Women's Studies International Forum: Special Section on Latin American women’s farm land and communal forests
Women’s Studies International Forum: Special Section on Latin American women’s farm land and communal forests
06 February, 2018
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This Special Section of Women’s Studies International Forum, titled Latin American women’s farm land and communal forests, was guest edited by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry’s (FTA) former focal point Purabi Bose.
Women left on sidelines of decisions about forest management
Women left on sidelines of decisions about forest management
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A woman makes bread in a riverside community in Pando, Bolivia. Photo by Amy Duchelle/CIFOR
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A woman makes bread in a riverside community in Pando, Bolivia. Photo by Amy Duchelle/CIFOR
Firewood for fuel, fruits to feed their families, palm fiber for baskets, medicinal plants to heal their children — women in forest-dwelling communities in Latin America use a wide array of products from their farmland and forests in their daily tasks.
But when it comes to tenure rights to those forests or participation in decisions about their management, women are often left on the sidelines.
“Latin America’s land and forest tenure issues are marred with various social, legal and political complexities,” says social scientist Purabi Bose, former focal contact for the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). “And women bear the brunt of it, directly and indirectly.”
Although some countries have policies to address those problems, there remain obstacles to implementing them, Bose says.
That leaves women — especially rural and indigenous women — particularly vulnerable, according to studies from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua and Mexico. Those studies are part of a Special Issue of the Women’s Studies International Forum, of which Bose was guest editor.
The topic is drawing increasing attention since UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 specifically calls for countries to develop policies to strengthen land rights and land ownership for women.
“That goal provides a rallying point to bring these issues more into public debate, not as something sidelined as a ‘gender issue’, but as part of a set of sustainable development goals that all of these countries have agreed on,” says Anne Larson, a principal scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and coauthor of a study on women and forest tenure in Nicaragua that is part of the Special Issue.
Negotiators at global climate summits are increasingly recognizing the need to involve women, especially indigenous women, in decisions about programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).
A woman prepares fish, a main source of protein for Amazonian indigenous communities, in Nueva Ahuaypa, Peru. Photo by Juan Carlos Huayllapuma/CIFOR
CHALLENGES DIFFER FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY
In Latin America, the challenges take different forms in different countries, according to an overview paper by Bose, Larson and colleagues in the special issue.
In Colombia, where half of the 3 million people displaced during the country’s civil war are female, indigenous and Afro-Colombian women still suffer most from poverty and exclusion. Although women are beginning to receive land rights under recent legislation, true empowerment will require more support for women entrepreneurs in rural areas, researchers say.
Nicaragua has a larger percentage of women in congress than many other countries, but that empowerment has not trickled down to rural communities, where it is difficult for women to take leadership roles because of their household work load or because their husbands object, Larson says.
Survey respondents in Nicaragua agreed that women’s involvement in decisions about forest management was strongest within the household. They are also more likely to control the income from the forest products that they sell, such as fruits, herbs, honey or handicraft materials, than from timber, posts or firewood, which are mainly sold by men, her study found.
In Mexico, where nearly 86 percent of land titles were still held by men as of 2011, joint land titling remains a challenge, researchers found. Besides giving women land rights, joint titling would enable them to participate in community assemblies and hold elected positions in their communities.
Bolivia’s Gran Chaco region, in the country’s southeastern lowlands, is seeing changes in the land-tenure system as land and resources increasingly shift to production of cash crops and livestock.
That area is largely inhabited by Guaraní indigenous communities, and although communal property cannot be sold, there is an increasing possibility that land could become privatized in practice, if not legally, researchers say.
Because cash crops and cattle are generally controlled by men, that trend could leave women with the right to use land for subsistence agriculture, but no real control over land and resources.
“Gender inequality is worsened by women’s exclusion from access to the necessities of life,” Bose says.
“Household livelihoods remain suboptimal for women, while they continue to be excluded from making a full contribution to resource governance.”
International market demand that turned two Andean staples crops, quinoa and kañawa, into cash crops had a strong impact on Quechua women in the Bolivian highlands, the researchers found. As the crops became commodities, lack of land tenure rights excluded women from decisions about marketing those products.
Daily life in La Roya indigenous community, Peru. Photo by Juan Carlos Huayllapuma/CIFOR
Although women tried to form collectives to market value-added products, such as cakes and cookies, made from those crops, their lack land tenure made it difficult to establish formal enterprises.
When women do have access to land, the areas are often smaller than for men. That is the case in the Brazilian Amazon, where researchers found that women work areas averaging 25 hectares, compared to 60 hectares for men.
