PIM and Gender: Examples from Macedonia

In practice, participation of farmers in irrigation management is often limited to the participation of male farmers. A common view of a meeting of the Water Users' Association (WUA) is that of a smoky room full with men. Why is it that only men attend WUA meetings and why do we think that Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) is of interest to male farmers only? Using the case of Macedonia as an illustration, I would like to present some arguments why those implementing PIM need to include women as part of the target group.

A good starting point is to assess the different roles of male and female farmers in irrigated agriculture (a socalled ``gender analysis"). In many agrarian societies there is a more or less fixed division of labor according to gender, meaning that certain agricultural tasks are typically done by men while others are typically done by women. Some tasks may be genderneutral (i.e. are done by both men and women) while some may even be considered children's work. However, the customs of what is considered male and female work do not always correspond with the actual practice. Especially in situations where men take up nonfarm employment, women's responsibilities in agriculture are expanded (the ``feminization" of agriculture), to include many tasks that were initially undertaken by men.

In interviews about responsibilities of men and women, the answers tend to be based on the traditional task divisions rather than the changed actual situation. For example, an engineer may tell you during a field visit that irrigation is a strictly male task (which traditionally is indeed often the case). When pointing out that you actually can see a woman farmer engaged in field irrigation, this engineer may answer: ``Oh, she is just helping her husband!," thus not acknowledging the woman's independent contribution to agriculture. Similarly, women's agricultural work is often seen as an extension of her domestic chores.

When looking at the labor division in agriculture in several irrigation schemes in Macedonia, I was quite surprised to find that the actual situation is far from a rigid task division. First of all, many farming households have one or more members who are engaged in offfarm employment or even away for migrantlabor. There are households where it is the husband who holds a job; in others it may be the wife, in a few households both husband and wife were employed, in others a son or daughter, in some households noone. This has great consequences for the division of tasks in agriculture as agricultural work is done by those who have time to do the work. Thus in a household where the husband holds a job, it is commonly his wife who does the major part of the farm work. Women were found who apply fertilizer and pesticides, drive tractors and irrigate (which are usually considered male tasks), while some men appeared to be responsible for milking cows (often seen as a women's job). Still, in general, women were more involved in the processing of produce and other manual tasks and men were more engaged in mechanized tasks, while marketing contacts with input suppliers and attending meetings. These latter activities are nearly entirely performed by men.

Irrigation has traditionally been a male task in Macedonia. Currently, irrigation is still done only, or mainly, by men in farming households with sufficient male labor. In other households, women do assist in irrigation or even irrigate on their own. When looking at the water users registered at the Water Management Organizations (the providers of irrigation water), the large majority of them are male. This is because WUA membership usually corresponds with land ownership. Since many daughters renounce their rights to inherit land in favor of their brothers, there are few women land owners in Macedonia (although there are some exceptions, for example, widows). 

Despite the small number of officially registered women water users, we can draw the conclusion that many more women farmers in Macedonia should also be considered stakeholders in irrigation, because irrigation does affect them: either directly when they irrigate and/or indirectly as they cultivate irrigated crops. Improved irrigation is likely to increase their work load on the farm, but will also provide higher yields and farm incomes.

What do the women farmers themselves want? All interviewed women (like all men) strongly expressed their interest in the rehabilitation of the irrigation schemes. Women mentioned the shortage or complete lack of irrigation water as a main constraint at their farm. They do not mind an increase in their workload resulting from improved water supply, so long as it is offset by higher incomes and remains within certain limits. 

Do women want to participate in WUA meetings and other activities initiated by the irrigation project? In general, the interviewed women were not aware what WUAs are meant to do. After explaining, women had different reactions. One woman, who was very annoyed with the bad irrigation supply during the past years, exclaimed: ``I will be the first one to go to such a meeting!". The majority of the women, however, started saying that attending meetings is a man's task. But during the discussion that followed, many of them would acknowledge the importance of the future WUA meetings.

When asked whether they would attend a WUA meeting in case their husband was unable to go, many (but not all) women said that they would do so. The level (e.g. whether at scheme or tertiary unit level), venue and timing of a meeting will influence the possible attendance of women. For example, one woman said that she would not consider attending a meeting in ``a bar in town", but ``I would certainly attend when the meeting is held at the school here in the village". Discussing whether they would be interested in attending training programs for farmers, many women indicated that they indeed would like to improve their knowledge and skills, although actual participation would also depend on the subjects and, again, on the location and timing of such a program.

What can we do with this information when designing and implementing an irrigation project that is based on farmer participation? And why should we bother to try to involve women farmers in such a typically male activity as attending meetings? There are two main reasons for encouraging the participation of women farmers in irrigation projects: first, we want to ensure that women also benefit from the project; and second, improving women's productivity will contribute to the achievement of the project's overall objectives.

Additionally, practical reasons for participation of women are:

• needs and priorities may differ between men and women farmers because women can have different concerns and responsibilities than men;
• some households do not have an (able) male member who can irrigate or attend meetings;
• women who do most of the agricultural work (because they are widowed or their husbands are engaged in offfarm work) have the most knowledge and awareness about the farm and make the daytoday decisions;
• in many farming households husband and wife together discuss the major cropping and investment decisions for their farm.

How can these lessons be applied to projects? First of all, the project staff should realize the importance of assessing the gender roles as part of identifying project stakeholders. For a training program on improved vegetable cultivation, for example, the persons actually involved in vegetable growing should be trained; in one household this might be a man, in another a woman. The same applies to participation in irrigation activities. If, in a particular farming household, it is the wife who does most of the field irrigation, it seems appropriate that she attends a meeting where issues such as irrigation scheduling and improvement of onfarm irrigation practices are to be discussed. For certain activities, such as meetings that are meant to inform and/or consult farmers about a project in more general terms, the participation of both men and women farmers should be sought. Such training programs and meetings should be held in appropriate places and a special effort should be made to explicitly invite women farmers.

- Kitty Bentvelsen, Femconsult
5 February 1998

Kitty Bentvelsen
Koninginnegracht 53
2514 AE The Hague
The Netherlands
tel: 31-70-365-5744
fax: 31-70-362-3100
email: gender@femconsult.nl