Gender and Development

Cambodia

Agriculture Sector Development Program (ASDP)

Agriculture accounts for 39% of Cambodia’s gross domestic product and employs more than 70% of the total labor force. Despite its significance, the contribution of the agricultural sector to economic growth is far lower than its potential. ASDP builds on the achievements of the ADB’s first Agriculture Sector Program which included reforms to address land legislation, agricultural inputs, rural infrastructure, rural finance, public enterprises and decentralization. Within the overall program framework of ASDP, the Program Loan completed in 2007 facilitated policy and institutional reforms to support market-based agricultural growth, facilitating better access to productive land, water, improved seeds, and other quality agricultural inputs; improved efficiency of rubber production; no direct state intervention in the agricultural input and output markets; and agricultural commercialization by institutional reforms and improving access to effective research and extension services at the local level. ASDP’s Project Loan continues until 2009 providing farmers with support services to increase agricultural productivity and promote diversification, including extension services for farmer groups, support services for private agro-based enterprises, and promote institutional strengthening to facilitate agricultural commercialization. ASDP covers 4 southern provinces of Cambodia (Kampong Cham, Kampong Speu, Kampot, and Takeo) totaling 31% of the country's population.

Gender-Inclusive Design

While Cambodian women were always involved in agricultural production, they took over the traditional roles of men in the farming system during the war years. Due to men’s migration to seek better job opportunities in urban areas, women represent 56% of the primary work force in subsistence agriculture and 54% of the work force in market-oriented agriculture. However, less than 1% of all farmers receive agricultural extension services of which 10% are women. Most extension staff are men who concentrate service delivery on male farmers, and information tends to target the literate population. Women’s heavy workload in managing their household responsibilities and productive activities often prevents them from participating in farmer field schools or training organized outside of the village. Thus, women’s access to improved knowledge and technology or control over resources to improve their livelihood remains limited.

Under ASDP’s Program Loan, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) agreed to develop a sector-wide gender policy and strategy with specific action plans. Under the Project Loan, gender provisions aim to ensure at least 50% of the members of farmer groups come from poor households, at least 50% of the members of farmer groups are women, and equal opportunities are provided for ethnic minority groups to participate in and benefit from the project with special considerations given to their farming practices and culture. Moreover, gender-related tranche release conditions were included in the loan agreement. In particular MAFF has to establish a Gender Working Group in the agriculture sector prior to the First Tranche Release, and approve and implement a gender policy and strategy in agriculture prior to the Second Tranche Release.

This case study presents gender-based results under both the Program and Project loan components of the ASDP after four years of implementation. It presents results achieved close to the end of the Program loan in 2007 and during the implementation of the Project loan which will be completed in 2009.

Achievements under the Program Loan

MAFF established a Gender Working Group in the agriculture sector. A Gender Working Group (GWG), composed of 15 MAFF staff (11 women and 4 men) and led by a male Under Secretary of State, was established on 7 May 2003 representing various MAFF departments and the RUA (Royal University of Agriculture). The senior ranking of all GWG members with 1 male and 1 female GWG vice-chair who were both Department Deputy-Directors facilitated advocacy for gender mainstreaming activities at MAFF. The GWG‘s responsibilities were to develop the policy and strategy, satisfactory to ADB, for the mainstreaming of gender issues.

MAFF approved and is implementing a policy and strategy, satisfactory to ADB, for the mainstreaming of gender issues in agriculture. The Gender Policy and Strategy in the Agriculture Sector was approved by MAFF Minister on 28 March 2006. It was launched at the Agriculture Annual Conference, chaired by the Cambodian Prime Minister, with the participation of around 600 senior officials of the Ministry and of provincial agriculture departments, governors of all 24 provinces and municipalities, and representatives from embassies, donors, international and national organizations. Khmer and English versions of the Gender Policy were widely distributed in the country.

