This document summarizes a webinar on women's collective action in agricultural markets. It presented findings from research conducted in 11 countries on how women's engagement in market-focused collective action can lead to more equitable outcomes. The research found that external support and enabling policies can help collective action address some production constraints, though not always social norms or access to land. Benefits for women varied depending on the type of group (e.g. women-only, mixed, specialized) and sub-sector. The webinar discussed implications for understanding the conditions that enable more equitable outcomes and how to address constraints like mobility and social attitudes that collective action does not often overcome. Next steps include additional case studies and surveys to explore effective strategies

1. Webinars on
Women’s Collective Action (WCA) in
Agricultural Markets
Webinar 3: Synthesis of Findings
Second Phase of Research
Facilitated by

2. Where are we in the world today
11 Countries
represented!
• Canada • Netherlands
• Ethiopia • Palestine
• France • Philippines
• India • USA
• UK • Tanzania
• Mali

3. What organisations are we from?
Care USA
Coady Oxfam GB
Oxfam America Oxfam Novib Self-help
Africa
Oxfam Ireland Oxfam Canada
Solidarity Eastern and Central
Expertise Centre SNV

4. Who is Who?
Presenting: Facilitating Discussion:
Thalia Sally Ralph Claudia Sally
Kidder Smith Roothaert Canepa Baden
Monitoring Chat: Technical Assistance:
Hugo Kimberley Sally Amanda
Sintes Loveday-Long King Shriwise

5. Agenda for today
• Presentation of findings
Thalia Kidder, Oxfam GB
• Comments on implications
Sally Smith, Independent Researcher
Ralph Roothaert, Oxfam GB
• Discussion in plenary
• Research findings
• Implications
• Next steps...

6. Oxfam’s research on
Women’s Collective Action
A research, learning
and communications
project on women’s
collective action (WCA)
in agricultural markets
Aims to identify:
• the conditions
• types of organisation, and
• strategies of support
…that enable women to take on strategic roles in markets in ways that increase
women’s incomes, assets and empowerment.

7. The Research Question
• To what extent and under what conditions does
women smallholder’s engagement in market-
focused collective action lead to gender
equitable outcomes?
• Who benefits?
• Which benefits?
• Does CA overcome
constraints?

8. Beginnings of answers on WCA
Design Finding
General:
 External support, government policies matter
 CA addresses production constraints, rarely social norms,
time, land, etc.
 Various levels influence outcomes for women
 Look more closely at groups (don’t assume)
– More production …. Less marketing
– Women-only groups; Specialised groups
(mostly ‘mixed’);
– Who in Ethiopia: women heads of households
– A spectrum of ‘mixed’ groups; groups evolve
– Informal groups

9. The research done:
• Primary level CA of small-holder farmers, formal and
informal
• Mali, Ethiopia, Tanzania – two regions & six sub-
sectors each (rice, coffee, chicken…)
• Qualitative, focus groups
• 529 groups identified, over 200 studied
• Describe CA in each sector:
Benefits for women & how
they vary? Why?

10. Conceptual Framework
COLLECTIVE OUTCOMES, INDIVIDUAL IMPACT
Incomes, building assets, empowerment
LEGAL/POLICY PATTERNS OF COLLECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS
FRAMEWORK OF SUB-SECTORS
ACTION
ASSET ENDOWMENT
AGE, SKILLS, LITERACY
FARMING SYSTEM WOMEN’S
HOUSEHOLD DYNAMICS
MOTIVATION AND CAPACITY
NO COLLECTIVE
ACTION

11. Findings

12. Which women join, and why?
Design Finding
Many factors relevant….
• Entry fees, lack of information
• Negative attitudes about women in groups
• Land tenure
– Mali: 3% women avg 0.5 ha; men 1.5 ha, but
older women tend to have access to land
– Tanz: FHH avg 1.6 ha, MHH 2.7 ha
• Status in household: age, junior wives, FHH
• Savings group formal producer group

13. Gendered patterns of CA
• Government role:
– Promoting support for women farmers; coop laws
• External support:
• Widespread, dominant feature
• Functions: multi-functional, more production
• Women’s Participation – a spectrum
– Women’s groups with token men
– Membership doesn’t equate with leadership
• Formal linked to informal
– Informal labour-sharing, savings groups
• Evolution of groups

14. Benefits for Women?
• Common benefits for women
– Social support, income, inputs-training-savings, labour
• Women-only groups
– Social cohesion, skills, leadership, family responsibility
• Specialised organisations
– More economic benefits, less leadership and voice?
• Mixed groups
– Tanz: overcoming ‘husbands’ restrictions’

15. Constraints (for women) in agr markets
Design Finding
Constraint more so for CA
women… helping?
Buyers Low volumes for sale
– side * *
Limited capital *
*
Farmer Transport – mobility
side *
Family responsibilities
*
Social norms
*
Little market info, lack of *
business skills & organisation
*
Collusion between middlemen *
and wholesalers

16. Constraints for women
not (often) addressed
• Land tenure
• Literacy
• Family responsibilities
• Linking women to profitable markets
• Time poverty
• Mobility and transport
• Social attitudes

