Policy,Research, and ExternalAffalrs WORKING PAPERS Womenin Development Public Disclosure Authorized Populationand HumanResources Department TheWorld Bank June 1990 WPS 403 InnovativeAgricultural Public Disclosure Authorized Extensionfor Women A CaseStudy in Cameroon Public Disclosure Authorized S. Tjip Walker In Cameroon's poor Northwest Province, agricultural extension was extended to women for practical, not ideo'ogical, reasons- Public Disclosure Authorized in a sustainable, replicabie experiment that increased production and women's income. Thc Policy, Research, aneIExternal Affairs Complex dcstnbhuteIPRE Working Paperstodisserrinate the findings of work in progress and to encourage the exchange of ideas among Hank staff and all others interested in developmat issues These papers carry the names of the authors, reflect only thcir vicws, and should he used and cited accordingly 'I'he findings, interpreutions, and conclusions are the authors'own They shouldnot he attnbutedto, the World Hlank,i s Board of Directors,its managemnrt,or anyof its membercountries. Policy, Research, and ExternalAffairs Women In Development WPS403 This paper -a product of the Women in Development Division, Population and Human Resou'rces Department - is part of a larger effort in PRE to document cost-cffective ways of raising the produc- tivity of women farners in Africa. Copies are available free from the World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433. Please contact Mila Villar, room S9-133, extension 33752 (53 pages with tables). Women are responsible for 70 percent of staple And groups allow socially acceptable contacts food production in Africa, but agricultural with inaic agents, a supporlive environment, a extension is still geared to men. The North-West chance to develop leadership and management Development Project in Cameroon demonstrates skills, and the use of more effective communica- that this scenario of neglect is avoidable. tion methods. The project design team that set out to Maize credit was given to producer groups improve agriculture in Cameroon's poor North- whose membership is 90 percent female. The west Province did not extend extension and members have collective liability for the loans credit to women for ideological reasons. Food and achieved virtually 100 percent repayment crops were a primary concern, and women were each year. growing them. The short-term strategy of "gender targeting" Despite stif'f academic requirements, the was olten used. Groups were initially contacted ratio of female extension workers incrcased to IX by same-gender extension agenLs. Once trust percent for workers and 14 percent for supervi- and credibility were established and farmers sors. Before the project, the Ifewfemrale workers knew the system, the same-gender agent could had been restricted to home economics and tum an area over to an agent of the other gender. kitchen gardens. Af'terthree months of intensive training, female agents did as well as men. These and other techriques used in Cameroon are widely replicable, providing three The project worked more through contact principals are observed: focusing on small groups than contact farners. The advantages: farmers, redressing male biases, and recognizing cost-effectiveness, the benefits of group dynam- women's reics. ics, and the shared use of expensive equipment. The PRE Working Paper Serics disseminates the findingsof work under way in the Bank's Policy, Research, and External Affairs Complcx. An objectivc of the serics is to get thcsc findings out quickly, evenif presentations are Icss than fully polished. The findings,interpretations, and conclusions in these papers do not necessarily reprcsent official Bank policy. Produced at the l'RE Dissemination Center FOREWORD This paper is the author's second examination of the extension service in Cameroon'sNorth West Provinceand its unusualsuccess in reachingthe province's women farmers. The first study, Making ExtensionWork With Women: The Effortg of MIDENO in Cameroon,was commissionedby the Equity PolicyCenter and was based on data collected in September1986. That report described the initiativesof the 'Missionde Developpementde la Province du Nord-Ouest"(MIDENO) to improve the extensionservice and the successthese initiativeswere having in reaching women. The report came to the attention of the staff of the World Bank's Women in Development Division early in 1988. The division felt that while MIDENO's efforts clearly exemplified innovativeprogramming for women in agricultural extension,a broader and more up-to-datecase study would be of greater value. As a result, the author was contracted,chrough the InternationalDevelopment ManagementCenter (IDMC) of the University of Maryland, to prepare an expanded and more