Developing gender capacities from higher education

Marina UlmosNational Agrarian University, Nicaragua

Livestock and Fish Gender Working Group Workshop and Planning MeetingAddis Ababa, Ethiopia, 14-18 October 2013

Context

• The National Agrarian University (UNA), is the oldest higher education institution in agricultural sciences in Nicaragua. Its mission is to train professionals and develop research and agricultural extension programs, responding to the different models of development that the country has experienced.

• It is a partner institution of CIAT and has worked in many programs and projects with CGIAR institutions. It is currently one of the main partners in developing the Livestock and Fish research program in Nicaragua.

• Women´s participation in the university is less than 50%, probably because there is a perception that agricultural careers involve fieldwork and therefore they should be undertaken by men.

• Currently, the UNA has 4,125 students (32.53% are women) and 185 lecturers (35.68% are women). These numbers have increased through the years.

Women´s participation in the University

Gender approach from the Faculty of Rural Development

• The FDR is the only faculty of the UNA which has included gender as a transversal issue in the curriculum and in the practical training system.

• Under the human development approach, the FDR has implemented gender-focused strategies and projects at an institutional, research and project level.

• The Faculty of Rural Development will work together with the Faculty of Animal Science (FACA) as partner developers of the Livestock and Fish program, representing UNA as a partner institution of CIAT in Nicaragua.

Gender capacities at an institutional level

Objectives Activities

Gender analysis and research at the UNA to create a comprehensive gender policy

• Focus groups• Interviews• Biographic methods• Surveys • Observation of dynamics

To create a Gender policy for the university

• Establish a gender office• Organize women from different faculties to

create a platform to influence decision makers

• Create an official gender policy document (rules and regulations)

Gender approach at a research and rural extension level

Objectives Activities

Identification and analysis of main gender constraints and dynamics of rural families

• Analysis of gender constraints that women face to access rural value chains. The research instruments used to complete this analysis were: focus groups, interviews and biographic methods.

Development of knowledge and technological capabilities to strengthen gender equality

• Implementation of technology appropriate to the needs of women in the rural sector (renewable energy).

• Food security projects to promote improved and indigenous seeds, as well as veterinary care for cattle, to improve their nutrition and prevent disease.

Objectives Activities

Promote the participation of women in value chains

• Training programs for women biscuit producers about the value chain process: input (corn)-processing (improved ovens) and marketing of their product.

Supporting organizational processes of women's cooperatives

• Expert advice about cooperative organization processes and credit access to women producers.

Objectives Activities

UNA´s Gender work and Livestock and Fish´s Gender Strategy

• The Faculty of Rural Development of UNA has experience in developing gender capabilities, therefore it will be able to participate in initiatives to train different stakeholders (technicians, agronomists, interviewers, producers, etc.) and mainstream gender in the research and implementation of the Livestock and Fish program, as part of output 1 of the gender strategy.

• The faculty´s work to include women farmers in value chains through technology implementation, production process improvement and promotion of organizational processes, is linked to the 2nd output of the gender strategy.

Muchas gracias!

Thank you!