On March 2, 2017, Stephanie Leder, Gitta Shrestha and Andrew Reckers of IWMI Nepal presented the participatory gender training manual that was developed by their team under WLE and was trialed in Nepal.

1. Participatory Gender Training for Community Groups
CGIAR Gender Platform - WLE Webinar

2. A Project Made Possible By:

3. Stephanie Leder
Post-Doctoral Fellow for Gender & Social Inclusion
International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Nepal
CRP “Water, Land and Ecosystems”
Gitta Shrestha
Senior Research Officer
IWMI Nepal
Andrew Reckers
Communications
IWMI Nepal
Speakers
Participatory Gender Training for Community Groups
CGIAR Gender Platform - WLE Webinar
Thursday, March 2nd

4. Participatory Gender Training for Community Groups
CGIAR Gender Platform - WLE Webinar
Thursday, March 2nd
Agenda
0:00-0:05 Introduction
0:05-0:20 Principles and Development of a Participatory
Gender Training for Community Groups, Stephanie Leder
0:20-0:30 Gender and social inclusion (GESI) – The status
quo in the organization and at the project level, Gitta
Shrestha
0:30-0:35 Using the manual, Andrew Reckers
0:35-1:00 Discussion, all participants (submit questions in
chat window)

5. Principles and Development of a
Participatory Gender Training for Community Groups
Stephanie Leder
Post-Doctoral Fellow for Gender & Social Inclusion
International Water Management Institute - Nepal
CGIAR Research Program “Water, Land and
Ecosystems”

6. Koiladi,
Eastern Terai
Madhubani,
Bihar
Cooch Behar,
West Bengal
Thakurgaon,
NW Bangladesh
Improving water use for marginal and tenant farmers in the dry
season in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (ACIAR-WLE funded Project)

7. Changing…
o Gender norms on mobility and voice (speaking up)
o Critical awareness on gendered norms - female farmers become more conscious about
their capacities, but also their limitations
o New vulnerabilities, increasing work burden and emotional stress
It is not only about “more women practicing more agricultural labor”…
… but also gender norms and power relations
Male emigration has led to the feminization of agriculture
“…they used to discourage me and tell me ‘aren't you ashamed
of yourself for speaking up when males are there’. Now they
don't say that but it used to be like that before.” - S_I4H
o Increasingly nuclear over joint families (35-86%)
o Number of households with migration (35-58%)
o Household heads remain male (>92%)

8. Although women
take over more
responsibilities in
agriculture
because of
emigrated
husbands, their
needs are
institutionally not
sufficiently
represented.
How can this be
addressed?
Collective empowerment in villages – an illusion?
Empowerment depends on
intra-household relations: family structure and support
(age, gender, position households)
inter-household relations: class/economic background,
caste, political networks

9. Problem 1:
• Gendered divisions of agricultural labor: transfer of
agricultural responsibilities, but also sustaining women’s
dependence on other male family members or neighbors,
e.g. for irrigation and ploughing
• a triple work burden for women (domestic, productive,
community work)
• gendered norms on mobility, speaking up and being heard
hinder women from taking up agricultural interventions and
contributing to (collective) farmer groups to their full potential
 women feel like “substitute” or “second choice” farmers
How can farmers work effectively as groups and take up interventions, with both
men and women being aware of and acting upon those gendered restrictions?
Problem 2:
Lack of participatory gender training approaches for farmers based on SCIENCE
… how can gendered power relations in agrarian communities be addressed?

10. How can we address gender norms, roles and relations in
communities (e.g. affecting agricultural productivity)?
A gender-sensitive approach to resource management in the
context of male emigration:
How? Let’s DISCUSS with the farmers!

11. • Learning theories (Social constructivism, democratic and social learning,
Dewey 1985, Vygotsky 1934 etc.)
• Critical pedagogy (raising a critical consciousness, Freire 1996)
• Neurodidactic research (visualization, network thinking, Vester 2002)
• Brain-based principles (interactive, continuum, Spitzer 2007)
• Teaching methodology research (Education for sustainable development,
argumentation, critical thinking, transformative pedagogy, Leder 2017)
As well as…
• Participatory principles around farmers’ capabilities, value system, beliefs and
existing agricultural practices (Chambers 1994, Torre et al., 2008; Fine et al.,
2008)
• Culturally grounded, yet gender transformative training approach (Leder 2017)
• Cost-effective to upscale within NGOs/GOs
Scientific grounding:
Social learning and participatory training principles

13. Participatory
Gender
Training
Curriculum

14. 1) to reflect on their own gender perceptions and roles in
their households and community
 AWARENESS
Activity 1: Boy or girl
Empowerment through enthusiasm and empathy
(Kabeer 1999, Freire 1996)
Participants are encouraged…
2) to critically review gendered agricultural and domestic
labor division
 RESOURCES
Activity 2: Gender Position Bar
3) to develop bargaining skills to resolve conflicts and evoke
empathy by switching roles
 AGENCY
Activity 3: Bargaining role play

