The Editorial Team of the Gender, Society & Development series is planning
a book on 'gender/women and sustainable resources management' to be
published in 2002. The book will be the 6th in the series produced by
KIT (Royal Tropical Institute) and co-distributed by Oxfam GB. (For
information on the previous books:

www.kit.nl/information_services/html/gender_society_development.asp

The Team is looking for authors, especially from the South, with
practical experience in the field of integrating and mainstreaming
gender/women' issues into the management and use of natural resources
for sustainable development.

We would like to invite these persons to write a paper on their
experience, in particular the approaches used to integrate/mainstream
women, to institutionalize a gender approach or community-based
approach, the effects on women and men, constraints, lessons learned,
etc. The book will include 4-5 papers, complemented by an annoted
bibliography (150-200 references plus abstracts) and key internet
resources.

Persons who are interested in contributing a paper should note that
the paper would be required by the end of April 2002. More
information on the proposed book can be found in the attached file
'Proposal and background'. We would also appreciate suggestions of
possible authors as well as for improving the proposal.

Sarah Cummings, Henk van Dam & Minke Valk
Editorial Team, Gender, Society & Development
KIT Information Services
KIT (Royal Tropical Institute)
P.O. Box 95001
1090 HA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
[email protected]
www.kit.nl

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Proposal and background for the 6th book in the Gender, Society &
Development series

This short text is meant as a background document for a forthcoming
publication in the Gender, Society & Development series produced by
Information Services, Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). It will be the 6th
book in the series, to be published in 2002, and distributed by KIT
Press and Oxfam GB.

Information about these books can be found at:
http://www.kit.nl/information_services/html/gender_society_development.asp

Proposal for the 6th book in the series
Provisional title: Natural resources management: what has gender got to do
with it? A global source book

Introduction:

A wise use of resources is the key to sustainable development, poor rural
people, women and men, are a key link to that use.

Women as well as men in the rural areas of developing countries depend on
natural resources such as water, soil, plants, and animals to secure their
livelihood. They are engaged in productive activities including farming,
animal husbandry and fisheries to provide food and an income to support
their families. Most of the people living in the rural areas are
poor, and often are forced to overuse the resources available to
them, thereby contributing to resources degradation.

On the other hand, they have developed diverse knowledge,
perceptions, skills and practices that are valuable for the
management of natural resources for food security and sustainable
development. Women in general are more at a disadvantage than men due
to their lower social and economic status and lack of decision-making
power. They have limited access to land, credit, capital, technology,
lack of education, training and information, and an unfavourable
legal and policy environment. This hampers their ability to use and
manage resources they need to make a living for themselves and their
families. Since the early 1980s considerable attention has been paid
to the relationship between women and the environment & natural
resources. In 1991 the Women's Action Agenda 21 was formulated and
elaborated in the run-up of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED). A major review and revision of the Women's
Action Agenda 21 is envisaged in the lead-up to Earth Summit
2002.

Increasing recognition of the interaction between poverty, and resources
and environmental degradation has led to the development of
interventions that put more and more emphasis on working with local
communities to improve the management of natural resources.
Participatory and community-based approaches to natural resource
management and sustainable development are being applied.
Participatory resource management projects that include women as well as
men are considered to hold the greatest promise for achieving
sustainable resource management and development, and social equity.
Understanding the environmental roles and responsibilities of women and
men in developing economies is critical to sustainable resource
management practices.

Identifying and overcoming the barriers to women's and men's full
participation in the management of resources is a necessary first step
towards the ultimate goals of poverty alleviation and sustainable
development.

The book
The book aims to cover experiences with involving rural women and men in
sustainable resources management. It is meant for practitioners,
intermediaries and professionals working in the field of women/gender and
resources management. The focus is on interventions that aim to
incorporate women and gender dimensions, including participatory and
community-based interventions. The impact of interventions on women
and men and the gender relations, and on women's and men's ability to
use and manage natural resources in a sustainable way should be
highlighted. Analysis should show factors of success, constraints and
lessons learned.

The book will include 4-5 papers written by authors preferably from
the South, complemented with an annotated bibliography of relevant
literature and a section on key electronic resources. The papers
should comprise 8-10 pages including references, and editing will be
done by the Editorial Team. The book is published by KIT Publishers
and Oxfam GB.

Content of the papers
Questions that may be considered in writing:
- An introduction on how women and men are related to the natural
resources, i.e. what resources do they use, for what purpose, are there
availability problems, what are women's and men's priorities, do women and
men experience the same constraints; women's status vis a vis men's;

- What kind/type of intervention/development work has been
undertaken (community-based; project, programme; was it part of a
larger activity); have there been any benefits; if so have women and
men benefited equally;

- what type of organization has implemented the intervention
(NGO, government organization, etc.)

- how have the interventions been introduced and implemented;
was there a specific approach/method; has there been a gender
analysis prior to design and implementation; have the targeted women
and men participated in planning, implementation and decision-making;
if so, have women and men enjoyed equal opportunities for
participation;

- has the intervention affected the population's resource use,
management; has it affected the gender relations; have there been any
changes in women's and men's ability to gain access to, control over
natural resources

- were there any successes, constraints and lessons learned;
has it contributed to a more sustainable development; to empowerment
of women, and men

- What could be the way forward

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