What is the evidence that gender affects access to and use of forest assets for food security? A systematic map protocol

Chiwona‐Karltun, Linley; Kimanzu, Ngolia; Clendenning, Jessica; Lodin, Johanna Bergman; Ellingson, Chad; Lidestav, Gun; Mkwambisi, David; Mwangi, Esther; Nhantumbo, I.; Ochieng, Caroline; Petrokofsky, Gillian; Sartas, Murat

doi:10.1186/s13750-016-0080-9

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…The women folk remain essential in land utilization. Land tenure ownership and active participation play important roles in women's activities and decisions over their access and use of forest resources (Chiwona-Karltun et al, 2017). Kaganga and Ndumbaro (2017) in their study in Tanzania, Njombe District noted that married women were more informed on the wood resources than married men but lacked participation in decision making; they could not, for example, respond to some questions on land ownership.…”

Section: Perceptions Toward Echoing Women's Forests In Sfmmentioning

confidence: 99%

The forgotten half? Women in the forest management and development discourse in Africa: A review

Duguma

Nzyoka

Obwocha

et al. 2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Numerous theoretical and empirical studies examining women's engagement in sustainable forest management (SFM) have shown that women bring distinctive interests and values to forest management. However, their effective engagement is still low due to bottlenecks such as rules of entry, ownership, labor division, social norms, perceptions, rules of practice, personal endowments, institutional outcomes, and other organizational cultures. Key among those are the gendered perceptions that marginalize them from the onset. As a result, women's potential to promote SFM in Africa has not been exploited effectively, yet. This raises concerns for gender and social equity as the current practice socially excludes groups that hold specific ecological knowledge, skills, and interests that influence SFM practices. By critically reviewing systematically selected 104 studies conducted on gender issues and forest management in Africa, this paper explores how women's role in forest management and the broader development discourse is constrained. It also characterizes the prevailing engagement models and shows how they influence inclusive processes of deploying SFM practices. Women's engagement in SFM is dominated by public/civic engagement and significantly lags in effectively engaging them as stakeholders, experts, or households. Of the 104 studies reviewed, 54% (n = 57) characterized women's engagement as largely through public meetings compared to 5% (n = 5) as stakeholders and 4% (n = 4) as experts. Thirty-four percent (n = 36) did not clearly categorize the engagement type. Women's engagement in SFM is merely to fill the gender ‘representation' requirements and any effective roles such as decision making, ownership, and benefits are not under the control of women at large. As a result, women's potential to promote forest management and avert ongoing forest loss is not exploited. There is a need to transition from mere representation to a meaningful engagement of women in the sector for inclusive forest management to flourish. In general, capturing, recognizing, and effectively utilizing women's voices and potential in forest management and development discourse requires institutions that deliberately embrace inclusivity and promote equity in general and across gender.

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Section: Perceptions Toward Echoing Women's Forests In Sfmmentioning

confidence: 99%

The forgotten half? Women in the forest management and development discourse in Africa: A review

Duguma

Nzyoka

Obwocha

et al. 2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

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“…Four of the current authors participated in that workshop (NK, JC, LCK, GP), together with eight other academics and policymakers in the field of gender studies. All 12 people contributed to a protocol that defines the method used in the current paper [22]. The protocol provides more information about the stakeholder workshop.…”

Section: Stakeholder Workhopmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Is the Evidence Base Linking Gender with Access to Forests and Use of Forest Resources for Food Security in Low- and Middle-Income Countries? A Systematic Evidence Map

