CARE TANZANIA WOMEN AND AGRICULTURE PROJECT GENDER ANALYSIS REPORT for CARE/Tanzania (Draft 1) April, 2010 1 Contents Abbreviations 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Profile of target areas 1.2 Objectives of the study 2.0 Methodology 2.1 Tools used 2.2 How the study was carried out 2.3 Data analysis 3.0 Study findings and discussions 3.1 Characteristics of impact groups 3.2 Division of labor 3.3 Access to and control over productive assets 3.4 Participation in farmer’s groups/associations 3.5 Other gender issues 4.0 Major program thrust 4.1 Conclusions 4.2 Recommendations 5.0 Appendices 5.1 Terms of Reference (ToR) 5.2 Gender analysis research plan 5.3 Findings from stakeholders 5.4 Findings from FGDs 5.5 List of persons met 5.6 Livelihood context 5.7 Individual data output 5.8 Surveys instruments 2 Abbreviations DALDO District Agriculture & Livestock Development Officer FGD Focus Group Discussion FHH Female Headed Households HAF Harvard Analytical Framework NGO Non Governmental Organizations SACCOs Savings and Credit Cooperatives SLF Sustainable Livelihood Framework SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences SSI Semi Structured Interview SUA Sokoine University of Agriculture ToR Terms of Reference VC Value Chain Analysis WAA Women and Agriculture WEA Women Empowerment in Agriculture 3 1.0 Introduction In Tanzania, agriculture is the largest and most important sector of the economy. Majority of the country’s population which lives in rural areas relies heavily on agriculture. The sector accounts for about half of the national income, three quarters of merchandise exports and is source of food and provides employment opportunities to about 80 percent of Tanzanians. Agriculture also has linkages with the non-farm sectors through forward linkages to agro-processing; consumption and export; provides raw materials to industries; and a market for manufactured goods. Consequently, agriculture has a pivotal role in economic growth, and is directly linked with sustainable development and poverty reduction. Gender differences are a significant attribute in agriculture, from access, control and ownership of land to marketing of raw and processed produce. In Tanzania, despite constitutional proclamations of gender equality and many laws that promote equal opportunities for both men and women, it remains the case that on both smallholder farms and large plantations, men and women carry out different types of work, have different levels of access to resources, and are unequally rewarded for their contributions to the agricultural system, with women typically having less access and lower incomes (Rubin, 2010). Among the CARE’s mandate in various countries in Africa is to promote gender equity, women’s empowerment, productive and sustainable agriculture, market engagement, and environmental change. The newly defined overarching goal of CARE Tanzania states that “CARE Tanzania and allies will contribute to the empowerment of the most marginalized and vulnerable rural women and girls to exercise their rights. This will enable them to achieve access to, and control over quality services and resources, leading to sustainable livelihoods”. To support the goal, CARE Tanzania, is launching a major initiative targeting ‘Women and Agriculture (WAA)’ in Southern Tanzania, that will promote pro-poor and gender sensitive approach to economic development and management of natural resources. The initiative aims to achieve more productive and equitable participation of rural women in the agriculture sector, focusing on smallholders. 4 The proposed WAA program will address CARE’s long-term goal of promoting impact groups including the most marginalized and vulnerable women and girls dependent on natural resources in areas with severe environmental restrictions. As a result, the impact groups will have built their resilience, diversified their livelihood strategies, addressed equitable access to, and control over resources, and benefiting from natural resources. The program’s geographic area of focus is Mtwara and Lindi Regions. The two regions are characterized by relatively poor infrastructural links, varied and vast undeveloped terrain, erratic weather conditions, high level of poverty, food insecurity, cultural dynamics, high illiteracy, and maternal mortality rates. 1.1 Profile of target areas This study was carried out in four selected districts namely Lindi rural and Nachingwea in Lindi region; Masasi and Mtwara rural in Mtwara region. Lindi rural district Lindi district is among the five districts of Lindi region. The district borders Kilwa district in the North, Indian Ocean in the East, Mtwara district in the South, and Ruangwa district in the West. Administratively Lindi district has 10 divisions, 28 wards, 125 villages and 552 sub-villages. The district has a population of 214,882 people as per 2002 population census, with a growth rate of 0.6 percent per annum. It has 45,271 farm families, 181,082 farmers, 82,146 youths, 18,438 female headed households and average household size of 3.8 (NBS, 2002). The major economic activities carried out in Lindi rural district include