Gender and Development

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p. 4 of 35 BACK | NEXT Bangladesh Cambodia Implementation of the Action Plan for Gender Mainstreaming on the Agriculture Sector, TA 4459, 2004 Preventing Poverty and Empowering Female Garment Workers Affected by the International Trade Environment, TA 4131, 2003 Sustainable Employment Promotion for Poor Women, TA No 3947 CAM , October 2002 Capacity Building for the Ministry of Women's and Veterans' Affairs TA No. 3327 CAM - December 1999 Women in Development, 1994 Fiji Lao People's Republic Pakistan Viet Nam Indonesia Philippines Malaysia Nepal

Cambodia

Implementation of the Action Plan for Gender Mainstreaming on the Agriculture Sector

TA 4459 - 2004

The Government of Cambodia requested ADB to provide advisory technical assistance to support implementation of the gender mainstreaming action plan development under the Agriculture Sector Development Program (ASDP). The ASDP facilitates agricultural commercialization and diversification and promotes participation of poor women in agricultural production, marketing, and postproduction.

Agriculture accounts for 39% of Cambodia's GDP and is the primary source of employment for more than 70% of the labor force. Nearly 80% of these workers are primarily engage in subsistence agriculture. Women account for 56% of the primary workforce in subsistence agriculture and 54% of the workforce in market-oriented agriculture. Women's limited educational attainment and customary practices that deny women land rights limit their productivity considerably. Women are the minority among the beneficiaries of services and resources directed at agriculture and rural livelihoods even though they make up the majority of farmers and informal sector workers.

The Government's Second Socioeconomic Development Plan (SSDP): 2001-2005 stipulates that effective poverty reduction requires more concerted efforts than in the past. This implies a sustained focus on the rural poor, the development of the potential of agriculture, and an improved effort to reduce prevailing gender inequalities in the sector. Promoting gender equity is also one of the major thrusts of the national poverty reduction strategy (NPRS) for 2003-2005. The NPRS acknowledges women's contribution to agriculture production and calls for gender mainstreaming in the sector through collaborative efforts between the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA).

In accordance with the gender action plan under the ASDP, the purpose of the TA is to increase women's productivity in agriculture to reduce poverty and promote growth. The specific objectives of the TA are to

1. build gender-responsive institutions and systems at MAFF
2. ensure gender-equal access to agricultural support services
3. promote women's participation in market-based and diversified agricultural production

The TA components include

1. promotion of women's participation in the MAFF extension support services for farmer groups (50% of the members should be women)
2. strengthening support services for agro-based enterprises through formation of women's enterprise associations
3. institutional strengthening for promoting women's participation in agriculture commercialization

The expected outputs of the TA will be:

• The establishment of the institutional set-up, systems, procedures, and medium-term framework for capacity building to effectively integrate and monitor gender mainstreaming at MAFF
• Increase in gender awareness and the gender mainstreaming capacity of key personnel in the agriculture sector
• Improvement in women's access to agricultural extension services, information, and technology
• an expansion of opportunities for women to build up and better manage agro-enterprise

TA outputs will be presented and shared at MAFF through meetings and seminars that will be organized by the Gender Working Group. The outcome and lessons learned will also be posted on ADB's website.

The MAFF will be the executing agency for this TA.

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