Module 12: Genre dans les services de vulgarisation et de conseil


In order to deliver on their mandates and contribute to positive change, extensionists need a well developed understanding of, and the skills necessary to address critical issues around gendergenderDéfinition: How society refers to relations between and among males and females....
in rural livelihoods. Men and women, young and old, all play vital roles in rural livelihoods, but assumptionsassumptionsDéfinition: The act of taking something for granted or something that is taken for granted....
are often made about who does what and who makes the decisions. These details of gender and decision making are critical to targeting efforts and helping everyone involved in rural livelihoods and agriculture benefit from innovations and improved technologies.

The following study units and activities will illustrate the above mentioned issues and require you to use your existing knowledge to more carefully examine your clients and communities.

This module on gender is designed to help you understand why these concepts are important in extension. You will learn how to identify why different community members have different needs from extension, and how you can begin addressing them. By understanding these different needs, you will be able to better match the best technologies to opportunities, deliver successful programmes, and avoid making anyone’s situation worse. This module will also help you improve in your role(s) in extension to better meet critical needs in rural livelihoods.

Module outcomes

After completing this module, you should be able to:

  1. Discuss the basics of gender for extension:
    • Explain what gender means where you live and work
    • Elaborate on gender differences in rural livelihoods
    • Use a gender lens to examine the situation where you work.
  2. Identify engagement, opportunities, and entry points for addressing gender:
    • Demonstrate how you could engage different clients in new ways through extension and rural advisory services by identifying entry points and opportunities.

What to expect

Study units
Name Total videos Total assessments
Study unit 1: Understanding gender and basic gender analysis 6 5
Study unit 2: Engagement, opportunities and entry points for working with women 4 8

Click on the button below to start the module:

Introduction

Study unit outcomes

After completing this study unit, you should be able to:

  • Explain what gender means where you live and work;
  • Elaborate on the gender differences in rural livelihoods;and
  • Use a gender lens to examine gender issues relevant to extension.

Study unit overview

It is important to realise that there are gender differences among the clients you work with. In order to recognise these differences, you will need to learn to “see” people in new ways. This is called using a gender lens. A gender lens, like a magnifying glass or a pair of glasses, is used to understand what has previously been hidden. Often, women’s roles as farmers are underestimated or, at best, undercounted. This is because women usually produce subsistence crops, leading to the assumption that they do not work on commercial crops. Similarly, men may play a significant role in crop production for household consumption but their roles and knowledge regarding subsistence crops are ignored.

In this study unit you will learn about the basics of gender, the gendered division of labour and gender analysis. You will also learn about the access to and control of resources, and the gender gap in agriculture and extension. This will allow you to recognise why gender is important in extension as well as how to recognise and solve gender related problems. It will also help you as an extensionist to make recommendations to clients regarding changing their agriculture practices.

This study unit is divided into the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Session 1.1: Basics of gender
  • Session 1.2: Gender roles
  • Session 1.3: Division of labour
  • Session 1.4: Access to, and control of production resources and benefits in extension
  • Conclusion
Click on the button below to start the lesson for Study Unit 1:

Study Unit 1

Study unit outcomes

After completing this study unit, you should be able to:

  • Demonstrate how you can engage women through extension and rural advisory services by identifying entry points and opportunities for meeting their goals and objectives.
Study unit overview

You now clearly understand the differences between old and young, male and female and how making assumptions about their roles, responsibilities and abilities can lead to unintended results. In this study unit you will look at how to use new ways in order to engage your clients. You may be thinking, “I already work with clients and know how to engage them” and this is true. However, how do you build on your current knowledge? How do you find new entry points and opportunities for engagement with existing and new clients?

In order to answer these questions you will learn about the different tools that can be used to engage clients, for example, the various communication channels such as radio, mobile phones, and meetings. This module will also help you understand how you may be able to reach those audiences and clients that you had not reached before, as well as how to successfully interact with them. Finally, you will reflect on how your identity affects the work you do and how to change whom you work with.

This study unit is divided into the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Session 2.1: Power, positionality: Who wins, who loses?
  • Session 2.2: Finding entry points: Why picking any women’s group is not sufficient
  • Session 2.3: Working in groups
  • Session 2.4: Self-awareness or self-reflection
  • Conclusion
Click on the button below to start the lesson for Study Unit 1:

Study Unit 2