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Ethical community engagement (ECE) to improve agriculture-nutrition links in resource poor communities - Lessons from the field
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This presentation was given by Michaela Cosijn (CSIRO), as part of the Annual Scientific Conference hosted by the University of Canberra and co-sponsored by the University of Canberra, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research. The event took place on April 2-4, 2019 in Canberra, Australia. Read more: https://www.canberra.edu.au/research/faculty-research-centres/aisc/seeds-of-change and https://gender.cgiar.org/annual-conference-2019/
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Ethical community engagement (ECE) to improve agriculture-nutrition links in resource poor communities - Lessons from the field
- Ethical Community Engagement (ECE) to improve agriculture-nutrition links in resource poor communities – Lessons from the field Seeds of Change, 2nd to 4th April 2019, Canberra Michaela Cosijn and Lucy Carter Land and Water Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Brisbane, Australia Arnab Chakraborty,Alak Jana, SubhankarChakraborty, Rajsekhar Bandopadhyay ProfessionalAssistance for Development Action - PRADAN Kolkata, India SIAGI Socially Inclusive Agricultural Intensification
- Outline
- SIAGI Socially Inclusive Agricultural Intensification Source: FAOCompendium of Nutrition-Sensitive Indicators, 2016, originally appeared Herforth and Ballard (2015)
- SIAGI Socially Inclusive Agricultural Intensification Constraints and assumptions: Women have control of income (and decision-making power) Women spend income on nutrition or health-related products and services Sufficient demand exists for agricultural products Production does not increase women’s time and labour Increased incomes can lead to purchase of less nutritious food or items that do not promote health
- SIAGI Socially Inclusive Agricultural Intensification Water quality, water access and water management practices directly affects food production, women’s empowerment, care practices, and the health and sanitation environment. These links have impacts on diet and health and therefore nutrition outcomes. Iterative process of co-designing an acceptable plan for NSA action which improves the food and nutrition environment of two sites: Chaka Doba (Hirbandh block) and Hakim Sinan (Ranibandh block).
- ECE is about empowering community organisations (especially women) to take control of their futures to achieve enduring outcomes. (Process) (Outcome) SIAGI experience of ethical community engagement (ECE)
- Principles of Ethical Community Engagement Principle 1 values and cultures Principle 2 specific skills and attitudes Principle 3 Employing qualitative methods
- Principles of Ethical Community Engagement Principle 4 Situational awareness Principle 5 Follow-up, monitoring, learning and evaluation with the community Principle 6 communities driving
- NSA and water: a community engagement template Water supply Describe the water infrastructure available at the household level (eg tap or community pump/well?). What condition of this infrastructure (eg functional?) Water quality and quantity For how many months of the year does the household have adequate water for all family needs? Is the water treated at all? Are you satisfied with the quality of water? Water use (household level) What proportion of water collected is used for domestic use, consumption, irrigation, etc. How is water allocated? Does the household use soap and water for hand washing? Water management practices (environmental) Are animals kept near water sources? Is the water contaminated from agricultural or industry practices? Women’s health and children’s health For women: what are your ongoing health concerns? What about your children’s health?Your family’s health? Is there an understanding of the link between water, nutrition and health? Water access (household level) Who collects water, how often and how much water is collected? What are the physical constraints to collecting water (eg distance from source to?) What are the social or cultural constraints of collecting? How is water allocated within the household? How many households have secure access to water? Women’s daily activities What are the main daily activities for women? How much time is spent on each of these? (eg grazing animals, housework, food preparation, collecting forest foods, fetching water, etc). Notes: Maintaining and improving the natural resource base and women’s workloads are the key impact pathways under study. It’s important to capture both men’s and women’s perceptive where possible. ON-GOING. Reflections What are your thoughts about the information you are getting? What is your instinct saying about this? What assumptions have you made about the data you are given, and are recording? Village: _______________ Date:_________________ Completed by: ______________________ Water governance (village level) How is water managed? What are the governance structures? Who are the leaders? Are there equity and justice issues? How is water allocated across the village, for various activities?
