Presented by Dr. Esther Mwangi on February 8, 2018, during the "More than a seat at the table: Strengthening women's tenure and rights to forests and trees and their participation in decision making" webinar, organized by the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

1. Esther Mwangi, Concepta Mukasa, Alice Tibazalika, Abwoli Banana
Strengthening women’s tenure and rights to forests and trees and their
participation in decision making
February 8th, 2018
WEBINAR: CGIAR collaborative platform on gender

2. Outline
• Policy background
• Findings of diagnostic research/situation analysis
• Adaptive Collaborative Management (ACM): An approach to gender equity
• ACM implementation and outcomes
• Conclusions

3. BACKGROUND
“The government will ensure the integration of
gender concerns and issues into the development of
the forest sector….. This will include efforts to:
-increase security of tenure over forest resources for
women and youth;
-encourage active participation of women and youth
in decision-making, resource management and
sharing of benefits;….”
Uganda Forest Policy (2001)

4. DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH IN 18 COMMUNITIES, 3 DISTRICTS
(2010-2011)
Prominent gender inequalities still exist
in forest use and/or management
 government programs/NFA have focal
points but don’t have specific
guidelines/strategies; programs did not
actively promote gender integration
 staff had no incentives to encourage
women’s participation
 limited budgets
 people were not aware that the law
governing forests in Uganda had
changed to encourage more community
participation
 Due to cultural norms and practices,
trees are owned by men; women
cannot plant trees eg Ficus.
 Forests/trees= men

5. ADAPTIVE COLLABORATIVE
MANAGEMENT
Purpose:
 Enhance women’s participation
 Identify whether/how negotiation &
facilitation strengthen women’s
tenure rights in the context of strong
customary norms with male bias
 Generate lessons

6. ADAPTIVE COLLABORATIVE MANAGEMENT: AN APPROACH
TO EMPOWERMENT (2011-2016)
 conscious efforts among voluntary groups to communicate, collaborate, negotiate,
resolve conflicts and seek out opportunities to learn collectively about the impacts of
their actions (CIFOR 2008);
 ‘learning by doing’: group together with other stakeholders identifies a problem,
takes action to resolve it, monitors and evaluates the outcomes, reflects and learns
from the activity;
 move from an undesired current situation to a desired future state that the actors
agree upon; to empower the community to create change and deal with their own
challenges
 empower women and other marginalized groups who live in and around forests by
giving them greater say in how forests are managed (CIFOR 2004);
 proved successful in encouraging both men and women to participate in management
of their natural resources eg in Zimbabwe and Nepal

9.  6 communities in 3 districts (randomly selected from 18
forest-adjacent communities in 6 districts)
 Six ACM groups involving 279 members — 128 men and
151 women — participated voluntarily in the action
THE ACM PROCESS

10. Women expressed concerns over forest and tree-related
issues that included the following:
 exclusion from decisions despite their use and
management of forests and trees
 absence in leadership positions
 poor attendance at meetings
 lack of confidence to speak up during meetings
 cultural norms that prevent them from planting,
owning and economically benefiting from trees.
ACM process/interventions aimed to address them.

11. M&E INDICATORS
 Number of women:
o in leadership
o attending meetings
o Participating or actively contributing
o owning trees
o controlling incomes
 Perceptions of participation in decision
making and confidence of women leaders

13. HOW WERE THESE OUTCOMES ACHIEVED?
 Capacity-building: increased knowledge, skills and confidence of
women
 Vertical linkages to the National Forest Authority and NGOs ensured
support (such as technical capacity, networks, information) and
recognition
 ACM facilitators created a safe, non-intimidating space free from
intimidation or retribution
 Working with men; benefits of group action were distributed beyond
women

14.  Alternative livelihoods activities through e.g. village
banking schemes, provided independent income
sources
 Formal, registered groups provided a legally recognized
structure for collective action and for greater security of
access to and use of trees and forests
 Engagement beyond the community level including
legislators, project advisory committee
ENABLING CONDITIONS

15. CONCLUSION
 Rights granted by statute are not automatically exercised due to ineffective or lack
of implementation
 Customary norms are not etched in stone. Negotiation and facilitation by trusted
intermediaries can strengthen women’s rights, and participation---lower transactions
costs of collective action; level the playing field; decision rules;
 Collective action/organization and linkages to external actors are key to women
being able to exercise rights, secure them and to derive value from their rights
 Men can be allies in processes of strengthening women’s rights and empowerment;
mixed groups of men and women can be viable pathways for this as opposed to
women-only groups

16. ACM FACILITATION: STRONGER WOMEN’S RIGHTS &
PARTICIPATION, REFORESTATION
http://www.cifor.org/gender/videos/uganda/
http://blog.cifor.org/48873/moving-the-needle-advancing-gender-equality-in-uganda?fnl=en
http://blog.cifor.org/45374/a-once-forbidden-tree?fnl=en
https://cgiargender.exposure.co/international-day-of-rural-women

17. Thank you!
www.cifor.org/gender