Gender issues

Women and men have differing tasks and responsibilities in the production and provision of food. Many women spend a large amount of time collecting – and have a great deal of knowledge about – forest and tree foods and woodfuel, while men seldom have responsibility for collecting and using natural resources for household use.

Women face gender-specific constraints including access to land, credit, technology, employment opportunities and markets for forest products. Cultural, socio-economic and institutional factors have contributed to the gender disparity in opportunities in the forestry sector. They range from the social perceptions of women’s roles and the time women have to spend on domestic responsibilities and childcare to gender disparities in literacy, education, physical abilities, technical skills and access to training and extension services.

Empowering women in the forest sector can create significant development opportunities for them and generate important spill‐over benefits for their households and communities.