Engaging Women And Men In Community Based Resource Management Processes In Solomon Islands

ÿGender equity refers to the process of being fair to women and men, in order that women and men can equally access opportunities and life choices regardless of their sex. It has been proposed that local and national management policies and practices can be more effective if they are more gender equitable and better consider the differences in how men and women participate in natural resource use and in the community, taking into account their potentially different goals. The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS), led by WorldFish, aims to deliver increased food security and income for the millions of people living in and depending on aquatic agricultural systems, and intends to take a gender-transformative approach to integrating gender into research in development. In this case study, WorldFish and The Nature Conservancy have documented emerging lessons, gaps and opportunities to better understand how gender-equitable approaches can be taken into account in community-based resource management.

A major challenge for international agricultural research is to find ways to improve the nutrition and incomes of people left behind by the Green Revolution. To better address the needs of the most marginal and vulnerable people, the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) developed the research-in-development (RinD) approach. In 2012, WorldFish started to implement RinD in Solomon Islands. By building people’s capacity to analyze and address development problems, actively engaging relevant stakeholders, and linking research to these processes, RinD aims to develop an alternative approach to addressing hunger and poverty. This report describes the key principles and implementation process, and assesses the emergent outcomes of this participatory, systems-oriented and transformative research approach in Solomon Islands.

The objective of the Assessment is to analyse the agriculture and rural sectors from a gender perspective at the macro level (policy), meso level (institutional) and micro level (community and household). The Assessment seeks to identify gender inequalities in access to critical productive resources, assets, services and opportunities. The assessment looks at the priorities, needs and constraints of both women and men in agricultural and rural communities, and the gaps that exist in responding to these issues. It also provides recommendations and guidance to promote gender sensitivity in future programmes and projects, and identifies possible partners for gender-related activities. This Assessment is also intended to raise awareness about gender issues among policy-makers, FAO officers, NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) in Fiji. It provides background and gender-related information, and can be used as a tool to mainstream gender perspectives in future policies, projects and programmes in ways that empower rural women.

This manual is a practical guide for involving women in environmental and natural resource management at the local level. It provides trainers and extension workers with skills and techniques to train and involve women in conservation activities.

The overview is intended to deepen the understanding of women's roles in environmental and natural resource management. It examines the conceptual and practical connections between gender and the environment, presents an overview of women and natural resource management issues in the Commonwealth, and presents relevant recommendations on women and environmental issues emanating from Commonwealth and international sources.

This publication is the first Asia-Pacific report that comprehensively maps out the intersections between gender and environment at the levels of household, work, community and policy. It examines gender concerns in the spheres of food security, agriculture, energy, water, fisheries and forestry, and identifies strategic entry points for policy interventions. Based on a grounded study of the reality in the Asia-Pacific region, this report puts together good practices and policy lessons that could be capitalized by policymakers to advance the agenda of sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.