UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
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| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
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This document is being made available by the Population Information
Network (POPIN) Gopher of the U.N. Population Division, Dept. for
Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, in
collaboration with the Population Programme Service, Food and
Agriculture Organization. For further information please contact
Mr. Jacques du Guerny at: jacques.duguerny@fao.org
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From: Modules on Gender, Population & Rural Development with a
Focus on Land Tenure & Farming Systems. Rome: FAO, Population
Programme Service, Nov. 1995.
MODULE V: GENDER, POPULATION, FARMING SYSTEMS & LAND TENURE:
MAIN POLICY ISSUES
(Topouzis/du Guerny, SDWP, November 1995)
A. Key Policy Issues
Vertical Versus Holistic Approaches to Gender, Population &
Agriculture/Rural Development.
As seen in modules I-IV, gender, population and
agriculture/rural development issues tend to be perceived along
vertical lines -- conceptually as well as programmatically -- often
in isolation from one another. This leads either to the neglect of
linkages between these areas or to simplistic generalizations and
deterministic relationships between related variables (as seen in
Module II).
For example, to argue that population growth is the main cause
of poverty and environmental degradation is to overlook the
linkages between these problems, such as the wider gender and
social inequalities, unequal land tenure patterns, power relations,
etc. Rural women, in their efforts to satisfy the basic needs of
their families and lacking alternative means of employment or
access to capital, are frequently pushed to overexploit resources.
This is largely due to gender inequality, and, in particular, to
the fact that resource access and land tenure systems tend to
favour men.
"Tenurial policies are population policies when they allow
uncontrolled land use in frontier areas, thus inviting large-scale
migration," has argued a recent study conducted by the World
Resources Institute on Population Growth, Poverty and Environmental
Stress. "Economic policies that depress real wages and employment
also have significant demographic consequences. Similarly, failure
to address rapid population growth should be regarded as a policy
with massive long-run consequences."1/
However, tenurial, agricultural and economic policies are
rarely inherently population- and/or gender-neutral. In other
words, a concerted effort is needed to develop a holistic approach
which incorporates population and gender factors into
agricultural/rural development issues, where appropriate. The
first step in this process is to identify the linkages between
agriculture/rural development, population and gender. Modules I-IV
have attempted to delineate some of these linkages, focusing on
land tenure and farming systems. Rudimentary working conceptual
frameworks and/or broad guidelines on how to incorporate population
and gender issues in agriculture and rural development have also
been proposed.
Acknowledging the linkages between population, gender and
agricultural/rural development issues, however, is not enough. The
Thailand case study below shows that population variables should
not translate into mere social or demographic information and data,
as is generally the tendency, as this does not result in the
integration of demographic issues in agricultural policies and
programmes. Population data should be used as an analytical tool
to enhance our understanding of the relationship between
population, gender and rural development over time and to harmonize
population with agricultural policies.
A holistic approach to gender, population and rural
development by definition needs to encompass a gender dimension, to
address the needs, interests and constraints of both men and women
(see Module I). The Onchocerciasis Control Programme examined in
Module IV shows that migration deeply transforms the relationship
between people who have relocated and the land, since those
installed in new settlement areas do not own the land they
cultivate. Under these circumstances, women's socio-cultural and
economic dependence on their husbands, arising from the fact that
men had formerly entrusted part of the land they owned to their
wives, has no longer a raison d'ˆtre. Module IV argued that if
advantage is deliberately taken of the changed relationship between
migrants vis-…-vis the land and of its socio-cultural and economic
implications, this could facilitate women's access to and control
over land.
Case Study: Planning for Community Forestry and Population Issues
-- Thailand. INT/90/P40 2/
INT/90/P40, an on-going project funded by UNFPA and executed
by FAO's Community Forestry Unit (FONP), examines in detail the
relevance and significance of population issues in community
forestry planning. The project has identified key linkages between
community forestry and population, including policy issues and
training needs and opportunities for community forestry training
programmes. A brief summary of the project findings will help to
illustrate how similar exercises in the areas of gender, population
and land tenure and farming systems can help integrate linkages
into mainstream policies and programmes.
Although population pressure and deforestation are quite
pronounced in Thailand, existing literature is heavily focused on
deforestation; community forestry and its organization; conflicts
between communities, forestry officials and capitalists; and how
the conflicts are, or should be, solved. Studies on significant
population variables -- such as geographic distribution, population
composition (e.g. age and sex), family formation, rural-urban
density, migration streams, growth rates, age structure, dependency
ratio and other socio-economic characteristics -- and their impact
on land use, forestry and deforestation are rare.
