Chain values with equity gender in the western livestock area of Nicaragua: A wider, deeper and more sustainable

development

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MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE

Sylvia Ruth Torres, Georgina Cordn Challlenge Millennium Account Nicaragua Address: Parque San Juan 1 cuadra abajo.
1 Telephone: 505 2311 9000 ext. 128 Fax 505 2311 90008

a) BACKGROUNDS The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) is a program funded by the Agency for Development of the US Government, the Challenge Millennium Corporation to contribute to poverty reduction by fostering economic growth. The MCA vision in Nicaragua is that the rural population in the western country which encompasses Len and Chinandega become prosperous through competitive and productive work. To develop the clusters, the MCA hired a consortium made up of TechnoServe (TNS), CARE and UNAN-Len that executes the Western Livestock in a 3-year-term (2007-2001). The contract includes supporting 1800 business plans and the goal is 30 of women included and th minimum contracted is 20%. The project is scheduled to be implemented in three years. The general goal of the project consist in increasing gains and salaries at farms in Len-Chinandega livestock clusters by rising gains, salaries, businesses in the livestock cluster in Len-Chinandega and the expansion of major aggregated value in farm and agro-industrial businesses. To meet this objective, several components are developed: empowerment and articulation of livestock clusters, technical assistance to business processing and commercialization, technical assistance to farms. All the components have as mainstreaming: Communication, environment, equity gender. CARE in the framework of a covenant subscribed with TechnoServe has assumed responsibilities, such as to guarantee a gender approach mainstreaming throughout the project development. The intervention of the MCA in the western area ended with two wrong perceptions: 1) the western part of the country was not a livestock area and 2) women were not important actors in this cluster. Before starting operations, the livestock areas characterized by 1) have little cow milk production b) low percentage of pregnant cows each year (50%), c) lots of variation among summer and winter production, d) large price variations in summer and winter and e) little profitable farms with unsteady incomes. Before starting operations, a value chain analysis with an equity gender was conducted and when mapping the chain, it was possible to quickly and globally observe the actors, identify their relationship characteristics and interdependency. Conducting the mapping by a participatory methodology contributed to acknowledging among actors and creating confidence and articulation. Therefore, they were known by their own names and not only through activities developed in the cluster, from the design, production, transformation, commercialization, but also the types of actors that develop them, their position, incomes and jobs generated. Moreover, the value chain systemic approach is resumed for better relationships among families in their contexts from a production perspective. In this context, the MCA starts to intervene in the chain through TNS/CARE by: improving livestock feeding at farms, improving reproduction index in cows, producing more calves and more milk and creating a new milk demand through storing centers to sell export plants and pay producers better and more stable prices. In addition, increasing demand from local plants making them more competitive. All this is aimed at improving male and female producers incomes through a higher sale of calves and a major milk volume production sold at more stable and profitable prices.
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This model supported 1741 business plans with supplies and technical assistance that are 22% womens businesses, 7 storing centers, from which 2 are leaded by women, 42 artisan plants, from which 50% are womens businesses. To optimize their work, CMA worked from cores made up of a leading farm and 14 satellite farms. Each one has an individual business plan. The CMA assumes 30% of the investment which is delivered in milk churns, improved pasture, leguminous, milking parlors, mineral salt and deworming. In addition, the total technical assistance is covered and includes clean milking practices, animal health, mastitis prevention, summer feeding, farm administration, entrepreneurial development with gender equity. As Commercialization, covenants have been set up with industrial plants such as Centrolac who stockpile about 5 million litters of milk. Centrolac exports to the Central American Market. A gender approach in the Project desing1 The gender strategy objective in the CMA Project is to assure that men and women have an equitable development in the Access to resources, opportunities and decision making in all the activities of the same. So it considers each component must promote groups of womens participation to increase their entrepreneurial capacity and create conditions so that the same assume responsibilities in key positions with the companies and organizational structures in the livestock cluster. The technical staff as well as female and producers must be trained in specific gender issues in order to promote a fairer and more egalitarian development among women and men and internally in the family so that all of them can have access and opportunities to overcome poverty and enjoy economic and social wellbeing. B) Description of the experience innovating aspects indicating tools and contribution workcontribution processes, what makes this initiative different from the other one 3 pages. Four elements that characterize gender integration in the CMA value chain in the western of Nicaragua. 1) A gender analysis was conducted before the contract and their results and recommendations were included in the program design, particularly in the Operative Annual Plans and the budget that made possible to set indicators subject to the contract; 2) overcome gender obstacles to have an equitable access for women and men, the Active Search Guide was designed as a tool that assure to include female producers who met the client selection criteria; 3) systemic, entrepreneurial and family approach in the staffs awareness and work with the target population and 4) acknowledge womens leading for their inclusion in the program from jointly work with organizations that represent them. 1. According to the MCA Gender Policy and Gender Strategy, the purpose of gender analysis is to both identify equity barriers and propose procedures to mitigate the same. The result of this activity revealed that: In the production link, 15% are farm and animal female owners and participate in 14 from 24 milk production activities. At the same time, they consult their husband about new investment decisions in most cases. Producers wives are devoted to transformation tasks and generally give aggregated value to milk by providing food and incomes to their family from the sale of byproducts.
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Stockpiling and processing. In potential territories for dairy products production, almost all the production is sold to industrial processors. Incomes are controlled by men because they are the land owners. They control income from milk by-products. They make decisions on goods and resources in this activity. A main part of artisan processor businesses is handled by women and most of them work with little capital, low production volume and little technology. Despite all this, they are relevant in terms of aggregated value, employment and poverty reduction. These businesses generate their own incomes for the family/business, and generally, they have a clearer idea of the business, incomes and use/control inside their families. In Commercialization. In territories tending to dairy product industrialization, almost all the production is for sale and incomes are controlled by men because they own the land. The gender analysis also found that the initial intervention by the MCA was focused on the production link of cool milk sold to industrial plants, so it conclusions warned that this bias may negatively affect hundreds of jobs of artisan processors and negatively impact MCA job generator indicators. 1)To minimize all these possible negative impacts, a strategy that considered a business description of the artisan processing was developed. Also an assistance model was designed to improve competiveness of these businesses handled by women. When applying these measures, the MCA expanded and deepened its intervention scope procuring a development balance in the whole cluster, and in terms of gender, a more equitable impact. 2)To assure that the inclusion of female producers met all the program profitability parameters and since no mini-programs as family gardens were created to be able to include women, the TNS gender specialist designed and applied an Active Search Guide. With this application it was possible to exceed the initial identification of potential female clients that hardly represented the 16%. This instrument was jointly designed with field technicians based on their experience to identify clients for the program. 3) Taking into account that livestock is supposedly a male activity, minimizing all the frictions inherent to the changes of power relationships by applying a systemic approach was pursued. According to this one, if one or more people in a group modify their vision of themselves and relationships with e ach other, they may be able to modify all the structure relationship in the whole system and ultimately, its members behavior. In this perspective, the human couple and their family are systems with changing relationship models. The gender analysis emphasized that improving gender equity, the family as a whole would be improved. Also gender awareness emphasis moved from the abstract to the concrete and from the private to the public. The MCA gender program developed training on entrepreneurial development. From this point, the family became aware of gender issues; for example, work with male and female clients, and bring the economic contribution of all the family members to the family incomes. The whole technical
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group participated in constructing a gender strategy in TNS and worked on the deconstruction of male patriarchal models. This allowed the appropriation of these issues and personal commitment. 4) The execution of a gender strategy in the MCA comes mostly from the boost of the female producers, who mobilized and submitted a inclusion proposal during the consultation process.

