Gender and Development

Pakistan

North West Frontier Province Forestry Sector Reform Project, 1995

Gender, Poverty and Midcourse Corrections in Sustainable Forest Reform:

Forests and rangelands in Pakistan provide important economic resources for men and women in the surrounding areas. Grazing of livestock and wood cutting for sale and domestic use are just two of the uses of such areas. In particular, Pakistan has developed a series of commercial relationships with communities and individuals with regard to production and sale of timber in protected and reserved forests. There are a number of other groups who also rely on forests and rangelands. In particular, poor and marginal groups depend on forests and rangelands to meet their subsistance needs and/or to generate additional income. Marginal groups include people who are landless, tenant and subsistence farmers; waged workers; nomads; Gujar¹, and women. Such groups gather a wide variety of essential items from commons, state forests and private marginal lands for both personal use and for sale, including food, fuel, fodder, small timber, manure, medicinal herbs, oils, materials for house building and handicrafts, resin, gum and honey.

By and large, the rights and subsistence needs of marginalized groups are the least protected in forestry sector reform. In general, this is because such users are not given the recognition and protection given to those who hold some form of land tenure or ownership rights. However, as is commonly recognized, forest afforestation and rangeland rehabilitation cannot occur without the cooperation and participation of all local forest users. Community participation enables local communities and groups of users to make informed decisions about the optimal use of land and other natural resources. For this to occur, all segments of the community and land users need to be represented in community participation processes. The danger here is that only the more recognized groups of users will have their interests listened to, and the more marginal and invisible users, such as women and landless farmers, will not have their right to use such resources respected.

This commitment to facilitate the participation of the poorer segments of the community is also important in terms of poverty alleviation. Generally, the very poor depend more on forest and rangeland resources than other groups just to meet their subsistence needs. One example from Pakistan is the practice of open grazing. Generally, the very poor rely on grazing to supply 'free' fodder to their livestock. Yet the increasing number of livestock nation-wide has lead to overgrazing and the widespread deterioration of rangelands. Overgrazing prevents the rejuvenation of vegetation leaving the soil exposed to wind and water, which in turn leads to erosion and silting of reservoirs. Before sustainable development practices can be successful, poor forest-dependent communities need to be encouraged to protect forest and rangeland resources. Factors to be addressed here include poverty, which leads to their dependency on grazing and wood-cutting for domestic use or sale, low literacy levels and lack of awareness of the consequences of environmental degradation.

Sustainable forest policy must therefore consider broader social and gender issues such as poverty alleviation, women's rights and participation, and land ownership and tenure. This in broad terms is what the ADB-funded North-West Frontier Province Forestry Sector Project sets out to achieve.²

Top

Background to the Project:

The primary aim of the project is environmental, and specifically aims to protect and improve the hilly and mountainous areas of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), which has the largest area of productive forest in Pakistan. Under the project, about 70,000 hectares of degraded forest lands will be afforested/reforested, 28,000 hectares of rangelands will be rehabilitated, and farm forestry will be established on 12,000 hectares.

Such interventions are required to counter the decline in the productive capacity of Pakistan's forest resources. While accurate data is hard to find (rates of depletion for the NWFP range from 1.4 percent to 8.8 percent per year), forest depletion and its acceleration is widely recognized. Underlying reasons for the rapid depletion of forests and rangelands are Pakistan's high population growth (3 percent a year) and the increasing demand for timber and fuelwood, as well as the common practice of open uncontrolled grazing.

There are also institutional factors, specifically within the Department of Forests, Fisheries and Wildlife (DFFW), that impact on the project. The project draws on a social forestry approach to provide for the active participation of forest users in the design, planning and execution of project related activities. However, the DFFW has limited experience in this area. DFFW's focus on the technical aspects of tree growing excludes the sort of social forestry approach needed to promote sustained forestry development. Another major constraint which the project seeks to address is the limited gender and development capacity of DFFW to consider gender equity issues in the planning and implementation of its policies and programs.

