Providing evidence to close the gender gap

Bidowra Khan and Sharmin Ahmed explain how Katalyst interventions have advanced women's economic empowerment in Bangladesh.

Agriculture is the most important sector of the Bangladeshi economy and nearly 50% of the agricultural workforce is female. Despite this, women's levels of productivity are significantly lower than that of men's. This is because they do not have equal access to productive resources such as quality inputs, extension services, and access to markets. In set-ups like this it is pertinent to address gender inclusion in market based development practices. 

Our evidence suggests that just as the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach requires the use of a poverty lens to identify the constraints and the underlying causes of poverty, solving gender-based constraints requires the use of a 'gender' lens as part of the market analysis. Identifying the need for a different perspective in order to understand the problem is the first step towards mainstreaming gender in M4P strategies and interventions. 

Incentives for market actors to address gender constraints differ from generic market development activities. Facilitating private sector actors to target the poorest of the poor population (i.e. female farmers/labourers) is dependent on various contexts. In Bangladesh, supply of, and in many cases demand for, services and products tailored to the business needs of women is almost absent. Furthermore, market segregation often relegates women to less productive sectors. Analysing incentives to develop sustainable interventions that address gender constraints is the second step in the process of gender mainstreaming.

At Katalyst, gender mainstreaming is practised to achieve women's economic empowerment. WEE is translated into access to quality inputs, information services and finance for example, leading to improved economic opportunities and greater decision making authority for women. 

Katalyst interventions are designed to mainstream gender in agricultural value chains that are predominantly male driven. Private sector stakeholders are encouraged to be inclusive of men and women in their market activities by ensuring they have equal access to opportunities. The 'seed mini-pack' intervention is a classic example of an integrated intervention. 

The aim of the seed mini-pack intervention was to expand the distribution channel of private sector seed companies by introducing mini-packs of quality seeds to small scale farmers. Within one year of implementation, the intervention reached 200,000 beneficiaries. Nearly all mini-pack users were homestead farmers, the majority of whom were women. In more conservative areas of the country, women are not directly engaged in the buying of inputs or the selling of surplus vegetables but only buy and sell when buyers or vendors come to their homes. Even though women have limited direct interaction with the market, mini-packs increased their yield and thus disposable income.

Katalyst has identified specific challenges to mainstreaming gender in market based activities. This is especially true in cases of female unpaid family labour where women often do not have a direct link to inputs or market access. For example, in homestead prawn cultivation: women make a substantial contribution from pond preparation, stocking of fish larvae, pond supervision, feed preparation, and harvesting. Since the value addition in the production is tangibly high, women have the capacity to emerge as independent farmers. However, the private sector (input, dealers, processors, and financing agencies) do not consider women farmers as potential clients and thus specific products or services are not geared towards helping them. Katalyst partnered with input companies and micro finance institutions to provide training on cultivation techniques, using quality seed, sourcing of feed and monitoring of prawn farm management practice with necessary loans. This intervention was successful: 2,000 women improved their knowledge and skills, which resulted in increased productivity, efficiency and yield. From the empowerment angle the depth of impact is substantial as many of the beneficiaries claimed to subsequently practice enhanced decision making in the family. 

From a gender perspective, the understandings from Katalyst's experience in inclusive market-based development are: 

1. It is imperative to have a well-defined vision and an adept understanding of the ‘gender’ lens. If gender-specific constraints about access and utilization of inputs, services and information are not recognised and analysed, then systemic change cannot be achieved. 
2. There is no singular approach to mainstreaming gender initiatives. The nature of different sectors necessitates different strategies as long as the principles of M4P are behind the strategies. 

Women’s work has largely been overlooked and undervalued, but its importance to the effective functioning of a farm or small business cannot be underestimated. Improvements in the competitiveness of a farm and subsequent poverty reduction have a direct, positive correlation on women’s economic development and in certain cases empowerment. The initiatives described here facilitated change in the market system to act in a more gender-responsive manner which benefited women. The evidence of gender mainstreaming in M4P implies that women's economic empowerment cannot be fully realised if gender specific constraints are not addressed. Empowerment is a key factor in deciding the long term sustainability of interventions. 

Bidowra Khan has managed the Women's Economic Empowerment portfolio of Katalyst, Bangladesh since 2012. She has over 8 years' experience working at the grass-roots level with underprivileged communities and developing sustainable strategies and interventions using a market development approach. 

Sharmin Ahmed is Senior Business Consultant for the cross-sector Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE) in Katalyst, Bangladesh. Sharmin started her career in the development sector in 2012 with BRAC Healthcare Innovations Programme (bHlP), which focused on improving access to reliable healthcare services through innovative financing mechanisms.

• BEAM Programme Index: Katalyst Phase 3