Kimanzu

Schulte‐Herbrüggen

Clendenning

et al. 2021

Forests

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In nearly all parts of the world, an important part of people’s livelihood is derived from natural resources. Gender is considered one of the most important determinants of access and control over forests. It is thought that women and men within households and communities have different opportunities and different roles and responsibilities in relation to forest use. It is probable that when women have equal access to forests, better food security outcomes can be achieved for individuals and households that are dependent on forests for their livelihoods. A systematic evidence map of the evidence base linking gender with access to forests and use of forest resources for food security was undertaken. Ten bibliographic databases and 22 websites of international development and conservation organisations were searched using keywords suggested by stakeholders. Other articles were found by emailing authors and organisations to send potentially relevant publications. 19,500 articles were retrieved from bibliographic databases and 1281 from other sources. After iterative screening, 77 studies were included: 41 focussed on Africa, 22 on Asia, 12 on Latin America, 2 were global. Most indicators of food security measure access to food, measured by total consumption, expenditure, or income. Studies showed strong gender specialisation: commercial access and utilisation of forests and forest products dominated by men, whereas access for subsistence and household consumption is almost exclusively the task of women. Despite the large number of studies reviewed, limitations of the evidence base, including methodological heterogeneity, a dominance of case studies as the study design, and unequal geographical representation in study locations, make it difficult to generalise about the overall importance of gender and its effect on access to and use of forests for food security in developing countries. The critical gaps in the evidence base include geographical representation in primary research and a greater breadth of study designs to assess gender implications of access to forest resources globally.

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“…In Makokou, women were engaged in both harvesting and trading NTFPs, other forest products, and agricultural products, whereas both men harvester-trader and traders were engaged only in forest products. Such multitasking and diversified sources of incomes are common in Central Africa and forested low and middle-income countries, where women are often responsible for supplying household food needs and selling any surplus, with men concentrating on cash crops and products (Chiwona-Karltun et al 2017, Haverhals et al 2014. This can be explained by income inequality being relatively high in Gabon, despite the country being rated as an upper-middle income country (AFDBG 2011).…”

Section: T Able 4 Socioeconomic Profile Of Stakeholders In Three Ntfpmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This suggests that women specialize in collecting and processing forest products used for subsistence, whereas men specialize in their trade, and female-headed households having a stronger reliance on processed and unprocessed forest products income than male-headed households (Sunderland et al 2014). NTFPs consumed and income from their trade can affect food and nutritional security both positively and or negatively (Chiwona-Karltun et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Coula edulis, Dacryodes buettneri and Irvingia gabonensis non-timber forest product value chains from Makokou, North-East Gabon from a gender perspective

Yobo¹,

Awono²,

Ingram³

2020

int. forest. rev.

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Trade-in Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in the Congo Basin is a source of cash income for stakeholders in their value chains, from harvesters to traders. However, gender-disaggregated data on the benefits of such trade in Gabon remains poorly captured and used by policy-makers, despite a decree on women's empowerment enacted by the Republic of Gabon in 2017. This study assesses gender dynamics, reasons for entering the trade, economics, and perceived threats to Coula edulis, Dacryodes buettneri, and Irvingia gabonensis value chains originating in Makokou, Gabon. Data from field observations, key informants, and 79 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in three markets showed that activities in the value chains of these three NTFPs were highly gender-differentiated. Women dominate in all three chains, particularly in the two lower-value products. This was driven by women's vulnerability and men's preference for higher-value timber and NTFPs. Both men and women enter the trade mostly because they lack other ways to generate income and employment. The men involved in the chains tended to harvest slightly larger volumes and sell at higher prices. The NTFPs and their value chains were all perceived as threatened by climate change, deforestation, and unsustainable forest resources management, with both men and women aware of these threats. The importance of the NTFP trade for women suggested that policies and gender focus interventions, for example on domestication, cultivation, value-adding to improve and sustain their income, could contribute to more sustainable value chains and livelihoods.

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What is the evidence that gender affects access to and use of forest assets for food security? A systematic map protocol

Cited by 9 publications

References 23 publications

The forgotten half? Women in the forest management and development discourse in Africa: A review

The forgotten half? Women in the forest management and development discourse in Africa: A review

What Is the Evidence Base Linking Gender with Access to Forests and Use of Forest Resources for Food Security in Low- and Middle-Income Countries? A Systematic Evidence Map

Understanding the Coula edulis, Dacryodes buettneri and Irvingia gabonensis non-timber forest product value chains from Makokou, North-East Gabon from a gender perspective

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