Women have generally not been having a say in deciding what to do on farms or manage produce as well as income, but a new project seeks to address that problem through e-courses on gender in agriculture. Officials said that the e-learning materials that were launched on Friday in Kigali are part of the tools that will increase staff and stakeholders’ skills in gender analysis and gender mainstreaming in agriculture. All materials are designed to help trainers to deliver impactful and interactive lessons. Subjects covered include the difference between gender and sex, gender-based violence, positive masculinity, women empowerment, gender in the rural household (renegotiating role division), and gender in credit and finance. The e-learning materials are available in English and Kinyarwanda on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources. Martin Habinshuti, Projects Coordinator at Rwanda Men’s Resource Center (RWAMREC) – an organization with a mission to promote gender equality through encouraging men to be positive and supportive partners said that women are engaged in agriculture, but mainly in tilling the land. “When it comes to deciding on the type of crop to grow, deciding on selling the produce, or on what to do with the income, it has been a preserve of the men,” he said. On-farm investment aspect, 2016 figures from the National Bank of Rwanda indicate that 74.5 percent of people who received agricultural credit or loans were men. Habinshuti said the situation implies that farming activities led by women are highly constrained by lack of access to finance, making them less likely to use inputs such as fertilizers, and quality seeds. Gerry van der Hulst, Managing Director of Three Mountains Learning Advisors – an organization that designs interactive e-learning modules on demand, said that extension officers and people with different projects that work in agriculture have to take gender aspects into account when they design the projects. “We hope that through the use of [the modules], people become more aware of gender and that in the end, it has an impact on the population.” Jean-Claude Musabyimana, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, said the government was committed to advancing gender equality as a tool to increase and sustain agricultural production. “We are aware – as highlighted by UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) study – that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by up to 20 percent, and that by closing the gender gap in agriculture, the number of hungry people would reduce by 100-100 million,” he said. He indicated that ensuring nutrition and food security for all Rwandans will be achieved through consolidated efforts. “We need therefore to have strategies for equal access to agricultural services for both men and women, and initiate gender equity measures where it is necessary,” he said. The materials were developed through the partnership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, the Swiss Agency for Cooperation, the Strengthening Education for Agricultural Development (SEAD), and three Mountains Learning Advisors. The e-module component is designed for people responsible for the advancement of agriculture such as agronomists and agriculture extension people, as well as representatives of farmers, cooperatives who have ICT skills. The e-courses are user-friendly as a recipient will have to register, then get modules that they will learn according to their convenience. Those who will have acquired skills will later train ordinary farmers using a collection of downloadable cartoons, exercises, videos, and infographics to illustrate or better explain the subjects in questions and their intentions. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
