Overview
Taking gender into consideration in relation to forest and agricultural landscapes matters because how, why and where men and women access, use and manage forests and natural resources differs. These differences matter for the design of policies, institutional arrangements and interventions aimed at supporting sustainable food systems and landscapes. Persistent gender gaps remain across all FOLUR countries in: access to rural advisory services; access to markets and value-addition activities; land and tree tenure; voice and agency; and hiring labor. In addition to these, gender differences in the capacity for addressing climate change has been recognized as an issue that affects not only productivity but widens existing gender gaps in many places. But the challenges and appropriate solutions are not the same everywhere, which is why gender analysis to identify critical gender gaps at the project inception stage is so important. FOLUR country projects are all undertaking gender analyses during project design and identifying specific gender-responsive activities to address gender gaps relevant to their projects. By helping to close these gaps, they will enhance overall project outcomes and impacts.
FOLUR Global Platform’s program on Catalyzing Gender-Forest Landscape and Sustainable Food System Actions aims to see that every FOLUR project (and the Platform itself) has clear gender-related objectives and actions identified and implemented. By sharing knowledge of practices that are generating gender-responsive rural landscape and sustainable food system projects, programs and investments, the goal is to influence and see improved project and program design and implementation of gender ‘best practices’ across FOLUR and with its clients and partners, leading to projects that are more inclusive and able to measure improved equity impacts.
The underlying theory of change of this work is that through greater awareness of the relative lack of targeted gender efforts in these projects and programs, and a better understanding of the kinds of actions that could be, and are being, successfully undertaken in others, that project teams will include gender-targeted investments and actions in their plans from the outset, starting at the design stage.
Opportunities
Women farmers during drought, Kenya. By Flore de Preneuf/World Bank
FOLUR’s Gender Strategy discusses gender-related challenges and gaps that country project teams are facing and the roles of the platform and the country projects in addressing these challenges. It outlines potential gender activities and actions in relation to policies, investment, capacity strengthening, and knowledge. Gender indicators intended for aggregation across all country projects are provided.
Indicators, including gender indicators, will be collected from country projects and aggregated for overall FOLUR performance reporting. "Working Paper: Taking Action on Gender Gaps in Forest Landscapes" examines the types of gender inequalities that exist in forest landscapes, and the gender considerations or actions that many countries are taking to address these gaps.
It reviews and synthesizes a wide range of World Bank and partner projects and forest sector investments in different regions.
A brief, entitled "Enhancing Effectiveness of Forest Landscape Programs through Gender-Responsive Actions" is part of a series of briefs on lessons for gender-responsive landscape restoration, shared at the Global Landscapes Forum in Nairobi 2018. Forest Landscape Restoration aims to achieve ecological integrity and enhance human well-being in deforested or degraded landscapes.
Our strategy
Evidence shows that addressing gender equality and women’s rights is critical for addressing this dual objective. The World Bank, CIFOR, WOCAN, RRI, IUCN, WRI, FAO, ViAgroforestry and other partners representing civil society, multilateral organizations, researchers and private sector actors have joined together to highlight a number of useful lessons and recommendations rooted in their diverse experiences and expertise – all working in different ways to enhance the gender-responsiveness of forest landscape restoration efforts.
Another brief, entitled ‘Gender in Forest Landscape Projects: Actions and Indicators’ succinctly shares practical suggestions as to potential gender-responsive activities and actions, and indicators to measure progress towards gender outcomes, that World Bank Group clients and project teams can potentially include in their forest landscape projects, programs and investments.
A guidance note entitled ‘Gender and Forest Landscapes: Enhancing Development Impacts of Projects and Programs’ provides suggestions for developers and leaders of forests projects and programs to enhance participation by, benefits to, and empowerment of women and other potential beneficiaries with limited voice and agency. The guide identifies potential gender-responsive activities and actions that can be included throughout the project cycle.
Women farmers plow their fields, Guinea. By © Dominic Chavez/World Bank
