Gender and Development

Uzbekistan

Loan 2069-UZB: Amu Zhang Water Resources Management Project - 2003¹

Background:

Agriculture is the backbone of the Uzbek economy accounting 35% of GDP, 45% of employment, and 60% of export revenues. Cotton and wheat are the dominant crops. Uzbekistan has a comparative advantage growing cotton and is the world's fifth largest producer and second largest exporter.

Since independence in 1991, the performance of the agricultural sector and of cotton production in particular have been declining due to (i) the slow pace of farm privatization and restructuring; (ii) the lack of agriculture support services and rural institutions for newly emerging private farms; (iii) the Government's restrictive policies in pricing and marketing of cotton and wheat and its interference in farm decision making; and (iv) the continued deterioration of the country's irrigation and drainage infrastructure causing low crop yields and soil and water salinity.

The Amu Zhang Water Resources Management Project is a poverty intervention loan with economic growth as a thematic priority.

Top

Objectives and Scope:

The project's goal is to improve the income and living standards of the population in Surkhandarya province by providing more reliable and better irrigation and water management systems and support for on-going agriculture sector reforms to improve farmers' access to agricultural inputs, technologies, and services. Close to 400,000 people live in the five districts covered by the Amu Zhang irrigation scheme, 88% of whom reside in rural areas and depend primarily on irrigated agriculture for their livelihoods. Project components include:

1. Rehabilitation of the Amu Zhang Irrigation System: A new sediment control facility will be constructed; three main pumping stations as well as the main irrigation and drainage system will be rehabilitated; and maintenance facilities will be improved.
2. Support to Improve Irrigation Management: Institutional capacities of the Amu Zhang Irrigation System and the Surkhandarya Basin Irrigation Agency will be strengthened; improved operations and management procedures will be introduced; the establishment of water users associations (WUAs) will be supported; a decision support system will be developed and installed comprising a SCADA system and an integrated water resources management model; and essential maintenance equipment will be procured.
3. Support to Private Farm Development: Assistance will be provided to private farms in five project districts through rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure; establishment of five agricultural service centers (ASCs); and implementation of a comprehensive farm demonstration and training program.
4. Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation: The project will establish a project management office (PMO) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (MAWR) in Tashkent and a project implementation unit (PIU) in Termez. To monitor the project's social impact, during the first year of project implementation, the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) unit will compile a benchmark database on basic economic and social conditions. M&E unit will analyze the project's impact on different social groups, including women and lower income households.
5. Complimentary Technical Assistance: Associated, grant-financed technical assistance estimated at $740,000 will be provided to complement the loan-funded project. Technical assistance will include two components: (i) policy and institutional reform at the national level; and (ii) policy and institutional reform at the basin and provincial levels.

Top

Framework for GAD Activities:

As a result of reduced employment opportunities in public farm enterprises during nation-wide economic reform, women's unemployment rose to 62% in 2001². In the project area, only 34% of women seeking employment have jobs. Although women provide at least 37% of household income, they are often employed in the low-paying jobs of the state-funded social sector and in manual and seasonal activities in the agriculture and informal sectors. Women are also disadvantaged by wage disparities and by limited access to social security benefits. While men and women have comparable educational levels at the primary and secondary levels, women have less vocational education than men, and the share of women with higher education is three times lower than that of men. Lower female participation rates in the workforce are partially explained by women's occupations in the household, namely rearing children, fetching water, planting garden plots, and taking care of livestock. Hence, access to a regular supply of potable water and water for irrigation is very important to lessen the burden of rural women.

The overall gender strategy of the project has a twofold objective: (i) reduce the economic burden of women and (ii) improve women's capacities to participate in agricultural management.

These strategic objectives will be achieved under the following framework for GAD activities:

• increase access to a regular supply of water for household use and irrigation
• ensure women's participation in ASCs
• maximize women's participation in technical and management skill training activities and project designs
• provide gender and development training in WUAs
• ensure women's membership in WUAs

Top

Gender Inclusive Design:

1. Rehabilitation of Amu Zhang Irrigation System: Identify locally acceptable ways to disseminate project information to women.
2. Support To Improve Irrigation Management:
• Ensure 30% (optional) women's participation in WUAs and Surkhandarya Basin irrigation agencies. Collect and monitor gender disaggregated data on the number of women farmers receiving project services, on the number of women private investors, and on women's access to water and land
• Ensure that prospective women users participate in technical designs
• Provide GAD training to WUAs and to Surkhandarya Basin irrigation agencies to develop gender sensitive monitoring indicators
• Ensure women's participation in management training in the new procedures for effective operation of the irrigation system
• Ensure training is provided at convenient locations to encourage female attendance
• Ensure households headed by women are members of WUAs
3. Support to Private Farm Development:
• Ensure 30% (optional) female participation in ASCs
• Ensure women participate in training for ASCs
• Ensure women have access to services provided by ASCs
• Provide GAD sensitization training for ASCs
4. Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation:
• Promote gender balanced teams
• Identify a GAD focal point (GAD FP)
• Review all forms/formats from a gender perspective
• Conduct gender training for PMO, executing agencies (EAs) and main counterparts including senior project staff. Emphasize quantity and contributions of women participants
• Ensure women's opinions are represented on monitoring and evaluation systems
5. Assurances: The gender action plan is covenanted

Top

Guidance on GAD Activities:

The URM gender specialist participated in the loan fact-finding mission to identify gender issues in the agricultural sector. She provided additional data and information on gender and social development for the summary poverty reduction and social strategy (SPRSS). Meetings with the project implementation unit, the Resident Mission, and a social research group were helpful in emphasizing the importance of addressing gender issues in the agricultural sector given the national platform for improving the status of women in Uzbekistan, ADB's gender policy and other international policy mandates such as the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. The URM gender specialist noted that addressing gender and development issues in policy dialogue with the Government will also facilitate gender integration by line agencies.

To maximize project impact on women, the URM gender specialist developed a gender strategy and a preliminary gender action plan that were included in the SPRSS and the report and recommendation to the President . The URM gender specialist highlighted the limited capacity to incorporate gender issues in the project and recommended that the presence of a gender focal point at the initial stages would be important for gender sensitive project planning, monitoring, and implementation. She also recommended a special study on women and agriculture in Uzbekistan to gather much needed data disaggregated by gender and information in the sector.

A gender focal point will be appointed by the EA during project implementation to address gender issues in the project. The URM gender specialist will assist the project's gender focal point in developing and monitoring the gender implementation plan with specific activities and targets for each project component.