The Gender Policy has 4 objectives:

• enhance awareness of gender issues in agriculture sector
• incorporate gender analysis and sex-disaggregated targets and data in MAFF programs and projects
• enhance capacity of MAFF to address gender issues
• increase rural women’s access to and control of agricultural resources in order to improve agricultural productivity and household incomes

The Gender Policy was developed as follows:

• A one-day gender awareness workshop was organized jointly by MAFF and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) after the establishment of the GWG to create opportunities for collaboration between the 2 Ministries to facilitate gender mainstreaming in the agriculture sector. 90 participants from MAFF-GWG and senior staff and MOWA staff from the Economic Empowerment Team (30 men and 60 women) discussed how GWG should approach the development of a gender mainstreaming policy in the agriculture sector. GWG expressed its desire to learn from the Viet Nam experience.
• A study tour to Vietnam was organized to give opportunities for MAFF-GWG to understand the steps involved in developing a gender strategy in agriculture.
• A work plan for drafting the Cambodian gender policy in agriculture was produced by the delegates after return from Viet Nam and submitted to MAFF-GWG.
• A gender training needs assessment of GWG was conducted.
• A 10-day gender analysis training was organized for the GWG and 21 gender focal points from 21 provincial agriculture departments (36 women and 6 men) under the Agricultural Productivity Improvement Project funded by the World Bank. Community consultations were held to assess the gender division of labor.
• Regional provincial workshops in Kompong Cham, Sihanouk Ville and Battambang included a two-day community consultation, followed by a one-day provincial regional workshop. During the community consultations in three different villages in three provinces, 198 farmers (89 men and 109 women) participated actively in the assessment of the gender division of labor and spoke freely about their problems and needs in separate group discussions organized for men and women. In each provincial regional workshop, participants included NGO staff working with agriculture in that province as well as provincial and district MOWA and MAFF staff from the hosting province and nearby provinces. 152 provincial and district participants (86 men and 66 women) from 19 out of 24 provinces became aware about gender issues through presentation of community consultations’ results. They brainstormed about MAFF responsibilities at different levels for the implementation of the future agriculture gender policy.
• The Gender Policy in Agriculture was drafted by GWG in close collaboration with the gender consultants of two technical assistance projects closely associated with ASDP (TA 4228 and TA 4459) and ADB Cambodia Resident Mission Gender and Development Advisor.
• A national workshop (114 senior MAFF staff at central and provincial level) was held to receive feedback on the first draft of the policy. Afterwards, the edited draft was submitted for comments to ADB and to the meeting of MAFF Permanent Committee composed of Department Directors and upper levels.
• The Gender Policy and Strategy in the Agriculture Sector was approved and launched.

MAFF established a Gender Unit to implement its Gender Policy in Agriculture. The bottom up process for the development of the agriculture gender policy has gradually built confidence and competence of the MAFF-GWG as well as gender awareness of MAFF senior leaders. As a result, MAFF Minister agreed to establish the MAFF Gender Unit (GU) as a permanent structure of the Ministry. Six active former GWG members (4 women and 2 men) were selected to work with the male Under Secretary of State, former chair of the MAFF-GWG. GU responsibilities are to ensure the implementation of the gender policy and to advocate for mainstreaming gender concerns into MAFF projects and work plans of MAFF’s departments, faculties and schools. GU was included as one of the 8 ASDP working groups so that GU could get financial support for its activities (per diem for field work, office supplies, computer and printer).