Current forest/environmental research considers population
only in terms of population size, growth and density. Even here,
differences of opinion exist as to what is the actual causal
relationship between population and deforestation. This
controversy, moreover, limits the ability to incorporate population
variables into forestry policies, plans and programmes.1
---------------------------
1. For a discussion of Panayotou's and Sungsuwan's econometric
function for defining forest cover and deforestation, see
"Population Issues Relevant to Community Forestry Planning:
Thailand," INT/90/p40, p. 16.
The causal link between population and environment in Thailand
today is clouded further by a lack of attention to basic population
data. Though data on some variables have been collected -- such as
age structure, population size, migration, income and occupational
distribution, and community organization -- they are only collected
to give a descriptive profile of the communities or areas under
study and are not used as analytical tools for understanding the
relationships between population, deforestation and environmental
degradation, especially over time.
In forestry and environmental planning, population variables
should not be looked at as social or demographic profile
information only, though this has been the case for Thailand thus
far. In fact, this approach largely explains why population
variables are absent from forestry training programmes as well as
policy-making and planning. Rather, they should be able to
indicate linkages (both direct and indirect) between those
variables and land and forestry use, as well as whether or not they
affect land and forest degradation, to what extent over time, and
how. In effect, what studies of population and community forestry
need most is a dynamic time series approach to understand the
actual interaction between population variables and community
forestry, and thereby integrate basic population data into forestry
use planning. This type of approach does not exist at present and
current assessments are as a result limited, as they only look at
a "snapshot" in time and not how that picture has developed over
time.
For example, changes in community and household demographic
variables (growth, size, age-sex composition) should be studied
over time in relation to land use and deforestation to determine
whether or not population pressure changes are actually influencing
environmental stability at present versus in the past. Moreover,
it is often assumed that population growth is one major determinant
of environmental degradation, and that reducing population growth
rates by launching more effective development programmes aimed at
rural poverty alleviation is one effective measure against
population growth. In Thailand's case, however, the population
growth rate has declined significantly over time due to an
effective national family planning programme. What is now the real
issue is that the number of births added each year (which amounts
to over half a million) is still a problem for national, social and
economic devleopment planning, particularly in terms of preserving
the environment and natural resources.
Family formation is another important population
consideration. It includes such aspects as age at marriage, post-
nuptial residence, age at having first and second children, family
planning, inheritance patterns which should be investigated in
relation to land tenure, land fragmentation, migration as well as
land and forest use. For instance, while large families may have
been the norm in the past, contributing to the population-
environment pressure process, today the family is changing toward
a more nuclear structure. This may reduce pressure on the
environment, especially under conditions where some, or most,
family members out-migrate at a certain age.
Migration needs to be examined in terms of the relationship
between migration, land, forestry use, and degradation,
particularly over time and with regard to gender and occupational
alternatives. Migration can serve both positive and negative
purposes with regard to community forestry conservation and an
accurate understanding of each of its dimensions is crucial.
Gender roles are also important as they give indications as
to:
a) who is utilising what environmental resources and for what
purposes;
b) how these patterns have changed over time; and
c) who can best serve as community forestry conservationists.
For instance, in community forests in Northern Thailand, the
traditional pattern included a clear-cut division of labour between
men and women. Women were responsible for child care, obtaining
and preparing foods in and around the village, obtaining water and
firewood and collecting forest products for sale. Men were
responsible for gathering foods (animals, plants) deep in the
forest, clearing the land, ploughing and harrowing rice fields,
tending cattle and livestock, cutting trees and constructing
houses, basket weaving, as well as selling forest products. Today,
however, this relatively rigid traditional division of labour
pattern has broken down. With the advent of a cash economy, men's
and women's roles have become more flexible since more human
resources are needed. As a result, gender roles have become
diversified in order that all the required tasks be done. In
relation to the land, for instance, men and women now share work
more equitably, and men are also assisting in child care.
Finally, ethnicity, especially with regard to gender roles and
division of labour, is another important population variable which
must be studied in connection to land use and conservation. Two
cases in point are Northern Thailand's largest hilltribe ethnic
groups, the Karen and the Lawa. These groups are known to conserve
the environment. Women make the fire breakers when clearing new
land and are involved in maintaining water resources in the
community. Women also take part in community forestry projects
which are becoming more widespread among the hilltribes. At the
household level, the women plant vegetables, herbs, and spices in
the rice fields for family consumption. Although women have not
formed a formal forest conservation group in hilltribe communities
with regard to environmental conservation, they are the ones who
directly use and benefit from natural resources.
Therefore, traditional population variables associated with
the environment (e.g. geographic distribution, rural-urban density,
growth rates) are not the only relevant or critical variables that
must be considered in assessing problems related to deforestation
and pressure on forestry resources. Additional factors (such as
ethnicity and family formation mentioned above) are also important
considerations that need to be integrated into training programmes
for forestry officials, in order to promote better landuse planning
and more sustainable management and use of forest and tree
resources.