Deforestation and the expansion of industrial agriculture threaten those family farms, however, jeopardizing food security. In some areas, participation in collective microenterprises has empowered women, giving them greater technical skills for forest and crop management.
POLICIES MUST TARGET WOMEN
The studies reported in the Special Issue point to a need for policies that actually make a difference for women, Bose says.
“Policymakers never discuss the criteria for successful policies,” she says. “These studies identify loopholes in policies and, by doing so, identify ways of overcoming them.”
One common thread throughout the studies is the need for effective implementation of policies, Bose says.
“Providing a legal framework and creating new policies that recognize women’s rights to land is important, but not an end in itself,” she says. “Ensuring the implementation of these rules and policies is what is really critical for maximum impact.”
Because women’s access to land tenure can vary not just between countries but also within them, the studies reveal a need for more comparative analysis, Bose says.
Comparing women’s tenure rights in the Colombian Amazon to those of coffee farmers or Afro-Colombian women “would make it possible to identify whether and how one national policy influences the diversity of women’s roles and responsibilities in different landscapes,” Bose says.
Those factors could then be compared across countries to analyze regional trends.
That points to a need for researchers from different disciplines to be involved in studies in the field, Bose says.
“We need to listen more to the voices of rural and indigenous women,” she says. “I think it is the responsibility of researchers to tell these women’s story to the world.”
By Barbara Fraser, originally published by CIFOR’s Forests News.
Analysis of gender research on forest, tree and agroforestry value chains in Latin America
Analysis of gender research on forest, tree and agroforestry value chains in Latin America
11 January, 2018
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Latin America presents an important opportunity for research in gender and forest, tree and agroforestry (FTA) value chains due in part to the growth of its rural-urban interface, the region’s large expanses of existing forests, and the relatively limited research on gender and forestry themes in Latin America to date.
This paper seeks to analyze the principal themes and findings in the literature related to gender and FTA value chains in Latin America, and to provide recommendations for future areas of research. The analytical review focuses on literature from 2000 to 2017 and includes a total of 50 publications. Studies tend to analyze how the interplay of norms and policies can influence women’s and men’s benefits from participation in FTA value chains.
While a significant portion of the literature seeks to illuminate women’s contributions to FTA value chains, increased research on both women’s and men’s roles is necessary in order to understand gender dynamics along the chains. Additional research on gender equality impacts of women specific value chain interventions will also be important in order to assess opportunities and challenges for enhancing women’s empowerment in Latin America’s dynamic rural context.
Land tenure and forest rights of rural and indigenous women in Latin America: Empirical evidence
Land tenure and forest rights of rural and indigenous women in Latin America: Empirical evidence
24 November, 2017
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Latin America’s land-use and communal forests needs a better understanding through a lens of women. This research article aims to examine Latin America’s secured individual land tenure legal reforms and communal rights in indigenous territories. Two empirical case studies are presented to assess the current dynamics of rural women’s land title rights in coffee agroforestry under Colombia’s new Formalización Propiedad Rural program, and indigenous Quechua women’s communal forest land rights for indigenous foods like kañawa and quinoa farming in highland Bolivia. In doing so, it also gives an introduction to the five empirical research papers that are part of this Special Section edited by the author. The specific case studies are from the Brazilian Amazon, Bolivia’s Gran Chaco area, Nicaragua’s indigenous territories and two studies from Mexico – one from Oaxaca’s central valley and the other is based on smallholder farming in Calakmul rural area. In conclusion, the author discusses the need to prioritise women’s role in individual land rights and communal forest tenure in Latin American countries.
Research on Climate Change Policies and Rural Development in Latin America: Scope and Gaps
Research on Climate Change Policies and Rural Development in Latin America: Scope and Gaps
25 October, 2017
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Research on climate change policies can contribute to policy development by building an understanding of the barriers faced in policy processes, and by providing knowledge needed throughout policy cycles. This paper explores the thematic coverage of research on climate change policies related to rural areas, rural development, and natural resource management in Latin America. A three-tier framework is proposed to analyse the selected literature. The results show that research studies have focussed on the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from forests, and adaptations to climate change in agriculture. There is little policy research on other vulnerable sectors (e.g., water and health) and emitting sectors (e.g., energy and industry) in the context of rural development. Our analysis highlights the various research gaps that deserve increased scientific attention, including: cross-sector approaches, multi-level governance, and the stages of policy adoption, implementation and evaluation. In addition, the selected literature has a limited contribution to theoretical discussions in policy sciences.