PREVIOUS AND CURRENT MILK VALUE CHAIN IN THE WESTERN AREA

CADENA DE VALOR ANTES Y ACTUAL DE LA LECHE EN OCCIDENTE

Primary Production

Stockpilin g

Processing

Commercializati on

Local Market Milk Sale Posts

Local plants

Salvadoria n Market National Market

Refrigerate dStoring Centers

Industrial Plants (Centrolac)

Regional Market

e) Benefits and differentiated impacts for women, outcomes from the Project, how it helped to improve the conditions of living and what contributions were made in the environment where it was carried out

The MCA western livestock Project could raise productivity of 1741 producers. 21% were women. As far as base year, these male clients increased quality milk up to 70%, and their production up to 0.71 liters daily per cow and multiplied by the milking cows registered by the program, the production increase depicts 14,000 liters in the region. Regarding income, these clients had an increase about 672 dollars annually. To reach these outcomes in the production link, the MCA through TNS trained 1,741 producers. 21% are women, distributed the same number of equipment to detect mastitis, milking equipment, materials to build milking parlors. Through this support, producers were able to improve cattle feeding by sowing 5020 pasture mzas, 897 sugar cane, 330 leguminous. 70% male and female producers used mineral salt to feed their cattle. The project male and female technicians carried out 15.743 individual assistance visits, 46,000 production diagnoses as well as group training on farm administration, feeding, animal health, reproduction and good milking practices. In the stockpiling link, 2,700,000 first quality refrigerated milk liters have been stockpiled and commercialized from industrial plants. To attain this, the staff from technique administration centers were trained, good manufacture practices, sanitation, milk quality analysis and transportation were applied. One third of the milk storing centers are being managed by women. Two stockpiling routes are currently working. The first one with 4 milk storing centers working and 2 Centers in construction. The second stockpiling route comprises 5 Milk Storing centers ready to operate, 1 center is being built and 1 center is a project. In the link artisan processing, 42 local artisan processing plants have been provided with technical assistance; half of them are owned and managed by women. They have been trained on good manufacture practices, sanitation, new products preparation, milk quality analysis, packing and label. Regarding improvement of womens position in this cluster, 25% of those who receive technical training are women. 25 female producers have had access to commercial credit bank. The target was 15 and this represents 60% of the total. Also womens participation in key positions within the livestock cluster companies has improved. 100% of the Boards of Directors have women within the cluster commissions. The target was 10% of commissions as well as 100% processing associations and storing centers have women in their boards. A horizontal business network with a gender approach is working with female producers from the Municipality of El Sauce. A womens cooperative was set up at Israel Community in the municipality of Villanueva. Also there is mainstreaming gender approach in all the Project
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administrative tools such as monitoring. 6 training sessions addressed to the technical staff were held. To strengthen the Project female clients partnership, inter-institutional bodies were set up to speed cooperatives legalization and the access to other training and technical services.

