Gender and Development

Mongolia: GAD Support for Agriculture and Rural Development Projects

Background & Rationale

In January 2007, the GAD Fund supported the design of the Mongolia Agriculture and Rural Development Project (ARDP), with an in-depth gender analysis of the agriculture and rural development sectors in Mongolia. The gender analysis, conducted by the ADB's Mongolia Mission Gender Specialist, identified women herders and their cooperatives, together with wholesale purchasers and trading intermediaries, as being the drivers of local economies. Women herders play a critical role in increased competitiveness of national agricultural industries as they determine the reliability and quality of raw material supplies. Based on this gender analysis, a Gender Action Plan (GAP) has been developed with monitoring indicators to address gender based constraints and promote women's participation and empowerment in the implementation of the ARDP project. Consultations have also been held with NGOs and women's groups.

Expected Outcome

GDCF resources will facilitate the implementation of three sub-projects to:

1. Reduce storage, hygiene and measurement related constraints that limit the potential sales of 169 women entrepreneurs selling dairy products and meat at the food market in Uvurshangai and Arkhangai;
2. Business development of 52 small traders, 71% of whom are women, through training in accounting, food safety and hygiene, packaging, weighing, marketing and communications, as well as by facilitating access to commercial credit through loan guarantees and credit lines for small traders; and
3. Develop and strengthen raw material supply chains for value-added felt products, by providing training for at least 4 groups of 44 women felt-product makers in wool processing technology, labor safety, equipment use, marketing and business management, as well as establishing cost-share arrangements that enable groups to access new technologies and new market opportunities, resulting in increased incomes.

Results to Date

The subproject was used to conduct an in-depth gender analysis of the Agriculture and Rural Development Sectors in order to develop a strategy to address potential gender constraints for women to equally benefit from the rural development Project activities. The subproject was also used to identify and implement key gender capacity building measures to ensure women entrepreneurs' full access to the opportunities and benefits associated with the Project. Among other findings, the gender analysis revealed that women were at the bottom of the agricultural raw materials supply chain, yet together with wholesale purchasers and trading intermediaries, they drove local economies and played a critical role in increased competitiveness of national agricultural industries. Accordingly, based on the recommendations and lessons learned from the subproject, a project-specific GAP was formulated, together with gender-specific indicators and targets, to address gender-based constraints and promote women's empowerment throughout loan implementation. In particular, the GAP identified the need to build the capacity of the Project's agricultural enterprises to adopt socially and gender-responsive market development policies and reflect them in the value-chain development, and to facilitate women and women's groups informed participation in the identification, selection, and implementation of rural infrastructure and support services for agribusiness development projects.

Among other achievements, the GAD subproject increased:

• gender awareness and skills in the provision of gender-sensitive services to rural women entrepreneurs;
• staff expertise in implementing gender-focused projects and loan guarantee mechanisms, with a threefold increase in the number of female clients and the size of lending to women in 2008 and 2009;
• access for rural women to loans from commercial banks for their small and medium business activities;
• business management skills, knowledge of gender issues and life skills among grassroots business women; and
• the empowerment of women entrepreneurs who took a lead role in organizing women's conferences on "Women in Small Business" and "Women in the Survival of Global Crisis”.

Related Documents

• Final Report
• Case Study