… women gain least
WINDHOEK – The 2011 Population and Housing Census Basic Report shows 67 percent of Namibians still live in rural areas, where their livelihood depends on the natural environment for food, medicinal plants, shelter and income generation.
This reliance on the natural environment makes forest resources critical to the survival of many Namibian households. Namibia has adopted a community forestry programme, which allows members of communities across the nation to access, use and harvest forest resources in a sustainable manner. The programme introduced approaches that are participatory and encourage active involvement of both women and men in the use and management of forest resources. A study conducted recently by the University of Namibia (Unam) with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry on the development of gender strategies for community forests, reveal that despite the existence of policies and programmes that promote equitable access and utilisation of forest resources there are still gender differentiated levels of participation in forestry management and governance.
The study was conducted in six regions, namely the Kunene, Omusati, Oshikoto, Oshana, Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regions where conservancies or community forestry committees are in existence and operational. The overall research findings show an imbalanced utilisation of forest resources between men and women, the leadership structures of conservancies and community forestry committees, including the financial rewards, which were found to lack gender balance.
In a telephonic interview yesterday with Unam lecturer in the Multi-Disciplinary Research Centre, Immaculate Mogotsi, she said all the research sites indicated that there is a high level of male participation in leadership and decision-making structures. “Women tend to be under-represented in the community forestry committees. This undermines participation of women in local governance geared towards sustainable forest management. Cultural stereotypes and traditional social structures were the main inhibitors for women’s inclusion in leadership structures,” she noted. Further, the findings of the study concurred with the 2000 National Gender Study, which concluded that decision-making powers usually belong to men. According to her, women are regarded as dependents and are required to follow decisions and directions from men. The study also revealed that although decisions are made in consultation with women, men have the power to overrule women’s decisions in most cases. Mogotsi explained that the harvesting of forest resources in all community forests visited portrayed distinctive gender relations, where in most cases decisions to harvest which resources were greatly influenced by cultural norms. “High value resources are harvested by men, while women mainly harvest subsistence and low value forest resources.
For example in community forests in the Omusati, Oshikoto, Oshana and Kunene regions most of the forest resources are harvested by men such as cutting construction pylons, making wooden crafts, collecting stones, extracting honey, collecting firewood for commercial purposes, utilising grazing land, collecting salt, as well as hunting game,” she stressed. On the other hand, Mogotsi noted that women are mainly involved in harvesting forest resources for domestic needs such as thatch grass, firewood, edible and medicinal plants, palms leaves for weaving baskets, mopane worms and raw materials for making traditional perfumes, as well as devil’s claws. However, she said both men and women indicated that forest products contribute to health, food and financial security, as well as overall household wealth.
Men showed high satisfaction levels with the income generated from forestry products, compared to women, she said. Therefore, the study calls for motivation from men and traditional structures in community forestry reserves to commit to gender equality and to change their perceptions regarding women’s capabilities. This will be complemented by mechanisms that motivate and build the capacities of women to participate in decision-making, planning and management of community forests. Additionally, she said both men and women need to be sensitised on the collective gains to be made if gender equality is embraced in society. “This will take concerted efforts on the side of the State and other key players such as traditional authorities and community-based organisations to advocate gender equality in a manner that is acceptable to both men and women. The ultimate goal of such an advocacy process would be to ensure that women benefit equitably from forest resources and play a key role in the sustainable management of forest products,” Mogotsi said.
By Albertina Nakale