1-2 months part time, with ongoing inputs until June 2020 as-required. Southern Rakhine, Myanmar with travel to farming communities within the region

Transcription

1 Rakhine Winter Crops Project (RWCP) Title: Duration: Location: Reports to: Directly engaging with: Strategic Gender Specialist 1-2 months part time, with ongoing inputs until June 2020 as-required Southern Rakhine, with travel to farming communities within the region RWCP Team Leader and the ASI Project Manager. National Gender Adviser Introduction The Rakhine Winter Crops Project (RWCP) is an ambitious programme to facilitate crop diversification, increased production and improved agricultural water management for the dry season in order to increase farmer incomes, employment and food security. RWCP operates in Thandwe, Taungup and Gwa Townships of Rakhine State,. The key components of the 5-year NZ$11.5m programme include: 1. The provision of Good Agriculture Practice training and applied research for farmers to diversify into more productive and profitable winter crops; 2. The implementation of a home garden program, particularly for landless farmers; 3. Developing irrigation and water infrastructure to improve winter water management; 4. Facilitating improvements to market knowledge, market access and access to credit for farmers; 5. Strengthening the institutional capacity of government extension workers and Community Development Groups. RWCP is funded by the New Zealand Government. Adam Smith International is responsible for the delivery of the project. Project Context Sandwiched between the Bay of Bengal and the Rakhine Yoma mountain range, Rakhine State is one of s least developed areas. Communities there confront a number of serious challenges, including malnutrition, poverty, conflict, weak infrastructure and susceptibility to extreme weather events. The majority of Rakhine s population are reliant on subsistence agriculture. More than half of the rural population are landless and dependent on casual labour for employment and income. The overriding agricultural challenge in Rakhine is low productivity. Rice yields are among the lowest in the country and agricultural production is d on low-technology farming systems. Most rice production customarily relies on a two to three month period of intense rainfall during the monsoon (with four to five metres of rain falling in less than three months), with almost no rainfall outside this period. A significant proportion of the farmed land in Rakhine is also close to sea level and many of the embankments constructed to keep out seawater remain damaged following Cyclone Giri in Farmers that do grow a second crop in the dry season, such as vegetables or pulses, often use only a fraction of their available land due to the risks involved, a lack of knowledge or difficulty accessing fresh water. Conversely, farmers who can access fresh water in the dry season generally report higher per acre incomes some earning more per year from a small area of winter crops than much larger areas of rice paddy. Lack of technical knowledge and extension services have been identified as contributing factors that lead to the problem of low technology systems operating at the farmer level. The project is therefore addressing these problems by facilitating the development of Good Agricultural Practise (GAP) training resource material and providing training through a

2 participative Farmer Field School (FFS) extension approach with the aim of high adoption of improved techniques leading to significant increases in food consumption, improved incomes and sustainable farming systems. Additionally, the project has proposed a new plan to work in a different farming system; namely, commercial farming of groundnut grown without irrigation, using Residual Soil Moisture (RSM) farmers. Therein southern Rakhine currently exists a much greater number of these farmers; targeting this group will allow the project to achieve greater scale in its impact, and will also represent a more attractive market to larger-scale potential commercial investors. A low input Lite training manual with fewer sessions and a substantially lower cost input package has been drafted. If the low input approach to farming groundnut on residual soil moisture is confirmed as viable, the project intends to partner with a large input supplier to offer a subsidised input package. Assignment context In August 2017, the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, led by Kofi Annan, published its final report and recommendations on peace, justice and prosperity in the state. While the Government of has encouraged the international community to support implementation of the recommendations, the immediate focus of international donors has been concentrated on response to the humanitarian crisis on the Rakhine-Bangladesh border. In many aspects, RWCP s activities are well aligned with the Commission s recommendations on economic development, particularly in regard to increased extension services, climate resilience and irrigation, and women s economic opportunities and access to credit. The temporary withdrawal of Muslim villages in Thandwe from the project, along with ongoing cessation of activities in Rathedaung leaves the project currently able to work only in ethnic Rakhine communities, irrespective of gender. RWCP also seeks to introduce new approaches, such as the more participative methods of farmer training used in RWCP FFS. The underlying cultural norms continue to suggest male household heads are most likely to attend high profile / prestigious events such as FFS training. That being said, while it is thought that females would be typically excluded from participating in such training due to cultural norms, in the past year 75 of 119 farmers (63%) participating in monsoon small scale vegetable production FFS were female. To ensure longevity of such rates, RWCP wishes to safeguard against the exclusion of women in the long term, highlighting that gender exclusion could cause economic harm. By inhibiting knowledge transference to the doer of the task (typically women), GAP techniques taught are then unlikely to be applied, which would negatively affect agricultural activity. RWCP wishes to articulate clear and just reasons for all efforts to be made by participating communities to ensure that women are included in such trainings and can engage in agricultural decision making, whilst simultaneously promoting concepts of practical and inclusive gender equality in accordance with women s needs, and ensuring that such efforts Do No Harm and mitigate against gender burden (e.g. increased unpaid employment). Importantly, it is understood that women and men do not voice their views equally, this is also prevalent during FFS trainings. Cultural norms resist women s agency to vocalise their thoughts or feedback. It is therefore critical that programming includes suitable initiatives that allows women to articulate their experiences and opinions in a safe, inclusive way. A strategic gender analysis should therefore ascertain the involvement of women in RWCP (in training and in associated farming and marketing), identify issues that arise in terms of their involvement, and determine potential economic initiatives/activities that benefit women engaged with RWCP. Assignment objectives 1. To ascertain gendered labour allocations along the value chain for the different crops; 2. To ascertain the current involvement of women in RWCP s trainings and in associated farming activities and marketing; 3. To document solutions to the gender-related issues and constraints identified and describe opportunities in terms of women s involvement in programming, as well as determining potential involvement/benefits.