17. Thank you!
1) Any questions for clarification
purposes?
2) What findings did you find the most
interesting or surprising, and why?
Please submit via ‘chat’ box (moderators tab)

18. Commentators
• Sally Smith
Independent Consultant
• Ralph Roothaert
Tanzania Agricultural Scale Up
Programme Coordinator

19. Implications: Sally Smith
• Important addition to knowledge base on CA in agriculture -
– Shows complexity; contrasts with way (women’s) CA is usually
portrayed;
– Important implications for key development actors and initiatives,
e.g. CAADP, AGRA, Making Markets Work for the Poor
• Raises ‘why’ questions for investigation in Phase 3-
– Shea in Mali – specialised, high value but dominated by women,
why?
– access to land – how and why here not elsewhere?
– Explore ‘exceptions’, especially those with positive outcomes for
women
• Marketing function important –linked to greater economic
benefits.
– what brings groups to marketing function? sub-sector needs,
policy environment, donor support, etc.
– Is this function is transferable (e.g. From rice in Mali to staple
crops elsewhere)

20. • Mixed and women-only groups
– Is extending functions of women’s groups feasible/desirable to get more economic
benefits?
– Is enhancing position of women in mixed groups more effective long term (to address
structural causes of gender inequality)?
• Critical to know disabling factors and how they are overcome in
different socio-cultural contexts
– E.g., What hinders WCA in sectors traditionally under women’s control and how have
these constraints been overcome for ‘exceptions’?
– How did men’s attitudes to WCA change in Mali? WCA may not be the best tool –
what other strategies have worked (e.g. labour-saving technology, gender
sensitisation, etc.)?
• Indications of strong influence of governance structures and
group dynamics
– How do leadership, mission and values of groups affect outcomes?
– What’s the role of linked organisations in these dynamics (e.g. second tier CA,
buyers, NGOs)
• Indications of changes in intra-household gender relations where
women are contributing to household income.
– how and when does this occur (e.g. only where groups have marketing function?)
– what does it mean in terms of women’s empowerment?

21. Implications: Ralph Roothaert
Overview
Implications for Oxfam’s agriculture programme
• External influences on WCA across countries:
– Cultural
– Government
– NGOs
• Importance of other movements
• Degree of formality of groups

22. How do external factors influence WCA and
agricultural value chains in a market system?
Enabling environment, e.g. cultural, government
Inputs Production Processing Distribution Consumption
WCA WCA
WCA
Finance and supporting services, e.g. NGOs

23. Importance of other initiatives and
movements to reach scale
• Many NGOs or government programmes promote group
formation; difficult to reach scale of WCA without them.
– Farmer and gender networks
– Women empowerment
• Programmes need to ‘piggy back’ on existing positive
internal or external movements that affect women
organisations in agriculture
– Good leadership
– Role models

24. Degree of formality of groups
• The definition of formal and informal groups or CA is
very difficult and tends to be blur.
– E.g. Formal groups in Tanzania have informal
components of saving groups
• It is more difficult to identify or access informal groups
in the field because of their informal nature. Proper
assessment of informal groups needs more time from
researchers.
• In Mali, formal groups trigger informal groups
upstream (towards production). This could be a lead
towards identifying more informal groups elsewhere.

25. To wrap up
• Programmatic value chain approaches need to focus on
enabling environment. The research has provided
important lessons on cultural institutions from which
contextual guidelines can be formed on group formation.
• We should link our approaches of facilitating WCA with
dynamic movements that happen regardless
• Lessons on informal WCA are very diverse. We need
more research to draw general conclusions or link
findings to conditions.

26. Asanteni

27. Q&A
• Answers to questions seeking
clarification on research process or
findings

28. Let’s discuss!
• Your views
on what you
found most
interesting or
surprising…

29. New Ideas?! How might you improve
your agr/markets programme or policy
work?
C. Address
B. Rigorous Selection gender- D. Support groups
of GROUPS to support– specific to evolve and
A. POLICY context E. Other?
considering formal and BARRIERS to improve
informal women FUNCTIONS
participating
Please chat your ideas to us!

30. Constraints for women farmers to
engage in markets
Doing well A challenge Learn more
Low volumes for sale
Limited capital
Mobility & transport
Family responsibilities
Social norms
Time poverty
Lack of marketing or links
to buyers
Illiteracy
Little market info or few
business skills
Land tenure

31. Highlights of discussion

32. Phase III research
• Nov 2011-June 2012
• Qualitative: case studies of development
interventions on women’s collective
action  which strategies effective and
why?
• Quantitative: surveys of hhs and
women who participates in CA and
who benefits?

33. Upcoming WCA webinars
• Three more webinars coming next
year:
– January: Innovative types of groups that
enable greater inclusion by women (Coady)
– February/March: Women producers,
collective enterprises & Fair Trade (WIEGO)
– May: Evolution of groups (Care/Coady)
Co- organised by:

34. Thank you!
Visit us at
http://womenscollectiveaction.com/Webinars
for a summary of this webinar and information on
upcoming webinars!