I ncentives D riving E conomic A lternatives – N orth, E ast and W est (IDEA-NEW)

1. Incentives Driving Economic Alternatives – North, East and West (IDEA-NEW) Gender Programming in the Eastern Region April 5, 2012

2. Summary • Background of gender activities at IDEA-NEW • Brief overview of types of activities • Challenges • Lessons Learned

3. Background of Gender Activities • At the start of IDEA-NEW, DAI had a separate Gender and Microenterprise Unit (GME) which was a follow on from ADP/E. • In late 2011 IDEA-NEW East moved away from a single gender unit and towards integrating these activities into existing agriculture and private sector development program units.

4. Types of Programming: • Direct Agricultural Activities (Kitchen Gardens, Nurseries, Poultry) • Integrated into larger value chain, or • Independent activities targeting poor, vulnerable women to increase incomes • Microenterprise Activities (support to small women owned businesses) • Capacity Building Activities (trainings)

5. Agricultural Activities • Women Owned Greenhouses • Part of larger vegetable value chain (sell seedlings to farmers) • Kitchen Gardens • Established for poor, rural families • Independent activity not linked to a larger value chain • Women Owned Layer Farms

7. Microenterprise Activities • Cheese Processing Centers • Established under APD/E now linking with ACE for loans • Sukhrohd Packing Facility • Facility now privatized and run byTak Dana • Gabion Weaving • Provided training to 203 women in PachirAgam and Chaperhar Districts. • Other Mentoring support to small women owned businesses • Women owned Jam and Pickle Company support provided through grant • Ten women retail shops In Kunar, Laghman and Nangarhar. • Eleven Garment center supported through grant program located in Kunar, Laghman and Nangarhar.

8. Capacity Building activities • Youth Business skills training (Taraqi Saba) • English and Computer skills training • Internship program • To strengthen capacities and increase exposure for final-year female students in the university. • DoWA Capacity Building • Provided a six month English and computer skills training to DoWA staff. • Provided support for starting a Women’s Magazine. • IDEA -NEW hired a technical officer for six months to assist the provincial DoWA's.

9. How do we identify women who are willing to work with us in the Eastern Region ? • Lists of vulnerable women provided by the DoWA • Discussions with NGOs and local associations, e.g. handicraft association, midwife association. • Discussions with women shura at the district level • Household surveys carried out by our gender team

10. Challenges • Recruitment of qualified staff • Security - educated women are a target for insurgents • Finding balance between publicizing successes and keeping a low profile. • Difficult to scale up successful activities, thus overall number of beneficiaries is still relatively small • Identifying relevant beneficiaries/partners in value chain activities • Easy to find ‘vulnerable’ women beneficiaries at the bottom of the value chain who will use subsidized inputs to increase income, harder to find beneficiaries for sustainable interventions higher up the value chain • Working with communities in restricted areas (access / cultural norms)

11. Lessons Learned • Able to build up trust from the community due to a long history of the project in region, IDEA-NEW is seen as a trusted, culturally sensitive programso we are able to get female participation • Integrating female staff into IDEA-NEW Program Units is critical for success • Helps to avoid marginalization and isolation of gender programming from overall IDEA-NEW goals • Focus on businesses that provide employment or income generating opportunities for women, regardless of who owns them. • Initial focus has been solely on women owned businesses in Microenterprise—which severely limited the ability to find relevant beneficiaries • Trainings (such as Taraqi Saba) are easiest programs to scale up and reach large number of female beneficiaries.

12. Thank You