn income and are making a positive impact on the lives of rural women and their families, while others are still struggling. Different measures were adopted throughout the project period to address issues and implementation challenges faced by the organizations. Unfortunately, four enterprises (duck egg and honey production) had to discontinue operations due to poor management practices and climate-related issues.

Lastly, the women beneficiaries of this initiative are now better informed and equipped on how to harness knowledge and technology from different government agencies and partners. In groups, they are initiating visits to agri-centers of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in order to avail of possible technical assistance and agricultural inputs and to improve their production. So far, 251 women beneficiaries have accessed various programs of the following agri-centers. The Mahayag Livestock Breeding Center dispersed native chicken to 60 women. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) provided seaweed technical and input assistance to ten women and technical assistance on grouper production to seven women and six men. The Dumalinao Swine Breeding Center gave planting materials for natural feed formulation to 16 women. The Betinan Agri Research Center provided mushroom spawn and technical assistance to 30 women and planting materials for adlai and banana to ten women.  The Department of Agriculture Regional Office gave technical assistance on swine production to 18 women and online coaching on chili and ginger production to 24 women. The Small Ruminants Research and Development Center gave planting materials for feeds of ruminants to 44 women.   Lastly, the Regional Crop Protection Center gave biocontrol agents to 22 women). The strong commitment and support of these partner agencies have allowed this initiative to reach many women farmers, enhancing their access to technology and innovation.

4.    Discussion

4.1   Effects of Skills Development

As stated above, this initiative is providing skill development training to women in the rural areas of the province of Zamboanga del Sur. It is breaking the social traditions whereby women were confined to household walls and were hardly contributing to the agricultural development of their locality. Most of the women beneficiaries are now earning additional income, though in varying amounts depending on the enterprise and their role in the enterprise which they are part.  Their additional monthly income ranges from $76 to $285, not bad compared to having nothing to contribute to the family income. This project has given a new dimension of hope to the lives of these women who now can apply their skills. This initiative has thus empowered them with a toolset of skills and has given them a path towards becoming an active contributor to agricultural development.

Given the benefits of being trained and working for economic gains, all the interview respondents among the women beneficiaries felt proud of being economically productive. The married respondents were happy as they supplemented the income of their husbands. Consequently, they were able to meet the financial needs for better education, health, and a balanced diet of their children. The unmarried respondents also indicated that they felt proud that they were able to contribute some amount to the needs of their family. Some of them took charge of the school expenses of their siblings, and some saved money for emergency needs. In varying degrees, the respondents assumed a provider role to their families.

However, the effects of training also had a sort of downside for the women beneficiaries. It has generally been observed that when a homemaker starts working in an economically productive business, the burden she carries doubles. On the one hand, she has to take care of all household chores, and on the other hand, she has to spend time and energy in doing her duties and responsibilities in the social enterprise. This situation usually enhances pressure on her, and her working hours become longer than her counterparts who have not received training and are not economically active. Thus, it is important to measure or at least register the effects of receiving training in terms of workload, relationship with family especially husbands and some other problems that they might face after receiving training for economic benefits.

4.2   Decision-Making Capacity of Women

Decision making is a process in which one explores possibilities first until a resolution. The decision-making capacity of women on personal as well as social affairs at the household level is an essential indicator of empowerment of women and is used as one of the key yardsticks to gauge the level of empowerment. This indicator shows the self-confidence of women as well as the confidence of the family on the caliber of women. Not a few women beneficiaries revealed that they had better decision-making capacity after they had earned additional income. When they are no longer financially dependent on anyone, they are freer to make a decision. Being an economically productive and active contributor to community development has also given them the self-confidence to stand on their own feet. Having a supportive women's group has boosted their self-confidence further. They often attribute their decision-making capacity to their enhanced self-confidence. In other words, substantial economic changes have resulted in non-tangible changes in the lives of women that have further empowered them as productive members of society.

4.3   Practical Women Problems

In the course of the training program, practical issues facing women, that is violence against women and children (VAWC), cropped up that needed attention too. With their newfound confidence in being a productive member of society, they also found the courage to attend to this dehumanizing problem. Incidents of violence to women and children were usually not reported to the authorities because of fear, dependency, culture, and embarrassment. To capacitate the women in addressing these problems, WEMRIC has partnered with a group of volunteers composed of lawyers, law students, and social work students. Every once a month, they visit rural communities, conduct orientation on VAWC and legal remedies, and provide free legal consultations to both men and women. As an extended part of the WEMRIC activities, 13 community orientations on VAWC and legal aid have been conducted in 15 barangays in 3 municipalities, reaching a total of 1,245 individuals (252 men, 860 women, and 133 girls). These community orientations have raised the capacity of the women beneficiaries to attend to the VAWC problem. Fortunately, when the women banded together under this women empowerment initiative, they found strength and means to solve their common problems on domestic issues. Consequently, VAWC cases in Zamboanga del Sur has since reduced. 

4.4   Conclusion

Overall, the women empowerment program of WEMRIC has shown a great deal of success. It was able to build the economic independence and capacity of women beneficiaries, making them productive contributors to agricultural development. They have increased awareness of their roles for productive participation in sustainable agriculture. They have established several sustainable social enterprises. Lastly, they are now in a better position to harness knowledge and technology from government agencies and partners. Alongside these socio-economic gains, they feel proud and confident about becoming productive contributors to agricultural development, having enhanced their decision-making capacity, and being more prepared to address their domestic problems. Such is the concept of women empowerment from the eyes of WEMRIC women beneficiaries.

4.5   Recommendations

Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the following recommendations are made to improve the services of WEMRIC.

·         More men should be included in the WEMRIC seminars so that they may also understand and become more sensitive to the double burden of women on her traditional household chore and her duties and responsibilities at work if she becomes an active contributor to agricultural development.

·         Sharing of responsibilities in the household chores between men and women should be advocated.

·         WEMRIC should do more linkages and partnerships with government agencies and development assistance institutions in order to launch more women empowerment programs and projects.