What is the evidence that gender affects access to and use of forest assets for food security? A systematic map protocol
Global estimates show that more than 1.6 billion people depend on forests to varying degrees for their livelihoods, and about 60 million indigenous people are almost wholly dependent on forests [1]. Moreover, the world’s forests directly support nearly half of the global population who live on $2 or less per day [2], and provide resources such as shelter, food, and fuel wood that act as safety nets for their livelihoods [3–5]. Importantly, the World Bank’s Forest Strategy states that, “Sustainable use of forests requires the participation of all rural populations, including women” [2]. Over the last two decades, a number of publications have shown that gender inequalities in access to forest resources, as well as extension, education and health services may be linked to higher levels of poverty [6–9]. Due to embedded socio-cultural practices and gendered power relations, women’s needs and priorities, especially in regard to natural resources, can easily be overlooked [10, 11], which places increased importance on understanding the role of gender relations for development research.
In this paper, gender is defined as socially constructed, gendered norms and practices translating into different rights, opportunities and constraints across cultures, families and livelihoods. Gendered norms influence a person’s ability to access, use, own goods and resources, and overall affect one’s ability to exert agency over their livelihood strategies [12]. Gender relations affect power, roles and responsibilities between women and men [13]. In low-income rural areas in particular, gender relations can define how men and women access forest resources, and can place a disproportionately large burden on women to manage the household including food sourcing responsibilities, as compared to men. Other studies show that when women and men have more equal positions and bargaining power within a household, they also access and utilise forest resources in more equitable ways [14, 15]. Furthermore, a number of studies also point to the role women play in managing forest resources, even though these contributions remain largely unrecognised [12, 16, 17]. While, others highlight the important differences between the management and utilisation of forest resources for household needs by women and men’s forest groups [17]. More revealing is that, these studies indicate that awareness of the power relations between men and women may influence how, when and why forest resources are used or exploited. Increasing awareness could help to inform the design of programs and policies to promote more equitable access to natural resources and facilitate development objectives [18].
Ribot and Peluso [8] argue for an understanding of access that extends well beyond property rights as previously theorised and defined by Schlager and Ostrom [19], as the right to enter a defined physical property. In this paper, we summarise access as “the ability to benefit from things in and from the forest”. We go further and also include physical dimensions, such as distance to forests and the right to enter, in our definition of access.
Gender and non-timber forest products
Women in rural areas in low and middle-income countries are generally responsible for collecting firewood for household cooking and preparation of food [20]. Also, there are some studies that have observed that women may be more knowledgeable than men about medicinal plants and other non-timber forest products (NTFPs) [21–23]. In the study by Baland et al. [20], from rural Nepal they found that women spent substantially more time on collecting firewood than men. Similarly, a study with women in West Africa, found indications that not only do women allocate more time to collecting and preserving NTFPs, but they seemed to also be more adept at identifying various edible species from the forest than men. For example, in some areas women were found to be more knowledgeable than men in identifying and using NTFPs, collecting fuel wood, preparing food, and feeding their families [24].
Gender, forests and food security
The definition of food security is an evolving concept and has in the past had no less than 200 definitions according to Maxwell [25]. A comparison of the definitions goes to underscore the considerable reconstruction of our thinking around food security that has occurred over the past 35 years [26]. Food security outcome studies have alluded to the important role that women play in the provisioning of nutritious diets especially with forest resources [27]. This is an aspect of particular importance during the agricultural lean or hungry season and can impact the food security trajectory of a household [1]. In this paper we use the definition of food security as agreed upon during the World Food Summit organized by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) [28] and elaborated upon in the context of forests by Arnold et al. [3]. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and social economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and foods preferences for an active and healthy life. Access to food is a combination of various factors, namely physical access as well as financial abilities. However, access alone is not enough as factors such as age, gender and culture may also play a role.
Depending on the type of forests, forest products make a significant contribution to the diets of communities, by: (a) providing supplemental calories as snacks or as complementary foods; (b) increasing the diversity of diets, especially during the lean season; and (c) creating employment for many rural and urban dwellers [27, 29]. Provisional on the specific combination of foods, NTFPs may contribute towards ameliorating specific nutrient and micronutrient deficiencies [30].
Furthermore, studies also support the role that wild fruits play especially in the provision of micronutrients and vitamins, in addition to generating income for many rural households. For example, in Zimbabwe wild fruit trees represent about 20% of the total woodland resources used by rural households. Women, men and children benefit from collecting, consuming and selling fruits, where the proceeds from the latter can be used to buy other foods [31]. In West and Central Africa, Dacryodes edulis (butter fruit) is a staple food for 3–4 months of the year, making substantial contributions to the well-being of households, with palm oil being their main cooking fat. Similar findings have been observed in West Africa as well as Southern Africa, in relation to the shea butter and amarula value chains, respectively [31].
Other factors such as land tenure ownership and active participation play important roles in women’s activities and in decisions over their access and use of forests resources [6]. For example, a study from Nepal showed that while women have actively participated in community forestry, their voice and decision-making influence have been circumscribed due to the prevailing patriarchal structures in society. Though, with the out migration of men a window of opportunity seems to be opening up for more women’s participation in community forestry activities [32].
Earlier studies seem to support these findings [12] and to reinforce observations that there continues to be little understanding of the role gender relations play in influencing access to and use of forest resources. This is despite the important role that forests play in the provisioning of food and ecosystem services.
There are other studies that have argued that women contribute significantly towards household food and income security because their forest activities are often directly related to resources for their families [22]. Similar studies tend to affirm that when women derive and control their own income it is more likely to be spent on food and children’s needs compared to the income men control [33–35].
A study from Laos also supports observations that women were more able than men at collecting different food and medicinal products: women collected 18 different animal food species, 37 different types of food and 68 different medicinal products compared to men [15]. Similar evidence from Mali concur with these observations, showing that elder women could identify approximately 20 of 25 depicted medicinal plants and more than 20 of 25 depicted food plants during photo recognition exercises [24].