agriculture, fishing, business operations, wage employment, and small scale manufacturing and processing industries. Agricultural production is still subsistence whereby most farmers produce mainly for consumption. Major crops grown in the district include cassava, sorghum, legumes, maize, cashew, sesame, paddy fruits and Irish potatoes. Little surplus realized is sold 5 and money obtained is used to meet other basic needs such as clothes, building houses, school fees and other social services (NBS, 2002). Key transport infrastructures include roads, airstrips and ports. Nachingwea district Nachingwea is one of the six districts in Lindi region. The district borders with Ruangwa district in the North-East, Masasi district to the south-east, Tunduru district to the South-West, and Liwale district to North-West. Administratively, the district has five (5) divisions, which in turn are sub divided into 27 wards and a total of 104 villages with 41,580 households. The district has a population of 161,473 people of which 78,494 were males and 82,979 were females (NBS, 2002). The main ethnic groups are Mwera, Ngido, Yao, Makonde and Makua. Their main occupation is agriculture and major crops grown in the district include cassava, sorghum, legumes, maize, cashew, sesame, paddy fruits and Irish potatoes. Mtwara district Mtwara rural district is among the six districts in Mtwara region. The district borders Lindi region in the North, Newala district in the West, Mozambique country in the south, and Indian Ocean and Mtwara/Mikindani Municipal in the East. Administratively the district has six divisions and eighteen wards. The total population is 204,770 (Female 107, 901 and males 96, 869) out of which 88,154 are farmers. The total area of the district is 343,700 hectors out of which 250,000 hectors is arable land, but only about 155,191 hectors are under cultivation. Land under food crops is 88, 859 hectors and land under cash crops 66, 859 hectors. Agriculture is the main source of income in the district. Major food crops are Cassava, Sorghum, Paddy and Maize. Other Crops are Pigeon peas, Cowpeas, Bambaranuts and horticultural crops. Cashew nuts and coconuts are the leading cash crops followed by sesame and groundnuts. Potential land for livestock is 16,651 hectors and land for settlement is 5,000 hectors, water area cover 1,800 hectors and forest area 55, 465 ha. Other sources of income are fishing, timber, charcoal making, artisan and petty business. 6 Masasi district Masasi is one of the six districts of Mtwara region. The district borders Nachingwea and Ruangwa district to the North, Lindi district and Newala districts to the East and Ruvuma River to the South. To the West it borders Nanyumbu district. According to the 2002-population census, the total population of the district was 308,366 people where by 148,525 are males and 159,841 are females. Masasi district is administratively comprised of 5 divisions, 22 wards, 156 villages and 934 hamlets. The major economic activities in the district are agriculture and livestock keeping. The major crops grown are cassava, groundnuts, cashew nuts, sorghum, sesame, maize, pigeon peas and vegetable. Livestock keeping include cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and poultry. Fishing and beekeeping is another economic activity which contributes to household income. Most of Masasi residents depend on Cashew nuts production as the major cash crops and cassava as a major staple food. 2.0 Methodology The purpose of this study was to conduct gender analysis in order to identify the key causes that hinder women’s empowerment, the equitable participation and accrual of benefits through their involvement in the agriculture sector. The study also engendered the Value Chain (VC) so as to identify opportunities, barriers and the risks in terms of existing and potential vulnerabilities. In addition, the study identified institutions and organizations active in gender and/or agriculture in Lindi rural, Nachingwea, Mtwara rural and Masasi districts located in Southern Tanzania. 2.1 Tools used In this study, evidence-based approaches to promote gender equity in smallholder agriculture, that empowers the most marginalized and vulnerable women to participate in and benefit from engagement in high value agriculture, while conserving the environment were used. A gender analysis tool, the Harvard Analytical Framework (HAF) with a specific focus on dimensions of empowerment from CAREs Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture (WEA) Framework was used. The framework guided the collection of information on and related to women’s equitable and productive engagement in agriculture within the three elements of women’s empowerment. In addition, the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) was used to bring in 7 information from other areas such as: the barriers and opportunities for engagement of women from the impact groups in agriculture; specific market engagement opportunities; agricultural practices and women’s roles and participation. 2.2 How the study was carried out A research plan to engender the VC analysis was drawn and discussed by the team.