15. Principle Objective Method Activity
Network thinking
(Vester, 2002)
Extending and sustaining
knowledge
Photo networks as visual
input
1 - Boy or Girl
2 - Gender Position Bar
Identifying social
constructions
(Chambers 1994,
Leder, 2017)
Demystifying ascribed
gender traits and roles in
the community (e.g.
women’s triple work)
Discussing reasons for boy
or girl preferences
1 - Boy or Girl
Thinking on a
Continuum
(Leder, 2017)
Demonstrating the
relativity of gendered
labor division
Arranging agricultural labor
on 5 varying degrees of
women and men’s
involvement
2 - Gender Position Bar
Role switching Raising empathy and
awareness for the other
gender’s constraints
Switched gender role play
with own bargaining story
3 - Bargaining Role Play
Participation and
farmer
orientation
(Bunch, 1995,
Chambers, 1994)
“local people to share,
enhance and analyse their
knowledge and
conditions, to plan and
act” (Chambers, 1994)
Farmers’ choice of pictures,
space for discussing own
reasons, spontaneously
integrating farmers’ issues
in the training schedule
1 - Boy or Girl
2 - Gender Position Bar
3 - Bargaining Role Play
Activity-specific principles and methods

16. The participatory gender training was developed, piloted, implemented and
comparatively evaluated across different projects for WLE (DSI4MTF, Gender
circles and poverty squares) and BRACED-Anukulan (DFID)
• in 12 villages in the Far West of Nepal and the Terai; West Bengal and Bihar,
India
• 24 trainings with approx. 65 community mobilizers/field staff of 15 NGO/GOs
• Approx. 200 farmers
• if upscaled, possibility to target 39,000 households (1 field staff, 10 trainings with
10 participants = 100 trained household members of families with 6 members )

17. Activity 1: Boy or girl?
Understanding our own and our community’s constructions of gender
… and that gender roles in
agriculture have already been
CHANGING

18. Reason Daughter Son
Financial Security Daughters are regarded as
goddess Laxmi, so having girls, is
considered as good source of
income.
The dowry of the son’s bride
contributes to the family’s
welfare.
Lineage Having a girl creates, extents and
strengthens relations with
another family
Sons continue the race as they
stay in the family and pass on the
family name
Gendered tasks Daughters are responsible and
help with all household work
(cooking, washing, cleaning etc.)
Ploughing can only be done by
male, as a drought will come if
female plough (based on a
legend)
Parents’ cremation (Daagbathi)
Gendered traits Daughters come when we call
them. Even if they are married,
they come to their parents if
they are called
Sons will stay with the family and
look after the parents when they
are old
Examples from Nepal

19. Activity 2: Gender Position Bar
How do we want to change the gendered division of labor?
Farmers state that the change towards more
equal division of labor is already going on,
and they envision even further change

20. Agricultural or Reproductive
Task
Gender Farmers’ reasons for gendered task
Plowing Male Too technical, to respect women
Irrigation/ Pump Handling Male Too heavy, too dangerous, too technical,
women’s sari
Drying Harvest Mostly Female Not much power and physical labor
required, women have a better vision,
related to caring and cleaning, women
can better concentrate
Childcare Mostly female/
both
Women more loving and kindhearted
Cooking Female/ mostly
female
Husband says: I married you, so you have
to cook for me, men cook only outside or
in exceptions, e.g. when wife is sick;
women do rotis at home
Examples from Madhubani, Bihar, India

21. Activity 3: Role play: Bargaining as the other gender
“It’s the first time playing a woman (for me), I
didn’t know how to speak as a woman, as a
daughter-in law, it’s difficult to attend
meetings and walk in a saree as well.” – CMs
Guleriya
“It felt weird to play a landlord and harass
people older than me, it was good to have that
power but at the same time he was an elderly
person and I played a younger person’s role.” –
Bhariya, Guleriya

22. The Outcome: A Gentle Gender Transformation
Gender sensitivity brings enthusiasm, empathy and creates space for
DISCUSSION and AGENCY for BOTH men and women
• The training intends to increase
farmer group interaction and
empathy through discussions on
collective support and the
willingness to mitigate the gendered
division of labor.
• The training promotes bargaining
skills which enable farmers to
confidently negotiate with their
group members, landlords and
others in cases of conflicts.

23. Feedback from Community Mobilizers and Farmers
“I thought we would argue about gender
differences but we discussed very specific
things that were previously ignored- it
forced us to think about it.” – CM5, Guleriya
“I didn’t know about the training gender vs
sex. This participatory approach is new for
us, we don’t talk about gender in farmers
groups. Now we can discuss this in our
communities.” – CM5, Dadeldhura
“I learned that men and women need to
understand each other’s needs. I will now
ask my husband to work alongside and
help me grow vegetables.” – female farmer,
Phulwari village, Kailali
“Today I learned that gender roles are
something that can be changed, but that
change is slow.” – female farmer, Attariya
village