3 4. To have pilot initiatives conducted concurrent to gender analyses to determine gender-sensitive and inclusive, equal economic opportunities. 5. To achieve ongoing, gender-inclusive activities which promote equality and economic opportunities for women. Scope of work 1. Undertake gender analyses in communities in Southern Rakhine, relevant to RWCP s work, to develop RWCP s understanding of gender relations, roles, perspectives and power dynamics; 2. Recommend key opportunities for women within the pre-existing scope of programming with the most potential to deliver equitable benefits to households, livelihoods and opportunities for women (with particular cognisance given to deliver using a Do No Harm approach); 3. Oversee the pilot approaches to prospective, gender-inclusive activities as deemed beneficial upon completion of gender analyses; 4. Provide technical advice and response to RWCP team: including specific advice to encourage equitable gender inclusivity in current agricultural activities; 5. Provide gender-related technical advice and response to RWCP team: including new, market-focussed component as led by RWCP Strategic Market Adviser, providing potential processes to feed into the development this market linkage strategy; 6. Provide training on gender equality principles, basic application of the Women s Economic Empowerment framework to RWCP staff and partners; and coach and mentor the Programme Manager during in-country scoping mission; 7. In collaboration with RWCP Monitoring and Evaluation Manager s, explore and recommend quantitative and qualitative indicators gender-disaggregated data collection methods to provide relevant gender-related technical and social (ie household dynamic) information. Review policies, procedures and other relevant documentation to ensure gender sensitivity; 8. Ongoing strategic and implementation support of identified gender-inclusive activities which promote equality and economic opportunities for women.

4 Work schedule - tentative Activity/Output Days Dates Location 1. Document review prior to workshop 2 Sept Home 2. Briefing with the TL/DTL/PM and Programme Strategic Adviser on the assignment 3. Engagement with the National Gender Adviser on the Assignment 4. Research with relevant stakeholders and programmeparticipating male and female farmers 5. Pilot small gender-inclusive initiatives for gender action points concurrent to research and in conjunction with National Gender Adviser 6. Discuss findings and finalise with the project team (with TL/DTL/PM, Strategic Adviser and M&E) 1 Sept / Home 1 Sept / Home 15 2 Sept/Oct 7. Training with wider RWCP team 1 Sept/Oct 8. Finalise write up of Strategic Gender Analysis and Action Plan, as well as supporting summaries for wider RWCP. 9. Ongoing strategic and implementation backstopping until June 2020 for the duration of RWCP programme (ad hoc support either remote or in Thandwe during Portfolio Reviews and/or as required). 5 Sept/Oct To be determined Sept/Oct Southern Rakhine, TBD Home / Home Ongoing strategic and implementation backstopping The external Strategic Gender Specialist will support and advise the RWCP core team to deliver on mainstreaming the strategic gender framework. Action Action When Gender mainstreaming (planning and implementation) Integrate Gender Action Plan/Framework Review work plans to ascertain levels of integration of gender action points Review implantation of gender action points As agreed between RWCP Team Leader and Programme Manager.

5 Skills and experience required: 1. Knowledge of the Market Systems Development (MSD) or inclusive economic development approaches; 2. Experience in undertaking design and implementation of methodologies to support GESI in market development; 3. Proven track record in designing inclusive growth strategies within developing agriculture value chains; 4. Strong analytical skills; 5. Strong verbal and written communication skills in English; 6. Must have at least 8 years experience in gender-related programme design and piloting; 7. Experience in desirable.