Moving past tree planting, expanding our definition of forests and restoration
Moving past tree planting, expanding our definition of forests and restoration
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Peruvian law prohibits the logging of Brazil nut trees — but the forest around them has been cleared, affecting the amount of nuts they produce. Photo by M. Simola/CIFOR
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Peruvian law prohibits the logging of Brazil nut trees — but the forest around them has been cleared, affecting the amount of nuts they produce. Photo by M. Simola/CIFOR
Secondary forests are often neglected and overregulated in forest management. Recognizing and governing those spaces is essential for proper landscape restoration.
A group of experts on Latin American forests examined both the conservation and restoration of secondary forests from a variety of angles, including the ecological, political and social dimensions of such spaces.
Beginning with the premise that “secondary forest regrowth following agricultural land use represents a major component of human modified landscapes across the tropics”, the panel emphasized the essential role of secondary forests for humans living in proximity, as well as for restoration initiatives and international goals, such as the United Nations Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
REORIENTING
“Natural regeneration in secondary forests has been overlooked, and can be a restoration tool for large-scale initiatives,” said panelist and Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Principal Scientist Manuel Guariguata, whose work forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA).
Research carried out across the tropics over the last few decades unanimously agrees that these lands, which then start to host trees and shrubs and slowly attract birds and other wildlife on their path to maturity, are valuable in countering primary forest loss and as providers of ecosystem services. With proper management, they provide both timber and non-timber products to people nearby – thereby proffering both social and ecological rewards.
Improved governance for improved forests “would include the recognition that secondary forests are part of highly dynamic land-use systems that can and do change and unlikely to be managed either by a single government sector or scientific discipline,” he added.
IN STEERAGE
This complexity is evident in the myriad of ways secondary forests are engaged with and understood.
Guariguata urged for a multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach to improve restoration processes beyond tree planting to incorporate secondary forests.
“Often, because of definitional, technocratic issues, foresters may not see a secondary forest as such because they are looking at specific criteria, even though there may be plenty of trees in secondary forests. Agronomists are trained to look at soil and vegetation and also may not see a forest. But forest smallholders do both — and we shouldn’t overlook that,” Guariguata said in a later interview.
“Education and training at the university level also needs to enhance interdisciplinarity,” he added.
Secondary forests can naturally regenerate, and with this in mind, there is an argument for letting nature take its course, so to speak. Guariguata said, “There’s a lot of inherent resilience in secondary forests and we can harness that.”
“There is a tradeoff, as some of these forests have a central human component and require more effort, others don’t need interventions, but they need governing. The process needs steering.”
Evidence of selective logging, which has coexisted with Brazil nut production for a long time but is becoming more intense, is seen in Peru. Photo by M. Simola/CIFOR
STEPPING STONES
Offering examples that demonstrate the differing approaches to secondary forests and the issues involved, from Peru to Indonesia and Ethiopia to Mexico, Guariguata zeroed in on Mexico’s success with steering.
“Mexico is redrafting its Forest Code with a reassessment of their definition of secondary forest. Until 2014, the code restricted traditional harvesting of timber and non-timber forest products due to definitional issues of what is and is not a secondary forest. The revision will allow forest users to harvest products from young secondary forests without a permit,” Guariguata said.
At the opening of the panel discussion at ATBC, the moderator asked the audience: “Should secondary forest fragments be protected as conservation areas in regions with low forest cover and little primary forest remaining?”
The consensus was “yes,” and as the panel continued to discuss regenerating forests and their role in large-scale restoration initiatives and countries’ increasingly ambitious commitments to reforest degraded lands, the need for protection and proper management of such places became clearer and clearer.
These muddled yet vital spaces have a major role to play in forest landscape restoration, which, ultimately, means helping to mitigate the effects of climate change the world over.
By Deanna Ramsay, originally published at CIFOR’s Forests News.
For more information on this topic, please contact Manuel Guariguata at m.guariguata@cgiar.org.
Tropical fruit tree diversity: Good practices for in situ and on-farm conservation
Tropical fruit tree diversity: Good practices for in situ and on-farm conservation
26 July, 2017
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Farmers have developed a range of agricultural practices to sustainably use and maintain a wide diversity of crop species in many parts of the world. This book documents good practices innovated by farmers and collects key reviews on good practices from global experts, not only from the case study countries but also from Brazil, China and other parts of Asia and Latin America.
A good practice for diversity is defined as a system, organization or process that, over time and space, maintains, enhances and creates crop genetic diversity, and ensures its availability to and from farmers and other users. Drawing on experiences from a UNEP-GEF project on “Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wild and Cultivated Tropical Fruit Tree Diversity for Promoting Livelihoods, Food Security and Ecosystem Services”, with case studies from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, the authors show how methods for identifying good practices are still evolving and challenges in scaling-up remain.
