Dear Colleagues,
Food and agricultural systems are rapidly changing in the global, regional and national markets, providing rural women with new economic opportunities but also confronting them with strong challenges.
Previous contributions mentioned a list of limitations for women entrepreneurs in accessing resources and services: education, training and information, markets, financial services, among others, that inhibits their potential.
Although these constraints are relevant, several experiences and research have proved that facilitating access to productive resources and services to women might not sufficient to eliminate existing inequalities and promote women’s entrepreneurship and equal participation in agrifood value chains / commercial agriculture. It is evident that a more holistic approach is needed.
A value chain approach embraces the referred challenges on women’s entrepreneurship, global markets, trade policies an women’s economic empowerment.
FAO’s guiding framework Developing Gender-Sensitive Value Chains (GSVC) (http://www.fao.org/3/a-i6462e.pdf) proposes two categories of analysis to identify gender-based constraints affecting value chain development and unveil the role of women and men in the different nodes of the chain, from production to processing and marketing.
These two categories of analysis are access to resources – assets, agricultural services and financial services; and power and agency, which includes capabilities, self-confidence and decision making power.
The GSVC analysis also highlights the importance of understanding the individual and household level, since each individual is part of a household in which specific dynamics and power relations are in place that influences how women and men participate in the value chain. Gender inequalities often originate within the household and the individual agency and power might also depend on intra household dynamics.
The framework allows to make women’s contributions and needs visible and identify gender based constraints, providing entry points for action.
The framework has been piloted through the FMM Sida Programme “Enable women to benefit more equally from value chains” (http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5417b.pdf) in eight countries in Africa during 2015 – 2017.
This transformative approach has put in place some of the following initiatives: family as a business, business development service centers, women’s entrepreneurship, women’s participation in producer’s organizations, gender sensitive policies, among others.
Alejandra Safa - Valentina Franchi and Nozomi Ide
Mme Alejandra Safa Barraza