f) Lessons learned, conclusions, and reproducibility conditions. The lessons taught by the project and how they can be used in other similar experiences in the future 1) A gender analysis grasped as an instrument to identify obstacles, but also to design mitigation procedures from the same. This constitutes an important tool in the Project development design and modification. Having started gender awareness as an essential part in contract discussions, determined the successful modality by which gender would be introduced in the livestock project. Gender analysis discussion resulted in the first gender training to the recent hired Technoserve team. The findings were negotiated with TNS and some suggestions were included. A target set up for womens integration was included in the Contract, the Operative Plan and Tecnoserve budget. 2) Mapping methodology in the value chain with participatory and gender resulted in being decisive to identify competitiveness factors and include elements in the analysis that were excluded so far such as knowledge, confidence relationships between actors and roles and the role social capital play. Also, placing people and their inter-relationships in the center of the analysis facilitates relationships among several actors. At the MCA, analyzing value chains focused on actors, links with most womens businesses were identified. These analyses were crossed with the compact indicators. Jobs creation and income rising revealed the importance of women and their roles to meet MCA goals. The methodology developed brings about reflection on gender equity so that the existence of womens businesses in the distinct items as well as their business competitiveness can be improved and recognized and womens economic empowerment is strengthened. 3) Culture articulates our ways of thinking, our attitudes before the reality, our feelings and our different manners to response and act before the reality. Gender relationship transformation is not just a matter of technical procedures and regulations, but it also involves feelings and emotions. For that reason, changes in gender culture need human warmth and not merely a technical issue. Entrepreneurial and family approach also contributed to deactivating reluctances from male technicians, to whom strategy approach emphasized on individual contract compliance with, goals attainment within the clusters and strengthen of family businesses allowed them to make a commitment to work for gender equity without compromising their masculinity concepts. Taking this into account, a practical and entrepreneurial, but not ideological approach was prioritized. We developed a family approach based on a systemic approach that considers that if person or more modify their vision of themselves and their relationships with the others, they can attain changes able to modify the relationship structure in the whole system and ultimately its members behavior.

According to this perspective, power is not a mater of adding nothing and where power spaces gained by women are lost by men. The thing is that with a systemic equity focus among families a vision of gaining gaining is implemented where the whole family places in a better position. 4) MCA gender strategy granted privilege to a practical route centered on improving rural businesses. To attain this goal, identity was worked by emphasizing business identity as the route to become businesswomen and businessmen. The reason to support identity is, ultimately, because acting and peoples position depend on how they conceive themselves. The identity people choose for them determine the different aspects of their lives. It is proved that people with the same resources and story, some people consider themselves victims or development subjects, while others decide to be protagonists. The business identity approach made possible to identify the economic value of womens work. In the booklet exercises, matrixes were applied to identify womens production and reproduction as well as place and sizes of their businesses in the value chains. Therefore, the macro analysis stepped into family lives by reassessing womens lives. Regarding male and female clients, the newest of this MCA approach consists in applying a business approach. It was possible to place women in the public sphere of life, where according to a patriarchal perspective is where these actors live and take place. With this element included, frictions proper from power relation work decreased through the promotion of the vision of gaining-gaining where the new power acquired by women increases familys power instead of reducing mens power. In short, first, womens inclusion in the program was guaranteed. Then, as women entered the program, empowerment was promoted by strengthening business identity and capacities and finally, abstract and conscience.

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g) References 1. MCA Gender Policy. www.cuentadelmilenio.org.ni 2. MCA-N Gender Strategy.www.cuentadelmilenio.org.ni 3. MCA-N Guide for Gender Application in Clusters. www.cuentadelmilenio.org.ni 4. CRM N Business Formation Program Booklets. www.cuentadelmilenio.org.ni

Translated by Helda Fryeda Reyes, BA in Tranlation. Managua, October 5, 2009.

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