Achievements of MAFF Gender Unit in implementing the Gender Policy

• Participation as an ASDP working group dealing with gender which enabled GU to mainstream gender in the work of other 7 ASDP working groups
• 3-year work plan with 2006 and 2007 annual work plans relating to the implementation of the gender policy in agriculture
• Gender review of ongoing agriculture projects to provide suggestions for gender mainstreaming
• Integration of gender issues in the curriculum of the agriculture university
• Gender training sessions at central and local levels and publishing 5,000 leaflets in Khmer on key points of the gender policy and strategy in the agriculture sector for wider distribution
• Training of a total of 1,427 (672 women and 755 men) MAFF ministerial and provincial staff from all departments, gender focal points, and faculty from agriculture schools through workshops and seminars organized to disseminate the Gender Policy and Strategy in Agriculture, develop its implementation plan, establish a gender database, mainstream gender in all departmental planning processes, and build gender knowledge of new recruits (financial support was provided by the ASDP Program Loan and other donors such as the United Nations Population Fund and Japan International Cooperation Agency)
• Mainstreaming gender in the Sociology, Psychology, Institutional Change and Agricultural Technology and Management curriculums of the RUA; the dormitory rented for provincial staff attending weekend training programs was converted into a dormitory for female students
• Reporting gender-related achievements for the Quarterly Agriculture Newsletters
• Sharing experiences on the gender policy development process at the Ministry of Water Resources Management and at MOWA for lateral learning
• English training courses (basic grammar and conversation skills) to build capacity of 72 female MAFF staff at the central level
• Advocating for an increased number of women to decision-making positions; 4 women promoted in 2006 as Deputy Directors of provincial agriculture offices in Siem Reap, Mondul Kiri, Kampot, and Kep; 1 woman as Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology and Management; and 5 women as Deputy-Deans of 5 faculties of the RUA.

Achievements Under the Project Loan

The ASDP Project Loan covers 18 districts in 4 target provinces (Kompong Cham, Kompong Speu, Takeo and Kampot). It has four components:

• Extension support to farmer groups
• Support services for agro-based enterprises
• Institutional strengthening for agricultural commercialization
• Project management

Gender-Related Loan Assurance. The Government will ensure

• at least 50% of the members of the farmer groups will come from poor households
• at least 50% of the members of the farmer groups are women
• equal opportunities for the project benefits will be available for ethnic minority groups when they intend to form farmer groups and participate in the project, and special consideration given to their farming practices and culture

Under Component 1 “Extension support to farmer groups”, 368 farmer groups were formed in the 350 target villages of the four ASDP provinces. The groups have 7,744 farmers (2,830 women or 36.54%). 6,525 farmers (2,240 women or 34.32%) of 356 farmer groups received training in technology implementation procedures covering rice (post harvest technology, IPM), water melon and taro cultivation, oyster and mushroom production, animal raising (pig, sow, chicken, cow, red earthworm), fish and integrated farmer system.

There are 26 women among 161 project staff, mostly based at the provincial level. The Project Coordination Unit is composed of 10 male and 3 female staff (2 staff for administrative matters, 1 cleaner). Among the 40 provincial focal points, 10 are women. There is 1 female Social Development Worker in each target province. However, only 17 of 23 female staff at these provincial and district levels deal with extension services. The others are administrative staff.

Gender Action Plan. A Gender Action Plan was drafted during loan design, and implemented over 18 months (17 October 2005 to 15 March 2007) through TA 4459 funded by the Gender and Development Cooperation Fund. The TA had 3 components:

• build gender-responsive institutions and systems at MAFF
• ensure gender equal access to agricultural support services
• promote women’s participation in market-based and diversified agricultural production

The TA outputs concurred with the objectives of the Gender Policy and Strategy in Agriculture. TA 4459 was implemented by the GU in close collaboration with 2 international and 4 local consultants. The objectives of the Gender Action Plan and its achievements as of early 2008 are as follows:

• Institutional Framework for Gender Mainstreaming. Current roles and responsibilities of selected departments of MAFF and provincial departments of agriculture will be examined with regard to gender mainstreaming to fully incorporate gender perspectives into policy formulation, planning, and budgeting. A gender-disaggregated data collection and analysis system will be developed at the Statistics Office. An assessment will be undertaken to determine how to reduce gender disparities in recruitment, transfer, promotion, and career development within MAFF and the provincial departments of agriculture.
  
  The MAFF Gender Policy in Agriculture was operationalized by developing a
  • 3-year work plan for gender mainstreaming in agriculture (2006-2008), with 2006 and 2007 work plans approved by MAFF Minister
  • guidelines on implementing and monitoring the gender mainstreaming policy
  • proposal for gender-responsive recruitment, promotion and procedures and submitted to the Minister which resulted in increased numbers of newly recruited and promoted female staff, and provision of a car for the GU
  • gender checklist for screening programs and projects
  
  Gender was integrated in The Agricultural Sector Strategic Development Plan 2006–2010, and strategy formulation II for the development of a medium-term strategy for agriculture and water resources (2006-2010).
  
