Assessment of women’s benefits and constraints in participating in agroforestry exemplar landscapes

Abstract

Participating in the exemplar landscapes of the Developing and Promoting Market-Based Agroforestry and Forest Rehabilitation Options for Northwest Vietnam project has had positive impacts on ethnic women, such as increasing their networks and decision-making and public speaking skills. However, the rate of female farmers accessing and using project extension material or participating in project nurseries and applying agroforestry techniques was limited. This requires understanding of the real needs and interests grounded in the socio-cultural contexts of the ethnic groups living in the Northern Mountain Region in Viet Nam, who have unique social and cultural norms and values. The case studies show that agricultural activities are highly gendered: men and women play specific roles and have different, particular constraints and interests. Women are highly constrained by gender norms, access to resources, decision-making power and a prevailing positive-feedback loop of time poverty, especially in the Hmong community. A holistic, timesaving approach to addressing women’s daily activities could reduce the effects of time poverty and increase project participation. As women were highly willing to share project information, the project’s impacts would be more successful with increased participation by women through utilizing informal channels of communication and knowledge dissemination. Extension material designed for ethnic women should have less text and more visuals. Access to information is a critical constraint that perpetuates the norm that men are decision-makers, thereby, enhancing their perceived ownership, whereas women have limited access to information and so leave final decisions to men, especially in Hmong families. Older Hmong women have a Vietnamese (Kinh) language barrier, which further prevents them from accessing the project’s material. Further research into an adaptive framework that can be applied in a variety of contexts is recommended. This framework should prioritize time-saving activities for women and include material highlighting key considerations to maintain accountability among the project’s support staff.