Abstract:

PREFACE
The Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA), a network of social scientists in the sub-region, was established in 1980. Its main objectives are to encourage and promote interest in the social sciences; to enable members to engage in collaborative research; and to facilitate the exchange of scholarly ideas and publications between individuals and institutions that teach or conduct research in various social sciences in the region.

This book is one of the outcomes of a series of research projects carried out through the sponsorship of OSSREA, with a grant provided by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. The overall objectives of the research endeavours were: (i) to build capacity amongst natural resource management (NRM) researchers, with an emphasis on land and water management, for the integration and practice of social/gender analysis and participatory research; (ii) to develop appropriate approaches to and tools for social/gender analysis and participatory research; (iii) to build capacity within OSSREA and partner organisations and institutions for mainstreaming gender in NRM research activities; (iv) to support and increase interactive networking and information exchange amongst NRM researchers in the sub-region with a focus on gender/social analysis and participatory research; and (v) to document the processes and good practices used by NRM researchers in integrating social/gender analysis, and to record research results. The goal of this book is to fulfil, in part, the achievement of these objectives.

Most development issues cannot be addressed from a single professional perspective or without the participation of the beneficiaries. Cognizant of this, there is wide agreement among researchers and development research managers about the value and importance of interdisciplinary and participatory approaches to the initiation, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of research for development projects and programmes. However, looking at the existing scenarios of research for development, one finds that such research undertakings often tend to be sectoral and “researchers-driven”, with little participation by users of the research results.

Development problems are multifaceted and so are their solutions, which usually necessitate engaging with technological, institutional and policy issues—thus requiring multidisciplinary expertise and experiences for proper understanding and appropriate adjustments. This is especially true for developmental issues related to natural resources management that involves dealing with the interaction of humans and nature, i.e. of natural and socio-political systems.

The participation of beneficiaries and supporters of the research process is likely to ensure that the relevant research issues are identified, and that the efforts will be carried out in a more efficient and effective manner, since participation facilitates greater uptake of results.

Regarding gender, the broad agreement among researchers and development practitioners is that neglect to pay attention to gender-related issues in designing research projects limits the value and applicability of the results.

Many research projects fail, however, to incorporate explicit attention to gender and to use multidisciplinary and participatory approaches. This is limiting the contribution of research to development and, as a result, to its own profile, which in turn limits the support research itself receives from governments and other donors. That is why this project focused attention on elements that add value to research for development—to develop capacity for and interest in research for development within the region.

The research described in this volume has attempted to overcome the gender-based biases found in NRM research and to meet the challenges of including gender and social issues. The purpose of the research programme was to add a gender-sensitive research dimension to already existing research programmes and activities focusing on natural resources and their management. Most of these programmes had already commenced, but had left gaps in the area of social analysis, particularly relating to gender. The contributions found in this volume sought to fill these gaps and provide information on gender-differentiated roles, responsibilities, access, control, contributions, etc., and on the different relations that men and women have with the environment and natural resources, including the different needs of men and women. This knowledge was seen as vital for better-informed decisions and recommendations concerning natural resource management in the future. Further, several of the chapters indicate how the different gender groups can be integrated into sustainable management of natural resources, based on their roles, relations and needs (see, for example, Mawaya and Kalindekafe in this book).

Developing the gender component for the research proved challenging, particularly in moving from merely looking at gender-related differences to investigating and understanding why such differences existed. Often, it was difficult to include women in the research—because of cultural constraints that prevented contact, or because the women were too busy, or perhaps because they did not have sufficient interest to attend necessary meetings or fill out questionnaires. Indeed, a limitation of most studies found in this volume too is that the women who were respondents were all household heads (i.e. divorced or widowed), and not enough effort was made to include young single women and/or married women.

In order to encourage women’s participation and to open up opportunities for communities to benefit more from the research, some participatory methods of data collection were used, with special effort made to encourage women – for example through creating environments where women would feel comfortable enough to contribute (see, for example, Rutaisire, Kabonesa, Okechi and Boera in this book). Methods used include KAP (knowledge, attitudes, and practices) assessment, questionnaires, focus group discussions and interviews with key informants. Some researchers used more participatory tools including resource maps, seasonal calendars, economic well-being ranking, mobility mapping, and resource benefit analyses. The value of using these tools in opening up deeper and more complex discussions, on issues, such as access and control of resources, was recognised by many gender specialists working in the areas of natural resources management, technical assistance, and development. For example, the resource mapping carried out by Mawaya and Kalindekafe and presented in this book highlighted the gender division of ‘space’—women dominated the household and river “space”, and men dominated the agricultural land and forest ‘spaces’ further away from home. Men’s domination in these places was linked to their perceived roles as breadwinners and providers of shelter for the household. Both men and women tended to classify NRM in relation to the spaces that they themselves used, women talking more about river resources and men about forests.

Some researchers used triangulation to verify data and to ensure, as far as possible, that information was reliable. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. For example, Macharia et al. used a Partial Budgeting Model for the systematic analysis of agronomic and economic attributes of different low external fertility/conservation technologies, while Gross Margins Analysis confirmed the profitability of various technologies across different social and gender strata.

An effort was made to examine and analyse systematically the qualitative information as well as the quantitative. Rutaisire et al. describe the process: “Qualitative data was in textual form, and indexed to generate or develop analytical categories and theoretical explanations. These analytical categories were used to describe and explain social phenomena. Each item in the data was checked or compared with the rest of the data to establish consistency. The data were indexed, and, wherever necessary, rearranged according to the appropriate part of the thematic framework to which they related. The data were also organised in the form of themes sought, with a view to providing explanations for the findings. Computer software SPSS VERSION 10.0 was used to analyse the qualitative data.”

Several of the chapters focus on wetland and water resources. The chapter by Naigaga, Kyangwa and Mugidde describes their gender analysis of the utilisation of a wetland area of Uganda, dealing particularly with those activities that could degrade the environment and lead to risk of human exposure to chemical and/or biological contaminants. The chapter by Mawaya and Kalindekafe also focuses on a wetland area of three riverine systems in Malawi, where no gender analysis had been carried out before. They sought to examine and establish ways in which gender could be mainstreamed into NRM in terms of access, control and management for sustainable livelihoods of different gender groups. A third study focusing on wetland resources is that by Rutaisire et al., who investigated the utilisation of aquaculture in the Lake Victoria basin in Uganda, and aimed to generate information and propose methods for the integration of gender issues in wetland Clariid fish production and the acquisition of technology for their breeding in the Lake Victoria basin.

Girma, Belisa and Gudeta carried out a gender analysis of the social, economic and cultural factors that determine access to and control over resources in selected districts in Ethiopia. They investigated decision-making power regarding production, processing, marketing and utilisation in potato farming, aiming to understand the reasons for the non-adoption, or only partial adoption, of new potato production technologies in terms of gender and social interaction. Also Macharia, Kimani, Kimenye and Ramisch focused on agricultural production, specifically ‘the uptake of soil fertility management technologies’, based on farmers’ social and gender differences, and the effect of such differences on the profitability of technologies for small-scale farmers in the central Kenyan Highlands.

We hope that NRM researchers will find this book useful and that they will continue investigating the issues that the chapters in this book have presented.

Shibru Tedla
IDRC Supported Projects Leader, OSSREA