  Internships were provided for female agricultural students. Four students from Prek Leap National School of Agriculture and two students from the RUA were supported financially and technically to work in agricultural extension services in 3 districts of 3 ASDP provinces (Takeo, Kompong Speu and Kompong Cham). Student reports reflected gender issues in project areas, problems and needs of female farmers for better living conditions, including access to extension services as well as challenges faced by field-level female staff.
  
  Sex disaggregated data base was produced by the international consultant. Training was delivered by the National Institute of Statistics for the GU and MAFF staff on how to enter sex-disaggregated data into the system.



• Capacity Building for Gender Mainstreaming. MAFF will be supported to build its human resource capacity to integrate gender perspectives in accordance with department objectives and functions. As a number of projects have already prepared gender training materials, TA 4459 will compile and consolidate the available materials and develop training modules which can be modified and used for a specific purpose across MAFF.
  
  The following outputs were produced:
  • training needs assessments of staff at the central level and in 4 ASDP provinces
  • 2- and 5-year training plans
  • Handbook on Gender Analysis and Planning in Agriculture in Khmer and English
  • a report on framework, curriculums and modules for gender mainstreaming
  
  10 gender capacity building workshops were organized and attended by 160 women and 396 me, including MAFF staff, gender focal points, GU members and staff of the provincial and district agricultural departments. Training workshops focused on gender in agriculture, gender analysis, gender-responsive planning and monitoring in agricultural extension, preparing a training proposal, public speaking in English, and preparing a PowerPoint presentation. A workshop was devoted to sharing the achievements after one year of implementation of the Gender Policy and Strategy in Agriculture which was attended by about 170 senior officers from central to provincial levels, gender focal points, staff from other ministries, and relevant NGOs.



• Enhancing Women’s Access to Extension Services, Information and Technology. Existing extension materials available at MAFF will be reviewed to develop agricultural extension service modules that can be modified to meet the needs of target beneficiaries. Extension services will focus on tasks performed mostly by women. Extension service materials developed under the TA will be used to train members of farmer groups under the ASDP Project, 50% of whom will be women. Women will fully be integrated into support services for the agro-enterprise component under the ASDP Project. Agro-enterprise resource services will integrate gender perspectives, and women entrepreneurs will participate in the training programs. MOWA’s women in development centers located in ASDP provinces will be used as training venues, and qualified staff of these centers will be engaged as resource persons and trainers, along with other service providers such as local NGOs and private sector enterprises.

The following outputs were produced:

• review of gender in micro-enterprise in ASDP provinces
• training modules on gender and micro-enterprise
• review of gender in agricultural extension
• training modules on gender and agricultural extension

Guidance on Gender and Development Activities

The ADB Cambodia Resident Mission Gender Advisor provided close guidance to the MAFF-GWG during the development of the Gender Policy and Strategy for Agriculture, including facilitating training workshops and the study tour in Viet Nam, participating in provincial and national workshops and reviewing drafts of the Gender Policy. She continues to be closely involved in providing assistance to MAFF in the implementation of the Gender Action Plan.

Lessons Learned

In developing a Gender Policy and Strategy for Agriculture in Cambodia, setting gender-related activities as conditions for loan tranche release were essential because gender mainstreaming in the sector requires participation of all key stakeholders. These conditions created a time frame for translating commitment into action with budget support.

At the institutional level, gender awareness and high political commitment in MAFF were evidenced by the establishment of the GU chaired by the Under Secretary of State, presence of MAFF Minister at the closing sessions of gender training with his emphasis on gender-responsive planning by all MAFF departments, and establishment of gender-responsive recruitment and promotion procedures in the Ministry. These facilitated the challenging process of gender mainstreaming in different MAFF departments from central to district levels.

Gender awareness workshops at all levels of MAFF and provincial departments of agriculture continue to enable a supportive environment for gender-responsive activities. The sessions should be participatory with a focus on existing gender initiatives in agriculture for real-time feedback and learning from results.

Separate focus group discussions for men and women allow the needs and issues of female farmers to be communicated, and reveal important gender differences in constraints and priorities that have to be addressed.