Yet the issue of gender is of critical importance in Pakistan and in the forestry sector. In Pakistan's rural communities, women are important economic contributors within the household and active users of forests and the surrounding areas. In the project area, women help other family members in field crop production, particularly in home gardens and rearing livestock. The latter involves gathering fodder from nearby areas and stall-feeding animals. Women also collect firewood from the nearby forests or cow dung from surrounding grazing areas. For these reasons, it is important that women's views of land use in the project area are heard.

In order to introduce programs that both recognize and benefit women as forest users, agencies such as DFFW have to provide capacity building and safe forums for women to publicly articulate their opinions and aspirations. While women's labor is critical to the running of households and farms, they traditionally have limited roles in decision-making processes. Not only are women's mobility restricted and their interaction with men strictly monitored, but gender norms instruct women and girls to stay in the background (literally) and not to voice their opinions when in mixed company. Women's lower social status is further apparent in their restricted access to social services such as health and education. The literacy rate of women for example is significantly lower than men's throughout Pakistan and in the project area (where the literacy rate of women ranges from nil to 25 percent, compared to men's literacy rate ranging from 12 to 45 percent). Women's lack of literacy further limits their ability to participate in decision-making processes and training and education programs.

Top

Project Design:

The main objectives of the project are to protect and improve the hilly and mountainous environment of NWFP, thereby raising the productivity of private, community and government land suitable for planting trees, fodder and other crops. The project is being implemented in seven water sheds. Three major project components are:

1. Determine the land use practices and needs of the villages and communities in the project area
2. Strengthen the institutional capacity of the DFFW, particularly with regard to social forestry
3. Physical development of forests including afforestation/reforestation, rehabilitation of rangeland, farm forestry and enhancement of community infrastructure

The formation of community based organizations (CBOs) will be central to the success of the project. In brief, villagers involved in similar activities, such as crop farmers will be grouped together and organized separately. Care will be taken that all land user groups, including tenants and other disadvantaged groups are sufficiently represented. Women's views will be solicited and presented through women's organizations. NGOs will work closely with CBOs in there area in order to provide training for each CBO, increase forest-dependent communities understanding about the importance of sustainability, and to prepare village land-use plans. The resulting village land-use plans will represent a consensus-based set of village maps, socioeconomic inventories and demarcated areas for project interventions.

CBOs will also be crucial to afforestation/reforestation, rehabilitation of rangeland, farm forestry and community infrastructure development. All project forest and rangeland areas will be selected by CBOs on the basis of village land-use plans. The design of all interventions, starting from the choice of site and the details of communal grazing arrangements, to the mix of tree species, choice of grasslands, establishment of nurseries, and planting and maintenance of areas planted will involve participation of beneficiaries through their CBOs.

Top

Gender Inclusive Design:

Separate consultations with women and men during the analysis stage made it apparent that specific strategies would be required to ensure that

1. women's interests are represented in community consultation (particularly with regard to land use)
2. women have equal opportunity to benefit from the project

Consequently, a number of gender-specific interventions were included to guarantee women's rights.

Gender Segregated Consultation and Mobilization

• Women will be interviewed and surveyed separately from men in order to tap their knowledge of local resources
• Women will be organized separately from men in order to enhance their participation in the preparation of village land use planning and land use decisions
• The focus of much of this activity will be in the formation of women's CBOs. These women's organizations will be formed and supported by female social organizers or female NGO staff during the project
• After the completion of land use maps, results will be presented to villagers, with separate sessions for women and men
• The role of women in subsequent planning and management of specific land use projects will be encouraged, and their efforts here will be supported by female extension workers within the DFFW

The focus of these features/activities is to give women confidence and experience in group organization and social mobilization. By providing opportunities to women to participate in decision-making processes, the project will not only increase women's participation in the project, but encourage their involvement in a range of village development activities.

