Number of questions: [5]
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Posted on 11/03/2007 18:20:21 |
Dear Anna,
There is enormous momentum behind biofuels today. In India, bio-ethanol from sugarcane or sweet sorghum seems to be a male-dominated activity, whereas bio-diesel trees are mainly planted by women on 'wastelands' where they have usefruct rights but not ownership (much as the case with firewood harvest I think). Will large-scale plantations of bio-diesel trees benefit women and the environment, or would they be better off harvesting and selling firewood instead? Maybe the answer is unknown since bio-diesel profit potential is still unclear, but I would like to know your thoughts on this new enterprise.
Mark
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Mark Winslow (from Germany)
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Dear Mark,
Although the interest in biofuels is growing fast, there are still major knowledge gaps related both to their environmental as well as socio-economic impact. UNEP is therefore developing a targeted research propoosal in collaboration with GEF on biofuels to identify environmental safeguards and conditions under which biofuels should and should not be promoted. It is first after these knowledge gaps have been filled that we can say with certainty which biofuels should be grown where and under which socio-economic conditions.
Your example from India is interesting and it appears that bio-ethanol and bio-diesel can be produced on different types of land, e.g. more productive land and wastelands, respectively where men control income from more productive lands and women from wastelands . I beleive that women could benefit from getting access to new technology and larger markets associated with bio-diesel production from trees on lands they have usufruct rights to. However, before promoting new initiatives in this area it would be important to analyse if women would still have the same right to income from the production of bio-diesel from trees as from collection of firewood and what could be done to maintain women's rights to these lands.
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Posted on 09/03/2007 12:26:23 |
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Aujourd'hui la dégradation des terres agricoles a atteint des proportions plus qu'inquiétantes qui interpelle la société toute entière. Avec les technonologies actuellement utilisées pensez qu'il sera réellement possible de nourrir la planète par des produits agricole dans une vingtaine d'année?
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Amadou Maiga (from Mali)
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Dear Amadou,
I agree that land degradation in agricultural areas has reached alarming proportions that questions the sustainability of socieaty as a whole. You are aksing whether I think that it will be possible to feed the entire planet with agricultural products in twenty years. This is a very challenging question and I think it has to do with trade relations and unequality between the developed and developing world. The developed world actually produces a surplus of food due to high external inputs, but often with high associated environmental costs related to water and air pollution, loss of biodiversity etc. The developing world, and in particular Africa, cannot afford inputs, such as fertilizers, which would enhance production. On the other hand, low-external input agriculture can also be made very productive as well as environmentally sustainable with minor improvements. One problem is that local knowledge and roles of men and women related to land management are often not recognised. Opportunities to build on and improving existing practices to improve agricultural production are therefore often missed.
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Posted on 09/03/2007 12:05:02 |
La matrise de la consommation de dnergie domestique et laccs des sources dnergie autre que le bois (lectricit, gaz, rchaud etc.) sont lavant-garde de la lutte contre la dgradation des terres.
Il se trouve que les femmes notamment des pays en dveloppement y jouent un rle majeur (rcolte et vente du bois, utilisation du gaz).
Par ailleurs, les femmes sont galement les plus ouvertes linnovation technologique et sont les moteurs des activits familiales rurales.
Ma conclusion est la suivante: mieux associer et responsabiliser les femmes toutes les phases de la conception, planification, excution et suivi des projets/programmes et le dveloppement sen trouvera amlior. Que penser vous de cette rflexion ?
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Amadou Maiga (from Mali)
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Dear Amadou,
Thank you very much for this important reflection that I will try to translate, so that more people can follow the discussion. You are saying that the management of domestic energy consumption and access to energy resources other than fuelwood (electricity, gas, etc.) are at the forefront of the combat against land degradation. It is the case that women, particularly in developing countries, play a major role (harversting and sale of fuelwood, utilization of gas). In addition, women are also very open to technological innovation and are the engines of rural families' activities. And you conclude that if women are more involved and empowered in all phases of conceptualisation, planning, execution and monitoring of development projects, and prorgammes, things will improve.
I fully agree with you and therefore think it is very important to do a proper gender analysis of natural resources management issues and problems before designing or implementing any land management projects or programmes. Thanks for drawing the attention to the role of women in rural energy provision and consumption, which I forgot to mention in the response to the first question, as it is an important rural resources management issue in addition to soil and water management, crop selection, herding, etc. The development and adoption of improved cooking stoves in the Sahel is an example of women's openness to adoption of new technologies, but I am sure there are many other good examples out there.
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Posted on 09/03/2007 09:12:28 |
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What strategies do you propose for educating policy-makers in your area of specialization ?
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Centre for Environment Education (from India)
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The first step would be to raise their awareness about the importance to address gender issues in land management on some of the issues I discused in my previous answer. The next step would be to bring relevant sectors together at the approipriate leve to develop a gender screeing tool that could be used in decision making related to land management and train decision-makers in how to use it. A focal point for gender also needs to be designated who could monitor the use of the tool. As new knowledge on the role of gender in land management emerges, new training would be required.
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Posted on 09/03/2007 07:03:00 |
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In what ways is the Gender Aspect important in your area of expertise, especially in terms of equity and equality?
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Jane Smith (from Kenya)
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Dear Jane,
In order to design sustainable land management approaches, it is important to understand differences in access and owenership of land resources and crops between men and women. For example, in many traditional societies, women are often not allowed to own land and when widowed can become landless or their access to land restricted to the most marginal and unproductive communal areas. There can also be differences in rights to harvest crops and, for example, in some parts of Africa women can have the responsibility for vegetable gardens and reap the incomes from them, while men control the income from cereal crops.
Another example relates to soil and water conservation, where men are often responsible for constructing so called structural measures, such as terraces, during the dry season, while women are responsible for agronomic measures, such as mulching. If, as often is the case in Kenya, the male members of a household are working off farm during the dry season, the households ability to conserve its land from erosion is reduced.
So it is extremely important to understand gender roles in land management to ensure that any land management intervention contributes to equitable sharing of and access to income from the land as well as equality in terms of labour input.
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