They identify key principles effective as a strategy for mainstreaming good practice into development efforts. Few books draw principles and lessons learned from good practices. This book fills this gap by combining good practices from the research project on tropical fruit trees with chapters from external experts to broaden its scope and relevance.
Learning from women’s and men’s perspectives on agroforestry to enhance climate change strategies and actions in Latin America
Learning from women’s and men’s perspectives on agroforestry to enhance climate change strategies and actions in Latin America
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Agroforestry products are also sold on markets in Nicaragua. Photo: CIAT
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Click to listen to the recording of the webinar (in Spanish) Part 1
By Tatiana Gumucio
How does consideration of women’s and men’s uses of and benefits from forest and tree resources make a difference for successful agroforestry strategies targeting climate change adaptation and mitigation? This was a key question addressed by a recent webinar on “Gender, Agroforestry and Climate Change in Latin America,” carried out through the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), and coordinated by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF). The webinar shared insights from ICRAF and CIAT research projects in sites in South and Central America in order to support decision-makers and development practitioners in the region to integrate gender concerns in climate change policy-making and interventions. Participants represented government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and research institutions from 13 countries.
The first theme of the webinar focused on “Agroforestry for climate change adaptation in the Andes: Designing inclusive options based on local knowledge,” presented by Sarah-Lan Mathez of ICRAF. Research carried out via participatory methodologies with indigenous communities in the Peruvian Andes shows that both men and women have developed important knowledge of how to use woody plants and trees for adaptation to local effects of climate change. In particular, results show that men and women may differently perceive the benefits from certain agroforestry practices. In general, the tree species most valued by men and women tend to be those that give multiple uses, that do not harm other crops, and that are indigenous to the area.
Click to listen to the recording of the webinar (in Spanish) Part 2
A second theme, presented by Tatiana Gumucio of CIAT, looked at “Gender and smallholder shade coffee production in Nicaragua: Considerations for agroforestry and climate change interventions.” The study focused on trends in the uses and the importance that men and women associate with various types of trees on farms in the shade coffee-producing region of Tuma la Dalia, Nicaragua. Results suggest that uses and importance can vary between men and women, by land area, and by involvement in coffee cultivation. Decision-making patterns concerning trees on farms also show that women’s involvement in decision-making can be limited depending on the type of tree.
The presentations stimulated a discussion of key questions for gender and climate change interventions, for instance: how to involve the public sector in diffusion of research results and how to integrate a gender perspective in climate change planning in practice.
The Andean study provided a useful example of research conducted in coordination with not just public institutions but also with civil society organizations, by including local authorities and NGOs at various points along the way of the research process. Panelists also affirmed the importance of including diverse local voices in the design of adaptation and mitigation actions in order to promote planning that truly takes into account women’s and men’s needs and preferences. Furthermore, the discussion highlighted the need to understand women’s limitations to participate in formal decision-making processes, for instance due to demanding work schedules and constraints to take on leadership roles.
The event acted as an important means to share research on indigenous and gender perspectives on agroforestry and climate change. Additionally, it provided initial recommendations for development policy and practice:
Firstly, it is crucial to recognize that different social groups—indigenous groups, men and women—can contribute different, specialized agro-ecological knowledge to climate change planning.
Secondly, actions must be based on local information, not just in terms of land use characteristics but also in livelihood strategies and preferences.
Finally, these considerations are important not only to take into account the interests and needs of different social groups but also to ensure more effective strategies and plans to tackle climate change.
More information on the webinar presentations, recommended readings, and the recording of the webinar itself can be found here (in Spanish only)
Webinar: Género, agroforestería y cambio climático en América Latina
Webinar: Género, agroforestería y cambio climático en América Latina
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Miércoles, el 23 de noviembre 2016
Organizadores: Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) y el Centro Internacional de Investigación Agroforestal (ICRAF), mediante el Programa de Investigación del CGIAR en Bosques, Arboles y Agroforestería (FTA).