To conclude, although some population issues have been
explored in research projects related to community forestry, they
have been primarily used to compile descriptive profiles of
communities for background information purposes. They have not
been used as analytical tools in community forestry planning.
Thus, in the future, INT/90/P40 3/ recommends that training programmes
improve the capacities of foresters and demographers to facilitate
local people in developing their own forest land management plans,
by integrating some of the following population components:4/
1. Population Structure.
Main thrusts/objectives: To provide analytical information on
population size, age and sex composition in relation to land and
forestry use. Age and sex structure elements are core components
of all demographic processes -- fertility, mortality, migration,
etc. -- and accordingly, have a direct relationship to rates of
natural increase and overall increase or decrease in a community or
other large social grouping. Age and sex structure also determines
the proportion of men and women in the labour force and the
dependency ratio which is also important for understanding past,
present and future settlement patterns and their population
composition/charcteristics.
2. Fertility, Mortality, Migration
Main thrusts/objectives: To provide analytical information on
births, spacing, family size, family planining accessibility,
contraceptive method use, ability to choose when to have and when
to stop childbearing. To provide analytical information on
mortality, which includes rates, differentials and causes. To
enhance the understanding of foresters, other government officials,
policy-makers, etc. of the inter-relationships between population
movement and land/forest use.
3. Family Structure, Formation and Inheritance Patterns
Major thrusts/objectives: To examine the relationship between
family structure (i.e. types, status and roles, division of labour,
family formation, family developmental cycle and inheritance
patterns), and land/forest use. Family structure is dynamic and is
shaped by population change due to changes in fertility, mortality
and migration. Coupled with inheritance rules, these aspects have
had a tremendous impact on land use patterns, land fragmentation
and forest use.
The case study of project INT/90/P40 shows how `population'
issues are relevant to community forestry planning. Similar
exercises on Population, Gender and Farming Systems and Population,
Gender and Land Tenure, could help to document and substantiate
some of issues raised in Modules II, III and IV with "hard"
supporting data. Action-oriented research into these linkages and
concrete programme recommendations will enable the integration of
this holistic approach in FAO regular programme activities and
budgets and in Member States' development plans and programmes.
Gender Bias and Stereotypes
Modules I-IV have shown how gender bias and stereotyping are
major stumbling blocks to the adoption of more equitable and
holistic policies. Gender bias and stereotyping permeate
development terminology and are at the core of widely held
assumptions, including the following:
* that economic development, including agricultural and
population policies, are gender neutral;
* that farmers are "male" while their wives are mere
assistants to their husbands. It is usually taken for
granted that the male farmer is the head of household,
the decision-maker, and thus the target group of
agricultural policies, programmes and services;
* that the farm household consists of husband, wife and
children sharing common interests and working towards
common goals and that within households, the burdens and
benefits of poverty and wealth are distributed equally
regardless of gender;
* that most migrants are men and that female migration is
associational rather than economic in motive; etc.
Part of the reason for gender stereotyping is the lack of data and
empirical evidence on the differential roles, contributions and
constraints of men and women farmers. Any further work, therefore,
on the linkages between gender, population, farming systems and
land tenure should include gender-dissagregated data collection and
analysis to provide policy-makers with evidence that will help
break down these stereotypes and redress gender bias.
Population, Gender and Land Tenure Issues
Module II on Gender, Fertility/Mortality and Land Tenure
showed how differing household demographic conditions demand
differing land and tenure arrangements, and, similarly, how certain
land and tenure arrangements are better suited to certain types of
household demographic situations. While emphasizing the
specificity of each context, the module proposed a more holistic
approach to the relationship between fertility/mortality and land
tenure. It was seen how the capacity of a household to make an
appropriate land or tenure response depends on three conditions:
land access, security and sustainability. Men's and women's
constraints to these three conditions and the likely impact of
these constraints on household demographic characteristics and
strategies were examined. The module raised the issue of the need
to develop broad guidelines in order to help policy-makers design
optimal tenure arrangements for different types of households. The
need to review the traditional gender focus on land ownership,
given the fact that security of tenure emerged as a far more
important issue for women (and men) than ownership, was also
underscored.
Module IV on Gender, Migration, Farming Systems and Land
Tenure, used the Onchocerciasis Control Programme as a case study
to illustrate the linkages between rural-to-rural migration, gender
and land settlement. The case study clearly delineated how a
population component -- in this case, rural-to-rural migration --
can be a critical factor to the success and sustainability of a
`non-population programme.' It also showed that the gender
dimension of a population variable (rural-to-rural migration) can
be used to enhance land tenure conditions.
Population, Gender and Farming Systems Issues
Module III showed how growing population pressure on
increasingly degraded land, male out-migration, and socio-economic
changes are transforming the traditional pattern of intra-household
rights and obligations and the very role of women in agriculture.