24. Thank you!
Encouraging open discussions in gender-sensitive trainings is the
key to sustainable agriculture

25. References
Bunch, R. (1995). Two Ears of Corn: A guide to people-centered agricultural
improvement.
Chambers, R. (1994). The origins and practice of participatory rural appraisal.
World Development, 22(7), 953-969.
Fine M, Tuck J E, Zeller-Nerkman S. (2008). Do you believe in Geneva? In: Denzin
N, Smith LT, Lincoln Y, editors. Handbook of Critical and Indigenous
Knowledges. Beverly Hills: Sage, p. 157-180.
Leder, S. (2017). Transformative pedagogic practice. Education for Sustainable
Development on water conflicts in India. Springer. forthcoming.
Torre ME, Fine M, Alexander N, Billups A B, Blanding Y, Genao E, MArboe E, Salah
T, Urdang K (2008). Participatory actions research in the contact zone. In:
Cammarota J, Fine M, editors. Revolutionizing Education Youth Participatory
Action Research in Motion. New York: Routledge, p. 23-44.
Vester, F. (2002). Unsere Welt - ein vernetztes System. München: Deutscher
Taschenbuchverlag.

26. Gender and social inclusion (GESI) – The status
quo in the organization and at the project level
Gitta Shrestha
Senior Research Officer, IWMI Nepal

27. Gender and social inclusion (GESI) – The status quo in
the organization and at the project level
Experiences from the field:
1. Research (Gender in the DFID-funded BRACED-Anukulan Project led by
iDE-Nepal)
2. Participatory Gender Training Manual

28. Research findings – gender in the Anukulan Project
1. The neglected complexities of gender issues
2. Awareness of gender issues
3. Lack of space to express gender issues

29. The neglected complexities of gender issues
Have they (landless, poor Dalit women) benefited from those trainings?
Community Mobilizer: Yes.
What kinds of trainings have they received?
CM: Integrated Pest Management, Off-season farming etc.
But how they have used that knowledge when they rely on daily wage
labour?
CM: To meet the target, we included poor female Dalit (marginalized caste)
farmers. We have to include them even if they do not own the land. This is
for meeting project criteria.”
Interview Dadeldura_November 2016

30. Awareness on Gender Issues
How difficult is it for you to link female farmers with the
vegetable collection center?
Community Mobilizer: They are illiterate. (…) They are totally
responsible for household work. They cannot manage time and
also some are engaged in wage labour.
- Interview Doti_Novemeber 2016
Unaddressed challenges
• Illiteracy
• Lack time
• No landownership
Gender
Reproduce
inequalities
Relations, Power,
Networks, Access,
Opportunities

31. Lack of space to express gender issues
“This is the first time we have gained this detailed knowledge about
gender roles and relations. No one before has helped us to understand
the concepts. We have never applied this in our work besides following
the instructions of including different representatives from different
groups in user groups.”
Interview Doti_Novmeber 2016
CMs enable:
• Data collection
• Site selection
• Beneficiary selection
• Group inclusivity

32. The participatory gender training manual
• Sensitize staff and community about gender issues
• Bring out the complex nature of embedded inequalities in the
community
• Provide space for critical and constructive discussions on gender
experiences and GESI issues

33. Gender sensitive planning
and designing
Gender sensitive
implementation of the
project activities
The participatory gender training manual
Examples:
• Primary social qualitative and
quantitative data
• selecting the beneficiary groups
• forming the user groups
• documentation and reporting
project progress
Examples: (from Activity 3,
“Bargaining Role Play”)
• Excessive alcoholism and the
resultant domestic violence (by a
mixed-gender farmer group)
• Difficulty faced by CM to convince
the household members to send
the women for trainings (by a
mixed-gender Community Group)

34. Successful implementation of the training manual
depends on Participatory Approach

35. • Use of language
• How to probe
Skills to remember

36. Logistical issues
Place of discussion and sitting
arrangement
Pre-arrangement of prop for the
role play.

37. Give and receive lessons
Question your knowledge and
experience on gender
-Self-Critical of knowledge on gender relations
-For effective discussion and learning, share
life experiences on gender and also
encourage the participants to do the same

38. Final Tip: Avoid jumping into conclusions in the beginning, regarding, for
example gender equality, equal division of work, etc. This will confuse the
participants. Let them realize through the activities and discussions how
division of gender role is a social construct, and how it shapes their lives.
Thank You!

39. Using the manual
Andrew Reckers
Communications, IWMI Nepal

40. Training structure

41. Training structure

42. Key definitions and concepts

43. Activity Format

44. Discussion Format

45. Evaluating the training

46. Evaluating the training manual

47. Resources available
• Manual in English and Nepali (soon to be posted)
• 12 min. film
• Monitoring and evaluation
• March 8, International Women’s Day: WLE Thrive blogpost
Manual homepage:
https://wle.cgiar.org/solutions/participatory-
gender-training-community-groups

49. Resources available
• Manual in English and Nepali (soon to be posted)
• 12 min. film
• Monitoring and evaluation
• March 8, International Women’s Day: WLE Thrive
blogpost
Manual homepage:
https://wle.cgiar.org/solutions/participatory-
gender-training-community-groups
Thank you! Please type
questions in the chat
window