Los audios del webinar:
Parte 1:
Parte 2:
Acerca del webinar
El manejo de árboles y bosques constituye estrategias claves de mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático, con implicaciones críticas para las diversas y numerosas poblaciones que dependen de los recursos forestales para sus medios de vida. Los hombres y mujeres enfrentan diferentes desafíos y oportunidades frente al cambio climático, debido a los diferentes roles y responsabilidades de cada género. Una perspectiva que toma en cuenta las diferentes formas de hombres y mujeres de interactuar con los recursos de bosques y árboles es importante para el desarrollo de intervenciones y políticas de cambio climático que promuevan la distribución equitativa de beneficios, empleen las capacidades innovadoras de los productores y como consecuencia, creen efectos positivos, de largo plazo, de mitigación y adaptación. Además, las políticas pueden anticipar riesgos y revertir las inequidades cuando estas incorporan mecanismos que permitan una participación significativa de grupos marginalizados en los procesos de toma de decisión sobre el desarrollo e implementación de las mismas.
América Latina se encuentra en un momento crítico en lo cual varios gobiernos y sectores influyentes están desarrollando sus Planes Nacionales de Adaptación y Acciones Nacionalmente Apropiadas de Mitigación (NAP y NAMA, respectivamente, por sus siglas en inglés). Este webinar busca proveer hallazgos recientes de investigaciones empíricas en género y agroforestería en países latinoamericanos, a tomadores de decisiones de los sectores agropecuarios y ambientales y profesionales involucrados en el desarrollo rural en América Latina, con el fin de promover la integración de género en la formulación de políticas e intervenciones de cambio climático. Específicamente, los objetivos del webinar incluyen:
Compartir nuevas investigaciones de Sur y Centro América sobre género, agroforestería y cambio climático con tomadores de decisiones y profesionales en América Latina.
Discutir experiencias y buenas prácticas para la integración de género en la formulación de políticas e intervenciones en agricultura, agroforestería y cambio climático.
Para inscribirse en el webinar, por favor contacte a Tatiana Gumucio t.gumucio@cgiar.org.
Sarah-Lan Mathez es Etnobióloga e investigadora de ciencias sociales de la oficina latinoamericana del Centro Internacional de Investigación Agroforestal (ICRAF) basada en Lima, Perú. Tiene amplia experiencia laboral en proyectos de investigación, desarrollo y conservación ambiental en Latinoamérica y África. Durante los últimos 10 años, ha trabajado en la región andina en temas tales como: los conocimientos ecológicos indígenas, la diversidad biocultural, las innovaciones locales y la agroforestería. Tiene un doctorado en geografía humana de la Universidad de Berna, Suiza. En la actualidad, combina su trabajo en ICRAF con el puesto de investigadora principal en el Centre for Development and Environment en la Universidad de Berna y es editora asociada de la revista Mountain Research and Development.
Tatiana Gumucio es Investigadora Postdoctoral en Género en el Área de Investigación de Análisis de Políticas (DAPA) del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), basado en Cali, Colombia. Apoya la integración de género en el Programa de Investigación del CGIAR en Bosques, Árboles y Agroforestería (FTA). Recibió su doctorado en antropología de la Universidad de Florida. Está interesada en contribuir a la investigación contundente de género en relación a productos forestales no-maderables y árboles en fincas, con el propósito de informar la formulación de políticas e intervenciones eficaces y equitativas en la mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático.
Ponencias:
Sarah-Lan Mathez:
Agroforestería para la adaptación al cambio climático en los Andes: Diseñando opciones inclusivas sobre la base de los conocimientos locales
El manejo de árboles y arbustos en los paisajes agrícolas tiene un gran potencial para la adaptación de los pequeños agricultores andinos al cambio climático. Actualmente existe una gran diversidad de prácticas y especies agroforestales. También hay una gran riqueza de conocimientos locales sobre las funciones agroecológicas de estos árboles. Sin embargo, en el marco de la planificación de medidas adaptativas, la investigación científica es necesaria para analizar la idoneidad de las prácticas agroforestales en contextos socio-ecológicos determinados. El diseño de estas acciones debe hacerse de forma participativa e inclusiva, considerando en particular los aspectos de género y las preferencias de los pequeños agricultores.
Género y la pequeña producción de café de sombra en Nicaragua: Consideraciones para intervenciones de agroforestería y de cambio climático
La investigación sugiere que los productores de café de sombra en América Latina derivan valor de subsistencia y comercial significativo de los productos no-café del sistema agroforestal, como de madera, combustible y frutas. Sin embargo, esta investigación no logra considerar aspectos de género, por ejemplo, cómo los usos derivados del sistema agroforestal pueden variar entre productores mujeres y hombres. Además, es importante reconocer las contribuciones de los hombres y de las mujeres a los sistemas de producción pequeño y su participación en procesos de toma de decisión correspondientes, para promover adopción exitosa de prácticas sostenibles adaptadas al clima, incluyendo esas relacionadas al agroforestería.