- SIAGI Socially Inclusive Agricultural Intensification In total, water collection consumes ~3 hours of a woman’s day. Over 90% of households are spending up to half an hour on carrying water for livestock drinking alone, + same time for sanitation purposes. From 365 days, men carry water 10-12 times, only when women are absent or in ill-health. Women indicated a desire for access to water to grow and eat more vegetables for their families
- Access to irrigation Grow vegetables Generate income Household consumption Purchase agricultural machinery/ irrigation equipmentPurchase food not grown or to supplement Grow non- rainfed staple crops Increased agricultural production Increased irrigation investment Improved nutrition outcomes Improved fish production WASH Access to potable waterAccess to sanitation 1 2
- Access to irrigation Grow vegetables Generate income Household consumption Purchase agricultural machinery/ irrigation equipment Purchase food not grown or to supplement Grow non- rainfed staple crops Increased agricultural production Increased irrigation investment Improved nutrition outcomes Improved fish production WE
- Outcomes to date • Vision created for each village by villagers • Empowerment of self help groups • Awareness raising on nutrition & women’s health • Crop selection & prioritisation with men and women - 1,131 families; 53 Ha of pulses; + additional for chick pea • Orchards development • Growing crops & seed preservation • Partnering withWBADMIP • Irrigation & water infrastructure (micro-irrigation with solar for horticulture, dug wells, water harvesting structures) • Integrated natural resource management (rivers & water bodies) • Water user groups (women) for water management • Partnering with Child in Need Institute (CINI) • health, water and sanitation (needs assessment + training) • ChangeVectors • Collaboration with the MGNREGS department in rejuvenation of dying rivers (employment guarantee scheme) • Looking for WASH partners TREATING AVILLAGE AS A WHOLE & NUTRITION AS PART OF A SYSTEM
- Insights
- SIAGI Socially Inclusive Agricultural Intensification Women from Hakim Sinan village
- THANKYOU Please visit our website: www.siagi.org SIAGI PARTNERS • Australia CSIRO Australian National University Edith Cowan University • Bangladesh Bangladesh Agriculture University Shushilan • India Livelihoods and Natural Resource Management Institute PRADAN Centre for Development of Human Initiatives IIT Kharagpur WBADMIP • The Netherlands Wageningen University
Editor's Notes
- Ag intensification and how not to marginalise HH and women. NSA component
- A deep commitment to intrinsic values about people, their ‘endowments’ and their agency and value systems are integral to inclusive (and effective) engagement. For some development actors, this may require a fundamental shift in attitude to acknowledge the centrality of people’s wisdom, self esteem, competencies, capabilities, cultures, values and aspirations in influencing participation and decision-making and ultimately catalysing change. It requires treating all male and female farmers as collaborators and equal partners in the research and development process. Non-judgemental and empathetic listening ; sophisticated interpersonal skills, awareness of local social and environmental factors through their shared and lived experiences (as they stay very close to the grass roots and are available to the community as and when required) that may influence the quality and direction of engagement and are continuously engaged in joint reflecting to co-create learning along with community at grass root are more likely to build trust long-term . Facilitators work hard to make meaningful connections with others, and between individuals and groups. These skills are not innate and potentially require guidance to develop. Beyond the technical skill required of facilitation and analysis, a willingness to learn and experiment, and character traits such as sensitivity, empathy and a sense of justice are vital in building relationships with communities. Qualitative methods are a key technique in inclusive engagement. The use of storytelling, day to day observation, participatory planning, scenario analysis, individual and community level dialogues and conducting multi-stakeholder meetings requires skill in qualitative methodology. The monitoring and evaluation of engagement process demands the use of innovative indicators which seek to measure quality and value in favour of quantity and frequency.
- Situational awareness is paramount to building trust and achieving inclusion. There are deep structural and institutional barriers to participation. Previous and existing community experiences with research programs, unsuccessful government-led initiatives, perverse incentives by political factions, and empty promises of momentous change have led to a general sense of disempowerment and distrust among communities. These conditions can hamper new efforts to build relationships and mobilise participation. Knowledge of these barriers and persistent effort and patience in engaging with communities despite these constraints is needed to achieve inclusion. This may require careful planning before field work commences. Without this effort, trust-building is made more difficult and the potential for additional burdens to be imposed (and harm done) is placed on communities. Creating space (physical, social, psychological) is a key ingredient to inclusive engagement. A commitment to continuous learning and experimentation is required to successfully engage. For some communities, the need for NGOs to facilitate a realisation of human potential, to empower individuals and groups, to build their capacity, etc. sets the foundations for inclusivity and unity. For some development partners, including researchers and donors, the ECE process may necessitate a change in the beliefs, norms and behaviours that drive program implementation and design. This is very much important. Our discussions with some male members of Chakadoba broke several assumptions and perceptions about them Without sufficiently deep commitment and ownership , (for example, those achieved through a process of ECE), initiatives are less likely to sustain over time. There needs to be a unity of purpose, as well as planning, leadership and discipline to achieve the desired changes. In addition, purely externally-imposed agendas deplete the resources and capabilities of communities and over time, erode trust and diminish energy for participating in new programs. This presents considerable risk for the wider development community. Also we need planning, unity, leadership, discipline See changes
- The purpose of this tool is to understand the food and health environment at the village level (with a focus on water). This exercise should identify general themes. The next step will be to determine community aspirations (eg. visioning exercise) to inform a plan for possible NSA entry points. Water scarcity, quality, access and use/management are important issues for villages in the Bankura region. Each of these factors have clear links to nutrition and health outcomes as highlighted in the pathways below: Quality and quantity, including safety (reducing contamination) impacts directly on human health and crop quality. Access, including both physical, social and cultural norms, impacts on women’s workloads (labour saving) and general health outcomes for women and children. Use, (management) links with NRM practices and impacts on the health and sanitation environment. Water quality, access and management practices directly affects food production, women’s empowerment, care practices, and the health and sanitation environment. These links have impacts on diet and health and therefore nutrition outcomes. Both male and female perspectives of water management are important to capture. Male and female data collectors might be needed to elicit health data. Data is collected in focus group discussions but reflects household level information. (Template based on ACIAR’s value chain analysis tool)
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