Annex 24.2 Outreach of BGP to women: estimate of women who became empowered due to BGP activities

Criteria (at least one to be met):

1. Women who got more knowledge and skills, and did apply
2. Women whose income increased / contributed to increased hh income --> more decison-making and increased well-being
3. Women in leadership positions, other than being "paper members"
4. 4.Women who increased interactions with others, improved mobility and with greater social networks

NB: women who only became WMG member, without participating in other activities, are excluded, as WMG membership alone seems not enough to become empowered. The same applies for women who only attended Farmers Fields Days or other demonstrations.

Note: Available for download in PDF format 

Activity	# of women participants	Assumption on % of women being empowered	Basis for assumption	# of women empowered	factor to compensate multiple participation	Net # of women empowered	Explanation for multiple participation factor (women participating in more than one activity)
Women in homestead FFS (cycle 1 - 15)	25,856	0.75	At end of these FFS uptake was often 80-90%, but not all women continued applying; in later cycles women better empowered due to inclusion of gender messages	19392	0.95	18422	Women should have participated in only one FFS group, however, some multiple participation seems to have occurred
Women in crop FFS, but mainly involved in homestead and nutrition modules	24,600	0.65	Specific modules for women, more stereotype, hence somewhat lower % of women empowered than in above homestead FFS	15990	0.95	15191	see above
Women in CAWM FFS	3,550	0.75	CAWM FFS were held for aman and rabi crops, hence longer duration and higher empowerment rate than above	2663	0.95	2529	see above
Women in market oriented FFS (MFS)	1,131	0.85	Each women structurally participated in MFS on 2 topics, hence higher rate of empowerment	961	0.95	913	see above
Women in EC positions in the 511 WMGs in 2019	2,044	0.85	Due to women quota, not all women are automatically empowered, but in recent years better than in first years of BGP	1737	0.75	1303	some overlap (estimated 25%) assumed with women who participated in FFS
Women in EC positions in first years of BGP time (when 370 WMGs)	1,480	0.65	In first years of BGP some female EC members were only in place due to quota	962	0.75	722	some overlap (estimated 25%) assumed with women who participated in FFS
WMG members benefiting from WMG credits for productive activities (IGA)	5,252	0.7	women who got increased income and otherwise empowered by using the credit	3676	0.5	1838	many women (estimate: 50%) who took a loan might have participated in an FFS
Women participating in collective actions for economic activities	25,252	0.9	high proportion empowered as more income / less costs and more interactions / networking	22727	0.5	11363	Many women participating in Collective Actions are likely to also have been in FFS
Women in FFS / MFS exchanges (horizontal learning)	7,691	0.3	This is only a single visit, and women may easily be passive participants	2307	0.8	1846	Most participants in FFS exchanges did not participate in FFS or other BGP activities
Women earning from LCS work	10,766	0.5	This is not empowering for all LCS women, assumed 50% (adjust after review LCS study)	5383	0.7	3768	Some overlap with FFS participants
Women in GLD training old approach (3 days)	699	0.75	Not all women applied what they learned	524	0.3	157	Most women already counted as WMG EC member; remaining were non-EC members with potential
Women in new GLD training	9384	0.75	Majority of women take up gender messages due to 5 sessions	7038	0.9	6334	Women selected who did not participate in other BGP activities
Women in gender courtyard session (1 time event)	28,396	0.25	Not enough to empower most women participants, but was an eye-opener and inspiration to participate in other BGP activities	7099	0.5	3550	It is assumed that half of the CYS women who got empowered also participated in other BGP activities
Women in market linkages and women's empowerment training (2 days)	172	0.9	High proportion of women actually empowered, also due to selection	155	0.9	139	women selected who did not participate in other BGP activities
Joint UP-BGP workshops on women's empowerment	120	0.9	strong emphasis on empowerment message, plus handing out seeds, plus follow-up support	108	0.9	97	women selected who did not participate in other BGP activities
Total						68173

Conclusion: with 185,000 households in BGP polders, women in more than one third (37 %) of all households were empowered to at least some extent, assuming one woman/hh

Sources of data:

• Homestead FFS participants: From dataset on all homestead FFS cycles (1-15)
• Women's participation in training: From training data in chapter 31 on Capacity Building
• Other data: Mostly from the WMG Tracker Report of June 2019.

Water Management Group - The basic organizational unit in Blue Gold representing local stakeholders from a hydrological or social unit (para/village). Through Blue Gold, 511 WMGs have been formed and registered. The average WMG covers an area of around 230 ha has 365 households or a population of just over 1,500.

A process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them.

Farmer Field School - A group-based learning process through which farmers carry out experiential learning activities that help them to understand the ecology of their fields, based on simple experiments, regular field observations and group analysis. The knowledge gained from these activities enables participants to make their own locally specific decisions about crop management practices. This approach represents a radical departure from earlier agricultural extension programmes, in which farmers were expected to adopt generalized recommendations that are formulated by specialists from outside the community.

Community-led Agricultural Water Management - with DAE, Blue Gold established a network of schemes for demonstration purposes where locally-applicable annual cropping patterns are introduced along with water level control facilitated by small-scale water infrastructure, and the development of value chain skills in farmers

a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.

The dry season (typically mid-October to mid-March) with low or minimal rainfall, high evapotranspiration rates, low temperatures and clear skies with bright sunshine. Crops grown are boro, pulses, sunflower, sesame and mungbean.

empowerment is a process, enabling people to make choices and convert these into desired actions and results. In doing so, people take control of their own lives, improve their own position, set their own agenda, gain skills, develop self-confidence, solve problems, and develop self-sufficiency. Empowerment leads to genuine participation of all actors as it is a process of gaining self-confidence for individual development as well as to contribute towards development of others.

Market-oriented Farmer Field School - Farmer Field Schools dealing with cash crops or other commercial production, such as aquaculture, integrating market orientation. Specific MFS were conducted in the first years of BGP; later all FFS included market orientation.

Water Management Group - The basic organizational unit in Blue Gold representing local stakeholders from a hydrological or social unit (para/village). Through Blue Gold, 511 WMGs have been formed and registered. The average WMG covers an area of around 230 ha has 365 households or a population of just over 1,500.

Blue Gold Program

Members of the Executive Committees of Water Management Organisations, i.e. of Water Management Groups or Water Management Associations. Each Executive Committee consists of 12 members, of whom at least 30% should be women as per government rules

Income Generating Activity

Collective action - by a producer group is one way to partially overcome constraints such as in weak markets, where inputs and services essential to production innovations, are generally scarce, costly to access and/or to obtain. Collective action is working in group instead of individually in order to gain economic or social benefit. Through collective action, farmers can address constraints in their market linkages, organise their activities jointly and use their collective bargaining power to reduce input costs through bulk purchase, or to obtain services from buyers such as farm-level collection of produce

Labour Contracting Societies - Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6

Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6

Gender and Leadership Development (training)

Also known as 'business linkages'. Linkages refer to the trading relationships between and among producers, input providers and traders, and other enterprises in a supply chain or value chain. We refer to Backward linkages on the input side and Forward linkages on the output side of the producer.

The process that women get more control over their own life. The following three dimensions are commonly distinguished: (1) Access to resources, including productive, human and social resources; such as inputs, assets, credit, skills, knowledge and social networks; (2) Increased participation and influence in decision-making, including about strategic life choices; (3) Improvements in well-being resulting from the above. Commonly four dimensions of women's empowerment are distinguished: economic empowerment, social empowerment, political empowerment and physical empowerment.

Union Parishad - Union Council chaired by an elected Union Chairman