Women's Expanded Role in Forest Employment

Drawing from similar DFFW projects in other parts of Pakistan, the following activities will be explored in order to give women increased economic opportunities, improved social status and an expanded role in DFFW's forestry programs. For example, in one region private nurseries have been established to augment the supply of seedlings, with 19 of the 84 nurseries operated by women. Activities for this project include:

• In line with successful activities elsewhere, and based on feedback from women in the project area, women will receive organization training and be offered various income-generating activities during the project, including training on the establishment and operation of small tree nurseries and handicraft activities such as mat weaving. Women may also be employed to plant surrounding hillsides
• Women's CBOs will be central to these activities, as women will access employment, training and income-generating activities through women's CBOs
• In terms of farm forestry, farmers will be encouraged to plant multipurpose trees in and around farmlands. This component is particularly important to women as such areas usually belong to private owners and are often accessible to women. Furthermore, such trees provide livestock fodder and firewood, and women are usually engaged in stall-feeding of livestock and gathering firewood for the family

Gender Capacity Building in DFFW

Training of DFFW staff in social forestry and gender sensitization is also critical. Two aims of the project are to increase staff's awareness of gender issues and to provide training and other opportunities to female DFFW staff.

• Selected DFFW staff will receive in-country training in social analysis of forest-dependent communities. Female staff in particular will be encouraged to participate in order that they can subsequently serve as social organizers at the village level
• DFFW staff and field personnel will be asked to work closely with women's community based organizations in order support these organizations develop village land-use plans
• DFFW staff and field personnel will be asked to implement social forestry projects which require them to work closely with women in villages and community-based organizations
• Six technical staff will be sent overseas for postgraduate training in, among other things, environmental management, resource economics and community resource management. At least two of these staff members are to be women
• To ensure gender concerns are not lost during implementation two gender specialists are specified in the loan agreement, that is, one (female) training specialist and one 'women in forestry' specialist

GAD Specialist's Involvement in Midcourse Review

ADB's GAD Specialist in the Pakistan Resident Mission has played a key role in monitoring and correcting where necessary project implementation. From her involvement in midcourse review, the GAD Specialist observed that project objectives were being jeopardized by

1. a lack of attention to policy issues relating to forestry sector reform
2. a lack of commitment to institutional capacity building within the DFFW in relation to social forestry and gender and development capacity

This led to the following interventions:

• Forestry Sector Reform  The GAD specialist has ensured that wider issues such as forest policy and the Forestry Act, poverty alleviation, women's rights and participation, and land ownership and tenure are considered in the project. Notably, the GAD specialist has gained an undertaking from the Forest Commission that it will implement a Social and Gender Strategy as one of its first priorities in order to protect the rights of non-owners and women to royalty, employment and access to project benefits
• Gender Equity in the DFFW  The GAD specialist has commented on the need to increase the number of qualified women in field and management positions. More women need to be recruited and promoted in order to meet the need for technical and managerial support within the project, particularly for project components designed to incorporate the needs and participation of rural women
• Women's Representation  The GAD specialist has also provided advice on how to increase the representation of non-owner women and women's rights and development activists on DFFW round tables. She has also commented on how to raise the level of social and gender analysis in village land use plans
• A Gender and Social Review  In response to the GAD Specialist's concerns, a Gender and Social Review was conducted to assess how well beneficiary participation and gender issues had been addressed to date

GAD Specialist and Midcourse Corrections

Following discussion with the GAD Specialist, the DFFW agreed to:

• Institutionalize gender mainstreaming in the forest sector. In line with this, forestry related interventions, women's employment status in the DFFW, and forest sector reforms form part of a strategy which aims to improve the subordinate status of women
• Establish an Integrated Specialized Unit of Community Development and Gender and Development
• Prepare a staffing plan to ensure female staff levels meet the prescribed government reserved quota for women in public office over the next four years
• Develop an Affirmative Action Plan to reorient the procedures and logistical support systems of DFFW to create enabling environment for women staff
• Develop a staffing requirement plan for the delivery of field services over the next four year, with particular attention to the anticipated demand for female staff
• Enroll women in M.Sc. and B.Sc. courses at Pakistan Forest Institute from September 2000