currentdescription of MIDENO's I terventionsand its abilityto deliver services to women farmers. The UNDP - RegionalProgram for Africa financed this work, which forms an integralpart of ongoingresearch: Raising the Productivity of Women Farmersin Africa being managedby PHRWD and funded by the UNDP Regional Program. This report is the result. The field work for this report was conducted in August 1988 and included interviewswith staff of: the Ministryof Agricultureat the national,provincial and local levels;HIDENO and its executingagencies; donors; and others involved in agriculturaldevelopment in Cameroon. Discussionswere also held with three women'sfarming groups and numerousother individualfarmers. Raw data were also collectedfrom MIDENO, the ProvincialDelegation of Agriculture,and the FONADER agency in Bamenda. These data serve as the basis for the tables and analysis in ChapterII. It should be noted that all of the informationand data presented in this paper was current as of August 1988. However, given the fluid environmentthat presentlyprevails in Cameroon,the situationis certainto have changed. The author would like to thank Katrine Saitoof the Women in DevelopmentDivision for her able managementof the entire consultancyand the staff of IDMC for their tireless support. In Cameroon,the fieldworkwas made so much eas'er because of the assistanceof the staff of MIDENO and the North West ProvincialDelegation of Agriculture,particularly Samuel Mbonchom, Chief of Service for Extensionand Training and Jonathan Tame, Technical Coordinator of MIDENO's Planning, Evaluation,.and Honitoring Division. Helpfulcomments on an earlierdraft of this paper were providedby IreneTinker, Mary Beth Wertime, Paula Williams, and Judy Bryson. Daphne Spurling provided the ExecutiveSummary. Their suggestionsand insightshave made this a better report. TABLE OF CONTaNTS Executive Summary . i Introduction: THE NEED FOR INNOVATIVEPROGRAMKING TO REACHWOMEN FARMERS THROUGH EXTENSION . 1 Chapter I: THE SETTING . 4 THE AGRICULTURALSETTING . 4 The National Context . 4 The ProvincialContext . 4 Cropping Patterns . 6 Labor Patterns . 7 A Dynamic Environment. 9 THE POLICY SETTING . 10 AgricultutalPolicy Since Independence . 11 Phase 1: Continuationof Colonial Patterns . 11 Phase 2: Proliferationof Prastatals . 11 Phase 3: Push for Government-Led Integration . 12 The Policy Setting and MIDENO . 13 Chapter II: MIDENO AND ITS INNOVATIONSIN AGRICULTURAL PROGRAMMING . 15 AN OVERVIEW OF MIDENO . 15 Rationale and Design . 15 Delay and Redesign: Continuityand Change, 1980-1982 . 1R Implementation,1983-1988 . 19 MIDENO'S ALLIED AGRICULTURALCOMPONENTS . 21 Input Supply . 21 Animal Traction . 21 AgriculturalCredit . 22 Adaptive Research . 23 MIDENO'S INNOVATIONSIN AGRICULTURALEXTENSION . 24 Background . 24 Alterationsto the Structureof the ExtensionService . 25 Field Staff . 26 SupervisoryStaff . 27 In-ServiceTraining and SupervisedVisits . 29 Innovationsin ExtensionStrategy . 29 Reliance on Groups . 30 Applicationof Gender Targeting . 31 A TechnicalApproach to Gender . 32 Reaches Women Farmers . 33 Chapter III: LESSONS OF MIDENO . 35 Three Themes: A Strategy for Reaching Women Farmers . 35 Theme 1: Focus on Small Farmers . 36 Theme 2: Redress the Mr.leOrientation . 37 Theme 3: ReccgnizeWomen's Roles in Rural Society . 39 Gender Targeting . 40 Putting the Three Themes zogether . 41 The Strategy is More thar the Sum of the Themes . 41 Informationis Crucial for a Sound Strategy . 42 An Explicit Goal Provides Strategic Direction . 42 MIDENO'S Success in Reaching Women Farmers: How Sustainable? How Replicable? . 43 How Sustainable? . 43 How Replicable? . 44 References . 47 EXECUTIVE SUMKARY Agriculturalextension has not been particularlykind to Africa's women farmers. Despite the criticallyimportant role of women in African agriculture- they are responsiblefor at least 70 percent of food staple production,and Pre also significantly involved in other agriculturalactivities - agricultural extension services have been geared towards male farmers. Women are under- representedwithin extension services and, compared to male farmers or farming couples, women farmers receive far less attention from extension services and corsequentlybenefit much less from improved farming techniques. After five years of innovative programming to reach women farmers, the North West Development Project in Cameroon demonstratesthat this scenario of neglect is avoidable. The North West Province,with an average precipitationof 2250 millimeters and a 2500 meter altitude range, has many cropping systems. In the mid 1970's, an integrated, large scale agriculturaldevelopment project was conceived for the province which, despite its agriculturalpotential, was one of the poorest areas in the country. The