At the same time, levels of time and human energy inputs required
in women's farm- and home-based productive and reproductive chores
are increasing. In this context, having a large number of children
continues to be a major asset and source of immediate and long-term
economic and social security for rural women. In developing
regions, this is reflected in the high value placed on child labour
and in the absence of labour-saving home and farm technologies and
of social safety nets.
The module further indicated that a critical area which needs
to be addressed is the limited appreciation of the gender and other
relationships within and between rural households, of the access to
resources that different members have at their disposal, of the
constraints under which different household members operate, and of
the complexity of the farming systems that they practice. This
calls for the need for gender-dissagregated data and gender-
responsive methodologies in farming systems research, including
data linking agriculture and population. The increasing incidence
of female-headed households (either through male out-migration or
through polygyny) also needs to be addressed in farming systems
research and in the design and introduction of new technologies.
It was also shown that there is some evidence linking partial
breast-feeding and early weaning with women's increasing
involvement in subsistence activities (just as changes in land
tenure and farming techniques may have a profound impact on women's
farm work and ability to breast-feed).5/ Additional research is
needed into how and to what degree the pressures on women's time at
certain points of the agricultural cycle may lead to curtailment of
breast-feeding and corresponding demographic effects and the likely
impact of different types of agricultural innovation on breast-
feeding. The module also raised the need to quantify, document and
incorporate the economic contributions of children by gender into
programmes and projects. Finally, the impact of AIDS-related
mortality on farming systems and rural livelihoods was examined
within a gender perspective, pointing to the need for population
and agricultural programmes alike to design responses that take
into account the linkages between gender, food security and
HIV/AIDS.
B. Recommendations
1. CONDUCT FIELD RESEARCH ON THE LINKAGES BETWEEN GENDER,
POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE/RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Field projects similar to INT/90/P40: Population Issues
Relevant to Community Forestry Planning, on gender, population and
farming systems/land tenure could help elucidate key policy issues
with supporting data and empirical information. This would:
a) make visible the linkages between gender, population and
farming systems and land tenure;
b) show the relevance of these linkages in a specific
programme or project; and
c) help propose concrete policy recommendations.
2. MERGE AGRICULTURAL CENSUSES AND DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEYS
An important step in the process of translating the need for
a more holistic approach into practice would be to merge
agricultural censuses with demographic surveys. At present, the
Demographic and Health Surveys are usually conducted in isolation
from agricultural censuses. Agricultural censuses undertaken
jointly with demographic surveys could be initially carried out and
tested on a pilot basis. This would make both sets of surveys more
effective, while facilitating the articulation of population,
gender, agricultural and other linkages.
3. REGIONALIZE EXISTING MODULES ON GENDER, POPULATION, FARMING
SYSTEMS AND LAND TENURE
Given time and space constraints, modules I-IV on gender,
population and rural development are general and global in scope.
As a result, and given the variety of land tenure and farming
systems, and demographic conditions and priorities of different
regions, oversimplification of the issues at stake has been to some
extent unavoidable. The next step in identifying policy-relevant
linkages between these variables would be to make them region-
specific and to find ways of incorporating them into regional and
national population and agricultural policies and programmes.
4. HOLD AN EXPERT CONSULTATION OF GENDER, POPULATION, LAND TENURE
AND FARMING SYSTEMS SPECIALISTS
An expert consultation of population, farming systems, land
tenure and gender specialists could:
a) set up a policy and action-oriented research programme on
the issues and linkages identified in these modules;
b) deliberate on the recommendations proposed in this module
and work out the modalities of operationalizing these
recommendations;
c) develop a methodology to help harmonize policies and
programmes in the areas of population, gender and
agricultural/rural development; and
d) organize a subsequent meeting of population and
agricultural policy-makers to discuss and disseminate the findings
of the expert group meeting.
ENDNOTES
1/ M. C. Cruz, C. A. Meyer, R. Repetto and R. Woodward,
Population Growth, Poverty, and Environmental Stress:
Frontier Migration in the Philippines and Costa Rica, World
Resources Institute, October 1992, p. 12.
2/ The case study is based on the Draft Population Issues
Relevant to Community Forestry Planning: Country Profile
Thailand, by Bencha Yoddumnern-Attig, George A. Attig,
Tirapong Suntipop, and Kriangsak Rojkureestein, 1995.
3/ Ibid.
4/ For a complete list of project recommendations, see
Draft Population Issues Relevant to Community Forestry
Planning: Country Profile Thailand, op. cit., 1995,
pp. 19-26.
5/ Christine Oppong, Relationships between Women"s Work
and Demographic Behaviour, 1991 and Ingrid Palmer, Gender
and Population in the Adjustment of African Economies:
Planning for Change, 1991, cited in C. Oppong, "Introduction,"
in C. Oppong and Aderanti Adepoju (eds), Gender, Work and
Population in Sub-Saharan Africa, ILO, London, 1994, p. 14.