Gender approaches in the COBAM project
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THINKING beyond the canopy Gender approaches in the COBAM project Annual Meeting 2012
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The COBAM project has made a point of ensuring its research in the Congo Basin about climate change and forests is gender-responsive. This presentation outlines the approaches used in the COBAM project to ensure that gender is taken into account, and presents some preliminary results from the study. This presentation was given during CIFOR’s Annual Meeting 2012, which was held on 1–5 October at the headquarters in Bogor, Indonesia.
Transcript of Gender approaches in the COBAM project
THINKING beyond the canopy
Gender approaches in the COBAM project
Annual Meeting 2012
THINKING beyond the canopy
Overview
COBAM: Objectives andcomponents
Gender theories
Main Research questions
Approaches and methods
Gender analysis
Lessons
THINKING beyond the canopy
COBAMCOBAM Objective
Provide policymakers, practitioners and
local communities with the information,
analysis and tools needed for
designing and implementing policies
and projects for adaptation and
REDD+ in the Congo Basin
THINKING beyond the canopy
Gender theories
What is known…Three-quarters of the food-cropfarmers in Central Africa are womenMolua (2010).
Women = main managers of non-timber forest products, but are oftendenied the right of planting trees(Brown and Lapuyade, 2001).
When doing the same activities(farming, foraging) the scale ofthose activities differ (Tiani et al. 2005)
THINKING beyond the canopy
Main Gender Research questions
To what extent does climate changeexacerbate or reduce existinggender inequalities?
What is the role of forests inreducing vulnerability of men,women and the disadvantagedgroups in the Congo Basin?
What is the correlation between theforest status and the adaptivecapacity of men and women?
THINKING beyond the canopy
Approaches
Participatory approaches: Focus group discussions (levels;
social groups; men and women).
Pebble games (scoring) andmatrices (Colfer et al. 2000).
Interview of key informants
Gender sensitive variables:Natural resources; activities; sources
of income, perception ofvulnerability and responses, socialcapital and collective action, tenureand access rights.
THINKING beyond the canopy
Gender analysis (in blue)Current state: Country andproject site
Observed trends inthe project site
Vulnerability to climate-related disturbances inthe project site
Adaptive capacityanalysis
Description of current land useand socio-economicconditions in the country(literature review and greyliterature) in the project site(mapping, FGA).
Description of changepatterns at thenational level
Analysis of differentiatedvulnerability to climate-related disturbances inthe project site(perception analysis).
Analysis of currentadaptive capacity basedon observed trends,current conditions andcoping strategies
Analysis of the main activitiesand livelihoods in the projectsite
Analysis of pastdisturbances in theproject site (multi-stress analysis).
Impacts of climate-relateddisturbances (perceptionanalysis
Exploration of futurevulnerabilities to possiblechanges in future climateand other stresses.
Analysis of the institutionalrelationships based on thesocio-institutional networkmapping
Analysis of climate-related disturbancesin the project site
Assessing governance, socialcapital and collective action
THINKING beyond the canopy
Other considerations
Gender considerations when selecting localpartners managing pilot projects. As result,two of the five pilot projects are carried byNGOs led by women
This is an opportunity to study how effectiveNGOs led by women are compared those ledby men and draw lessons as for thedistribution of adaptation and developmentfunds.
THINKING beyond the canopy
Advantages Specific knowledge and priorities of men
and women for forest and forest goodsand services captured
Differential access rights, capabilities andvulnerability to climate changes sortedout
Needs and priorities of men, women andother disadvantaged social groupsexpressed
Separate concerns of women and mendiscussed, then shared with each other
Common agreements are easier to bereached…
THINKING beyond the canopy
Lessons
Our first results show that vulnerability to multi-stressorsincluding climate change and responses are gendersensitive, but whether men or women are the mostvulnerable depend on various factors includingincome strategies (diversified vs. focus), type of forest,sensitivity of main activities to climate hazards or margeof maneuver of each group.
Women proved to be more organized at the local level andmen to be more present at the decision making sphere andmore connected to outside, but the way women could takeadvantage of their social capital and hability for collectiveactions to strenghten their position when designing adaptationand development strategies is yet to be thought.
THINKING beyond the canopy
www.cifor.cgiar.org/COBAM
Thanks for listening!
