Gender Action Learning System for Coffee Chain Upgrading

1. Gender Action Learning System for Coffee Chain Upgrading Linda Mayoux Hivos GALS@Scale

2. Why Gender? Business Case • Women perform 70% of the work in coffee • Women are responsible for household wellbeing and food security • Men own the coffee land and control the income from coffee • 70% men in Western Uganda and over 50% men in Northern Tanzania spend a large percentage of the money on alcohol • This leads to conflict in the household over labour and income and increases household poverty for men as well as women and children • Household poverty and conflict leads to poor coffee quality and unreliability in coffee supply • Similar conflicts in trader households lead to indebtedness and poor relationships throughout the chain. • National government, FTOs and development organisations supporting coffee production have a Gender Policy • International coffee marketing chains and their consumers are concerned about CSR and poverty reduction – particularly children and women Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

3. Coffee supply chains, farming and trading households where: Women equally with men have access to high income levels own the land and property make investment decisions plan for the household Men equally with women share work and contribute income for the farm and household ALTERNATIVE VISION Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

4. Gender Framework • Promotion of women’s human rights as stated in UN CEDAW to enable both women and men to move forward in a just society • Right 1: Freedom from Violence • Right 2: Gender Equality in Decision-making • Right 3: Equal property rights • Right 4: Freedom of thought, movement and association • Right 5: Equal rights to work and leisure • Gender justice for men to enable them to challenge and change gender stereotypes and constraints preventing men and women from achieving their full human potential. Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

5. Gender principles Women are intelligent actors, not victims Men are potential partners in change towards a just society Women’s rights in CEDAW are non-negotiable Redefine ‘culture’ in terms of underlying values of respect, inclusion and equity Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

6. INTERLINKEDGENDERSTRATEGIES Strategy 2: Gender mainstreaming for innovation and institutional change(GALS Phase 2) Strategy 3: Advocacy Network for policy improvement (GALS Phase 3) Strategy 1: Empowerment through Community-led Gender Action Learning (GALS Phase 1) Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

7. Sources of inspiration • ParticipatoryLearning and Actiondevelopedby Robert Chambers and others • REFLECT literacymethodology of ActionAid • AppreciativeEnquiry • InternalLearningSystem of HelziNoponen • InformationGraphics, Systems and andCognitiveMapping • Counselling and conflictresolutiontechniques • Goodpractices in adulteducation Gender Action Learning System Overview

8. Generic Process Principles • Focus on the positive: visioning, strengths, opportunities, win-win to build support for tackling challenges and conflicts • Action from Day 1: SMART activities and targets tracked over time from the very first session • Inclusion : everyone can be a leader of change • Social justice is non-negotiable : including gender • Sustainability : ownership, pyramid peer upscaling and integration Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

9. Generic Diagram Tools Used at all levels, generally with symbol drawing, to increase clarity of thinking and communication between stakeholders • Road Journey – strategic planning with SWOT • Vision and achievement journeys. • Trees – concept mapping. • Gender balance tree • Challenge Action Tree • Circle maps – relationship mapping • Empowerment Leadership Maps • Market Maps • Diamonds – change priorities and assessment • Empowerment, violence, property, decision-making, work etc. Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

10. Gender is fun! Songs and dances: promoting a vision, questioning culture and teaching tools Interactive theatre and role play: visioning and most significant changes Participatory photography and video Technology – democratising the web Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

11. Current GALS processes in coffee production HivosGALS@Scalepartnering with Ecom and Armajaro in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda aiming to reach 30,000 coffee farmers over 3 years ON/IFAD GENVAD project Uganda and Rwanda reaching around 5,000 coffee farmers TWIN UK Great Lakes Project: Uganda and Congo reaching around 1,000 farmers Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

12. Achievements on Gender Significant changes in decision-making, division of labour, land ownership and asset ownership For large numbers of women and men (40-60%) Some individual changes for some people immediate, others through collective efforts over 1-3 years Gender awareness and change for more powerful stakeholders Pyramid Peer upscalingis occurring voluntarily on a ratio of between 1-3 and even 1-100+ Sustainability financial and organisational sustainability in Bukonzo Joint after 3 years Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

13. Wider Benefits • Significant and documented improvements in coffee quality and productivity in Bukonzo Joint, West Uganda. Anecdotal improvements elsewhere. • Happier men in both farmer and trading households. • Improved communications and understanding between stakeholders throughout the chain. • Peer sharing networks established for dissemination of technical and other types of information. • Participatory processes established as basis for improved organisational and local government planning. Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

14. Challenges for GALS • Not immune to macro-effects of global prices, competition and economic recession • How to continually deepen inclusion of the poorest and most disadvantaged farmers • Maintaining scaling up once first people have changed – needs ongoing new input and support for innovation • How to develop strategies for hard cases (40%) • Simplicity of tools, but inevitable complexity of participatory process and analysis of reality itself • No blueprints: ongoing development and ‘Chinese Whispers’ Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

15. Opportunities and Challenges for GALS@Scale Opportunities Possibilities for sustainability and scale Possibilities for innovation in media and communication technology Almost ‘blank slate’ Can start as mean to go on with quite ambitious community-led mainstreaming process Challenges • Different private sector organisations competition vs collaboration? • Geographical distances and thereby manageability and costs • Weak and gender discriminatory local level structures and organisations Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

16. Why Coffee? Development Case No gender strategy May increase women’s workload with very little benefit, taking them away from other income earning possibilities Men consolidate control of available land and income and spend extra income on alcohol and more wives Less food security and wellbeing for existing family Increased profits concentrated up the chain Undermine consumer confidence in FTOs Probably much better use of development funds???? With gender strategy • High income long term crop that can complement other sources of income • Development of gender-equitable cooperatives can lead to significant changes in gender relations, including incentives for changes in land agreements • Increased income well-planned by women and men leads to better food security, children’s education and investment in other productive activities • Greater security for farmers reduces distress sales and means that supply and also prices for traders can be more stable • Key entry point for Fair Trade and CSR Gender Action Learning System Overview Linda Mayoux

17. For further information see www.wemanresources.info