Identification of main CLCA activities carried out by different gender and age groups in Oaxaca and Bolivia

Abstract

In the context of family farming, the roles and responsibilities of different family members play a crucial position on the functioning of the systems as a whole. Some activities and decisions are carried out by different family members while other are done together as family. In the development of technical alternatives for improved mixed-crop livestock systems, it is important to understand these different roles and responsibilities that different family members play. Knowing these could allow to, among others, i) identify who will be the most importantly affected (positively or negatively) within the family by the adoption of an specific innovation, ii) identify potential bottlenecks and opportunities for alternatives generated for empowerment of women and other non-empowered groups and iii) provide specific recommendations to local partners and other projects on how to target such vulnerable groups in the development of alternatives. The objective of this activity was to identify the different crop and livestock activities carried out by adult men and women as well as youth. Based on focus groups separated by gender in four localities, two in each country main topics covered included activities and decision making for both crop and livestock production as well as access and control over resources for both young and adult male and female family members.