Gender equity, key in scaling-up REDD

A draft of the REDD strategy has already been published in Tanzania, which was developed by the REDD task force with the assistance of the REDD secretariat in the country.
There are a number of ongoing REDD activities in the country including capacity building, whereby the UN-REDD programme in Tanzania is teaming up with the World Bank Institute (WBI), the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), and the ASB-Partnership at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) to deliver training workshops on the opportunity cost of the REDD programme.
At present, REDD is seen as an opportunity to enhance support for conservation as well as promote sustainable livelihood options to reduce the pressure on forests. It is argued that REDD systems could offer benefits to poor people, particularly in terms of increased, stable and long-term financial and non-financial benefit flows to rural areas.
In Kilosa District, Morogoro Region there is a REDD project by the name of “making REDD work in Kilosa District”, Tanzania. The project aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions as a result of deforestation and degradation in Tanzania in ways that provide direct and equitable incentives to communities to conserve and manage the forests sustainably.
The project supports the development of a Community Carbon Cooperative hosted by the existing Network of Tanzanian communities engaged in participatory forest management.
The Cooperative will aggregate voluntary emission reductions from it. The project involves about 50,000 ha.

Recently, a group of researchers carried out a study dubbed; ‘The impact of REDD on forest-dependent livelihoods by gender in Tanzania and the role of the institutional framework for equitable benefits.’
The study was held in Kilosa, one of the Tanzania’s districts whose forests were under REDD piloted projects.
The study was aimed at understanding on what is the likely impact of REDD on forest-dependent livelihoods, particularly in terms of gender? This is an area which has not been critically looked into. Both climate change itself and related policies are likely to have wide-ranging effects on gender relations, especially in developing countries.
According to researchers, to date, gender issues have hardly figured in the international policy discourse, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol. Gender-related inequalities are pervasive in the developing world.
Although women account for almost 80 percent of the agricultural sector in Africa, they remain vulnerable and poor. The threats posed by global warming have failed to impress on policy-makers the importance of placing women at the heart of their vision of sustainable development.
REDD clearly presents some opportunities for social outcomes but also risks and serious negative outcomes. Current discussion on the social impacts of REDD is weak with respect to the gender dimension. What is most tragic is that women may suffer, especially from the false solutions for climate change being negotiated internationally.
Apart from this hypothetical thinking there has been inadequate empirical evidence to test this fear. Undertaking studies on the impact of REDD on livelihoods by gender and case by case is important before the implications of a robust policy are realised.
The study was an attempt at contributing to this goal. It examined the impact of REDD on forest-dependent livelihoods in Tanzania, focusing on Kilosa district. The focus of the analysis was on gender. The District was chosen for three reasons. First, the poverty level in the district is high. Secondly, the dependency on forest resources for livelihoods is high. Thirdly, it is one of the districts in Tanzania that are under pilot REDD programmes.
The findings from this study intended to inform REDD stakeholders, including the communities, non-government organizations, civil society organizations, policy makers and the international community on how best REDD programmes could be implemented to address REDD but also to enhance equitable benefit sharing for forest-dependent livelihoods.
However, researchers said for REDD programme to achieve its intended objectives it needs to develop an institutional framework that will mainstream gender issues.
The study recommended that for REDD programmes to be successful and sustainable gender issues must be identified and mainstreamed, expectations of the communities should be fulfilled and the REDD institutional framework must be gender equitable in terms of governance.
It further said: “For REDD programmes to be successful, sustainable gender issues must be identified and mainstreamed, as well as ensuring that communities’ expectations are fulfilled and the REDD institutional framework must be gender equitable in terms of governance.”
The study also said that sustainability of the REDD programme is a serious concern for local communities living close to forest reserves as people queries on its future.
The positive side of the programme is that communities living adjacent to forest reserves (who rely on forests for their livelihoods), are in favor of activities brought in by REDD.
“If the REDD programmes is to enhance their livelihoods and they will be fully involved in managing the programmes.”
According to the study, males who took part in the study were more interested in knowing the time-frame for them to start benefiting from REDD, but women were concerned about the sustainability of the benefits they would be receiving.
Authors of the report, concluded that for the REDD programmes to be successful, gender issues must be identified and mainstreamed.
On the issue of income generated from natural resources, the report said that men benefit more than women; hence
REDD could reverse the trend by enabling women to utilize forest resources on a commercial basis as well, such as beekeeping. “This would also enhance food security through increased use of forest resources, as women are more responsible for food security than men,” part of the report read in part.
It has been shown that honey; charcoal, fuel wood and wild fruit contribute to 58percent of farmers' cash incomes in six villages in Dodoma region as well as in Morogoro and Kilosa District.
The authors also reported that honey alone accounted for a third of all cash incomes in those villages.
Studies suggest that women are the primary users and managers of forest resources and have high dependence on non-timber forest products.
On the issue of income from agricultural commodities, the study suggested the need to sensitize communities to form groups for different purposes, such as conservation, obtaining loans, bargaining power, and education.
Awareness with REDD programmes; most people were aware of the programmes, but the study suggests the need for conservation to go hand-in-hand with people’s expectations of improving their livelihoods. “Failure to do so may lead to REDD goals not being realized.”
The study further suggests that REDD programmes need innovative approaches to make sure that gender issues are mainstreamed and addressed. “As noted earlier the male-female balance in forest management groups influences forest governance.”